By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — Homelessness has been a growing concern for many in the City of Three Rivers, as nationwide there has been a reported 18 percent increase in individuals and families experiencing homelessness from 2023 to 2024, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
On Tuesday, April 28, a community forum was held at the Three Rivers Public Library to discuss what resources are available for those experiencing homelessness and what the community can do to help.
“It is not illegal to be homeless. The law limits pretty strictly what response the police can and cannot have,” Bryann Books, a social worker and the Three Rivers Police Department liaison for Pivotal, said. “It’s also not illegal to struggle with mental health. The law limits what we can do to help people who do not want help, and generally speaking, if people don’t want to get help, there’s just a very small margin of what we can do. Help and resources are limited to what people want to accept.”
Books started by talking about some statistics surrounding homelessness, including that in 2024, 10 out of every 10,000 people experienced homelessness nationwide, with Michigan a bit below that national average, and 238 people per 10,000 people relied on rental assistance.
There were also a number of reasons cited that drove record-high homelessness. Those reasons included the lack of affordable housing development, inadequate rental assistance programs, persistently low incomes, weak safety nets such as social security, and the end of federal COVID-19 relief funds, which expanded those assistance programs temporarily, and discriminatory policies that make it harder for certain groups to find housing.
Books said there are also ALICE (asset-limited, income-constricted, employed) households that are struggling to get by and cannot afford the places they live if they do have a house, and have to make “tough decisions” every month that aren’t always going to keep them out of homelessness. Out of 23,610 households In St. Joseph County, Books said 6,310 of them (26.7 percent) are deemed ALICE households, with an additional 2,984 people in the county living below the poverty line.
“When a family or individual is one paycheck and one decision away from housing instability or losing their home, community and local resources can help provide the bridge to cover that gap in order to make it from one month to the next for our community members,” Books said. “Knowing what resources are available and where to find them is our first step in battling this issue.”
Books then mentioned the different resources available, starting with the Community Help Card from the county’s Human Services Commission, which has a number of contacts for a multitude of service types, including food resources, health services, emergency and homeless shelters, counseling, free stores, and more. These cards are available at local agencies, churches and schools across the county.
There is also a resource guide available that also has contact info for homelessness resources, resource navigators, document assistance, rent or mortgage payment assistance, electric/gas bill payment assistance, legal aid for eviction defense, food assistance, free laundry, emergency mental health, and warming and cooling centers. Both the sheet and the card are also available online at the Human Service Commission’s website.
“This has virtually everything someone could need for resources,” Books said.
Books then discussed the lone homeless shelter in the county, Keystone Place. While she said she agrees with some people that say Keystone isn’t exactly enough to address shelter for homelessness, there are a number of services they have for the 24-28 people they can accommodate at a time. This includes food for breakfast and dinner, bus passes, housing assistance, referrals for furniture, case management, computers for housing/employment searches, help for temporary hotel stays, food boxes, and school supplies. Because they are funded by federal grants, Books said Keystone requires those receiving services to have proof of citizenship to be eligible.
She also went over regional resources not necessarily based in St. Joseph County, but that have the county in their coverage zone. These were Integrated Services of Kalamazoo’s (ISK) street outreach program, which offers homeless outreach and resources free of charge through Kalamazoo County’s equivalent of Pivotal, and Neighborhoods Inc., which is the Housing Assessment and Resource Agency (HARA) for St. Joseph County based in Battle Creek with an office at the Habitat for Humanity Office in Centreville, which provides housing resources, services for emergency shelter or rapid rehousing, or financial assistance with rent or utilities.
When someone is identified as needing help, Books said for ALICE households, frontline workers like police identify resources, offer the 211 service and the resource index to attempt to connect them to any resources and services that can assist them. For those who are homeless, Books said they discuss available resources to get a “clear picture” of their situation and who they may be willing to work with, then provide call assistance to Keystone, ISK, or Neighborhoods Inc., and provide info on other services available. They will also inform those who are homeless of codes and rules related to their behaviors and actions.
The biggest thing for people to do if they notice someone struggling, Books said, is first to determine if the situation requires assistance, and whether or not it’s safe to approach, with the suggestion to call 911 or the non-emergency line if there’s “imminent risk.”
Overall, Books said she hopes information about the resources available for homelessness will help residents be more educated about what is available.
“My hope is that more people have the education that they need in order to make a decision on what to do,” Books said. “So, whether that’s providing resources to someone, connecting them to someone that can provide resources, that’s my main goal and my main hope.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
