Statement
My name is Emma Lapp, and I am a first-year student at the University of Michigan. I address myself to the University of Michigan Board of Regents for matters pertaining to the homeless community in Ann Arbor. After repeated requests of assistance from city organizations, there has been little to no response from U-M over the last couple of years. Alongside all of the benefits of the university being integrated into the city of Ann Arbor, there is an expectation that the school will show commitment to all members of the community, which includes homeless people. It is an obvious problem that there is a suffering population of people that are not provided with enough community assistance and this needs to be addressed by the university.
Leaders and Best?
Back in 2020, Ann Arbor City Councilmember, Elizabeth Nelson proposed to open vacant campus housing to the homeless population. There was not enough space in the shelters to accommodate the number of people in need. Especially at the time of COVID-19, this problem at hand was crucial. People who were homeless were at more risk to not only contract the virus, but to die from its serious side effects. “Nationally, homeless people who contracted COVID-19 in the last year were 30% more likely to die than those in the general population,” (Jain, 2021). Getting these people off the streets at this time was more important than ever. And even though this proposal was supported by many, it was quickly shut down by the University, along with other requests for help.
To illustrate how this use of campus housing for homeless people would be implemented, two universities have already successfully done this. Suffolk University and Sonoma State University opened residence halls to homeless people to help the larger community. In March of 2020, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the new project that would create 172 new beds at a dorm building at Suffolk University. “These additional beds will ease the burden on our shelters as they practice physical distancing. They will provide more safe spaces for individuals to safely quarantine,” said Walsh. Even though this project was run by the Boston Public Health Commission, the university took a proud stance in support. Suffolk University President Marisa Kelly said, “We stand ready to help in any way. Boston is our home, and the University takes very seriously its responsibility to be a good citizen at a time when we are all being called upon to pitch in and help,” (LaChance, 2020).
Sonoma State University went about their project a little differently. Instead of providing beds in a residential hall at the university, they opened up a gymnasium for homeless people to stay for a period of five months. In collaboration between Sonoma County and SSU, a five-month contract worth $5 million was created. “The SSU campus could house up to 700 people, if needed, in an effort to alleviate any strain on local hospitals and homeless shelters,”(Silvy, 2020). Even though the contract was technically written for a five month time frame, if it was necessary, the gymnasium would stay open longer to accommodate the people in need.
The University of Michigan calls its students, faculty and staff, the “Leaders and Best”. And yet, when it comes to this issue, U-M is not acting as a leader. At a time of extreme need for community for all, the University decided to standby and watch, rather than take action. Even though Ann Arbor is not in a state of emergency in regards to COVID-19, cases continue to rise steadily, especially in the upcoming winter months. There is still a present need for beds in this community and with the ability that U-M has to make a difference, they should.
Groundcover News
Groundcover News is an Ann Arbor based street newspaper, with the goal of employing homeless people to sell the hardcopy papers. The process of this paper is fairly straightforward. The vendor would buy the paper (or how many they want) for a set price, and then sell these papers for a higher price, with the benefit of keeping the profits. This helps them learn many skills including social and financial. This job also helps give them a sense of community and purpose. Groundcover News aims its employee base to be strictly homeless people. Once the vendor builds a strong foundation at this job, they are given the opportunity to write for the paper in the writers section. There is a community of vendors that have been there for years and have successfully gotten housing because of Groundcover.
Groundcover News intern, Jaz Brennan, wrote a piece about this issue for the paper in January of 2021. To summarize, Brennan wrote that a project was being planned for U-M dormitories to be used for homeless people to help contain the spread of COVID-19. She said that there was supposed to be a meeting after this project was passed. For a university the size of U-M and with the capabilities it has to make a difference, to completely ignore a call for help from its own community, is very disappointing. “Even with aligned missions and values, solidarity statements, and artistic calls to be the change, the University of Michigan continues to sit this game out,” (Brennan, 2021).
