With a swath of U.S. cities adopting policies that would outlaw homeless encampments, advocates for unhoused people are working to fight stigmas against “tent cities.”
A new study out of the University of Colorado shows that involuntary sweeps of these camps do not improve public safety, for instance. And in San Diego, initiatives like safe sleeping camps work to provide transitional support to people with nowhere else to go.
Now, the city of Saginaw, Michigan, is taking a similar approach to address homelessness.
The City Council has announced a community partnership to establish temporary legal encampments for homeless residents displaced from a site under an interstate overpass.
“We decided to be proactive and try to establish a place where we can provide some very basic amenities that drastically improve the health, safety, and dignity of the folks in that area,” City Councilwoman Carly Rose Hammond told Mid-Michigan Now.
She added that the initiative aims to “have a positive impact on all the neighborhoods and businesses surrounding it.”
Hammond acknowledged that the plan is not designed to be a permanent solution, but it does allow those experiencing homelessness at least a little more dignity and support.
“What a legal encampment allows us to do is say, ‘Hey, we already know that these people are here. Even if we come out and destroy people’s stuff, they’re going to come back,” she told WNEM 5.
“So, what can we do to provide some basic amenities and some necessities to help so that the environment is relatively clean and relatively safe?’”
Saginaw is not a major city, but it is part of the Greater Tri-Cities Region of Central Michigan, which has an estimated population of about 378,000 people.
According to Saginaw’s 2024 Point in Time Count, there are approximately 325 individuals experiencing homelessness at any given time. And with the housing crisis on the rise, officials are hoping this move will provide more relief.
“We’ve seen the housing crisis climb and climb and climb, we’ve had more and more fallout from those social issues,” Hammond added to Mid-Michigan Now. “So [we’re] addressing this problem head-on, providing a temporary solution, and a pathway forward.”
Organizations like La Misión are part of the city’s plan to include nonprofits, businesses, community advocates, and neighbors in ensuring the success of the initiative.
Veronica Vela, who leads La Misión, said legal and accessible encampments are vital to connecting with people who need urgent resources.
“We’re out here. We actually know names there. They know us,” Vela told Mid-Michigan Now. “So when they see my truck, they’re gonna come up to my truck. So it’s more of a relationship that we have with them.”
By allowing people the space to build community in a designated and safe location, caseworkers and on-the-ground advocates can get people the help they need with more speed and consistency.
The city also plans to form a permanent subcommittee to address homelessness — ideally before it begins.
While the timeline of this new initiative — as well as the specific services it will provide — remain unclear at this time, Hammond promises a step in the right direction.
“What’s going to come out of this is a healthier, safer environment for everyone,” she told Mid-Michigan now. “We can work on long-term solutions, rather than just kicking the problem around and kicking it down the road.”
Header image by Brett Sayles/Pexels
