TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – An organization trying to end homelessness in the Traverse City area is asking the city council to spend $1 million in 2025-26 to help with the cause.

The Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness says it can end homelessness by making it “rare, brief and one time.”

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“This dedicated funding would support the priorities and emerging needs related to Permanent Supportive Housing, as identified by the Housing and Homelessness Task Force,” Ashley Halladay-Schmandt, director the coalition, stated in a June 4 letter to Traverse City’s city council. “The Task Force, jointly led by the Coalition, the City, and Grand Traverse County, brings together a diverse group of stakeholders—including housing providers, health systems, people with lived experience, and local leaders—to create a unified and accountable strategy. Over the next six months, the Task Force will finalize a comprehensive plan to prevent and end homelessness, with implementation slated to begin in 2026.”

The Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness’ solutions include living with family members or friends or staying with an emergency shelter until a permanent housing solution is identified. That may include government subsidized housing for some cases such as rental assistance programs and comprehensive housing-based case management help. They compared ending homelessness to a complex issue such as raising a child or eradicating a new virus.

“These are problems where no off-the-shelf answer exists and many variables that are extremely difficult to control are actually key steps in the recipe,” the Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness said in a video.

The coalition stated that there were 265 homeless people in the Traverse City area in 2024, an increase from 257 in 2023. The cost of the homeless system in Traverse City is $6.5 million a year, including expenses from the call center to the cost of the rooms to the housing programs.