TRAVERSE CITY — The Safe Harbor Emergency Shelter said they’re ready to help those currently living in the homeless encampment known as The Pines, but they’re waiting on city approval to stay open year-round.
“The first night I spent in the pines, it. It was the worst night of my life. I had nowhere to go. It wasn’t a fad. It wasn’t a thing.”
Audrey Ouillette has been searching for housing in Traverse City for seven years while working three jobs to get by.
“There are no available housing options for somebody who is 35, who doesn’t have a mental illness, who isn’t a drunk, who doesn’t have three kids,” Ouillette said, “I am terrified for my community. I don’t want to be here speaking to you. I want to hide in a corner because people judge me because I’m homeless. But I’m here because I don’t have a choice.”
The Safe Harbor Emergency Shelter has a capacity of 74 people per night, and it is first-come, first-served. A public hearing set for May 5th could allow them to open year-round and become an option for those currently living in The Pines encampment.
“Honestly, before we had this very serious community, community conversation about going year-round, the question we would get most often from public folks, the folks who support us, and otherwise was, why doesn’t Safe Harbor go year-round?” Safe Harbor spokesperson Josh Brandt said. “So, this is an opportunity for us to finally step into that role and do it with the partnership of the community, which is something we thought was always going to be very important.”
The no-camping enforcement date has no effect on how Safe Harbor runs, but they want to make sure their doors can be open once the city begins enforcing its no-camping ordinance.
“It won’t affect operations at Safe Harbor, we’re happy to have anybody who might leave the pines come over.”
As discussions continue on how to address the city’s homeless crisis, organizations like Safe Harbor and people like Audrey invite the community to pull up a chair.
“The difficulties and complexities of homelessness abound, and it requires a community wide effort in order to try to address them,” explains Brandt,” So, of course, we’re going to do our part, and we’re going to continue to be part of conversations to, help eliminate homelessness in our community, or at least make it very short."
“I have to speak for my community because nobody wants to see us as human. I am human just like you, and I am tired of fighting every day for the little bit of crumbs that I get,” Ouillette said.
