As University students finish their midterm exams and look forward to the upcoming break today, Ann Arbor's homeless problem is probably far from their thoughts. For students burdened with homework and personal concerns, it becomes easy to overlook the obvious. When encountering the numerous homeless people that line South State Street and South University Avenue, students often walk by, pretending to be deeply engrossed in thought or fumbling for something in a bag.
Over the past few years it appears that the area's homeless problem has gotten worse. Not everyone is getting the help they need.
"Statistics on the number of homeless people in the area show that the current facilities are very inadequate (to accomodate them)," said Olaf Lidums, interim executive director of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County.
"While estimates do vary, we have reason to believe that there are between 1,200 to 1,500 homeless individuals in Washtenaw County," Lidums said. "We also believe that 50 or so of these individuals are not being sheltered at all on a consistent basis."
Currently, the Night Shelter on West Huron Avenue is the only facility in Washtenaw County that provides shelter to homeless men every night.
"While having the existing shelters, like the Huron men's shelter, is better than being on the cold streets, it's nowhere (near) a dignified place for an individual to be," Lidums said. "It's very frustrating to know what needs to be done but to be constrained by limits, like funding, that prohibit the actual implementation of the plans."
The Men's Night Shelter
The minute one sets foot in the men's Night Shelter, it is obvious it is not an atmosphere of comfort or a place many would want to call "home."
An overflow of men crowd the unfinished plywood staircase near the entrance. Huddling under blankets, they attempt to get some sleep - a nearly impossible task in the cramped facility.
The Night Shelter can adequately house 52 men per night. However, some shelter residents said the demand for beds is so high that men are turned away nearly every night of the week due to a lack of space.
On an average night, men can be found sleeping in hallways and in corners of rooms. Residents said that in extreme cases, like bitter cold, individuals have camped out in the bathroom.
"The overcrowding is the most pressing problem," said Brian, a 22-year-old shelter resident. "On a nightly basis, we have 80 to 90 guys that need a place to go. There is absolutely no privacy, no place to be by yourself. There simply is no place to put everybody."
The shelter is constantly plagued by a lack of supplies. Basic items, like toilet paper, soap and shaving cream, are donated daily by local businesses and individuals. But, as Brian emphasized, the products are often hard to come by at the shelter because many residents are vying for them at once.
The single bathroom area is reminiscent of a roadside stop on the highway. Luxuries like shower curtains or working stall doors are rare.
"The first rule of the shelter is that everyone has to shower nightly," Brian said. "But this rule is virtually uninforceable because there are only four shower stalls. It would take all night to give all 80 or so guys ten minutes to use the showers. It's a situation that just doesn't work."
Resident Eddie McCullough said the lack of shower and bathroom space concerns many of the residents.
"I wake up every morning at 5 a.m. just to be able to get the shower," resident Eddie McCullough said. "And the showers are all nasty - dirty tiles, moldy floors. You don't even want to touch the walls."
Dealing with the hygeine habits of other residents is also frustrating, McCollough said.
"I mean, who wants to come into a shower, like after work or in the morning, that smells like dirty feet, body odor, bad breath - that's no way to take care of yourself," McCullough said. "It's hard to really confront someone about stuff like that, too, since it's a personal thing."
Brian said many of the residents at the Night Shelter have been homeless for so long that they don't seem to care about matters like personal hygeine and appearance anymore.
"I have two jobs and a girlfriend - I need to have a decent appearance," Brian said. "But some guys in here, their self-esteem is so low that it's gotten to the point that they don't take care of themselves anymore. It's like they've almost given up."
Staff is also in short supply at the Night Shelter. On average, at least three staff members are supposed to be at the shelter each night. However, the ratio of staff to residents is one staff member per 30 residents, Lidums said.
Charlotte, a shelter employee since last September, said not having enough help makes it hard to get everything done.
"We only have, two or three staff people here every night and when you constantly are having to make shelter rounds and bed checks and generally just keeping an eye on things, it's hard to get things like laundry and cleaning done," she said.
The shelter has two working washers and driers. The dirty laundry frequently overflows out of the wash room and piles up in the narrow hallway.
"If we had more showers and more towels, the shower rule might be more realistic," Charlotte said. "We haven't been getting many volunteers to help out with stuff like laundry and cleaning. Residents simply have to do without."
