(soft music) - Today's Community Connection puts a spotlight on homelessness right here in West Michigan and how the community can help.

So we talk with those working in the field on behalf of Mel Trotter Ministries.

Hello to you, Beth Fisher.

- Hello, Shelley.

- Appreciate you.

From Covenant House Michigan, Gerry Piro.

Good morning to you, good day to you, Gerry.

- Good day to you also.

- Yes and from Dégagé Ministries, appreciate you Julie Kendrick.

Hello to you, Julie.

- Hello and thanks for having me.

- You're quite welcome.

Let us start with you, Julie.

If you would share a 101 of your organization.

- Yes, at Dégagé Ministries.

We are a community organization and Heartside area where we provide meals, two meals a day for the community.

And we also have a Life Enrichment Center where people can come in and rent lockers, take showers, meet with advocates to work on housing, get IDs, get what you need for employment.

And we also have a women's shelter called the Open Door, which houses right now over 60 ladies per night.

So that's pretty much what we do.

- Yes.

Beth Fisher, Mel Trotter.

- Yeah.

So Mel Trotter Ministries has been in existence since 1900 and we exist to demonstrate the compassion of Jesus for anyone experiencing hunger and homelessness.

So through our actions, what that means is that we're on the forefront here in West Michigan of battling homelessness for community partnerships, like with Dégagé and others and innovative solutions.

And so we basically, are just committed to make a commitment to our guests, to help them choose the appropriate track, to help them move forward on their journey.

- Gerry Piro, tell us about you and yours.

- Yes.

Covenant House Michigan began in 1997 and I erected the shelter out in Grand Rapids in 2018.

And Covenant House works mostly, I mean, entirely with 18 to 24 year olds, really trying to restart their lives again and help them through all the difficulty that they're experiencing, whether it's family, mental health, or just no place to live at the moment.

- My next question for you all three.

I will begin with you, Gerry.

What is the state of homelessness in West Michigan?

- Well, if you, to look at the statistics there in Kent county, they count about 35,000 of homeless people.

If you were to look in Grand Rapids, it's a lot less in the sense of 800 homeless people.

And that includes all that have been counted.

So homelessness is going to be pretty much anywhere when you have families that are breaking up, that can't afford themselves, no longer can take good care of the young people, you're going to find homelessness throughout all the ages.

So based upon the population in a particular city, it is in a ratio to the number of homeless that are there.

- Beth Fisher, what do you answer, if I was just saying what's happening in this world of homelessness.

- Yeah, so just much like Gerry said.

I'm going to echo that, because stats really are or what we know, right?

And so last year, Ken County reported 8,026 known people.

That number is obviously much higher, but that's the, what the reports say, who experienced at least one episode of homelessness.

And for me what's really the most heartbreaking of that is one fourth of that number is children, newborn age up through age 17.

And we know the students who experienced homelessness, repeated episodes of homelessness are much less likely to graduate.

They have a graduation rate of 69%, which is the lowest of all demographics.

So it is like Gerry said everywhere, it doesn't discriminate in any way, shape or form.

And that those are the numbers again, that we look to again, based on what has been reported, but the numbers are actually much higher.

- Julie, your answer and expand onto who is today's homeless?

- Yes, I would like to add.

All of those are correct.

And if we add the fact that we have a housing crisis in West Michigan, that is leading to so many people that are experiencing homelessness for the first time, they could have rented a home for years and now the landlord is able to sell it and make it a large profit.

And so they weren't even thinking that this would happen and then they've been evicted and there was no other place for them to rent.

If they find a place it's way more than what they've been used to paying.

So we have seen a uptake in just the women coming in, who've never experienced homelessness before.

And with the guys at, in our LEC, as well is that, they're just facing obstacles that we haven't seen before, because we have people not facing the obstacles that (Julie clears throat) they are, that are having a hard time finding a home to buy or rent.

And then when you add in some of the obstacles that our patrons face, it's almost impossible to find housing.

- If I could expound on that for one second.

That is exactly right Julie and it's not what people think it is.

49.8% here I go with the stats, but almost half of the people are first time guests, people who are experiencing homelessness based on all of the current situations that we face every single day from the pandemic to lack of affordable housing, to lack of living wages, et cetera.

So half of the population that we are serving first time to homelessness, that's pretty staggering.

So, 5.5% are veterans 26% self-report as having significant mental illness, 22% with significant physical disabilities, 19% are chronically homeless.

And that's, what's interesting is I think what we see on the streets, we just think, well, they're always going to be homeless.

Only 19% of everyone experiencing homelessness is a chronic person.

Who's been experiencing homelessness again for much longer than the 23 days that people are typically in our shelter.

