At the senior forum today we were posed the question: "What is being done with the homeless population on 8 mile?"
My answer? Not enough.
I think about our homeless population under the 8 mile bridge pretty frequently. With friends in California, Seattle, and Arizona experiencing surges in homelessness in their cities, I think I can safely say that it's not just a problem our fair city is facing. This is a growing crisis, tied to many factors like drug addiction, mental health, as well as ever-increasing costs to live/be sheltered.
It's also 2 problems in one: 1.) the need to help these people in a dignified and conscientious way and 2.) the need to maintain safe & sanitary conditions within a public walkway, as well as in the neighborhoods surrounding the area
The issue of sanitation & safe passage is straightforward. used needles, feces, discarded food, refuse- all of that doesn't belong there. That is NOT habitable space, and we shouldn't be treating it as such. We are perpetuating the problem by allowing that space to continue being used the way it has been for many years. Additionally, allowing the homeless to live and stay in that spot poses a risk to their life, as there have been numerous issues where they have been hit, or nearly hit, by vehicles driving through the area.
The issue of homelessness is much more complicated than sanitation, obviously. The Coalition for Homelessness lists 3 proven strategies to reduce homelessness: prevention & stability, right to shelter, & housing-based solutions. We have multiple shelters in areas nearby that we need to leverage partnerships with, and push to ensure these folks have adequate shelter (particularly during hot/cold cycles). Most of these organizations also provide outreach, but having a local arm within the city to accomplish preventative activities and provide outreach to those at risk of becoming homeless seems like a smart move to help stymie this issue. And last but not least, creating housing-based solutions like permanent supportive housing would go a LONG way to helping the problem- but the question remains as to where we could fit that in to our small town without losing even more green space.
Organizations that I've seen do fantastic work are Grace Centers of Hope and Lighthouse, both in Pontiac. Despite a huge homeless population up there, you rarely see encampments under bridges or alongside roads due to the continuous outreach. In order to help our homeless population, we should leverage similar tactics and lean on the organizations that exist to help us help them.
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