housing crisis

A wooded area near Traverse City held an encampment for people who are unsheltered, until this past week, when police cleared out the area. We'll hear what happened. Plus, we walk around the centerpiece of the Grand Traverse Commons with two composers who were tasked with writing music about an old psychiatric hospital.

The Traverse City homeless shelter normally closes its doors for the summer at the end of April. But this May, the shelter will stay open.

This week: News that a film made in northern Michigan will head to the Sundance Film Festival next month. Plus, an update on housing efforts in and around Petoskey.

Officials say they're feeling optimistic about opportunities for year-round housing but there’s still work to be done in the new year.

County commissioners will give Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing $125,000 a year for two years, with a possible extension for a third year. They also discussed the need for a better process on awarding excess cannabis, opioid, and American Rescue Plan funds.

This comes as Leelanau County — and much of the region — faces a housing shortage that affects teacher recruitment and retention.

Whitmer spoke on the playground of Blair Elementary School, just across the street from a planned development site for education workforce housing on land already owned by TCAPS.

A consortium of four educational institutions has been working for two years on a project to build affordable housing units for school staff, and recently secured $5 million from the state’s Labor and Economic Opportunity budget specifically for their project.

Panelists from regional and state agencies echoed a need for collaboration across multiple agencies and stakeholders.

Ever since an enormous fire and roof collapse in September, the Cheboygan Tissue Depot site has sat in disrepair. Now, there are new plans for the site.