A new campus for the homeless has heated sidewalks, apartments and a medical clinic

At a new housing campus in Detroit's Core City, there are heating lamps to warm the covered sidewalks where people can sleep outdoors if they don't want to come inside.

There is an eight-bed respite center for those discharged from the hospital but who still need time to recover.

There is a free medical clinic for community members, a gymnasium, commercial kitchen and donation center to drop off clothing and furniture.

These details are what make the Pope Francis Center's new Bridge Housing Campus a culmination of best practices to address chronic homelessness from across the country brought right to Detroit.

"The homeless generally feel invisible and so we see them and they know we see them and we care about their well-being," said the Rev. Tim McCabe, president and CEO of the Pope Francis Center, during a tour of the long-awaited campus, which is gearing up to open in late June.

The building is designed to help people transition from the streets into housing, McCabe said. The 60,000-square-foot campus, which sits on 5.3 acres of once vacant land, has 40 studio apartments that, for now, will be for single men experiencing homelessness.

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The Pope Francis Center will assess and determine who will stay in the building by focusing on those who are failing within the traditional system, McCabe said. The center aims to prioritize people the nonprofit sees at its downtown location and already has a list of residents. McCabe expects people to stay between 90 to 120 days before getting into stable housing, but they can remain beyond that, if needed.

The 336-square-foot units include a bathroom and living area with a bed, TV and kitchenette. There are four anti-ligature rooms designed with fixtures to mitigate the risk of suicide, such as a sink with no knobs. There are also bigger rooms on-site for when families arrive.

Housing specialists will help residents identify permanent homes and navigate the challenges that arise even after a person is selected to receive a federal housing choice voucher. They will have continued access to the campus in order to cultivate a sense of family and community, McCabe said.

"People are welcome back here," he said. "This is your home."

The idea behind the campus is to offer wraparound services on-site because addressing homelessness goes beyond securing a roof over one's head. The building will have social workers, addiction specialists and a psychiatrist. It has classroom space for job preparation and financial literacy trainings. There's a barber shop, library, computer lab, art room and a meditation space.

"We understand homelessness as trauma and so our approach is going to be a trauma-informed care approach ― understanding that all homelessness and ... presenting issues, mostly addiction and mental illness, are a result of trauma. They have early childhood trauma, they have complex trauma, they have trauma from becoming homeless," he said.

The complex, apart from the residential area, is open to the broader community.

The CHASS Center will operate a free health clinic at Pope Francis Center's new campus with a doctor, nursing staff and a dental wing for anyone in the neighborhood to access. Residents can use the classroom, cafeteria, kitchen and gym.

A courtyard has overhead heating lamps and can fit about 13 people. It's meant to offer a reprieve for those whose trauma is so severe they are unable to come inside, McCabe said, citing the example of one man who felt nervous around tight spaces and preferred the outdoors. The idea came about after McCabe toured shelters in Orange County and San Antonio with misters and fans to keep people cool and he thought Detroit needed something similar, but for cold weather.

"It's really designed to stop people from freezing to death during the winter," he said. McCabe leads a yearly memorial at the Pope Francis Center honoring those who died while homeless in the city.

In 2022, there were 200 people who were homeless on the streets of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, according to a one-night tally conducted by the Homeless Action Network of Detroit (HAND) in January. Last year, those experiencing unsheltered homelessness were not counted but there were 1,280 people living in shelters or other housing programs. Data for this year's count — meant to provide a snapshot of homelessness in a community and help determine needs and federal funding for programs and services — is not yet available.

The Bridge Housing Campus, located along West Hancock Street, between Lawton Street and the Jeffries Service Drive, has been under construction since 2022 — but in the works for nine years.

McCabe looked at 27 different programs across the country to identify effective models to treat chronic homelessness.

The elements of the building are based on this research, as well as feedback from clients and services providers. Inside the lobby, there is a "hot room," which heats up to 145 degrees to disinfect blankets and clothing as people move in. That was inspired by a shelter in California. Hallways are wide for those dealing with mental illnesses for whom small spaces cause anxiety. Even the colors inside the building are meant to be calming.

The project is a game-changer, McCabe said, and he hopes it will spur a national conversation around the causes and solutions to homelessness, especially as the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether cities can fine and arrest people for sleeping outdoors when there are no shelter beds available.

The Pope Francis Center received a majority of the funding for the Bridge Housing Campus from the California-based Julia Burke Foundation. Other funders include Magna International, the Ford Motor Co., Lear Corp., the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit.

The new project increases Pope Francis Center's operating expenses from around $3 million to $7 million, McCabe said, but he added that he is confident the nonprofit's funding is sustainable enough to support the expansion.

Regular Pope Francis Center services at the nonprofit's downtown location on Saint Antoine Street are expected to continue after the Core City campus opens. The day center provides two meals, laundry and shower facilities, medical, dental and legal clinics and help finding housing, and sees up to 250 people a day.

Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @NushratR.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pope Francis Center to open $40M housing campus this summer