TRAVERSE CITY - The pines a homeless encampment near the old state hospital has been an ongoing issue, and the city is working with the Traverse City Police Department and the Northwest Michigan Coalition To End Homelessness.
The Traverse City, City Commission will vote on passing $250,000 of American Rescue Plan Funding to go towards Safe Harbor’s goal to stay open year-round. Safe Harbor is a homeless shelter that, right now, only operates during the winter.
The City Commission will also be introducing potential new ordinances from The Traverse City Police Department with the goal of ending homelessness. There would also be a document signed by the city commission committing them to end the problem.
“I think that’s a great document for us to have out there. So no matter who gets elected next year or going forward, that that’s out there as kind of a committed official statement that we are going to be supporting the coalition’s efforts and working with them to try and meet their goals,” explains Traverse City Mayor, Amy Shamroe.
The Northwest Michigan Coalition to end homelessness has been working with the City Commission to have a signed document to show the efforts to end homelessness would be honored.
“What this resolution does is really speaks to, solving homelessness, which is having enough, mechanisms in place, whether that be funding. We could do, policy shifts, things like that, to make sure that we’re directed toward providing enough housing for people experiencing homelessness,” shares
Ashley Halladay – Schmandt, Director Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness.
Some of those initiatives include new ordinances that will also be discussed at Monday’s meeting.
“The three ordinances are consumption and public prowling and loitering. And these are just, tools that our officers, have at their disposal. So when addressing situations within the community in an effort to make our community safe, the consumption in public fills some gaps from the state, law about opening tags,” says Chief Matt Richmond.
The goal for Police Chief Matt Richmond is to have everyone out of the pines by the summer and they are hoping to do that by connecting people with outside resources.
“We’ve been trying to be out in the open and explaining what’s happening. You know, one of the priorities of a community stakeholder group that’s been meeting all summer, is not to have the pines next summer, also to have a year-round shelter and to have more supportive housing,” he explains.
The city commission will also decide on giving ARPA funding to Safe Harbor to help get people into supportive housing.
“...because everybody’s kind of getting plugged in now, that’s how we can connect people who are struggling to, again, services like health care, to getting them on housing lists, to finding out if there’s certain programs they’re already eligible for,” shares Shamroe.
The new ordinances could possibly be enacted on January 6th.
