MUSKEGON, Mich. — The Battle Creek Shelter has shut down and is putting other shelters in West Michigan on alert.
The need could be overwhelming for one shelter I spoke to and other places providing emergency housing.
"The supply you see in here will be gone in two days. It turns over that fast," Muskegon Rescue Mission Executive Director Dan Skoglund said.
Skoglund has been working towards providing people with housing for more than a decade.
"For 14 years I've been doing this, there's a handful of them that I know that have closed for various reasons," he added.
Recently, he heard that the Battle Creek Shelter was closing.
"We have no geographic restrictions. We don't care where you come from or what brought you to our door; we have people come here from out of state. If you show up on our door, we're going to take you," he added.
Battle Creek Shelter told me Friday was its last day.
"With no additional funds identified or forthcoming to continue operations, we feel we have no choice but to close," BCS Vice Chair Board of Directors Kim Brubaker wrote in a statement.
"So we've been coordinating with them to see what that might look like for the individuals that are going to be displaced," Skoglund said.
The Muskegon Rescue Mission often welcomes 80 people a night.
"Our numbers have gone up substantially in Muskegon," he added.
Skoglund explains that over the last two years, the need for a place to sleep has been up 50% and for food 100%.
"So the numbers just in our own community are growing. And then you start seeing from outside resources, it really makes an impact," Skoglund said. "It's not just a here's some food, so if we give you peanut butter, you're getting the jelly and the bread for your lunch. For dinner, you get the spaghetti, the spaghetti sauce, the bread, and everything to go with it, so it's a complete meal. So we go through it in a hurry and all of it."
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