Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 8, 1988
ANN ARBOR ISSUES
Local homeless turn
to
shelters
BY TRACEY KAUFMAN
On a typical evening at the Sal-
vation Army's Arbor Haven Emer-
gency Shelter in Ann Arbor, you
might find a Michigan State Univer-
sity graduate, a woman paying for
her education while working to sup-
port her four-year-old daughter, and
another young woman saving money
to return home after a broken en-
gagement.
Contrary to stereotypes, not all of
Washtenaw County's estimated 500
to 1300 homeless are old, un-
educated alcoholics who sleep on
park benches. The majority of
homeless are plagued by financial
and personal difficulties that are
often beyond their control, said
officials at the Shelter Association
of Ann Arbor.
WHILE ANN Arbor's problems
compare to those of cities of pro-
portional size and demographic
make-up nationwide, here "the big-
gest barrier is lack of affordable
housing," said Cathy Zick, associa-
tion director.
An average apartment in Ann
Arbor costs between $165 and $300
per month per person.
"To make $20,000 per year in
this area is not a lot of money in
terms of living," said Zelba Owens,
director of the Day Drop-In Program
- an affiliate of the shelter associa-
tion that provides advocacy services
for the homeless.
The Ann Arbor Shelter is a place
for the homeless to sleep, bathe,
lounge, and do laundry. It ac-
commodates approximately 800 dif-
ferent people per year providing
over 19,000 bed-nights of shelter.
Arbor Haven Emergency Shelter
houses an average of 483 people per
year providing 4,543- bed-nights of
shelter.
ANN NAGY, Arbor Haven's
caseworker, described their facility+
as a "structured shelter." In order to
use the shelter, clients must abide by-
the rules, do housework, get a job
within five days of admission, and
save money for future housing.
Arbor Haven's MSU graduate,
who wished to remain anonymous,
said, "Without the house, I would
have been back in the street. This
gave me time to regroup."
The single mother added, "The
housing is the main problem in Ann
Arbor, especially if you're a single
parent." She and her daughter had to
leave their apartment complex to
ensure their safety after a series of
rapes, break-ins, and shootings fi-
nally drove them away.
During Ann Arbor's often harsh
winter months, the homeless prob-
lem is more severe. To handle over-
crowding at the city facilities, the
local religious community provides
rotating church shelters. Zick refers
to the additional shelter beds as
"band-aids" that serve as a
temporary solutions to an often
desperate situation.
SIXTY-ONE percent of Arbor
Haven's clients are employed during
their stay. "The support (the clients)
get from others and from our staff is
what makes our operation a suc-
cess ...I don't believe in welfare. It
bothers me when I see able-bodied
people waiting for that job. Until
you help yourself, we can't help
you," Nagy said.
But not all Ann Arbor's homeless
are able to help themselves. Ac-
cording to an April 1988 Ann Arbor
Shelter survey, 48 percent of shelter
users are mentally or physically dis-
abled, and 36 percent are classified.
as substance abusers.
The homeless that do not make it
to the shelters typically can be seen
sleeping on city streets. Some stay in
the parks after closing hours at 10
p.m. while others are seen hovering
over sidewalk heat vents. Occasion-
ally they can be found sleeping on
University property.
Lt. Gerald Miller of the Ann Ar-
bor Police Department said homel-
ess are not arrested for loitering. He
added that insufficient staffing pre-
vents police from removing them
from parks after closing.
IF THE POLICE catch illegal
trespassers on private or city prop-
erty, "We read them the trespassing
act and they leave or are arrested,"
Miller said.
While the Salvation Army and
of communication between staff and
shelter residents regarding shelter
rules. The Ann Arbor shelters en-
force strict curfews that Tackett and
other .shelter users feel should be
more lenient. The Ann Arbor Shelter
opens its doors at 7:30 p.m. and
closes at 7:00 a.m., but the homeless
DANA MENDELSSOHN/Daily
Members of the city's Homeless Action Committee marched
last fall to protest the lack of homeless shelters in Ann
Arbor.
Shelter Association of Ann Arbor
provide services through the Day
Program, Alcoholics Anonymous,
and the Packard Community Clinic,
many homeless said they are un-
aware of or unsatisfied with the pro-
grams available to them.
"These people are in desperate
need of outreach programs in order
to re-enter society as productive and
fulfilled human beings," wrote
Charles Tackett, a frequent shelter
resident, in his "Report on the Pre-
sent Status of the Ann Arbor Shel-
ter" for the city of Ann Arbor last
summer.
TACKETT SAID there is a lack
are usually not allowed to enter the
shelters after a specified curfew.
"The shelter staff sometimes dis-
plays an absurd and insensitive set
of priorities when enforcing ob-
viously minor rules and regulations
'becomes more important than help-
ing residents," Tackett wrote.
"People come with a variety of
problems and needs. We work to re-
solve those problems," Zick said.
The Shelter Association of Ann
Arbor depends on the private sector
for 27 percent of its income. Offi-
cials rely on volunteers to aid in
shopping, transporting, and talking
with homeless.
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