A collaborative effort among local nonprofits and government will provide safe shelter for up to 125 unhoused individuals currently staying at outdoor encampments in the area.

Sara Jacobs, Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care Director, said the Hoteling Intervention Program (HIP) will offer up to 90 hotel rooms, plus meals, personal care items, case management support and links to support services. On Monday the new program got a crucial financial boost as the Kalamazoo City Commission approved a grant of $250,000 through the Foundation For Excellence to UWBCKR’s Disaster Relief Fund to support HIP.

“The CoC partnership has been working diligently to help people who experience homelessness find safe shelter,” said Jacobs. “Warmth, sanitation, health and personal safety remain risk factors at the encampments. Some of the encampments are in flood plains, and as we near the rainy season, the need to offer  a safer place to reside remains urgent.”

HIP will allow up to 125 unhoused individuals to relocate from four encampments to area hotel rooms free of charge. Case workers will meet with them to address individual needs and connect them to support services, including mental health, substance use, physical health, and other supports. HIP will run through May 31.

Open Doors Kalamazoo is leading HIP in partnership with Urban Alliance and HOPE Thru Navigation. Also involved are Housing Resources Inc., Integrated Services of Kalamazoo, Ministry With Community, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, Food Not Bombs, and the Kalamazoo Coalition for the Homeless. A number of local restaurants are helping with meals.

“We could not do this without the entire community’s support,” said Stephanie Hoffman, Executive Director for Open Doors Kalamazoo. “The housing crisis that we are suffering here in Kalamazoo County didn’t just start with the pandemic. We were already experiencing homelessness and housing insecurities for working families and people with no income years ago. What I am encouraged about with this initiative is the amount of support we have, not only from our housing and nonprofit sector, but from city and county government and philanthropy.”

In addition to the City’s grant, financial support for HIP comes from United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region’s Disaster Relief Fund, and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation’s Community Urgent Relief Fund. Jacobs applauded those who provided support as well as the partners who are striving to make HIP and other programs better, particularly in addressing concerns of equity.

Hoffman said additional funding is welcome; donations can be made to the Hotel Intervention Program through Open Doors Kalamazoo at tinyurl.com/hipkalamazoo and put “Hoteling Intervention Program” in the field marked “Gift is made in honor of.”

Across the coronavirus pandemic, CoC partners—advocacy organizations, government agencies, nonprofits and community providers—have aided unhoused individuals, including those at the encampments, in several ways, including:

• Providing hoteling at The Lodge, a project operated by Integrated Services of Kalamazoo;
• Providing daytime warming, meals and individual services at Ministry With Community and The River Church;
• Continued daytime and overnight sheltering at Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries;
• Setting up a temporary warming tent, provided by the City of Kalamazoo with security by Kalamazoo Public Safety, during a bitterly cold period in February;
• Helping people find other housing solutions, reducing the number of people in the encampments even as the pandemic curtailed shelter space.

Jacobs said the CoC partners are continuing to work on near- and long-term solutions for people experiencing homelessness. “Every person deserves a safe, stable, affordable place to live,” said Jacobs. “The challenges are complex, and we need a collaborative approach to solve them.”

Click here to learn more about the Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care.