4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS SHELTER CoC Winter Shelter Task Force presents plan focused on families, eviction prevention LINDSAY CALKA Publisher On September 4, Dan Kelly and Shonagh Taruza spoke before the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners with a plan and an ask for $1.3M. Dan Kelly is the Executive Director of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County; Taruza is the Executive Director of the Interfaith Hospitality Network at Alpha House. Both are members of the Winter Shelter Task Force, a working group of the Washtenaw County Continuum of Care which formed after record levels of homelessness — particularly, family homelessness — during the winter of 2022-2023. Other members of the working group represent CoC agencies conducting or funding winter sheltering activities such as SOS Community Services and the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development. The purpose of the task force is to 1) help analyze existing data and programs for winter shelter, 2) research best practices for providing winter shelter in Michigan climate, 3) develop strategies and recommendations and 4) identify funding and support necessary to provide winter shelter for all populations. Since the formation of the task force, Washtenaw County has continued to track higher and higher levels of homelessness. Kelly and Taruza reported to the Commissioners that the winter sheltering season of 2023-2024 had increased mental health and substance abuse challenges, increased percentages of older adults and people reporting a disability, a record number of individuals served on a given night, and over 100 homeless families in need of shelter over the winter months. They presented a key structural challenge from 2023-2024: requests for additional funding and support for expanded programs were unavailable for most of last winter. “[The funding] just didn’t get out fast enough,” Kelly remarked. Kelly and Taruza presented specific recommendations for funding in areas of eviction prevention, diversion, hotel stays with supports, rapid rehousing for families, overflow family shelter, and expanded individual shelter. In an interview with Groundcover News, Kelly noted, “Over half of the money [$700K] is for eviction prevention and a large amount is flowing to families ... we're trying to be proactive so the shelters aren't inundated." Alpha House has renovated their basement space (which was formerly used for furniture storage for newly housed families) to accommodate the daytime and nighttime family shelter, adding three bathrooms and a washing machine. The $100,000 funding request is for staffing this 24/7 overflow space. Alpha House will continue to run their emergency shelter for families throughout the winter on nights with extreme weather, although no funding requests for this program were made. Struggle for sites The six sites across the County providing individual shelter include the Delonis Center, the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Daytime Warming Centers, the men’s rotating overnight shelter, the Ypsilanti offsite overnight shelter, and the Recuperative Care program, all of which were open in the 20232024 season. Last year, all but two of these shelter options were hosted at local churches. “We still do not have the actual locations figured out ... How do we stop having a hamster cage experience every winter? Can't we have a site that's permanent?" Kelly asked during the interview. Next steps The Winter Shelter Task Force plan presented at the September 4 working group meeting was just that: a presentation. The presentation will be made again at the Continuum of Care Board Meeting on September 18, and then will be voted on by the Board of Commissioners later that night at 7 p.m. The task force will continue to meet and refine the plan for this winter in the coming months. “Our goal is to hit the ground running with everything we need on day one. We don’t want to miss a day of winter,” said Kelly. “There is still community support needed; advocacy never hurts,” Kelly emphasized. “We need to come up with a structural fix. We need a solid plan that isn’t a hodgepodge.” Taruza concluded, “We are trying to get ahead of some of the anticipated problems this winter. We are concerned given the termination of the Housing Choice Voucher waitlist ... What we really need is more housing, more supportive services, mental health care and increased wages. Given that we don’t have all of that yet, we are trying to figure out how we can triage for this winter, while continuing to work on long-term solutions.” CITY OF ANN ARBOR THRONE BATHROOM LOCATIONS SEE ARTICLE PAGE 6 1000 Canal 6 M 2150 Jackson 7 8 100 block 1 312 W. Huron E. Washington 2 Family Friendly ADA Accessible 4 310 S. Division F 215 Chapin 5 315 Detroit 3 SEPTEMBER 6, 2024 1. 100 block of East Washington Street (east of Main Street on the north side of the street) 2. Robert J. Delonis Center, 312 W. Huron Street 3. Ann Arbor Farmers Market, 315 Detroit Street 4. Liberty Plaza Park, 310 South Division Street 5. West Park, 215 Chapin Street 6. Riverside Park, 1000 Canal Street (near the Border-to-Border Trail) 7. and 8. Veterans Memorial Park, 2150 Jackson Avenue A N D A A L L C E O I P Y I I N T F Y A L M D R
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