Homeless in Traverse City
TRAVERSE CITY — Safe Harbor will move ahead with its proposal to stay open all year for people without homes.
Traverse City commissioners on Monday unanimously agreed they support the seasonal shelter keeping its doors open past its current mid-October-through-April season.
Their vote, while backing the idea, was far from the final word.
Making the change will require a lot of follow-up actions — from amending the shelter’s special land use permit and operating agreement with the city to expanding its budget.
Safe Harbor board Treasurer Wayne Sterenberg told city commissioners the nonprofit would need an estimated $980,000 per year to stay open for 12 months. At nearly double its current operating budget of $515,000, that would pay for staffing, supplies, utilities and building maintenance.
Josh Brandt, the shelter’s spokesman, said after the meeting that the nonprofit has a broad and generous donor base, and that its leaders anticipate some level of city funding to support year-round operations.
The shelter’s typical operating hours would shift during summer, from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. each day to 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., shelter board President Patrick Livingston said. That would mean the shelter wouldn’t serve evening meals during summer.
Changing to a year-round model would position Safe Harbor to serve the unhoused as other organizations explore more permanent arrangements, Sterenberg said. One of those organizations is Community Cares Coalition, which wants to build a larger, all-year shelter.
“We’re committed to continue to entertain discussions with (the coalition), along with other community leaders, to see what a more cohesive, long-term solution can be to care for those who are experiencing homelessness,” Sterenberg said.
Monday’s presentation came about because city commissioners, along with a group of organizations focused on helping people without homes, all agree that camping at the homeless encampment called the Pines cannot continue.
While volunteers clean out the area at Eleventh and Division streets annually, service providers offer some medical care and the city now provides bathrooms and sinks, city leaders and service providers agreed the encampment is unsanitary, dangerous and undignified.
It’s a message that Dave Mengebier, Grand Traverse Area Community Foundation president and CEO, reiterated Monday. When the foundation and Rotary Charities of Traverse City convened the various groups to discuss the issue, they all agreed that 2024 should be the last year for the Pines.
“The bottom line is that a safe, year-round emergency shelter with close connections to supportive services is the near-term requirement – and it needs to be addressed now or our community will experience another summer with the Pines,” Mengebier said.
That will fill the gap as the Community Cares Coalition navigates the various challenges of its proposal to create an 180-bed shelter – from funding to zoning to coordinating with service providers, Mengebier said.
Rotary Charities of Traverse City CEO Sakura Takano suggested the city take part in a regional task force charged with creating a comprehensive strategy to end homelessness, an idea city commissioners embraced.
Mayor Amy Shamroe echoed public comments that people who lose their homes in surrounding communities often come to Traverse City.
Traverse City Police Chief Matthew Richmond laid out a safety plan aimed at minimizing the incidents that occur when Safe Harbor is open. It included items in his department’s control, such as increasing police and social worker presence in the neighborhood during the shelter’s transitional times, enforcing ordinances around the shelter, asking a nearby gas station to limit morning alcohol sales, and enlisting neighbors willing to let police access their private security cameras when needed.
Other items would require the cooperation of city and shelter leaders, Richmond said. He proposed the city adopt a prowling ordinance that would allow his officers to enforce trespassing laws without giving a warning first, as state law requires. The city could also continue to push to re-establish a community court to help vulnerable populations avoid jail or fines.
Richmond also suggested changes for Safe Harbor, such as moving the staging area for incoming guests, staggering exit times, finding transportation to other service providers and hiring private security.
“Again, this has to be accepted by all partners,” he said. “I cannot force the safety plan on anybody. What I have suggested for Safe Harbor is up to them to accept and enforce, same as the city. I can only be sure that what I’ve proposed that I do through my department.”
Richmond said the goal is to prepare to enact that plan by May 2025, although commissioners agreed that city police and other departments could do what they can, as soon as they can.
Commissioner Heather Shaw noted the “clock is ticking” on summer 2025.
Commissioners also agreed to avoid placing a time limit on the plan, with Commissioner Tim Werner arguing city leaders don’t know what alternatives might emerge – or if they’re better – and Shamroe noting the process to create any alternative could take years.
Audience members who spoke Monday largely supported the proposal, although a few raised some concerns.
Randy Parcher said he was one of Safe Harbor’s first guests and now lives in Garfield Township. He noted how hard it would be for people with disabilities to get from the various churches that serve dinner to Safe Harbor.
Various neighbors asked to consider pushing the shelter’s closing time back by an hour. Among them was county Commissioner T. J. Andrews, who said extra time would give guests more time to use shelter services, and minimize any conflicts with school children waiting for their bus.
Chuck Meek spoke of his experience volunteering for a shelter in Illinois’ DuPage County that moved from church to church, following the decentralized model that Safe Harbor did before it built a permanent home on Wellington Street. He saw how difficult it is for people without homes to utilize an organization’s services, no matter how well-intentioned the providers may be.
“As difficult as it is to come up with solutions, it’s 100 times more difficult to actually take advantage of those services,” Meek said.
Afterward, Brandt, the shelter’s spokesman, said the vote will encourage Safe Harbor’s leadership to move forward on planning for all-year operations. He wasn’t sure when the shelter would apply to amend its special land-use permit, but expected the board would discuss that soon.
“We appreciate greatly the civil conversation that happened between different groups who all want to see the right thing being done for the houseless here in Traverse City,” Brandt said.