Rick Snyder's staff met with Camp Take Notice protesters at mobile office hours in Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor resident Janelle Nystrom holds a sign protesting the eviction of Camp Take Notice on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Ann Street, in Ann Arbor on Wednesday morning.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
During June and July, Snyder’s constituent relations team is holding several “mobile office hours” per day throughout the state and were scheduled to meet at the TeaHaus, 204 N. Fourth Ave., on Tuesday from 10 a.m.-noon.
With protesters lining the street and lying on blankets as a demonstration of the homeless problem in Washtenaw County, the meeting had to be moved down the street to an open courtyard.
According Snyder’s official website, the mobile office hours are an opportunity to “discuss and register positions on issues” with information available on the budget and ways to get more involved in state government, and the ongoing reinvention of Michigan.
Wednesday’s office hours were dominated by the Camp Take Notice issue.
“We’re down here to protest the eviction of Camp Take Notice and bring greater visibility to homeless issues in Washtenaw County and Michigan at large,” said Arthur Endsley, who serves on the board of Michigan Itinerant Shelter System-Interdependent Out of Necessity (MISSION), a nonprofit organization that helps support the tent city.
Residents of Camp Take Notice were recently forced to leave the MDOT parcel of land in Scio Township they have inhabited for two years. While many former campers are currently staying at the Delonis Center - downtown Ann Arbor’s homeless shelter - and in line to receive housing subsidies from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, there hasn’t been room to house everyone.
Supporters of Camp Take Notice stacked blankets in front of Steve Sachs, manager of constituent relations for Gov. Rick Snyder.
Photo courtesy of Brian Nord
According to several accounts, several former campers have been turned away from the Delonis Center and have been handed a blanket and instructed to seek out public space for the night.
“That’s not acceptable. Camp Take Notice was designed to, and did, accommodate to these people when none of the other service agencies in the area had any room for them and now there’s no place for them to go,” Endsley said. “(Lying on blankets on the sidewalk) is literally what it’s like for the homeless community now, that’s their home now.”
Ellen Schulmeister, CEO of the Delonis Center, confirmed that there hasn’t been room to accommodate everyone despite increasing the shelter’s capacity to warming center capacity to accommodate former campers waiting on housing subsidies.
“If we don’t have room for you tonight and you need to get through the night, we may give you a blanket and we may give you a sleeping bag, or we may give you whatever we have to help you with for the moment if we don’t have room… We do whatever we can to hook someone up with what is necessary at the moment.” Schulmesieter said. “(When a person is turned away for the night) that doesn’t mean we’re not going to help them. We do have services only where we work with people until we can get them a bed if they need a bed.”
Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.
Comments
Davidian
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 11:45 a.m.
There are some homeless people that have pretty serious mental or physical health issues. I have always supported and assisted people like this. They absolutely deserve our empathy and they need our help. But let's not confuse them with another element. Anyone that puts the money where their mouth will quickly see that many chronically homeless people are societal dropouts or people that are not confronting their personal issues, nothing more. It's not the economy. It's a string of terrible choices or willful personal neglect. I'm sorry but I refuse to support them.
Treehugger
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 6:10 a.m.
This is GREAT !!!!!! Gov Snyder has got my support again...keep up the GOOD WORK....thanks for doing a good job..
RobertJ
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 1:32 a.m.
Half the time I drive by there I see people carrying out guitars and northfaces.
Terrin
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 1:06 a.m.
There is some heartless people out there. We are in the worst economy ever. Jobs are scarce. The older people get, the harder it is for them to get jobs because the older people are competing with younger people for a very limited amount of jobs. Moreover, some people do not have family or friends to help out in a bind. To assume every homeless person chooses to be homeless is ridiculous and not grounded on reality.
Honest Abe
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 6:18 a.m.
Terrin, I am going to tell you like I have told others, regarding Camp Take Notice. Your knowledge of CTN is LIMITED at best.
Jack Campbell
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 4:21 a.m.
Terrin I completely agree with you, and I do think we should help people out. But a interstate median with no sanitation is not a healthy place for these people to stay. Nor should we house every homeless person from the state in our city.
jcj
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 1:35 a.m.
They may not choose to be homeless. BUT many of them do choose not to work!
Townie
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 12:43 a.m.
