UPDATE: A warming shelter at Stepping Stones Engagement Center will be open from 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, to 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 26, for anyone needing it. Stepping Stones is located at 2020 E. Grand River Ave., Suite 102, under the blue awning facing El Patron’s Patio. Call (517) 376-6262 for more information.
It was cold last night. Really, really cold. And my thermometer tells me that it’s -2 degrees outside this morning, not factoring in the windchill.
Most of us knew to expect this dangerous deep chill. In the past few days, advice on recognizing the signs of frostbite, getting dogs to do their business outdoors quickly, and keeping our water pipes from freezing were featured on local television news programs.
As cold as it was last night, it’s not as cold as it’s going to be tonight, or over the weekend, or in the upcoming week as this monster winter storm barrels across the country, bringing deep-freeze temperatures to Michigan and snow and ice to other states. In the midst of all this, for people in Livingston County who need emergency shelter, there is apparently nowhere warm to sleep.
How can that be? How is it possible that in Michigan’s richest county there is no help for those who need somewhere safe and warm to sleep?
Daily numbers of people who are homeless in Livingston County are estimated to average around 100. And homelessness here doesn’t look like homelessness does in other places. We don’t often see people sleeping on sidewalks or in entrances to businesses; instead, our homeless neighbors are pitching tents in parks, or sleeping in their cars.
I contacted some people yesterday about where someone could find emergency shelter for the night. I was advised to call the non-emergency county central dispatch number, that someone there might know.
What I learned was that there was nowhere in Livingston County for anyone needing emergency overnight shelter. After the person I talked to consulted her fellow staffers, I was told that anyone in need of overnight shelter from the life-threatening cold needed to go to Washtenaw County.
Keeping warm during the day is a different story. Libraries are warming centers. There are also three facilities listed on the Michigan 211 site for people needing to escape the cold during the day: The Salvation Army in Howell; 2/42 Community Church in Genoa Township; and Community Congregational Church of Christ in Pinckney.
This is a list of help available on the Livingston County government website. Be forewarned: it’s not much.
Back in the 1990s, there was a program in which county churches rotated sheltering. The REACH program, which functioned much the same and was coordinated through the Salvation Army, it ended in 2012.
There was a time when the Severe Weather Network operated a seasonal shelter from Nov. 1 through April 30 inside Chilson Hills Baptist Church in Genoa Township. But the program, which began in 2015 and relied on grants and donations, closed its doors in 2022 because of lack of funding.
So, I called the after-hours emergency number for the Salvation Army that I found on the Livingston County website. I followed the instruction to leave a message — that was at 9:14 p.m. yesterday — and here I am, more than 14 hours later, still waiting for a call back (and grateful for the warmth of my home).
As a county, we should be able to do better, don’t you think?
