Grand Traverse Commissioners Receive Latest Update on County Homelessness Response

The Housing and Homelessness Task Force, led by the Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness and backed by a Rotary Charities grant, presented its draft strategic plan to Grand Traverse County commissioners this week, calling for more than a dozen changes to how the region houses and serves its most vulnerable residents. Chief among the recommendations is consolidating shelter operations currently spread across multiple sites onto a single campus, with the Goodwill Inn property on Keystone Road named as a potential location.

Ashley Halladay-Schmandt of the Northwest Michigan Coalition presented a PowerPoint to commissioners during a county study session, walking through the task force's goals, timeline, and partnership structure. The plan's stated aim is to reduce homelessness and increase "deeply affordable housing options" in Grand Traverse County. The task force, which includes representatives from both the City of Traverse City and the county, has organized its community partnerships into three categories: SafetyNet Services, Emergency Shelter and Services, and Housing Solutions, with dozens of community members serving on its Leadership Team and Advisory Council.

Two of the county's existing shelters are operating on limited funding timelines. Safe Harbor in Traverse City is funded through the summer, while Jubilee House is funded only through April. Officials indicated they plan to present a budget to commissioners within the next couple of months, with creating a sustainable shelter funding plan listed as a core priority alongside investments in prevention and housing stabilization programs.

Halladay-Schmandt described the task force as currently in a strategize-and-problem-solve phase and outlined the path to a finalized plan. "We will have public input sessions," she said. "We'll also have stakeholder feedback sessions with folks who've lived experience of homelessness, to inform strategies of the plan, finalize the plan, hopefully in November. And unveil it in December."

Commissioners pressed Halladay-Schmandt on how the task force counts homeless youth. Her answer drew a distinction between street homelessness and broader housing instability. "They are counting not literally homeless folks or not, young people sleeping on the streets or in our shelters," she said. "They're counting people who have one night of housing instability throughout the year."

The task force's work builds on years of regional groundwork. The City of Traverse City enlisted the Northwest Michigan Coalition in September 2023 to address both immediate and long-term challenges following a crisis at the Pines encampment, and by March 2024 the city was examining the feasibility of a year-round shelter. Meanwhile, the Traverse City Police Department's Quick Response Team, facilitated by Police Social Worker Coordinator Jennifer Holm since her hiring in 2022, has established relationships with 42 community partners to address homelessness alongside substance use and mental health crises. A collective of local organizations has also asked Grand Traverse County to commit $200,000 per year to homelessness response, and Munson Healthcare has directed funding toward both Street Medicine, which provides free medical care to homeless residents, and Safe Harbor's transition to year-round operations.