The Grand Traverse County Commission voted Wednesday to fund rental assistance and supportive housing programs run by Traverse City-based Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing (NMSH).
NMSH will receive at least $250,000 of the county’s excess cannabis dispensary tax revenue over two years, with the option to renew for a third year with another $125,000.
Though the proposal passed 5-2, commissioners discussed a need to formalize a better process for allocating the county’s excess cannabis, opioid, and American Rescue Plan Act funds.
NMSH's programs focus on bringing homeless individuals and families into permanent, stable housing. They own and operate six properties themselves, and work with 40 private landlords in the region.
“It is next to impossible for folks to be stable while they're experiencing homelessness,” said Ashley Halladay-Schmandt, director of Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness. “Once they get into programs like Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing, they're able to really regain this new sense of life and focus on the things that they're not able to while they're experiencing homelessness.”
Halladay-Schmandt’s group is separate from the one awarded funding; she was at the meeting to speak in support of the idea.
NMSH’s proposal to the county
A presentation by NMSH’s executive director Becca Binder outlined that the cost for them to serve one family or individual for one year is around $15,000 — including rent payments, utilities, maintenance, and supportive services through NMSH case managers.
Binder estimates this funding will house 6-8 individuals or families per year.
She emphasized programs like this not only allow people to build stable lives, but they also lessen the burden on emergency services and first responders.
“The health challenges and the negative health impacts that people who are unsheltered have are significant,” she said, “and that is being pushed on our emergency services, and it's preventable.”
The initial request was for $150,000 per year, which the board amended to $125,000 since there was determined to be about $250,000 in excess cannabis funding next year.
The money will help bridge a gap left by shortfalls in Michigan’s Housing Choice Voucher program.
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has not issued any new Housing Choice vouchers since October 2023, and NMSH received a notice in July that they will not be issuing any new vouchers due to a budget shortfall from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Without those vouchers, NMSH has not been able to transition anyone supported by their permanent housing funds into MSHDA’s “Moving Up” voucher program, leaving them without a budget to support anyone new referred to them by shelter or street outreach workers.
“This will actually expand our capacity,” Binder told IPR after the vote, “allowing us to move more people into our program and out of homelessness, while we're waiting to be able to exit people to MSHDA Moving Up vouchers when those get reinstated.”
What the board said
Every board member who spoke at the meeting was impressed with Binder’s presentation. But many were critical of the commission’s internal process for evaluating requests like this one.
Commissioner Darryl Nelson said he wished he’d seen financial disclosures and information on their other sources of funding, though he admired the work they do for the community.
“This is not a criticism of you,” he said, addressing Binder. “We don't have a process. You don't have a form to fill out. You don't have a way to make an application. I want to stay in our lane on what we do as a commission, and what we do with the budget.”
This proposal from NMSH was put on the agenda by Commissioner Ashlea Walter, after Binder emailed her a request for $150,000 per year, which was added to the meeting packet and available for commissioners to read.
“There are groups out there who are doing work and who didn't pull aside a commissioner and ask for funding,” said Commissioner TJ Andrews. But she said this proposal was urgent enough to justify funding the project regardless.
After voting to fund NMSH, the commission then voted to instruct county administrator Nate Alger to propose a committee that would create a process for non-governmental organizations to apply for any of the county’s excess funding.
After the meeting, Binder told IPR she understood why the board had some concerns about how funding was allocated.
“However,” she said, “that's something that they acknowledged and owned and [they] did not allow it to impact lack of progress for organizations like NMSH that are doing work in this community.”
