Mich. homelessness rises
By Brittany Shammas (Last updated: 11/04/09 11:46pm)His accent is so deeply Southern everyone knows him only as “Tennessee,” but 31-year-old Daniel “Tennessee” Berry has not been home for 11 months, and has not seen his three children for three years. He hasn’t looked back since the July day he packed up his belongings and was dropped off outside a Lansing homeless shelter after losing the job that brought him to Michigan. Four months later, Tennessee still is living at the shelter, where he says he’s blessed to have a job and three meals a day.
“I always adapt to my surroundings, don’t let nothing get me down,” he said. “It’s just another place. A little bit colder, a lot of snow. I don’t feel out of place. I’m me, it can’t change me.”
Tennessee is one of a growing number of homeless individuals in the Lansing community, where 22 percent of people are homeless and some shelters run over capacity most nights of the month. Despite a plan to end homelessness in Ingham County within the next seven years, homelessness continues to rise in Ingham County and nationally.
Catching up
In 2006, Ingham County became one of 234 communities nationwide to submit a plan to end homelessness within the next 10 years. The plan stated a “healthy, stable housed” Ingham County was within reach and called for an overhaul of commissions aimed at homelessness.
But five years later, economic downturn has presented “major challenges,” including foreclosure and job loss, said Joan Jackson Johnson, director of Human Relations and Community Services of Lansing. Ingham County, like many of the other communities that enacted plans, has some catching up to do.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness has found fewer communities than expected have put their plans into place, spokeswoman Catherine An said in an e-mail to The State News. A study by the alliance found most plans are lacking at least one crucial factor for success.
An said Ingham County is no exception.
The number of homeless people seeking aid in Lansing increased by 1,000 in 2008, reaching 4,250, Johnson said. Michigan’s South-Central region, which includes Ingham County, is second only to the Detroit Metro area in the size of its homeless population. And the state of Michigan is ranked fifth in the U.S. and first in the Midwest for its number of homeless residents.
Patrick Patterson, vice president of operations in Lansing for Volunteers of America, said although the Ingham County plan has seen some success in improving policy and the application of scarce resources, there still is a “huge” need.
“I think we’ve made progress, the work has been good, but there’s still a heck of a problem,” he said.
Although officials are trying to do everything possible to make the county’s plan a success, Johnson said she does not think it will be possible to meet the goal. The state of the economy, a limited skill set among many homeless people, competition from people with college degrees and financial challenges are some of the barriers to success, she said.
In the Lansing area, human service organizations provided 3,703 people assistance in finding jobs, medical care mental health services, counseling and case management last year, according to a report from Human Relations and Community Services in Lansing.
“We have our work cut out for us and we are being very aggressive,” she said. “We are doing everything possible. The scary thing is this past weekend, it was 29 degrees. No one should be outside and we found some people out there.”
Over capacity
Tennessee usually sleeps in a room with 26 people. Sometimes, when the shelter reaches capacity, 10 more people crowd into the room, sleeping in mattresses on the floor. In September, people slept on the floor 21 nights out of 30, Development Coordinator Kate Reed said.
But even with ample floor space, the shelter sometimes is forced to turn people away.
“Unfortunately, we have a maximum number that we can hold, and when we get to that point, we’ll start calling other places, trying to make it so people don’t sleep outside,” she said.
“I hope it slows down and I hope we can meet the need and things turn around, but it’s really hard to say. At this point, we just keep seeing things go up.”
In the shelter, Tennessee says he tries to put a smile on the faces of the other people staying there, who don’t know what they are going to do or where they’re going to go. Tennessee, who now volunteers and works at the shelter and hopes to someday settle down with a wife, believes God waited for him to grow up before providing him with a job and opportunity.
He keeps looking forward, taking “baby steps” and trying to help others as much as possible.
“Just being good to people, that makes me feel good about myself,” he said.
“Putting smiles on faces in (the) morning, that goes a long way. … Making somebody laugh. If you ain’t laughing, you ain’t living, plain and simple. A good morning goes a long way.”
Staff writer Ian Johnson contributed to this report.
Originally Published: 11/04/09 11:46pm
peebee
11/05/09 8:34am“Tennessee is one of a growing number of homeless individuals in the Lansing community, where 22 percent of people are homeless and some shelters run over capacity most nights of the month.”
Really, 22%. Over 1 out of 5 people are homeless? I have a hard time believing that there are 20,000 homeless people living in Lansing.
Annoyed
11/05/09 8:44am“In 2006, Ingham County became one of 234 communities nationwide to submit a plan to end homelessness within the next 10 years”
“But five years later…”
Uh, I think someone needs to brush up on those basic counting skills.
