homelessness

Traverse City commissioners approved a prowling ordinance after a heated public debate over safety, homelessness and police enforcement at Hull Park.

Safety complaints in a Traverse City park are causing leaders to consider stiffer penalties for "prowling," which could bring 90 days of jail time. As police step up enforcement, we hear from people who are homeless and spend time in the park, as well as city officials.

Renewed interest in the ordinance comes as Traverse City Police recently stepped up enforcement at Hull Park following mounting safety complaints.

Following recent incidents, including an alleged assault, Traverse City police say they are stepping up enforcement at Hull Park, targeting drinking, smoking and sleeping.

Traverse City’s Resilience Night brings the community together with music, food and stories from unhoused neighbors to reduce stigma around homelessness.

Mandi Young, a science teacher at The Pathfinder School, spent the week aboard the Lake Guardian taking water samples, working with EPA scientists, and thinking of ways to bring the experience to her students this school year. She spoke with IPR Climate Solutions Reporter Vivian La about her trip.

A new Traverse City Resilience Program group gives people experiencing homelessness a space to share experiences, find peer support and discuss local services.

License plate reading cameras are catching on in northern Michigan. Grand Traverse County has 28. Antrim County has eight, with the possibility of three more on the way.

Youth homelessness in Northwest Michigan dropped nearly 50% over the past year, continuing a long-term decline that local leaders credit to HUD's Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, even as national rates remain steady

Two years ago, homelessness advocates in northern Michigan made a longstanding ideal a reality. We check in on the East Bay Flats, where all 64 apartments are for people experiencing homelessness. IPR’s Maxwell Howard visited the Flats to see how the ideal is actually working in practice.