And so people in West Michigan, I think, believe that most people who go through homelessness are addicts and the numbers don't support that it's really only about 6% struggle with addiction as their primary obstacle.

- Exactly - Yes, Gerry, go into a little bit more of your niche and this target audience of your age group and why this is happening.

- So if you would look at the whole numbers, just in the Grand Rapids area, 3,500 of those homeless people that are recorded are under 20, are under 21.

And that's a large number for these young people to be on their own, to live basically by their wits.

And what we try to do is first of all, we find out who they are, what their details are, where, (Gerry clears throat) how did they end up being homeless?

And then we try to encourage them to stay with us where they can get everything that they possibly need.

But the most important piece of all of that is to work with them, to restart their life.

What is their mental health situation?

What is their health, regular health situation?

What are their goals?

What have they done so far?

One of the reasons that we came out to Grand Rapids and build the shelter in 2018 is we have a great partnership with Grand Valley State University, the Charter Schools, we opened the Charter School right next to the shelter.

And that school is entirely designed for those youth who are experiencing homelessness to try and get a full diploma from the State, as well as any other youth that has encountered a barrier towards getting a home, to getting a diploma within the State.

So all of those things have been put together in the, with the idea that this is what these young people need.

They need people that care about them.

They need people that are out for them, that are working on their behalf and not being judgmental.

We are open to any type of youth who is serious about turning their life around.

- Yes, are you a physical house, Gerry?

- Yes, we are a physical house and probably the most enticing draw to us is that every person that comes in who is homeless and has registered in, gets their own room.

And I think that's really, that was very intention and the purpose of getting them to be on their own.

They have their own room, they have their privacy, and yet they also have the responsibility to do the work that they need to do in order to end their homelessness.

So having the private rooms for everybody really has made a very big difference and has been extremely helpful to the staff.

- Julie, how does Dégagé help the homeless?

- Oh, well we, first off, we want to treat everyone who walks through our doors with dignity and respect.

And we show that by showing the love of Christ to each one.

We strive every day to meet our patrons where they are at.

And we work with them to make sure we set goals that are attainable and that we collaborate with other agencies to make sure that the resources that are available for them, they have, and then our advocates walk alongside with them and make sure that if they're looking for a job, that they get that job.

And then as they go into housing, we walk alongside and sign leases and move in their property and we just work with them to make sure that all of the obstacles that they're facing are overcome.

- You are providing meals and housing to housing.

- Yes.

- Let's talk about the meal service first.

- Definitely.

So we provide two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, and there is a slight fee for our meals, which is $2.

But we have a voucher program here where patrons can earn a voucher by doing like a 10 minute chore.

And then that way, we treat people with dignity and respect that way.

We wouldn't expect to go in anywhere and ask for a free meal.

And we don't expect our patrons to do that either.

So we work really hard at that.

And the emergency shelter program part, the ladies that are in the emergency shelter, they do get their two meals provided for them.

So our dining room is open to the public and anyone can come in and enjoy a meal with us.

- And ladies are staying in your emergency shelter?

- Yes, we have a little over 60 women right now, staying in our emergency shelter and they can come in anywhere between three o'clock and eight o'clock.

They check in and they get to stay until 7:30 in the morning.

And at which time they can go down to our Community Center and our dining room for the remainder of most of the day so.

- Yes, Beth Fisher, how does Mel Trotter Ministries work with the homeless?

- Yeah, so first we'd meet immediate needs for those experiencing hunger and homelessness, right?

So we provide food and shelter.

Thousands of meals every year, so we provide three meals a day.

We have also emergency shelter, which represents a large, larger portion percentage of the guests whom we serve.

But in addition to that also workforce development programs, transitional housing and outreach.

And so we're now going out into the community for those that don't want to access to come through our doors.

And so we have outreach vehicles.

Actually, our most recent is an ambucab.

It was an ambulance that was donated.

We convert it into a vehicle that is providing medical outreach and encampments.

And so we know that many folks don't come here to access those services.

So we're taking our services to them.

So in a myriad of ways, but much like Julie and Gerry both said, it's like the holistic approach.

So we meet people immediately by saying, "You know what, everyone here is welcome.

"We value you as a human being made in the image of Christ.

"And here's what's happening is that when you walk "through our doors, you're going to experience "that compassion and unconditional love.

"And we will meet you again, "where you are in this journey "and provide an appropriate track out of here."

Because we often say, "One of the best things that we can ever do "is work ourselves out of a job."

- Do you all three prepare for an upcoming winter season, Gerry Piro?

- We prepare as much as anyone else.

So the, yeah, obvious, make sure we have access to the building.

That's snow removal, all of that.

But this year, it's going to be a bit more difficult as they keep talking about the pandemic and the virus, that's probably been a major concern for us in trying to keep these young people safe.

