׉?ׁB!בCטFFu׉׉ 7cassandra://WconBKenkGNRBBKfK1uK2B--xpvBi2D5-_IB2OqUy9M`׉ 7cassandra://SYO7GjPx64pTbT9TBu46RZAcrcjCHb0y-wIb6VdsXGU͆`h׉ 7cassandra://tkBeVjmNs5DxRkqgJcNopTgk_4gkuv8ZzWBb3pr6mM4-`f!J=n{\טFu׈ҷf׈Ef!Jn{\טFFu׉׉ 7cassandra://CbPBVko6QGTdtvvOGIn8VsISzA1ZO8duVk4cXdrbqM4j`׉ 7cassandra://yT2PCB6CpGTbJ6YhT1WjenM8Q2caJvPY17STHGfIMco͒%`h׉ 7cassandra://4JCknKhxvdufDDpnc0_AhAuF_MakYvKtpOb1OA6LUEU+`f!J>n{\㳑נf!J>n{\㷁 dSG9ׁHhttp://faadl.orgׁ ׁ Ј׉E4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS WASHTENAW COUNTY In conversation with Commissioner Labarre Washtenaw County Commissioner Andy Labarre (District 7) and I spoke for about a half an hour on March 20. We talked about money; we talked about barriers and red tape; we talked about sweeps and we talked about a community-run shelter. Most importantly, we talked about human lives. Labarre is acutely aware people are sleeping outside and informed enough to know the number of people fluctuates and is difficult to track. He said he vaguely understood what is meant by a “sweep,” which is a camp eviction carried out by the police. He did not know about the showdown at the downtown Farmers Market in Ypsi on August 27 of last year, when community activists defended a homeless encampment against law enforcement. This event gave rise to the Shelter Now Action Group (SNAG). Labarre explained the money part. Lots of different funds, lots of different acronyms, lots and lots of money. I asked him specifically about a unanimous vote of approval last April to open two vacant County buildings for two extra shelters and the approval of three million dollars over two years to get them running. He said that the allocated money was diverted into other programs when the American Rescue Plan Act brought federal emergency situations, or “putting out fires” as the saying goes. The concern is that there are no plans to get from the emergency state to a long-term viable housing situation. A County funding source Labarre told me about that may help in a very broad sense is the New Human JIM CLARK Groundcover vendor No. 139 Services Partnership. From the Washtenaw County Office funding to Washtenaw County. In other words, it didn't actually go anywhere, it just got absorbed into the other programs. We stopped talking about it here. The plan for those vacant buildings was never mentioned again. However, Labarre did mention his idea for using the Learning Resource Center and parts of the Towner campus (home to Ypsilanti Community Mental Health) as places for day shelters. These are needed in addition to what ARPA offers to cover. In terms of short versus long-term solutions, Labarre said, “County response is not strategic, it’s play by play.” Labarre is concerned about the lack of options for solutions. He feels we spend a lot of time on “long-term solutions” which just means building more apartments, and short term of Community and Economic Development website: “The New Human Services Partnership Mini-Grant funding round will occur annually to award 10 grants of up to $40,000 for one year to human service organizations. The main goal of this funding round is to provide smaller organizations that are addressing poverty, racism and trauma as a root cause of institutional inequity in Washtenaw County an opportunity to receive funding. The total funding allocation is currently $407,707. Organizations with overall budgets of $1 million or less are eligible to apply. The goal for grantees is to have 60% with leaders with underrepresented identities.” This funding opportunity for 2024 has already passed. We talked about the community-run shelter that SNAG is advocating for, and what it would take to make it happen. Labarre is not sure how a community-run shelter would look. APRIL 19, 2024 Commissioner Andy Labarre represents the eastern half of Ann Arbor (District 7). His concerns are autonomy and self-regulation — would it be able to operate safely? Is the homeless community network equipped for this? Do they have the skills? Who will be accountable? The money is there, but the infrastructure for a community-run shelter is not. It seems to me that Labarre is sympathetic towards the homeless community and their advocates. His hands are tied by bureaucratic procedures, but at the end of the day, Andy Labarre is not turning a blind eye to the homeless in our community. Prioritizing homelessness: take action for change ERIC PROTEIN MOSELY Homeless activist With the rise of social media and the increasing accessibility of information, discussions about politics have become more prevalent. People are more engaged and interested in political matters than ever before, as the decisions made by politicians directly impact their lives. Political issues, policies and debates have infiltrated society, from social gatherings to workplace discussions. The polarization of political ideologies has further fueled the intensity of these conversations. As a result, politics has become a dominant and unavoidable subject in both personal and public spheres, shaping how we think, interact and make decisions — but not everyone agendas. agrees on the The main concerns on Michigan voters' minds In a recent set of reports tracking public opinion on the economy and Trump-era tax policy, voters in swing districts demonstrated a deep concern about the state of the economy, giving both Democrats and Republicans dismal ratings on their economic performance. In July 2023, progressive pollster Navigator Research conducted interviews with 1,500 likely voters in 61 battleground districts nationwide and released the results in an online briefing. Voters from Michigan's 3rd Congressional District (represented by Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids), 18th Congressional District (controlled by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint), and 10th Congressional District (represented by Rep. John James, R-Shelby Twp.) were included in the polls. One of the reports stated that 40% of same voters across the battleground identified inflation as their top concern. What rounded out the top three priorities of Michigan