By Brooks Vanderbush
Christmas music floods our airwaves. Children smile, Santa ho ho hos and sleigh bells ring. Holiday songs, commercials and poems tell us to gather ’round the fire with family and friends in celebration. On the fringes of these scenes are people living another reality, where there’s no home for gathering with relatives, sharing laughter or waiting for Christmas miracles.
Some residents may not believe it or are unaware, but homelessness exists in the Traverse City area -- and the “homeless” label is expanding to include new victims. According to the State of Michigan, homelessness in West Michigan over the last year has increased by 10 percent, a statistic rivaled only by our state’s unemployment rate.
To put things in perspective for the fortunate among us, Goodwill Industries distributes pamphlets with a count-your-blessings page called “Important Things To Remember,” such as, “If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.” Another offers: “If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of this world’s wealthy.”
Goodwill should know. Its staff and volunteers are on the front lines of the fight against homelessness. Locally, the agency networks with nonprofit organizations and entities, including churches, to give persons who are homeless a meal and a place to stay, and the chance to make it through another day. Goodwill estimates that there are 800 homeless persons living in the five-county area. On a typical summer night in Traverse City, almost 100 people can be found sleeping “on the streets” in makeshift campsites or under its bridges and elsewhere -- just out of the community’s sight. Some sleep on the couches of friends or neighbors. Some find temporary shelter in the library, department stores, malls and larger book stores.
Ryan Hannon is the homeless outreach coordinator for Traverse City’s Goodwill Industries. Each day he makes his rounds, offering food, shelter and hope and opportunity to people who are hungry, cold and feeling helpless. According to Hannon, Goodwill’s most pressing concerns include recent increases in people living on the streets and needing its shelters, and their longer lengths of stay in shelters. Over 50 percent of homeless individuals served by Goodwill have some form of untreated mental illness, which creates additional challenges for shelter residents and staff.
“Goodwill offers a consistency of non-judgmental love,” Hannon said of the agency’s outreach toward fellow human beings, no matter their condition.
“T” attended grade school in Traverse City almost 35 years ago. She moved away but returned to the community in 2001 to receive treatment for substance abuse. She lived in an area transition home before moving to an apartment of her own. In July 2007, her situation began to change. Bills were piling up, and she could no longer afford her rent or her car payment.
“So, I just thought that I would live in my car for awhile,” T explained. “Maybe I could get caught up on some bills and just see what happens.”
Her choice to become temporarily homeless has stretched to almost two years, and now she feels she has no other option. Still, T considers herself to be one of the lucky ones. She has a van she sleeps in during the warm months, and she occasionally pet sits for pay.
“Collecting cans took a little getting used to,” she said. “I used to just go along the railroad tracks. I do feel uncomfortable, but I just decided that I was tired of worrying about it. If someone sees me sticking my head into a trash can, so what. It is what I am.”
Bill K., 63, has been in the area for five years. He was renting a hotel room downstate when he had a run-in with the law. An outstanding misdemeanor warrant, found during a random check, resulted in a 50-day jail stay and his subsequent move to northwest lower Michigan.
“I was relocated, not of my choosing,” Bill K. said.
He has no family and has been homeless on and off for 40 years. Always quick with a smile and a hello, he spends warmer months in a number of hidden locations throughout the region. He fashions his shelters using various “found” items and camping equipment purchased with his limited Social Security funds. One of his favorite “camps” is near a bustling retail center, yet his interaction with people is limited to Goodwill or church outreach programs.
“I would say that most of the social contact that I have is at the community meals,” Bill K. said. With a smile, he added: “The other day we had some rain and I was walking through the bank parking lot. This woman rolled down her window and gave me an umbrella. I certainly needed it.”
When asked what, if any, Christmas wish he may have, Bill K responded: “This is far too long to be homeless, to have nothing. I am hoping that by January I will have housing.”
How You Can Help
To be part of the extensive and necessary support system that allows Goodwill industries to help those less fortunate than many, check out www.goodwillnmi.org/SupportGoodwill or call 231.922.4805. Through this website you will learn about the many ways in which you can become involved in the fight against homelessness and poverty.
Copyright 2009 Pithy Media, LLC