Not everybody likes to wear the mask.

Not everybody is always careful, but we are reminding them every day, every minute of every day, how this needs to be safely done.

Of course, we've been working with the Department of Health on the vaccines, and I think we've achieved a good success with that.

You may have one or two more staff members, the international office overseeing all of Covenant Houses has mandated that all workers be fully vaccinated.

And so we still have a little bit more time to get that done, but it's all in care of everyone that's around us and these young people.

Young people, as you know, these young people are very vulnerable in many ways, but one of the major things that has been very successful with us at Covenant House besides providing for their place to live and food every day.

And all of that is the Workforce Development piece.

We really have a very vigorous Workforce Development piece in Grand Rapids.

And we have one person that is totally devoted to it, knows every young person that is there, why they are there and what their abilities are.

And once they are ready, he connects them with a possible employment and make sure that they do what they're supposed to do in order to be successful there.

So that's also a very helpful issue within homelessness, to have them feel better by them, about themselves and to feel that they are supporting themselves and working their way out of the many sad situations that they have been in.

- Yes, Julie, let me have you talk about your preparation for winter and any other perhaps events that we need to know about?

- Definitely we are preparing for our winter hours, which will mean that the women in shelter will be able to stay 24 hours a day.

Once the temperatures reach below freezing for consecutive, for three consecutive nights and daytime hours.

And we also increase our Community Center hours for those in the community to be in, we will not turn any woman away from shelter during the cold weather, meaning that if they were suspended for some reason, we would lift that suspension in order for them to be able to come in and be safe from the elements.

We are stacking up on extra bedding and extra mattresses, just to make sure we have an area for women when they come in and with the other things coming up, I too, we just started a Workforce Development Program and I almost forgot to mention it.

And we have a Workforce Development coordinator who is really busy right now, working with our patron job holders.

Our patrons have jobs here.

When COVID hit, we did not have any volunteers.

The volunteers had to not come in and we instead hired on patrons to work so we could stay open.

So that was such a success that we did open up the Workforce Development Program, and we will keep those patron jobs in place and we'll get the experience they need for jobs in the future and upcoming events, we have the Christmas Store, this winter actually in December and what that is is the community comes together, we're working with Mel Trotter Ministries to do the Christmas Store and our patrons can come in and purchase items at a very, very reduced price for their friends and families to give out for Christmas.

It's a great event and it's always really big.

So if anyone would like to donate for that, please go to our website at degageinistries.org.

And it will give you the directions on how to do that.

- Yes, the community will step up I'm sure.

Beth Fisher, one of your signature events is the Community Dinner upcoming this month.

- Yes the Community Meal, it's Thanksgiving Day and actually a week before that.

So Wednesday, November 17th is our Turkey Drop another annual event.

And so that's at Celebration Cinema North and South.

We partnered this year with Feeding America.

So all of the frozen turkey donations are going to go out to the appropriate pantries via Feeding America.

We're very grateful to them.

And then the following week on Thanksgiving Day, we're going to be at DeVos Place.

We're so excited to be back in person again this year, last year we were not in person.

So we're expecting a really big turnout.

And even perhaps equally as exciting is that we're offering as well, a free vaccine clinic in conjunction with Cherry Health, the day of the event.

So doors open at 10:00 AM and the meal will be between 11:00 and 1:00.

The free vaccine clinic will be between 10:00 and noon that day.

- Great.

DeVos Place, you still need helpers at this time of discussion?

- Yes.

Sponsorships and volunteers.

It's on our website, meltrotterr.org/thanksgiving.

- Great.

Gerry, you have an event coming up that's a necessary.

- Yes, we do.

I failed to mention at the beginning that the major shelter, the largest shelter that we have is here in the City of Detroit and the major event, which takes place on November 18th is called Sleep Out.

And what that is, is where people sign up to sleep out for one night in solidarity with the young people or any homeless person has to do in their situation.

So this Sleep Out is eight years old here in Michigan, and because of the current situation with the COVID and everything, this is the second year that it will be virtual and by virtual, I mean, people are signing up and pledging to raise $5,000 towards Covenant House.

And the different part is, they're not on campus.

And so it's not as impactful sometimes because when you're actually sleeping out in a box in a tent, experiencing all those elements that you're not used to, it really brings home the situation of homelessness.

And they get to talk with the youth that are experiencing homeless here and find out how they came into Covenant House and all of those details.

So we're hoping that both in Grand Rapids, they're part of it too.

And here in Detroit, they can go to covenanthousemi or sleepout.org, probably the better (mumbles), sleep out.org and sign up and try and help us through raising the money.

In the later part of the evening, what happens is we have different sections on the computer that you can learn more about homelessness for youth and actually have one or two youth that will be there telling their story and certainly our staff too.

