Macomb's new emergency shelter prepares for busy season this winter
ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (FOX 2) - Carolyn Evans remembers her first night indoors after spending more than a year homeless. She describes the hotel bed waiting for her as the most comfortable thing in the world.
"Then you can take a bath and get all that dirt off. And you can sleep. And I slept," she said. "It felt like somewhere I know I can be safe and comfortable."
Evans now volunteers with Motor City Mitten Mission, the homeless nonprofit that connected her to her short-term housing before she could secure a more stable place to stay. Now she lives on her own at an apartment, sought treatment for alcoholism, and is helping people that used to be like her.
"What it means to me is I know that I can watch over them. I know they'll be safe. If I could go out there to the streets and get every one of the last homeless people I would bring them to the shelter," she said
According to the nonprofit's founder Gail Marlow, Evans is the "poster child" of what the mission hopes to achieve with those that enter their orbit. After identifying someone who is homeless, they give them the tools to get back on their feet while helping them along the way.
And starting in November, that sphere is about to grow a little bit bigger as they take over management of the Macomb County Winter Shelter.
"We're really the only low-barrier emergency shelter in Macomb County," Marlow said. "And we're going to spend the winter connecting people to resources. Traditional emergency shelters don't always connect people to things they need."
The shelter is an emergency low barrier housing for single men and women, capable of housing up to 120 people at a time. In addition to basic housing amenities, the shelter will offer case management, housing assistance, and other services that deal with health issues, social security, cell phones.
The goal is for case managers to be on hand at Trinity Lutheran of Warren - where the shelter will be based - to connect anyone who is interested with paths out of homelessness or any other help they may need.
A nonprofit with housing resources will be on site twice a week. There will be veterans services and substance abuse treatment. A group to assist with medical and mental health needs will also be on hand, as well as document restoration.
"Our objective is to get these people out of shelter and into a stable housing situation," Marlow said.
The mission already provides a version of these resources during its outreach trips around metro Detroit. Marlow started the nonprofit years ago by delivering food to spots frequented by homeless people in Detroit and parts of Macomb and Oakland County.
Their ventures to back alleys and abandoned buildings made them a trusted resource for vulnerable people that slipped through society's cracks. As the mission filled the role of support for homeless people, the scope of their work expanded.
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For the last two months, FOX 2 joined Motor City Mitten Mission - a homeless services group - on several outreach sessions around Detroit, documenting the delivery of food and clothes while the group connected clients with housing services and treatment.
Last year was the first year the mission ran the winter shelter in Macomb County, operating out of different churches each week before settling at Trinity Lutheran for almost four months. In total, it served 558 people. This year is expected to be busier.
Marlow anticipates more individuals coming from Detroit after the city closed two of its emergency shelters. And while the need will be greater, the nonprofit is in dire need of funds to accommodate the expected increase.
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The mission also needs more volunteers. Since its inception, the nonprofit has been run by Marlow and staffed by the same people it's gotten off the street. The system makes staffing unpredictable at times, but who better to service the homeless than those familiar with the experiences of living unsheltered and alone?
"I have this saying. You can only keep what you have by giving it away," said Karie Schlief. "What I was given freely, my life experiences, I've taken that to know how I can better help serve the people I'm serving now."
Schlief works as a case manager for the mission. She first met Marlow while in transitional housing after being evicted. There were moments on the streets when she didn't see a way out. She would knock on shelters' doors only to be told they were full.
The constant rejection implanted a "sense of deceit" in her that no organization cared enough to help her. The mission's goal as managers of the winter shelter is to accommodate everyone that comes through.
"Here's the thing: Dealing with so many different levels of different people, whether its substance abuse, mental health, or just ran into a bad spot, there is lots of factors here," she said. "Someone may have just got out of jail. Or they're a youth and been in the sytem the entire time."
Emergency housing doesn't just shelter someone. It gives volunteers the chance to meet the homeless and start building trust with population that lost faith in society's safety net years before.
Amy Simon, another volunteer at the mission knew Marlow years before she became homeless herself and came to the mission as a client. The experience left a deep impression on her and the frailty of many people's housing circumstances.
"There are so many families that live paycheck to paycheck just to keep a roof over their head and one misstep is enough to put them right where I am," she said. "That's all it took for me."
For those interested in helping Motor City Mitten Mission, they're accepting donations and volunteer help. Any businesses or churches that can provide help are encouraged to get in touch with the nonprofit either by email at Macombwintershelter@gmail.com or via phone at 586-277-2500.
For more information or how to donate, go to the nonprofit's website here.