Many residents have suggestions about improving the quality of life at the shelter and getting on the road to self-sufficiency, including on-site counselors at the Night Shelter and more affordable public housing in Washtenaw County.
"I think something beneficial that the (city administration) should look into is to construct a new building that is big enough to house all of the programs in the Shelter Association," Brian said. "It would make much more sense to have the day-center programs, both men's and women's night shelters, a support staff and administrative offices, like transient housing, all in one place so people don't have to spend hours and hours wandering around the city to get everything done."
The Women's Shelter
Since December, the men's and women's night shelters have been housed in separate facilities. Both night shelter programs were initially wedged into the W. Huron Street location.
By separating the facilities, 30 extra spaces were created in the men's shelter. The women's facility, which is temporarily located in an office building on Main Street until April, can house up to 30 residents per night and has a separate office space for on-site administrative purposes.
"The Women's Shelter was designed to be a kind of model for the community," Lidums said. "We hope that its new approach will be implemented eventually to a men's shelter."
The shelter expects a shipment of bunk beds next week that will allow the shelter to house women with children or homeless families in emergency situations.
According to early reports, the new program appears to be successful in accelerating the rate at which women are able to become self-sufficient again.
"I think an important key to the initial success of this new program is the better staff to resident ratio," shelter manager Tammy Koupal said.
"In comparison to the men's shelter, we have a 1:15 ratio instead of a 1:30 ratio," Koupal said. "This basically means that there is more opportunity to provide women with more one-on-one attention and counseling."
Koupal said that having separate facilities also has served to provide an atmophere that feels more secure and safe for the female residents.
"When the shelters were combined, some of the female residents had some problems in regards to sexual harassment," said Amy Atwell, the Women's Shelter program coordinator.
"From all reports, this new arrangement seems to be better for both sides - there is less tension. Having (separate facilities) also provides us the opprtunity to address issues that specifically relate to females' problems, as well."
Atwell said many new support groups are being developed at the shelter.
"Beginning next week, we'll be holding workshops and information sessions on topics like HIV and STD prevention and awareness and women's health issues," Atwell said. "We are also in the process of forming substance abuse support groups and domestic violence support groups that we hope will be implemented within the next few weeks."
"We are very lucky to have this facility," Koupal said. "At this point I think the most pressing problem facing the Shelter Association as a whole and the Washtenaw area is to create, or at least upgrade, the men's shelter to an adequate level. There needs to be an equal shelter than can meets their needs as well - (homelessness) is not a one-sided problem."
The Need for Volunteers
Though the Women's Shelter is not facing the understaffing problem that the men's shelter is, both facilities are in desperate need of community aid and support.
"Having people to just come in to volunteer with anything - laundry, cleaning, anything - would be a tremendous help," Charlotte said.
"We've had volunteers in the past come in on the weekends to help out, but they seem to just come and go," Brian said.
Lidums said that about a dozen volunteers currently work with the Shelter Association.
"We definitely would welcome anyone who is willing to donate some of their time, especially students," Lidums said.
Lidums referred to a successful shelter program in South Bend, Ind., as an example for the Ann Arbor shelters' potential.
"The comparable program in South Bend gets most of their volunteers from Notre Dame and St. Mary's College," Lidums said. "In any one month they utilize 400 to 500 volunteers to help keep their programs going."
LSA senior Tim Zisman started volunteering at the men's Night Shelter last September. He was eventually offered a regular job and is now a permanent employee.
Zisman said he became involved in volunteering while at the University through Project Serve. However, he chose to come to the men's Night Shelter on his own.
"Since I've always had a passion for issues about homelessness and poverty, I figured this would be a way I could learn more about it- a more personal experience," Zisman said.
"Something that really affected me concerning homelessness was some information I read in a newspaper back home last summer," Zisman added.
"It reported that the average homeless person spends like 20 extra hours a week doing things that the rest of us don't even think twice about. For instance, most of us can just eat our meals at home and wash our hands in a sink, but these are things that take a homeless person hours to do during the day," Zisman said.
JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/Daily
Shelter resident Paul Burke sleeps in the upstairs dormatory of the Men's Night Shelter on Huron Street. He has stayed in the shelter for the past one and a half months.
JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/Daily
Shelter resident Melvin Saultz watches TV from his bunk in the Men's Night Shelter on Huron Street. Saultz is originally from Ypsilanti, but he has frequented at the shelter for the past three years.