voters varied depending on which party they represented. Homelessness was nowhere to be found within the top five of the majority of surveys conducted and not even mentioned in others as a concern from either party. Do politicians care about the unhoused? A politician is a public servant who is voted into office to fulfill the duties of those who elect them to do so. In reality, they most likely structure their campaign on what the people determine to be a problem and not so much on what is problematic. It is not their fault when the underlying problem stems from the lack of concern of the voters to make a particular situation more highlighted than others — in this situation we are talking about homelessness. see CHANGE page 11  ׉ 7cassandra://lYvLginw2P5tn0znhT4xQRK_fQtqcSDVDGn7szFqdio&`f!Jn{\טFFu׉׉ 7cassandra://O1HLU-bKM8S-kM-hOCzmrHem4oxjSJJeYUPtKK0bbLA7`׉ 7cassandra://8NTq_C8P129pd7zixmYvpRSS3QcCohpoCATW_tWNXP0͈`h׉ 7cassandra://CUcOEkTtEvTZX-G_OuzHSLtEtLiNWu3Q3D8-pIZKOi8&``f!J?n{\㸑נf!J?n{\㻁a 9ׁHhttp://5.Coׁ ׁ Ј׉E6 GROUNDCOVER NEWS YPSILANTI APRIL 19, 2024 Left: Kat Layton, Pastor Anna, Monique Taylor-McCants and Justin Banks taking a break during the clean-up day on April 7. Right: Volunteers cleaning windows of the building upfront of the Growing Hope MarketPlace Hall, FedUp's new home base! “A ministry of presence:” With a new downtown location, FedUp continues to grow hope in Ypsi I want to start by giving a big shoutout to Growing Hope for sharing their Farmers Marketplace (16 S. Washington St.) with the community. I myself have visited FedUp church service and food truck several times this past year and have always enjoyed my time spent there. I say, thank you to Growing Hope! After some time looking around Ypsilanti for a building to provide needed services to the downtown Ypsi area, FedUp Ministries made an agreement with Growing Hope. They decided to rent the front space, the old bank on Washington Street (now called Black Lives Matter Boulevard). The agreement outlines that FedUp Ministries will rent the building to continue to provide services for those in need of food, clothing, showers, laundry, bathroom access and more. FedUp will rent space for the summer on a trial basis to see how things go. I got a chance to talk to the founder of FedUp Ministries, Rev. Anna Then I asked her when FedUp MinMIKE JONES Groundcover vendor No. 113 istries plans to officially open up for service in the new space. She said, “We will start our weekly Sunday church service in May. In June, we plan to have portable showers, laundry and bathrooms, and to serve breakfast and lunch two to three times a week because unlike Ann Arbor, the downtown area of Ypsi has limited bathrooms available due to the temporary downtown library closure. "Also, the Ypsilanti community does Taylor-McCants, after Sunday service April 7. The first question I asked her was, “How did the first day of clean-up go after church service Sunday?” She replied, “It was really good. We had a dozen or more people come out to support and volunteer. It was a beautiful thing, people from all around the community, people from different backgrounds came to help clean and now we are about to enter our painting phase.” not have a breakfast program, and if a person who can’t afford bus fare won’t be able to get to Ann Arbor for the St. Andrew’s breakfast program, [they won’t be able to access food early in the morning]. On the weekend the bus starts at 8 a.m., thus leaving the Ypsilanti community without the most important meal of the day. Ypsilanti mainly has dinner programs like the Hope Clinic that serves dinner every evening, and other churches also have less frequent dinner programs. We plan to fill the gap for our community. Our services will be just like we've been running our services, everybody can eat free, and if you can afford it you can donate.” I also interviewed Sheri Wander of Peace House, a supporter and friend of the FedUp Ministries community, about her thoughts on the new space for worship and survival services. She said, “I think it is great because a lot of people gravitate to that area, being right downtown, even though people and business owners had their grievances and some legitimate concerns about the area and the unhoused community. Last summer people from the neighborhood and local business owners had a problem with the unhoused community sleeping in that area and took action to remove the unhoused and attempted to put up a fence around the area…” “[In August 2023 there was] a mini-protest and confrontation between the unhoused and advocates vs. neighbors and local business. Since that time to this present moment, FedUp has continued their presence there and throughout the Washtenaw County area providing free meals and showers for those in need. “So now that there is no more daytime warming center and the Ypsilanti nighttime shelter program [has closed], FedUp’s presence will be needed for hot meals, clothing and showers throughout the week. “‘A ministry of presence’ Pastor Anna calls it. A lot got done [at the clean-up day] and a really diverse group of people came out in support and to help, like people from Growing Hope, people who are unhoused and formerly unhoused and people from all walks of life who made connections through volunteering working side by side. It was a beautiful day, we were playing Motown music, and everybody was working and having fun. “There will be food, drinks, showers, laundry, bathrooms, church service, other services and activities. Peace House will be in full support.” FedUp Ministries summertime schedule starting in May: Church service 10 a.m. and food truck 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Growing Hope every Sunday. Showers and bathrooms available. Every Wednesday food truck will be at Liberty Plaza in Ann Arbor at noon and will be at the Ypsilanti Transit Center at 1:30-2:30 p.m. Starting in June: Breakfast, lunch, showers, laundry, bathrooms and other services to be continued multiple times a week throughout the summer. ׉ 7cassandra://g3VDUKmNVXcFzT0VNCDiEw5wLnuXmtECxEmm-78OrqA*n`f!J