KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The weather is nice now, but it wasn’t that long ago that it was miserably cold outside.
A report has now been issued on this year’s unprecedented efforts to provide emergency shelter to the homeless.
Kalamazoo County, the city of Kalamazoo, and the Continuum of Care put up nearly $700,000 to expand existing shelters and rent hotel rooms for those with medical issues.
County board chair Jen Strebs says they set up additional beds at the Gospel Mission and Ministry with Community’s daytime shelter.
When they weren’t enough, both shelters provided a few dozen additional beds.
And even that wasn’t enough.
They were able to set up a central shelter access hub to help homeless individuals who needed referrals to find available beds, and to coordinate the effort.
There were lessons learned that will be applied, and work has already begun planning for next winter.
One other statistic from the report, during the project period, participants reduced emergency room visits and hospital admissions collectively by 80%.
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