LANSING, Mich — Rene Gill has been unhoused for the past 3 months — and after being hit by a car, he says navigating life without stable housing while disabled has been especially difficult.
"I was hit by a car. It destroyed my bicycle, I had to work with crutches, canes and now my wheel chair."
According to a homelessness study the city of Lansing conducted in 2023, people with disabilities are one of the key groups experiencing homelessness. Accessing shelters presents an additional challenge due to a lack of accommodation.
"That's what we're seeing most outside now are people that are having struggles with disabilities because they cant get on the top bunk or they're struggling with housing issues all together."
That's where Mike Karl and his organization, Cardboard Prophets, step in.
"We're a street outreach that fills gaps," Karl said.
One of those gaps is resources for unhoused people with disabilities. Karl says Cardboard Prophets starts by providing necessities such as hygiene products and transportation to locations that can help.
"An adult foster care home, where some of our most vulnerable who have disabilities and unhoused may have been on the streets because they left an unsafe situation or they have no guidance, they could go there and be safe," Karl said.
Connecting people to broader resources is also part of the mission.
"The disabilities rights network, social security, you name it, whatever those barriers may be we try and remove them," Karl said.
For Gill, that support has made a difference.
"Yes, very much so!" Gill said, when asked if it was meaningful to have someone willing to help him and others like him.
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BELOW ARE LINKS TO DONATE TO CARDBOARD PROPHETS:
PAYPAL Click here.
CASH APP Click here.
HOTEL Wait list click here.
