TRAVERSE CITY — Plans to build a new, year-round homeless shelter near Traverse City may face a zoning hurdle, but that shouldn’t trip up the effort.
Community Cares Coalition is looking to gather more support for the plan, from approaching potential service partners to asking other nonprofits serving those without homes for their cooperation, coalition member Megan Wick said.
The organization is expecting to work with Jubilee House, Grace Episcopal Church’s drop-in center, to provide services like laundry, showers, computers or just a spot to relax.
Next, Community Cares Coalition wants the board of Safe Harbor, which runs an overnight seasonal shelter within city limits, to consider a memorandum of understanding showing it’ll take part in the discussion. The agreement wouldn’t bind any party to any action.
“Once this crucial step is solidified, we look forward to deepening our discussions with additional service providers to create a comprehensive support network,” Wick said in a written statement.
The coalition wants to build a shelter that’s open all year, all day, and has services for its residents onsite. That plan is based on a cooperative model from Napa, California.
Consolidating services in one place could better serve people who currently leave Safe Harbor every morning when it closes, then walk to other providers or places to stay until it the shelter reopens in the evening.
A new location would also lessen the impact Safe Harbor has on nearby businesses and homes, Wick said.
Marc McKellar, the coalition’s attorney, said the goal is to provide better services with improved access and capacity to serve people without homes.
It’s meant to be a community building concept and it can’t work without collaboration.
“Really, we’re just trying to communicate with other organizations about is there a way to create efficiencies, save energy and money so that you can direct that energy and money into greater services and providing a broader scope,” he said.
The idea is gaining support, with more than 300 people and businesses signing a letter backing Community Cares Coalition. Traverse Connect wrote one as well, backing both Safe Harbor’s transition to year-round operations and exploring a location for another shelter.
Safe Harbor spokesperson Josh Brandt said the two organizations have been in talks about a memorandum. Most efforts are currently focusing on finding money and partners for Safe Harbor’s two-year trial as a year-round shelter.
“Our position is still where it was when the Community Cares Coalition put forward their plan, which is that we’re always going to be open to having conversations about the best way to provide the services that our guests need,” he said.
The shelter on Wellington Street is looking to switch from its seasonal model at city commissioners’ request. That’s after the Homelessness Collective, a group of nonprofits and philanthropies working with city officials, concluded that a homeless encampment on city land called the Pines at 11th and Division streets was unsafe, unsanitary, undignified — and cannot continue.
Brandt said that transition would roughly double the shelter’s operating expenses, from about $500,000 a year to more than $1 million. It’s money the nonprofit is looking to secure atop its usual fundraising efforts before asking city leaders to approve the required special land use permit changes.
City leaders recently approved $125,000 a year for two years for increased operations costs, plus $100,000 to pave parking spaces and make other building fixes in preparation for this. Grand Traverse County commissioners are also considering the shelter’s ask for $200,000 a year for two years and will discuss it at a future meeting.
Brandt said Safe Harbor leadership still has questions about the coalition’s proposal and how it would provide services to people living there. Those include issues like transportation and which service providers would join in.
Wick in a statement said the coalition is talking with those providers about joining the project, and McKellar said Friday that he’ll meet soon with both Jubilee House and Safe Harbor representatives to discuss the collaboration.
Meanwhile, Garfield Township Supervisor Joe McManus said both township zoning and its master plan likely would rule out Community Cares Coalition’s idea for a building off Cass Road.
That building is on a private drive off Cass Road between South Airport and Hartman roads. Wick said the property is still on the market and the organization is looking for a first right of refusal.
McManus said the property’s industrial zoning won’t allow residential uses. He asked township Planner John Sych to tell the coalition as much via letter after seeing news coverage about the proposal. Wetlands on the property could add further complications.
The Community Cares Coalition effort isn’t focused on any one building, Wick said in a written statement. The group hired legal counsel to work through any zoning and permitting issues, and detailed conversations about the Cass Road property’s suitability haven’t begun yet.
McKellar said he thought Sych’s letter was “extraordinarily premature.” The property’s industrial zoning wouldn’t rule out a rezoning request. And he echoed Wick in saying the property is not a “live-and-die parcel,” even after the coalition hosted an open house there.
“That was a concept to get some excitement going, and if (the property) works, great,” he said. “And if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the road.”
Even if the coalition started construction tomorrow, it would take a few years to bring such a shelter online, McKellar said. He agreed both Safe Harbor and Jubilee House have immediate needs for funding and other resources, and that the coalition doesn’t aim to compete with other service providers, only cooperate in exploring options for a new shelter.
Asked if Garfield officials might approve another homeless shelter, township Manager Chris Barsheff said he personally would rather start with an assessment of housing and homelessness resources in the region. Garfield Township, for instance, has Goodwill Inn providing year-round shelter to the homeless and different kinds of subsidized housing.
“So what I would do is ask the city and ask the surrounding townships, what do they have to help solve housing issues, and then move forward from there,” Barsheff said.
Those are the kinds of questions Community Cares Coalition can explore with partners like Jubilee House and Safe Harbor, Wick said. The coalition is also looking to bring other organizations that focus on homelessness on board.
Wick said the coalition has broad support for finding solutions, in addition to the impact the shelter has had on its neighbors.
“We have health and safety concerns due to the proximity of Safe Harbor,” she said. “We’re looking for a solution that meets the community’s needs, both for the unhoused and as well as for the residents and businesses that are in this area.”
Bringing Safe Harbor into the conversation is the next step in determining the project’s scope, budget and timeline, Wick said. Those three factors are closely linked, so one can’t be determined without the other two.
McManus said he hasn’t seen a proposal, so he couldn’t comment further on the idea of building another homeless shelter in Garfield Township.
“I could answer that question if I had an application,” he said.
The township planning commission likely would review it and make a recommendation to trustees — or not — based on the same criteria for any other project, McManus said.
Wick said she couldn’t speculate on how township officials or the public would receive an application from the coalition, but noted the township’s policy of treating all proposals without bias.