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Change Your World Week Fall 2021 (Archived)

This site is created by students of Delta College

Homelessness in Michigan

Cartoon headshots of various people. Caption reads This is a Student-Created webpage.

What is homelessness?

Homeless: (of a person) without a home, and therefore typically living on the streets.

On this page, you will find the history of homelessness, because in order to solve a problem, one must find where it came from. You can also read about the causes of homelessness here in Michigan, statistics regarding homelessness, and how to get involved with helping end homelessness in Michigan. At the bottom of the page, there is a poll question that you can answer and sources we used to complete this page.

History of Homelessness

The history of homelessness was first documented in the 1820s, where the term homelessness was used for individuals in search of work. This was to emphasize the loss of character and long-term ideas of home left instead of being homeless. Even though homelessness was first documented in the 1820s, homelessness didn’t become a national issue until the 1870s. This is due to the rise of the industrial revolution this is when the term “riding the rails” became famous among the individuals who moved for work. 

Once the 1920s came around, homelessness was at an all-time high due to the great depression. Programs were created by president Roosevelt to help with rising issue but most African Americans were not included in these programs. Do to this fact, the rise in incarceration rose and that made the homeless population rise even more than it already was. The reason for this is because America doesn’t have programs in place to help with incarceration individuals, so most end up on the street and have a higher chance of ending back up in prison. 

When World War II came around, we started to a rise in older homelessness population, meaning that individuals 50 years old and older, that were disabled, dependent on welfare or social security, started to live in cheap hotels, flop houses, and single room occupancy hotels. Ironically, the government would consider the individuals living in single room occupancy and rooming housing, housed under the HUDs current definition of homelessness. 

Today in Michigan, the homelessness population has gone down dramatically but certain areas such as Grand Rapids are experiencing a rise in homelessness. This is because of the rise in home cost in the area.  

 

What are the causes of homelessness?

In Michigan, the leading causes of homelessness are poverty, lack of affordable housing, lack of affordable health care, domestic violence, mental illness, and addiction. There are many other causes of homelessness that relate to different groups of people. For example, children aged 0-17 are more likely to be homeless due to economic instability, home violence, lack of social support, and behavioral health. People who live in poverty hardly have have enough money to pay for basic needs such as food and clothing, let alone a house or shelter.

Here at Delta College, the majority of people are young college students. So how does homelessness relate to young people? Why is it an issue? As of January 2020, there were 484 young adults aged 18-24 experiencing homelessness in Michigan. College students are especially at risk of homelessness because of tuition and cost of living in college. A study done by Michigan State University found, through a survey they studied, that due to the pandemic, 15% of college students worldwide experience homelessness. So, all of these factors, and those listed in the previous paragraph, play into the risk of college students becoming homeless. In order to help solve this problem, we can pay attention to what is going on locally. If you can notice change locally, you can help promote change globally. There is more information on how to help down below in the "How to Help" section.

 

 

Michigan Homeless Population

The homeless population of Michigan is always changing. An any given day around 8,638 people were experiencing homelessness. It is important to also mention that according to the Public school data of the 2018-2019 school year, about 34,853 public school students also experienced homelessness. The number of homeless students is counted seperate from the overall homeless population. Of the 34,853 students considered homeless, 675 are unsheltered, 2,502 live in hotels/motels and 26,754 are doubled up. Doubled up housing is when a family lives with another family because of economic reasons. The document listed below includes statistics about the homeless population of Michigan. It includes the areas in Michigan with the most homeless and the homeless population by year between 2010 to 2020.

Have you or someone you've known experienced homelessness?
Yes: 6 votes (66.67%)
No: 3 votes (33.33%)
Total Votes: 9

How to Help

There are many ways you can help the homeless in your community. One way you can give back to your community is to volunteer with a program. In Saginaw you could volunteer with Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan. This program has a multitude of projects going, a big one being Impact Designs. This specific project is collecting used furniture and distributing it out to people who are working for independent living experiences for their family. They will take said furniture and transform an apartment or rented house and make it into a home for those who need it. This project’s initial goal is to annually help 52 households, with their long-term goal being to assist any family living in a shelter within Saginaw County. The program is looking for people to donate furniture, help decorate and move furniture, or even volunteer their truck to help with moving days. If you are unable to give your time or old furniture to the project, another option is to donate to the program itself to help cover costs that the program may have.

Here’s a link to help you get started giving back to the homeless within your community: https://r3monline.org/impact-designs/?_ga=2.203826576.1062334712.1635431103-505021850.1634827406

Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan