Homelessness by the numbers
It’s hard to know exactly how many people are homeless in Michigan.
A recent estimate put the figure at around 32,589 individuals as of 2022. That was an increase of 8% from the 2021 count of 30,113, though Chapman believes the “increase” is actually more a return to pre-pandemic normalcy.
During the pandemic, shelters adopted stricter rules around intake, leaving some people unable to utilize them. For many, the only option was public camping, which was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by keeping cohorts together.
Coupled with the expiration of federal pandemic funds, which some communities had used to place homeless people in motels rather than shelters, and the end of nationwide eviction moratoriums, Chapman said it’s not surprising the year-over-year count has increased.
In fact, she believes those figures are still an undercount.
As communities struggle with how to handle growing homeless populations, some are turning toward “a more punitive approach,” said Deyanira Nevarez Martinez, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at Michigan State University.
States like Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida have state-level bans on public camping, with even more considering legislation on the topic. Michigan generally allows cities to decide their own homeless policies. But bans appear to be gaining traction, even in Democratic-stronghold states like California, where San Diego has moved to prohibit public encampments.
In Michigan, the increasingly liberal city of Grand Rapids last year adopted new rules instituting a $500 fine or up to 90 days in jail for repeatedly or aggressively panhandling people dining outside or at an ATM.
“Our city’s objective in developing these new ordinances was to clarify rules and expectations around the use of public spaces, not to criminalize the unhoused,” Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said at the time.
While cities like Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo have made it a misdemeanor to camp or use blankets for an extended period of time on public property, the Oregon city of Grants Pass went further by prohibiting camping on any public property or sleeping in public areas, regardless of the time of day.
Nevarez Martinez said such approaches don’t work and instead push people “deeper into a cycle of poverty and marginalization.”
“I would ask, what do you expect these people to do?” Nevarez Martinez said, of Michigan’s homeless. “If folks are unable to camp in a park, but also the city … has no available resources for them, what are people supposed to do?”
Business owners, meanwhile, are asking a similar question.
Weighing in on the Supreme Court case out of Oregon, some of the nation’s top business groups argue their livelihoods can be uniquely impacted by public encampments.
“Customers forgo patronizing businesses, preferring not to face a heightened risk of crime or to brave open-air drug markets,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a recent court filing.
“Once-vibrant commercial districts degrade, and business owners face the difficult choice of either operating in increasingly dangerous conditions or shutting down.”
