Kalamazoo’s housing and homelessness services providers, in partnership with the Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care, have collaborated for the past several months to meet the immediate needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Together, we celebrate the successes we’ve had and the impact we’ve made, and also recognize that the crisis is far from over. Please see the following statement for more details on the reality of what our community is facing in the weeks and months to come—and how you can help.

COVID-19 and Kalamazoo’s Ongoing Emergency Shelter Crisis

While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are widespread, its impact on individuals experiencing homelessness has been especially harsh. Local shelter providers, public health leaders and the Kalamazoo Continuum of Care have worked together to help hundreds of individuals and families shelter safely and get medical care when needed. This deep collaboration and creativity reduced the spread of COVID-19. However, major gaps remain that must be addressed to avoid a crisis for individuals experiencing homelessness and the community as a whole.

Where we’ve been successful:

• Providing emergency shelter options to reduce infection risk. These included a regional isolation/quarantine hotel site, a temporary alternate day shelter, and an Emergency Shelter Relief Project hotel site, all allowing for appropriate medical care and social distancing.
• Furnishing portable restrooms and handwashing stations. Located in downtown Kalamazoo near shelters, these stations gave people experiencing homelessness a way to practice personal hygiene while businesses and other alternatives were closed.
• Ensuring adequate PPE for shelter providers. Personal protective equipment including masks, cleaning and disinfecting supplies, and no-touch thermometers were provided by Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services.
• Providing on-site testing for symptomatic residents and staff. This included as-needed testing throughout the crisis as well as mass testing for asymptomatic people events at the Emergency Shelter Relief Project hotel, Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries, and Ministry with Community.
• Maintaining various key support services—including but not limited to showers, laundry, case management.
• Meeting increased demand for meals. Ministry with Community served an average of 250 to 300 meals daily. Kalamazoo Gospel Mission served an average of 80 breakfasts, 275 lunches, and 275 dinners daily. The Emergency Relief Project hotel site provided three meals per day to all residents.

Where critical needs remain:

• Lack of shelter space. At the recommendation of public health officials, local day and night shelters (Ministry with Community, Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries) will continue to operate at decreased capacity for the next several months to allow for social distancing within buildings.
• Lack of immediate, flexible dollars. State and federal dollars for street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing are forthcoming, but not yet in hand.
• Looming economic effects. Once statewide moratoriums are lifted, the economic impact of COVID-19 on thousands of households in Kalamazoo County may create a wave of evictions and foreclosures that will likely increase the demand for shelter and housing services.

If these needs are not addressed, our community’s service systems may not be able to handle the strain.

We invite you to be part of the solution. To support efforts to assist local individuals and families experiencing homelessness during and in the aftermath of the pandemic, please make a financial gift to the Kalamazoo Continuum of Care at https://portal.gkuw.org/support. Funds raised will be granted to direct service providers addressing critical needs now and year round.

To assist those experiencing homelessness or housing instability, refer them to Gryphon Place 2-1-1 at (269) 381-4357 for housing and sheltering resources and referrals.