Plan for family centric warming center changes to adults-only, sending families elsewhere

LANSING — Less than three weeks after announcing the opening of a warming center for families and children at the Letts Community Center, the city of Lansing has changed plans and will be opening the doors to adults only.

"Our initial intent to help families with an overnight warming center has been shifted to individuals due to both need and available infrastructure," said Kimberly Coleman, director of the city's Human Relations and Community Services department, in a statement. "We will work to assist individuals and as many families as possible to ensure they are safe and warm overnight."

Intended to be the Letts Family Warming Center, 1220 W. Kalamazoo St., the center does not have an appropriate fire suppression system to be used for children, but it can be used for adults, according to a Monday statement from the city.

The Letts Warming Center will be open from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. inside the city's Letts Community Center.

Families needing assistance will get other temporary placements through the winter, according to the city.

The city's Parks and Recreation department runs the community center, and it is looking at cost estimates to install a fire suppression system, said Scott Bean, a city spokesperson.

He said families will be placed with partner agencies for temporary housing needs and the city will be setting aside some money for short-term hotel stays but that money will go fast.

"Ultimately we need to see more affordable housing options built in the city to get families into good, safe housing," Bean said.

The center has a capacity of 75, but during severe cold weather emergencies deemed a "Code Blue" by the city, the capacity can be increased temporarily for the night.

The city has a gap between the number of people needing shelter and the number of beds available, Coleman said.

Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries will operate and manage the nighttime warming center, which will be funded through an $800,000 allocation in the state budget for the city to establish such a shelter, according to the city.

The organization won a bid for proposals and operates several shelters, warming centers and facilities in Michigan.

Mike Karl, a Lansing area advocate for the unhoused, said that when he operated shelters in the city he needed to update the fire systems immediately.

"I think a lot of people are glad they are opening something," Karl said.

He said the city could use their experience with this new warming center to set up a system so people like him could set up shelters with safety nets along with a timeframe to get up to full code with items such as a full fire suppression system.

"When it was me, they didn't care if it was a child or an adult, it was: You fix it or you don't shelter anybody," Karl said.

He said the money for a warming center could have been used to buy the former Shabazz school and operate it as a more full-service center for the unhoused.

"We could find responsible parties to collaborate and help to end homelessness and actually have an asset and not just buy a service," Karl said. "We're not investing in our communities. We need to put concrete help, here in Lansing full-time, an option that isn't faith-based that shelters everybody and gives the opportunity and includes that safety net of things like a fire suppression system so even adults don't burn up."

Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing warming center now adults only, sending families elsewhere