TRAVERSE CITY — Kristina Weber stood under the portico in front of Safe Harbor Wednesday morning and added up her blessings.
One, her walker is in good shape. Two, she has several bottles of a name-brand nutritional drink. Three — and the most valuable — she has a voucher for a local hotel room and a cab ride to get her there.
“This is not seasonal — this is a year-round thing,” Weber, 43, said. “Don’t people get that?”
Safe Harbor, the seasonal emergency shelter on Wellington Street, closed Wednesday, two weeks earlier than usual, in response to COVID-19. One guest was tested last week, and the test came back negative Wednesday, spokesperson Mike McDonald said.
As staff and volunteers handed out sleeping bags, sleeping pads, tarps and tents, across town a debate on whether the region does enough to take care of its homeless residents was taking shape.
The Grand Traverse County Commission was holding its regular twice monthly meeting, with some staff and commissioners present, some watching live online and those from the public waiting in an online waiting room to make comments.
Health Officer Wendy Hirshenberger updated commissioners on a variety of COVID-19 details, including effects on vulnerable populations.
“Can you talk a little bit about the conversations you’ve had with street outreach, now that the shelter is closed?” asked Commissioner Betsy Coffia.
“Not having them all in one congregated area is good from the transmission standpoint,” Hirshenberger said. “I understand there are challenges ... For all of us, there’s not enough resources whether it’s money or people. This is uncharted territory. There’s no playbook.”
McDonald announced later that day a coordinated group working together planned a temporary day shelter, which will open Thursday and be available seven days a week from 1 to 4 p.m.
No food will be served, McDonald said, in order not to compete with local community meal providers, but showers, laundry facilities and a common area with computers and internet will be available.
The temporary shelter will also have public bathrooms, something George Golubovski, who is homeless and stays in close contact with elected officials, said were sorely lacking following the community-wide closure of public spaces from the library to Building 50.
“They locked that building yesterday because they didn’t want people from the Men’s Trail coming in to use the bathrooms,” Golubovski said.
He has heath challenges and was given a hotel voucher, but said the Men’s Trail at the Commons is a common camping site.
Coffia said she heard estimates of 150 more people camping in and around Traverse City in recent weeks.
“We didn’t just close the shelter and say ‘Good luck’,” McDonald said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We worked together to come up with a plan.”
Staff and volunteers from the Goodwill Inn, Central United Methodist Church, Jubilee House, United Way, Traverse City Area Public Schools, along with city and county officials coordinated efforts to get the day shelter opened, McDonald said.
A permanent solution to the affordable housing crisis experienced by the homeless community and minimum-wage workers is long overdue, several people in leadership positions said.
“Every year there are those who have no place to go,” said Dan Buron, executive director of Goodwill Northern Michigan. “This health emergency has made it more public. It has lifted the veil. Maybe now we’ll find real solutions.”
Should tax money be used to help house northwest lower Michigan’s homeless? Some people say yes.
“Safe Harbor receives no tax money, never has,” McDonald said. “Let me give you my personal feelings. We build thousands of high-end condos. We don’t build enough affordable housing and the government needs to take the lead in addressing that. As a whole, we need to do better. That’s partly on us as voters. We elected those people into office.”
Wednesday morning Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist spoke via video conference with the Record-Eagle on a variety of issues related to COVID-19, including homelessness.
“Being housing insecure is one of the more difficult situations for people generally and that’s exacerbated by the risk of getting the virus,” Gilchrist said. “We didn’t direct homeless shelters to close. And we certainly want people to have resources.”
The state may dispatch a staff person to follow up and learn more about the challenges in the Traverse City area, he said.
Patrick Licavoli, 55, has been homeless in Colorado and Michigan. He said he has given a lot of thought to affordable housing and solving the problem will require cooperation on a grand scale.
Religious leaders, elected officials, philanthropists, social service agencies, educators and homeless people could combine efforts, and purchase land near public transportation like BATA.
Rectangular foundations could be poured, abandoned shipping containers could be retrieved from city junk yards and re-fitted as living spaces, a central building could house a cafeteria, classrooms and social service agencies.
“People can pretend not to see us but that doesn’t’ mean we’re not here,” Licavoli said. “The biggest problems need the biggest ideas.”
While she waited for her cab to arrive, Weber said she had something to add to Licavoli’s idea. She likes to do crafts — it’s one of the activities she misses and is difficult to maintain with no fixed address.
Weber wants to organize a craft space, where people can make jewelry, paint, or Mod Podge (a sealer used to decorate home accessories). Supplies could be donated and crafts could be sold to pay for more supplies.
“It would be called, Craft Barn for the Homeless,” Weber said, gesturing expansively, “and we could have art shows. There are a lot of talented people here. No one knows that, though.”
Clarification: Golubovski qualified for a hotel room voucher but did not received one after shelter volunteers and staff could not immediately reach officials responsible for approval.
