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Last year, a Traverse City no-camping ordinance upended the city’s homeless community.
The Pines — an encampment that once housed up to 70 people — was cleared in May as warm weather arrived. Access to the city’s emergency night shelter expanded to absorb those displaced, but those beds are now full.
People are still sleeping outside, though largely out of sight.
And now, it’s winter.
‘Doing all they can to stay alive’
Just days before Christmas, the day shelter Jubilee House opened its doors at 10 a.m. A brief warm spell turned snowy sidewalks into slush. Inside, people are in a good mood.
The main room holds about a dozen worn leather chairs, deep enough to sink into. In front of a television playing "Ocean’s Eleven," one man pulled cushions from couches, sweeping tucked-away trash onto the floor as he looks for spare change. He found 35 cents — and a banana — which drew chuckles from the room.
Then he pulled out something else: a small silver angel. It fits in the palm of his hand.
He showed it to Jubilee House director Hannah Wescott — who turned away in tears. A friend of hers, someone who once lived on Traverse City’s streets, used to hand out these angels. He died earlier last year.
"Keep it," Wescott told the man, "it’s a sign."
In the back of the room, a wooden cross stands with nearly 70 strings hanging from it, each holding a paper with the name of someone who has died while living on the streets over the years.
Last year, homeless advocates said, seven people experiencing homelessness died in Traverse City. None of those deaths were directly caused by the cold. Even so, prolonged exposure to low temperatures increases the risk of heart disease and stroke and can worsen severe respiratory illnesses.
This winter has brought wide temperature swings, but sustained cold is coming. And for people without stable housing, the question remains: Where do they go?
"Some people have set up a camp, but it's farther out of town and much more difficult to access those services," said Ryan Hannon, director of outreach at Central United Methodist Church. "So there's a few people in encampments that are outside of town that I don't see very much anymore."
When The Pines encampment was still standing, he said, people at least had tents and sleeping bags.
"People don't know what to do," said Hannon. "[They] are just doing all they can to stay alive at night and then try to get into the shelter the next day or another day."
According to data from the Northwest Coalition to End Homelessness, roughly 250 people are actively experiencing homelessness in Traverse City right now. Within the past year, that number was at least 100 people higher.
The emergency shelter Safe Harbor can absorb more than 70 people, and the Goodwill Inn has space for another 120. On days when temperatures drop to 15 degrees or below, the Goodwill Inn activates what it calls "Code Blue," becoming a warming center open to anyone.
Above that threshold, people must find shelter on their own — staying with friends or family, pooling money for hotel rooms, or finding hidden places to sleep.
Finding a place
One of those people sleeping outside (sometimes called "rough camping") is Brett. We’re only using his first name to protect his privacy.
"What I'm looking for is crevices between the buildings," said Brett. "I'm looking between the buildings for alleys where there might be a crevice or a place to get out of the wind so that I can wrap up."
Just looking at him, you wouldn’t realize Brett is sleeping outside. He’s dressed causally and would blend in easily in a crowd.
"I'm hiding in plain sight. People and cars are going by and nobody has any idea I'm there."BRETT | Local man currently experiencing homelessness
Living outside is relatively new for him. When he first moved to Traverse City, he was renting but then, he said, his rent increased.
“When I moved back up here, everything was great," he said. "I had a friend let me stay with them. I moved into a house I was paying like 600 bucks a month. And [then] 30 days later, she moved to Florida and said, 'Now it's $1,200 bucks a month.'"
For a time, he lived out of his van at a campground.
"[For]at least a year...even though I had three jobs last year," Brett said. "I worked at a golf course, in two restaurants. I was making money. But you know, rent is six, seven hundred bucks.... It just got expensive. Traverse City is kind of expensive."
Even after losing his van, Brett is still working. He has a job at a local restaurant, but as business has slowed, he is only scheduled one or two days a week.
At night, he looks for somewhere no one will notice him.
"I go sleep in the shed behind a bar, really. It's what I did last night," he said. "I'm sleeping outside in a shed — hoping to God — nobody knows I'm in there."
Asked what would help him most, Brett responded, "I just need a warm place, a bed, a room, just just an ounce of something."
"I'm hiding in plain sight," he said. "People and cars are going by and nobody has any idea I'm there."
Systems serving the homeless are already overburdened, strained by record levels of homelessness and an ongoing affordable housing crisis.
More pressure may be coming. Last November, the federal government announced a shift in priorities that could cost northwest Michigan organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars — and push at least 20 additional households onto the streets.
For now, Brett is trying to make it work in Traverse City and get a second job.
"If I go and apply for a job ... it's like 'where do you live?' I got to put my address down and put my phone number down. [But] I don't have a phone, I don't have an address… And then you gotta lie. I hate lying. If I have to, I don't give an answer."
