TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It was only about two days ago that the public learned about a possible sale of the former Pugsley Correctional Facility in the city of Kingsley in Grand Traverse County. The plan being developed was for Grand Rapids’ non-profit Exodus Place to buy it from Grand Traverse Economic Development, the non-gaming commercial investment arm of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. It was going to be used for the transitional housing of homeless men as well as adding additional housing units. It was a plan that would have only gone through with approval from the township and the assistance of a $5 million grant from the MI State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).

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However, last night, at the Fife Lake Township board meeting, almost a hundred community members showed up to voice their concerns and opposition to the plan. After about an hour of public comment from 28 township residents, the community was able to stop the plan in its tracks after their opposition to the project led to Exodus Place CEO Robb Munger saying that he would be withdrawing his plans for the development.

Munger had been on a media tour before the meeting, telling reporters that his plan was to turn the empty prison into 300 units of transitional housing and an additional 900+ micro-apartments and studio apartments over the next several years. With a first phase of wanting to build 50 units, he would need trustee approval for the zoning and he came to the meeting to explain the project and to answer questions.

According to their website, Exodus Place is a Christian-based “rapid re-housing for vulnerable men who are experiencing homelessness.” Their vision is to “Glorify God by meeting each man where they are” by providing a hand up rather than a handout by equipping men with “physical, emotional, mental and spiritual tools for successful reintegration into the community.”

The community’s interest in the project and the large attendance led to the meeting being moved to the Fife Lake Fire Department garage, but the residents were prepared with written statements and their own chairs. At the beginning of the meeting, Munger gave a short presentation about his goals for the development project which were met with boos from the audience.

Munger said about the project, “My goal is to cure homelessness…Worse-case scenario is I clean the place up.”

What he didn’t say is that many of the people he would be “curing” wouldn’t necessarily be people from lower Northern Michigan. The Traverse City Ticker reported that Munger mentioned homeless men being sent up north from Grand Rapids, Detroit and Lansing as an extension of his downstate operation.

Ashley Halladay-Schmandt, director of the Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness, told  The Ticker that “no one from Exodus Place has reached out to any providers within the Coalition as of yet” and that she is wary of Munger’s plans. She said, “It is worrisome that people experiencing homelessness in other communities would be transported to a community they are not familiar with…It’s best practice to help people experiencing homelessness find housing in communities they choose to live in with supports they are connected to.”

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The Fife Lake residents at the meeting weren’t happy about Munger’s plans either. They voiced their concerns regarding several issues including the substance abuse of the residents who would be there, pollution, job security, crime, transportation, the safety of their families, taxes and more.

Mary Barbella, who lives close to the facility, said. “We are no different than a big city. We have our own problems here.” She also said that the homeless at the facility are not “prisoners” and can walk out at any time.

Another resident said that she was having nightmares from the whole thing. She said, “This is our community. We moved here for a reason, peace, quiet and safety. That’s going to be gone. Don’t let him (Munger) fool you, that will be gone.”

Susan Sensenbaugh-Padgett, who is on the planning committee, told the audience that she would not have approved the zoning application if it was submitted. She said, “In the field of homelessness what is being considered here is not best practice.” She was also concerned with security and asked Munger if those being housed would be checked to see if they were on the state sex offender registry.

A local licensed social worker, Nicole Chaft, also said that Munger’s plans were not close to being a best practice and she also expressed concern about “sparse” mental health resources in the area. She said, “I’ve dedicated my life to working with these people on the margins and I am appalled.”

After listening to the public comments, Munger spoke again – this time he told the people in the room that he’d be calling his real estate agent to say that he was backing out of the deal. He said, “I wanted to see what the feeling is and it’s obvious you guys don’t want this to happen. I’ve had a lot of nasty things said about me tonight and a lot of untruths.”

It appeared to some that the safety and security issues concerning the development were not something that Munger had spent much time on. He said, “I can’t control that” but added, “If one child or person got hurt, then it’s not worth it.” After speaking, Munger apologized to the crowd for wasting their time and left the meeting with the people who came with him.

This time, his “Exodus” was met with applause.

Probably unbeknownst to many in the crowd as well as the majority of Michigan residents, is the fact that there are many projects going on all over the state that are being developed to house the homeless and to offer “low cost” housing through the Whitmer administration’s MSHDA. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a statewide housing plan with the goal of creating or preserving 75,000 housing units across the state in the next five years, including 39,000 affordable rental units. In order to do this, they have “partners” in every corner of the state in both the upper and lower peninsulas including “The Right Place” in the west, “Housing North” in the north and at least 25 others, many with coalitions inside of coalitions.

However, the main goal of Whitmer’s housing plan is not to prevent and end homelessness. That is goal is listed as number three in their literature. Their number one goal in the description of their priorities is listed as “equity and racial justice.” Their Statewide Housing Plan brochure says, “This plan leads with a focus on equity and racial justice because longstanding disparities in housing have compromised individual and family access to housing and generational wealth-building. While this is a priority in and of itself, attention to equity flows throughout the other priority areas as well.”

Listed as the third “other” priority area is “preventing and ending homelessness.”

It is unknown at this time if any of these developments, funded by the MSHDA, are going to include the housing of illegal immigrants. It is something that Michigan News Source has been investigating and we will bring you additional information as it develops.