Dan Buron, from Goodwill Industries, spoke on August 26th regarding Homeless In Our Area. In Dan's presentation he discussed the homeless situation in the multi-county area around Traverse City. Although Dan works for Goodwill, not only did he discuss what Goodwill is doing to fight homelessness, but collaborative efforts being done throughout the area.
Dan stressed that homelessness is truly a housing issue. In many areas in NW Michigan housing prices are high and this makes it harder for people to find housing. Some statistics on this show there is 0.6% vacancy rate for rental housing and a 0% vacancy rate for affordable housing.
To assist in fighting homelessness there has been a call center created that will do an assessment. With that families/individuals will enter a shelter or decide to live on the streets. There are multiple organizations trying to assist with longer term living situations and these include Goodwill, Women's Resource Center, Patriot Place, Safe Harbor, and others. With the help of those agencies approximately 80% of homeless using those resources find a home within a year.
The current state of homelessness in our region:
250+ families/individuals are experiencing homelessness today
70 of these are experiencing chronic homelessness.
Homelessness in Benzie County
72 Families/Individuals served
50 Families/Individuals housed
9 Families/Individuals sheltered at Goodwill Inn
Overall Homeless Statistics
Life expectancy is 47 years compared to 80+. (source - UPenn)
53 People have died on streets in the past 5 years. (source - Basic Needs Coalition)
Seniors served increased 64% in the past 5 years. (source - Homeless Coalition)
The cost of homelessness is very expensive. Almost $2.5 million per year in Traverse City area per year considering health care, police, and ambulance services.
Key Points:
Root of the Problem - Homelessness is a HOUSING problem
Good News - there are multiple efforts going on to solve this issue and we can end chronic homelessness.