When we think of Traverse City and the majestic Leelanau Peninsula, we generally don’t imagine a place of poverty and hardship but after spending this week with the community, we learned of a different narrative.
There are about 250 people experiencing homelessness in Traverse City and the surrounding counties, and several families facing food insecurities on the peninsula. There is a common issue that is growing in many cities throughout the nation. People that have lived in their hometowns for years or even generations are being pushed out because of the increase in cost of living. Community workers, service workers, teachers, police, firefighters, etc.; all of these professions that have historically provided a decent living are now being forced out of their hometowns not able to keep up with the increase in home value and rent. This is exactly what is happening in this sector of Michigan. This has sparked a need for food pantries, shelters, and housing assistance. Thankfully, there are several organizations that are working to alleviate the stress of these conditions. We spent time with several incredible community members that have taken it upon themselves to be ambassadors for their surrounding neighbors.
We met with founders of 5loaves2fish, Michelle and Bill White who started this outreach program that promotes social justice by providing nourishing meals, infused with love, to those experiencing food insecurity and homelessness. All of their food is cooked as though they were cooking for their own families, putting just as much thought and effort into creating something unique and nourishing for those in need. 5loaves2fish provides about 300 meals a week, serving year round even on holidays. These meals were distributed by them at Veterans Park in Traverse City where we witnessed a dozen or more families show up to pick up their weekly donation. Bill and Michelle also drop off a delivery to the Leelanau Christian Neighbors which is based out of Leland.
Leelanau Christian Neighbors executive director, Mary Stanton, taught us about the work they do as a non-profit organization with a volunteer workforce of more than 200. To say that Mary and her team have created an engaging well thought out location for the locals to come is an extreme understatement. As Mary explained, the philosophy behind this location is to make sure that their neighbors come to a location that feels like they are shopping. Once they check in, they grab a shopping cart and make the selections of what they need. From fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, cheese to shelves filled with everyday kitchen staples. The environment is warm and friendly you would think you were at your local grocery store.
One of their many programs that Leelanau Christian Neighbors spearheads is Blessings in a Backpack, a non-profit organization that feeds school children in the United States who are at risk of going hungry on the weekends. We followed this process from the start to finish as the volunteers received the food at their food pantry, to the packing done by the volunteers, all the way to Suttons Bay Elementary to where the food is then placed on children's lockers so they can take it home at the end of the day.
Executive director Jon Stimson talked about the services that are provided at HomeStretch Nonprofit Housing Corporation, which creates affordable homes that display the same quality of design and construction as market-rate housing. Since 1996 they have developed over 100 below market rate rentals and homes for sale, adding new obtainable housing stock to their communities each year. Stimson is currently in construction on a new housing unit that is expected to be ready by spring of 2023.
Director Ashley Halladay-Schmandt from Northwest Michigan Coalition To End Homelessness helped us understand the multitude of services their organization provides. Ashley and her team work closely with many of the local organizations ensuring the services they are offering are used to the fullest and often acting as a bridge, helping each of the outreach organizations with their goals. Ashley's interview offered a new level of understanding of the complexity of both homelessness and food insecurity that takes place in one of Michigan's most picturesque affluent regions.
Project Feed The Kids is a non-profit started in 2020 by Tiffany McQueer and her husband Jason. The couple works out of their restaurant JS HAMBURG to package meals with their blended family of six kids and volunteers. The organization provides 2,000 meals a week to local families in need by placing prepackaged meals in three different stand up glass coolers that sit outside various locations. One of which is outside their restaurant. Growing up in poverty, Tiffany sees the value that this brings to families and the importance of teaching her kids to help others. Their long-term goal is to establish a youth center and help with children who come from troubled homes that need a safe place, as well as establishing a soup kitchen.
Right off of Division Street in Traverse City, there is a community that has established a home in the woods called The Pines. You’ll find tents, fire pits, tables, chairs, etc. just like any campsite. However, this isn’t a weekend camping trip, some of these individuals have been living out here for a year or longer. Ryan Hannon the community engagement officer from Goodwill Northern Michigan guided us to this community along with two residents of the area, Cary and Jason. Hannon frequently comes out to The Pines to find out what people need and is the perfect person to do so, having been in their shoes when he was a teen and young adult. Many of the people living out here have experienced traumas in their life and/or have addictions and engage in chronic poor self soothing methods. None of the people that we spoke to want to be in this living situation but with the increasing necessity of technology and the lack of access, it is incredibly difficult for individuals to get out of these conditions. We’d like to thank Cary, Jason, and all of their friends for welcoming us into their home to help teach the audience about how this can become possible.
A heartfelt thank you to the The Leland Lodge and the Hotel Indigo in Traverse City for helping us with our accommodations.