Safe Harbor of Grand Traverse wrapped up its first year in its new emergency homeless shelter Friday – a weather-extended season that saw a nearly 40 percent increase in guests served and both successes and challenges along the way, according to board members.

After opening in early November in a new facility at 517 Wellington Street, Safe Harbor – which provides overnight emergency shelter during cold-weather months for residents experiencing homelessness – was scheduled to end its season on April 14. But the organization stayed open another 13 days due to an unusual late surge of winter weather.

“At first, we extended for another week because there was the huge snowstorm and the temperatures that accompanied that,” says Safe Harbor Board Chair Mike McDonald. “After that, we were concerned not about the temperatures but about the snow cover on the ground, so we added on an additional six days.” McDonald explains that many Safe Harbor guests camp out after the shelter closes for the season, so the organization wanted to make sure the snow had mostly disappeared before the shelter shut down.

Preliminary numbers compiled by Safe Harbor show that 268 individuals stayed at the shelter this season. On average, 57 guests slept each night in the facility, which holds up to 72 beds. The average length of stay for any particular guest was 31 nights. The total 8,368 bed visits marked a nearly 40 percent uptick in guests accommodated over the previous year.

Safe Harbor officials say there are several reasons for the increase in guest visits. “First and foremost is the lack of affordable housing, and also that the jobs available here are low-wage jobs,” says McDonald. “About 30 to 40 percent of the people who stay at Safe Harbor are working. But they’re at part-time jobs, and for the most part low-income jobs."

The region’s opioid crisis and reduced funding for adult foster care have also contributed to an increase in individuals experiencing homelessness. A housing choice voucher (HCV) affordable housing development hasn’t opened in the region for at least two years. "Having a fixed, accessible location has been a blessing," says Ryan Hannon, Street Outreach Coordinator for Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan. "People who have been sleeping in their cars and staying in other unsafe conditions have found their way to Safe Harbor."

Having a consistent, centralized location was one of the primary benefits cited by Safe Harbor when the nonprofit worked to open the new shelter instead of using a rotating network of churches to host guests each winter, as was done in the past. McDonald says Safe Harbor’s first season in the Wellington facility demonstrated having one central location was indeed an advantage. “Consistency is good with this population, so that was a real positive,” he says. “Having guests be able to come to the same place each night, having consistency in what happened in that place, having consistency in the physical layout of the building.” The 9,800 square-foot facility also offers amenities not available through a church hosting structure, such as personal locking showers, laundry facilities, a commercial kitchen, and separated dining, television, and meditation rooms.

But the first year in the new facility also provided its share of challenges, says McDonald. Volunteers accustomed to the layout of their own churches faced a “learning curve” to get used to the unfamiliar terrain of a new building. Plans to assign each guest a particular bed on a weekly basis also devolved into confusion, with guests appearing some nights but not others during the week, creating bed shortages when new guests would arrive. The shelter soon abandoned weekly bed assignments – but then faced a new challenge of determining where guests could keep their storage tubs, which had previously been tucked under their assigned beds. Tubs eventually began accumulating in the shelter’s dining room.

"The bed issue was one of the bigger things this year…we also want to work on a storage solution for next season,” McDonald says. Safe Harbor also plans to work on adding sound muffling to the dining room, since the room’s high ceilings and multiple hard surfaces can create a “noisy” and “disruptive” environment, according to McDonald.

Safe Harbor received “mixed” feedback from neighbors the first season, according to McDonald, with several expressing positive comments and support, though others registered complaints. A nearby gas station starting a beer sales program contributed to some neighborhood loitering, he says, noting that Safe Harbor can’t control guests once they’re off-premises. “We’re trying to a serve a portion of Traverse City’s population that is experiencing homelessness,” he says. “We can certainly control those guests when they’re staying on our property. But during non-shelter hours, we have no more control over them than anyone else in Traverse City."

The same holds true when shelter guests are involved in police skirmishes, he says. Safe Harbor was mentioned in the news twice this spring when shelter guests were involved in nearby assaults – though McDonald points out it was the victims in both cases who were homeless. In one case, a homeless man was attacked by two suspects – who were not homeless – as he walked to Safe Harbor. In the second case, one homeless man attacked another near the shelter. McDonald says that when guests come to the shelter, any weapons they have are confiscated before they’re allowed entry. Safe Harbor also meets quarterly with neighborhood residents and police to address any potential issues that may arise.

Despite the challenges, McDonald says Safe Harbor’s first season in its new facility was a successful one. In addition to shelter, the organization was able to provide guests with new on-site services including medical exams/treatment and housing and job assistance thanks to partnerships with groups including Goodwill, Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency, and Traverse Health Clinic. The shelter’s Resource Center will remain open three mornings per week during the off-season to continue to assist guests with those services. Safe Harbor will also meet with Goodwill in May for a joint strategic planning session that could include discussions on Safe Harbor’s long-term goals of opening micro-lofts in the shelter’s upper floor and a supportive housing complex next door to help guests transition into housing, according to McDonald.