The homeless disperse as Safe Harbor closes for season

Apr. 30—TRAVERSE CITY — Carrying their worldly possessions on carts, bicycles and their backs, members of the city's homeless community trudged out of Safe Harbor early Tuesday morning, heading for an uncertain future.

Rudy Lopez Jr. and several of his friends said they were headed for the Pines, the notorious homeless encampment that sits between Silver Lake Road and 11th Street.

Lopez wistfully hugged Isra Martinez, 45, a Safe Harbor resident who was looking for a ride to Arbutus Lake State Forest Campground, where she said she would be able to camp in a safer location than the Pines for $20 a night.

"I feel kind of a little lost, but I've got to face up to reality," said Lopez, 64, of Traverse City. "I feel kind of sad and a little teary, especially about the women."

Tuesday was closing day for Safe Harbor, an 84-bed homeless shelter on Wellington Street that had been filled to capacity for much of this past winter. After looking at the idea of trying to make Safe Harbor a year-round shelter, its board members announced in March they would not be submitting a modified Special Land Use Permit that, if approved by the city, would have allowed Safe Harbor to operate all year.

But the seasonal shelter was never a driving force behind the proposal to operate year-round.

In March, Christopher Ellalasingham, chairman of the shelter board, wrote to city and county officials that being a year-round shelter would be a big task for them, as they are largely dependent on volunteers operating as a nonprofit organization.

On Tuesday, Joshua Brandt, a Safe Harbor board member, said closing the shelter for the season was bittersweet. "On the one hand, it's a sad day and it's the last day, but we really had a smooth and successful season," he said.

A small army of city workers, non-profit and church volunteers and concerned citizens showed up shortly after 7 a.m. to help Safe Harbor residents move their belongings and prepare themselves for living outdoors again.

Outside the shelter, homeless residents signed up for free rides and received bag lunches courtesy of We the People Michigan, a left-of-center advocacy organization based in Detroit that showed up to demand that Safe Harbor remain open year-round.

At nearby Central United Methodist Church, Pastor Jane Lippert and church volunteers served a hot breakfast, after which members of Goodwill Street Outreach offered each homeless resident a 55-gallon garbage bag containing a tent, a sleeping bag and a tarp.

Jenn Holm, social worker coordinator for the Traverse City Police Department's Quick Response Team, also handed out literature that informed homeless residents where and when they could receive medical assistance from TC Street Medicine's Mobile Medical Unit; the locations of free-meal sites; and information and contact numbers for housing assistance, drug or alcohol treatment, crisis and pregnancy services, transportation and other assistance.

"We have so many people here to help you," Lippert told the roomful of homeless residents.

The helpers included Scarlett Zamora of Traverse City, who said she has endured periods of homelessness herself. A driver for DoorDash, Zamora, 45, said she showed up to offer rides to Safe Harbor residents.

"I've been there and done that, so I wanted to give back," she said. "It makes me feel good by helping the community."

Ryan Hannon, Goodwill's community engagement officer, said Goodwill gave away about 50 of the 90 bags that were on hand for homeless residents who plan to camp outside.

"Some people sleep rough," Hannon said. "They don't take the items, or maybe they'll just take a sleeping bag or just a tarp where some people take everything."

Hannon estimated that 60 Safe Harbor residents moved into the Pines on Tuesday, adding to the roughly 30 people who have been living in the Pines year-round.

Asked what his expectations were with the influx of so many new people there, he said, "I don't have any expectations other than bad things happen to people when they're out there (in the Pines). Unsheltered homelessness is bad for people's health, so I expect more bad things to happen to people that are out there."

Not everyone who moved out of Safe Harbor was headed to the Pines or another camping location.

Travis Parrott, 35, who said he had just completed a two-week program at Forest View Hospital, a behavioral-health facility in Grand Rapids, for treatment of depression and a methamphetamine addiction, said a housing advocacy organization had found him a small apartment in Traverse City.

Carrying his possessions on his back, Parrott said he was walking to his new apartment to move in.

"I feel good, but I'm kind of nervous because it's a big step," he said. "I've got a lot of anxieties. When you're on the street for so long, I didn't think I'd ever be housed."

He paused, then added: "I just want to be a member of the community, too."