Today’s program was introduced by Becca Binder. November is Homeless Awareness Month. She was joined by Tina Allen from Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness, Ryan Hannon from Goodwill Northern Michigan and Ashley Hallady-Schmandt from Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency.
Tina opened the presentation with a question, “Where are you going to sleep tonight?” It’s a question that haunts hundreds of people who are homeless in our five-county area. Homelessness has five different categories: youth, families, veterans, chronic homelessness and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Tina spoke of the collaboration of the different organizations that are addressing these issues.
Ryan shared the community support for the homeless in our community and the importance of street outreach. Street outreach helps to qualify people for housing. The Goodwill Inn and Safe Harbor serve part of this need.
Ashley touched on the need to make homelessness a rare, brief and one-time occurrence. Her organization serves as an access point for services and support which can include healthcare.
The Goodwill Inn has a call center for those facing homelessness. They can be reached at 1-844-900-0500. With the homeless youth population, the approach to finding housing is a bit different. Host homes are the most ideal situation for those who are ages 14-24.
Becca highlighted that supportive housing has rental subsidies available. Many times these units are scattered around the area with individual landlords. They can also serve as an advocate for those with disabilities, substance abuse and mental illness.
Please click on the link below for a video presentation for Northwestern Michigan Coalition.
https://www.nwmichcoc.com/chir-healthhomelessness-project.html