The governor's staff told them that if the homeless would just earn $350k or above they'd get everything they want or need. In fact, if they could just declare themselves a business they'll get help from SPARK and MEDCO and tax breaks. The staff did over them tax cuts immediately, however.
Davidian
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 12:20 a.m.
The only thing that is immoral is the expectation of free land and money by people that do absolutely nothing in return for it.
Honest Abe
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 6:17 a.m.
Well said!
jcj
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 12:08 a.m.
Did they pick up their dump truck loads of crap sitting along Wagner today? I saw some scavengers helping themselves!
Subroutine
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 10:23 p.m.
Those in the camp that really needed help took advantage of the help offered. That left the rest, including the so called "founder" without a legitimate reason for being there. Some people want to live this lifestyle, and they use those that really are in trouble to justify their existence on public land.
Davidian
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 11:36 a.m.
Exactly - they can work, but they have chosen to drop out. They masquerade as needy people and it's just hogwash.
Billy
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 9:01 p.m.
""We're down here to protest the eviction of Camp Take Notice and bring greater visibility to homeless issues in Washtenaw County and Michigan at large,"" Ok now I'm born and raised in this city. I spent my a little of my teenage years downtown....hanging out with diag rats and the homeless. Know what I learned from them? Ann Arbor is FAMOUS among the homeless community. Heck if you search some of the transient message boards you will find AMAZINGLY high marks given to Ann Arbor. Know why? Because this city is KNOWN for bending over backwards for the homeless. Our programs and handouts are infamous. Homeless people come from all over the country so they can be homeless HERE. How about you do a census of ALL the transients in this city right now....how many of them are ACTUALLY from here? I'm willing to guess less than 50% are even from this state...
Honest Abe
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:59 p.m.
By the way, in reference to the sign being held in the photo above : Eviction IS the way!
Beth Mayhand
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 2:17 a.m.
Love your name "honest Abe". There is only one that is honest and that's the Lord and His judgment. It is righteous and true. Wow! Let's hope you never have to ask for help in an area that you don't belong. I wonder what your answer would have been to Mary looking for a "decent" place to give birth to Jesus. Mankind has not changed since the beginning of time. We still have a wicked nature of heart. Don't worry though, there will come a time when the entire world is in distress. God will destroy the entire religious, political and educated world!! Revelation 11 and 16 promise 3 & 1/2 yrs of world wide drought, famine, plagues and more. He will divide those that are His from those that are not. So keep your chin up, you won't have to worry about "those folks" taking away your first class seat in hell. There's plenty of room.
Honest Abe
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:54 p.m.
Again, good riddance to CTN. These bums are not entitled to anything. Their sense of entitlement is flat out offensive and arrogant. To all so called residents of CTN : You are owed NOTHING!
Jack Campbell
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:51 p.m.
Such as sob story, getting $950/month for rent and a bridge card for food for a year. All for doing nothing but squatting. 60+ undocumented drifters in my neighborhood without any running water or sanitation near a preschool is unacceptable. 3 weeks ago a propane tank exploded, 2 weeks ago a man died of an OD. Delonis center rightly turns away people from other counties. Sorry Washtenaw county doesn't need to house every homeless person in MI. We are sick of housing MI's homeless, go back to your own communities.
Modern_Atheist
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 10:34 a.m.
You DO realize that the man found dead died of natural causes not an OD... I'm VERY happy these people get a whole years rent. So many people are acting like CTN was in "their backyard" I didn't realize my backyard consisted of land within a 5 mile radius of my house.
Beth Mayhand
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 2:14 a.m.
Wow! Let's hope you never have to ask for help in an area that you don't belong. I wonder what your answer would have been to Mary looking for a "decent" place to give birth to Jesus. Mankind has not changed since the beginning of time. We still have a wicked nature of heart. Don't worry though, there will come a time when the entire world is in distress. God will destroy the entire religious, political and educated world!! Revelation 11 and 16 promise 3 & 1/2 yrs of world wide drought, famine, plagues and more. He will divide those that are His from those that are not. So keep your chin up, you won't have to worry about "those folks" taking away your first class seat in hell. There's plenty of room.
Tom Todd
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:51 p.m.
Wow we have become quite a Cruel nation.
cinnabar7071
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 12:57 a.m.
Tom do you know homeless people really have it pretty good, ever see a skinny homeless person? Me neither.