The Financial Breakdown
It is well known that the University of Michigan is not scarce when it comes to money. U-M is ranked the 3rd richest public university in the country (Jacobs, 2015). It was just recently announced that 2,300 beds will be added to Central Campus in a new residence hall. This initial project planning is projected to cost around $6.5 million (this does not include the new marching band facility that will need to be built). That being said, yes, there is a definite need for new rooms due to a projected increase in enrollments in first-year students within the upcoming years. However, this just goes to show that there are enough funds to build more beds when there is an immediate need.
There is a difference between building beds for incoming students and building that same number of beds for non-university community members. And the difference is profit. The University will charge a student up to $12,000 for one bed, with the addition of at most $58,000 for tuition, which is the out-of-state price (College Simply). However, if that bed goes to a homeless person, there wouldn’t be profit. It is somewhat disappointing that even though U-M is one of the wealthiest universities in the nation, they will continue to choose profit over helping others.
Since Ann Arbor is home to one of the biggest universities in the country, there is a direct effect on the housing market and the economy of the city alone. Out of all of the undergraduate students, 72% live in an off campus house (US News). The other 28% of the students are made up of first-years living in residential housing owned by the university. Due to the immediate need for off-campus housing for college students, the prices then skyrocketed. This in return makes the housing market far too competitive for locals to buy or rent in the city. Ann Arbor has been ranked in the top 4% of U.S. cities for the most expensive cost of living (Living Cost). The homeless population does not stand much of a chance to get housing in Ann Arbor without a little help.
My Proposal
Even though there are resources available in Ann Arbor for homeless people to take advantage of, the demand is much larger than the demand. There are 6 homeless shelters in Ann Arbor that provide housing, meals, showers, laundry services, warmth in the winter, cooling in the summer, and other services. However, there are too many people in need of these services, leaving them on the streets of Ann Arbor. And while there is no immediate need for housing due to COVID-19, during the winter months, the homeless community is still in dire need of help.
There is no easy solution to this issue. The University of Michigan cannot go back in time, take the meeting when it was scheduled, and help this community. And since there is no emergency need for housing to contain the spread of COVID, U-M is not expected to help. However, the University of Michigan has refrained from addressing this community in any way shape or form.
What I am proposing the University of Michigan to do is to address the homeless community in whatever way possible. A large population of Ann Arbor is still upset about this situation and it would be best if the University recognized their faults in this. Possibly, collaborating with some student-based organizations to raise awareness or to do a fundraiser in which the funds will be donated to the local homeless shelters. For example, the student organization “Michigan is My Home” focuses primarily on homelessness and was inspired by Groundcover News. There are endless possibilities for how U-M can make up for its lack of attention to this community in the past, but, this has to start from the University down.
Citations
Brennan, Jaz. “Do you see us?”. Groundcover News. January 2021. December 2022. Brennan – Do You See Us – gcn-2021-january.pdf
Jacobs, Peter. “The 10 richest public universities in America”. The Insider. 25 March 2015. December, 2022. The 10 Richest Public Universities in America (businessinsider.com)
LaChane, Mike. “Suffolk University Transforms Dorm Into Housing for the Homeless During Coronavirus Crisis”. Legal Insurrection. 30 March 2020. December, 2022. Suffolk University Transforms Dorm Into Housing for the Homeless During Coronavirus Crisis (legalinsurrection.com)
Sachin, Jain. “Homelessness is a Healthcare Issue. Why Don’t We Treat It as One?” Forbes. 17 April 2021. December, 2022. Homelessness Is A Healthcare Issue. Why Don’t We Treat It As One? (forbes.com).
Silvy, Tyler. “Sonoma State dorms readied to take in at-risk homeless people amid Coronavirus crisis”. The Press Democrat. 27 April 2020. December, 2022. Sonoma State dorms readied to take in at-risk homeless people amid coronavirus crisis (pressdemocrat.com)
“Cost of Living in Ann Arbor, MI”. Living Cost. N/D. December 2022. Cost of Living in Ann Arbor, MI: rent, food, transport (livingcost.org)
“Michigan Tuition and Cost”. College Simply. N/D. December 2022. University of Michigan – Net Price, Tuition, Cost to Attend, Financial Aid and Student Loans (collegesimply.com)
“University of Michigan – Ann Arbor”. US News. N/D. December 2022. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Student Life – US News Best Colleges
