Lynne Mills, the chairperson of the Lake County Area Churches Charities said there are people struggling with homelessness and others struggling to keep up with the high costs of heating their homes. The group manages the Bread of Life Food Pantry in Baldwin.
“We probably have at least 15 to 17 families that are either living at somebody else’s house, in a camper, in someone’s yard, in a tent, in the woods,” said Mills.
Mills said the demand for resources is higher than year’s past.
“This year, I’ve seen a lot more requests come in. Funding has been limited. We average 15 to 20 families visiting a week. It may not be the same ones,” said Mills.
She said she recently secured a 5,000 grant to help. Setting up accounts with local propane suppliers Fishers LP and Delong’s for emergency fills, in addition to Wesco when the other suppliers are closed.
“That would be like a minimum propane fill or a minimum electrical bill request that they can’t meet before they get shut off, because then, of course, that is more expensive to get their power reinstated or their fills done,” said Mills.
Mills said she is looking for more funding to keep the program running through winter.
“I’m hoping to get through the cold as part of the winter. If people can help supplement, especially the cylinder fill at Fishers, that would be a great help. We can always use help with non-food items, especially the home heating. Right now, we have a little bit between Fivecap and the health department and DHHS and True North,” said Mills.
Mills said there have been discussions about opening up a shelter but there have been barriers. The closest shelter is Our Brother’s Keepers in Big Rapids.
“Saint Ann’s used to have a pastor that lived right here in Baldwin, which would make it easier to have the church open. Now we’re limited, and our priest in the area, we have one for all three Catholic churches, he lives up in Irons,” said Mills.
Lake County Sheriff Richard Martin said cost may be another reason.
“There are plans in play that if we have some type of critical incident, or mass casualty or we lose power [brownout] but just to have a facility that’s open all the time, we don’t have that,” said Martin.
Martin said they haven’t received a lot of calls for help, but he attributes it to the efforts of local agencies.
people take care of their own.
“If somebody needs help, usually there’s so many churches, township organizations that will step in and be that place for them to go,” said Mills.
Mills said there is a local church in Idlewild that’s building a men’s shelter that’s expected to open in the spring.
“It is a start, a wonderful start. And I would love to see that grow. And that’s kind of how you say you plant the seeds and things grow. And that’s kind of what I see this heating thing doing and also for the homeless,” said Mills.
If you’d like to donate or need help-please contact the Bread of Life Food Pantry in Baldwin.
