BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — It’s hard to live in an emergency shelter.
Whitney Wardell hears that each day at her job. She runs Neighborhoods Inc., a nonprofit that looks to promote stable, healthy homes for low to moderate income families in Battle Creek and that goal got easier this summer.
“This is going to have a major impact on our community,” said Wardell.
At the end of June, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) launched the Shelter Diversion Pilot Program.
It’s an initiative that aims to keep families and other people face with homelessness out of emergency shelters. MSHDA selected Neighborhoods Inc., Good Samaritan in Holland, and four other organizations across the state to take part in it.
“With these funds we’ll be able to assist individuals with, if it's a transportation need, we can assist them with covering a car repair payment versus them having to pay for their repair out of their rental payment,” said Wardell.
Each will receive $250,000 over the next two years. In addition to hiring extra staff, that money can go toward any other financial assistance deemed necessary.
“These funds are primarily used towards staff resources — Really to have someone on the other end of the phone or talking one-on-one with them and really trying to problem solve and figure out, ‘Ok, is there an aunt that lives close by that you could potentially stay with?’” said Kelly Rose, the chief housing solutions officer at MSHDA. “But [if they] need money for groceries to be able to stay there because that family member isn't willing to pay for all [their] groceries, well then we can give [them] grocery money to help [them] stay.”
Rose says from there, the organizations will work to find a more permanent placement for the person. She adds most grants MSHDA gets from the federal government do not allow for that type of flexibility and while its the first program like this statewide, it has been tested successfully in other communities across the country.
According to Rose, up to 32,000 people seek emergency shelter services in Michigan each year.
“We’re just trying to really broaden it within Michigan, so that we can learn more about it and really try to establish some really good outcomes out of it so that hopefully we can make the program even larger,” said Rose.
Neighborhoods Inc.’s first employee through the Shelter Diversion Pilot Program begins next week and the work will build out from there.
Wardell hopes it’s the start of an easier time for those in a housing crisis.
“We know that there is a need in this community to keep individuals in their homes,” said Wardell. “People are looking for new housing every day.”