So it's really a very, very impactful event when it can be fully done.

And we're hoping to continue this year to make it a bit more successful, even though it's all on the computer.

- Yes, thank you for that.

An uncomfortable question.

There's a gentle man or a gentle woman standing at the end of an intersection, asking for money.

What is the action item you're telling us to do as we ponder whether or not to a part of our money to this person, Beth Fisher?

- Yeah, I love that you asked me the uncomfortable question first Shelley.

(Shelley chuckles) But it's a very real question, right?

And we get it frequently, as you can imagine.

And so it's interesting.

I have a daughter who's 24 and she always asks me that question when we would drive and she was growing up and she said, "Mama, should we just help people in need?"

And my answer is always, yes.

My answer is that is what we are called to do to whom much is given much is expected.

However, saying that organizations like ours exist to do that, to put those resources to the needs that we know exist and we are equipped to do so.

My personal response is, if your heart leads you to do that real time, certainly do that, please.

From a safety standpoint, obviously what you're comfortable with and if you just really want to help know that our organizations exist to do just that.

- Gerry what are you advising the community with this opportunity?

- In a couple of ways, that is a difficult question.

One of the things that we do is we have a very vigorous outreach program where we go out twice a day, drive around to those areas where people are hiding or congregating abandoned homes and try and help them out and bring them into Covenant House.

They include in that stopping at those corners and seeing these people who are asking for some help.

So I think that's, we're trying to do the best that we can to attend to it.

And I think Beth is exactly right.

If your heart is asking you to do that and helping out there really is no harm in it.

But if there is other thoughts in your mind, maybe think it through a little bit more, but it is a very difficult question and situation to try and deal with.

- Yes, obviously your words on that, Julie, and then we need to ask you all for how do we continue the conversation with you, Julie?

- Definitely.

So here at Dégagé Ministries, we actually have community vouchers for the community to come in and purchase.

And instead of giving cash at the corners, if you provide one of these vouchers, it's good for a haircut, a meal, for a load of laundry.

And it does a couple of things.

It lets the person know that yes, we do see you and it will also get them through our door.

So then we can help them find resources to get them out of their situation and to overcome the obstacles.

So if anyone is interested in purchasing those community vouchers, you can come in and speak with one of our receptionists or go online and we can order them that way as well.

It's just, it's a great way to get people into our doors so we can help them more.

- Yes.

What is that website in closing from you, Julie?

- Yes, it's degageministries.org.

- Great.

What do you leave us with Gerry Piro on behalf of Covenant House?

- That homelessness can happen to anyone, believe it or not.

And we're here to do what we can to try and arrest that at the earliest stage we can.

But if anyone wants to know more about Covenant House Michigan, it is covenanthousemi.org covenanthousemi.org.

- And the date of your Sleep Out again is?

- November 18th, let's not forget that.

- I'm sorry.

- Yes - No, no.

No sorries.

Virtually a for sure raising necessary funds, Beth Fisher, what do you leave us with?

- Yep, exactly what Gerry said that we are all blessed.

If anything happened to us, most folks that we see are one paycheck away from becoming homeless.

And the thing is if, that happened to me, I have supports in place.

I would not need to access the shelter.

And that's just not the case for those who are experiencing homelessness in 2021 and beyond.

And so we do, it's so imperative to go upstream.

We do a lot of diversion, work last year, we diverted 70 families from becoming homeless.

And so it's just that intentionality and the effort to say, how do we help upstream fix a broken system at times that is, continuing to keep people in homelessness.

And so we're just very grateful.

I leave everybody with a word of thank you.

We're very, just grateful for the community and the wraparound support that we get and to learn more and to become a part of that it's meltrotter.org.

- Great.

And details one more time for your Thanksgiving Community Meal.

- Yep, it's on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, and it, doors open at 10:00 AM at DeVos Place, free vaccine clinic from 10:00 AM until noon and the meal, free meal, Community Meal, 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

- Great, and Julie just 30 seconds.

Again, head to the Christmas Store with our donations and spread that word?

- Yes, definitely.

Our Christmas Store is going to be wonderful this year and we can definitely use help from those in the community to donate new items such as toys or household goods.

And you can do that again by reaching out to us on our website at degageministries.org - Great, you can probably say that backwards, all three of you.

Thank you so much for your passion.

I know we probably could have had the screen filled up with the three or four other organizations you're working together to work in this field of homelessness.

So Beth Fisher, thank you, Gerry Piro, thank you.

And Julie Kendrick, thank you.

On behalf of your super staff and your guests.

So support, obviously these organizations that are certainly supporting our community.

I'm Shelley Irwin Have a good day.

(soft music)