Woman in Ypsilanti
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:24 p.m.
Maybe Camp Take Notice should camp out by the Huron River near Snyder's house. Someplace very visible to him so he can see that there is a problem.
calebpoirier
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:24 p.m.
Coverage of this issue is greatly appreciated. Certainly the nuance of a protest message can easily be lost due to many not easily controlled factors. In this case, the focus of attention related to the blankets was not meant as a slight toward the wonderful care provided by the staff at the Delonis center. Rather it was meant to highlight that, while there was previously a place to send the homeless when the shelter was full, there is now no place to refer the surplus or overflow of homeless. In fact, the best that can now be offered to an overflow (or late arriving) homeless person is a blanket. The frustration for having no place to refer these needy people is not being delivered toward Shelter staff. Rather, this condition of having no place to refer the homeless, is being placed at the feet of the Snyder administration which had the power (and still has the power) to check the unnecessary actions effected by Kirk T. Steudle, director of MDOT. Should a reader disagree with MISSION's forward tactics, there are many different local organizations which do help the homeless and need both time and money. Should the reader agree that a moral wrong has been done to the all the overflow homeless of Washtenaw County, they can consider calling Rick Snyder (517) 373 3400 and Kirk T Steudle (517) 373 0718 to communicate their opinions. While such phone calls may or may not result in a change – those politicians and appointed public servants need to know about the sad repercussions caused by their indifference to suffering. Perhaps next time they will think twice before squashing the last survival options of the poorest of the poor. Supporters might also consider going to tentcitymichigan.org and filling out the online petition. For those who care, please keep an eye out for future direct actions which bring light to the unmet needs of Washtenaw's homeless.
Mike
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 1:31 a.m.
Jobs will take care of the overflow, even minimum wages ones which they won't take. They'd rather sit in a camp and collect welfare. If they were paying taxes at low paying jobs it would be a start and there would be more money in the pot to support your compassionate philanthropy with our tax dollars.
Davidian
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 12:18 a.m.
Caleb: When and where did you come to the conclusion that you are entitled to handouts (e.g. land, money) that you haven't worked for? You aren't special - none of you are. It's such a shame that you have wasted your life because you are obviously intelligent and articulate. You could put your skills to use and easily make a comfortable living. I'm sorry to say that I do not think anything was immoral about CTN's eviction. Justice means doing what is fair - and stopping people from freeloading is fair to those of us who pay taxes and contribute. BTW: I called Rick and Kirk and applauded the state's effort to evict CTN. Thanks for providing their contact information.
a2roots
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 11:50 p.m.
I have asked this question several times and have yet to see an answer. It is, why did Poirier reject or not qualify for the Section 8 subsidy offered? Time for you to pick it up by the bootstraps and show your flock of followers to someplace other than Ann Arbor. Quite apparent that from feedback on this site that Ann Arbor residents are sick and tired of you and your stir the pot agenda.
Michigan Man
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:57 p.m.
Caleb - I would like to communicate my feelings about the campers directly to the campers, preferably to the camp leadership. Do you have cell phone numbers of those people? Please advise.
Jack Campbell
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:55 p.m.
And why do you think it is OK for all of MI's homeless to come to ann arbor for handouts? I worked damn hard to get where I am now and you think you can just set up shop in my neighborhood and turn it to crap?
Jack Campbell
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:52 p.m.
Caleb you are obviously organized enough to hold a job. Why not band together to buy up cheap property in Detroit or Ypsi?
antikvetch
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:17 p.m.
Ya gotta love this town.....
Forever27
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:08 p.m.
I'm surprised Snyder's answer to Camp Take Notice isn't to just institute an Emergency Manager. They know how to solve EVERYTHING!
Monica R-W
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 11:13 p.m.
The Emergency Manager is probably coming around the corner....
leaguebus
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 8:05 p.m.
The 30 people in the camp are just a drop in the bucket compared to the 11000 families that they kicked off the welfare rolls before Christmas. They were sued and lost but have been very slow putting these families back on. Compassion for those less fortunate is not as important to the Republikans as tax cuts for the 1%.
Mike
Thu, Jun 28, 2012 : 1:28 a.m.
Spend, spend, spend....compassion, compassion, compassion.............raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes, blah, blah, blah......financial insolvency is the only way while giving away the farm that will make you happy...........