Patty
11/05/09 9:10amI don’t know if the 22% number is accurate, but homelessness is more common than most people realize. Not all homeless people are living in cars or shelters. Most are “doubling up”- staying with friends or relatives, sleeping on couches, or living in motels.
Typical State News Fact Check
11/05/09 9:32am22% of people in lansing are homeless? That’s more than 1 in 5. I didn’t realize that lansing was 10 times worse than flint & detroit combined. I’m sorry but anyone with half a brain should have fixed that – how did it get by the writer, proofers and then the editors – perhaps because thats typical State News Factchecking. too bad not all of their errors were so glaringly obvious.
RE: above
11/05/09 9:34amAnd its unfortunate because this is a needed story and an important topic, especially given these hard times which are just getting worse and will put many people out of their homes. Please just try and get the basic facts within even an order of magnitude of correct.
Homebrew
11/05/09 9:50am22% is unrealistic. Now if they were talking about how many people believe in Sasquach, 22% would be realistic.
Not about Numbers
11/05/09 10:42amEven 1% is too high in a nation this wealthy. Typical poor reporting by the State News – sure – but don’t get caught up in the numbers here. It is not about numbers afterall.
Denial is not only a river...
11/05/09 10:50amMichigan is a shit hole for work, its so funny how you michigan people can’t accept the fact that your state is poor and needs a lot of help from the government! 22%, I believe it, every other business is closed, every other house is foreclosed, WAKE UP PEOPLE, Michigan is poor and is only going to get worse! No GM=no jobs, I learned how Michigan was going to be one of the poorest states once GM went down the crapper in 9th grade 20 years ago in a NJ school.
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art monkee
11/05/09 12:02pmI have lived in Lansing for over 40 years. I believe that 22% number I have helped at the shelter in the 80s when things got bad. things are worse NOW. Lansing Wake up people everyday are losing their homes and livelihoods.
Why would it surprise people that a town that had 10s of thousands of autoworkers now that only offer a couple of thousands jobs has a homeless rate of 22%.
Oh that’s it the right wing parties blame homelessness on the homeless not on societies greed!
mvt
11/05/09 12:10pmI’m fascinated by this: “In 2006, Ingham County became one of 234 communities nationwide to submit a plan to end homelessness within the next 10 years.”
Would love to see an outline of this plan.
Hey, SNews, providing an outline of the plan might be considered ‘reporting’ and get you some extra credit !
tedman
11/05/09 12:25pmIf I were homeless I would move south. Like Mexico.
jersey haha
11/05/09 12:29pmjersey… that trash hole does not even deserve to be talked about
common sense
11/05/09 2:31pmI’m more interested in the personal interest story of Berry. Three kids? How did that happen? His wife separate? He wants to settle down with her or someone new? Wish they’d covered more on him, and hope he makes it, he’s got a better spirit in that position than I would and I have to believe that should be able to get him to a normal job and income. Makes me more thankful for what I’ve been lucky have.
They ambiguously left it at 22% of the “Lansing community” for a reason. Center city? I could believe it. Entire city, or Lansing area, depends on the definition of homeless, since I mistakenly hadn’t considered living in a motel to be homeless.
11/05/09 3:29pmBerry is a great example of how a woman can be soo bad that a man would rather be homeless than deal with her crap. Its unfortunate for everyone that he found out 3 kids too late. ( no offense to the kids)
Patty
11/05/09 3:32pmThe definition of “homeless” under the McKinney-Vento Act (2001) is “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” which includes staying with others, living in shelters, cars, parks, abandoned buildings or other public spaces, and “motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative accommodations.”
MSU
11/05/09 10:23pmYes, it may be hard for people to believe this startling statistic that there is a 22% of homelessness in the Lansing area…but that’s the point, most do not know that homelessness is more common than we realize. I did an entire research paper on homelessness and found some very surprising statistics.
wow
11/05/09 10:40pmYou did a research paper. Perhaps an undergrad research paper? You must be an expert in the field.
John Q. Public
11/07/09 12:14pmTypical college student ignorance!!! Have any of YOU been homeless? Stay in your insular little world of classes,drunken impregnation parties,and rioting..it’s easy to ignore the REAL world while you’re there! There are MANY homeless people within the state and across the country.While pissing and moaning about which numbers are correct and which aren’t,you fine young “scholars”(YUK YUK YUK!!) fail to understand that each “number“is a person. Sure,some are homeless due to their own choices,but most are honest and hardworking folks who had a job loss,a divorce,or mental problems.Bottom line…don’t be so self-righteously smug and disdainful of the homeless.It could be you one day!