- Hillsdale City Council voted Monday to dismantle a makeshift homeless center.
- The center, which organizers say is Hillsdale's only sober living transitional housing, is operating out of a yurt behind Hillsdale Community Thrift store.
- The City says the yurt is unsuitable for occupancy, and multiple attempts have been made to bring the property into voluntary compliance.
- Organizers say the center provides shelter and programs to help the homeless back onto their feet.
"I don't know where I'd be if I wouldn't have been brought here," says resident Terri Van Voorhis.
They call it "Camp Hope" — transitional housing for up to two dozen homeless in a yurt tucked away behind Hillsdale Community Thrift. City Council has decided it must be torn down. Council Members voted Monday that Camp Hope is unsafe for occupancy.
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"I came from Battle Creek, and it was really bad there. I was on the streets — literally on the streets, sleeping wherever I could find a place to sleep," recounts Van Voorhis. "You know, eating whatever I could, not doing well health-wise, not having any doctors, not having my proper documentation…"
I ask her: What has Camp Hope meant for you?"
"Oh, Missy saved my life," she says.
Melissa "Missy" DesJardin, who put up the camp behind her thrift store, told City Council she needs more time to prepare an alternative:
"If you all don't want any assistance for homelessness in this town — that's up to you guys. But I want to support those who are at the very lowest."
City Council Member Robert Socha citing neighbors' complaints: "What the complaints are saying is that there's no oversight and that it's a party."
City staff pointed out a court order DesJardin signed last month agreeing to dismantle the yurt after two years of attempts to bring the property into compliance.
"It was never supposed to be permanent," says Kerri Stewart — Board President of Hope Harbor — the group set up to run this housing. Stewart says Camp Hope replaced what started as a tent city — and she says it's currently Hillsdale's only sober living transitional housing.
Stewart says the goal is to turn this permanent structure next to the thrift store into transitional housing for 16 people — and move people out of the yurt.
This building currently has a kitchen, meeting space, and restroom facilities that are available to people who live in the yurt.
City Council, however, voted Monday to begin the eviction and dismantlement of the yurt. Coucil Member Socha said laws must now be enforced.
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