PETOSKEY, Mich. — At a Sept. 9 special session, the City of Petoskey City Council heard from local homeless-service providers who said shelter space, affordable housing and sustained case-management funding are the region’s principal shortfalls in responding to homelessness.

The Nehemiah Project, Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency (the local HARA), the Salvation Army and North Country Community Mental Health described constrained bed capacity, long wait lists for subsidized housing and limited rapid-rehousing slots. City officials agreed to schedule a follow-up work session to explore options and funding partnerships.

The meeting was convened to educate the council and the public about homelessness in Petoskey and the surrounding counties, Mayor Murphy said at the start of the session.

“The Nehemiah Project is the only full‑time homeless shelter north of Traverse City and south of Marquette,” Brian Peters, executive director of the Nehemiah Project, told the council. Peters said the organization currently operates three houses that provide up to 12 beds for men, nine beds for women and four transitional beds, plus a daytime resource center called Hope Hall. He said Nehemiah has been forced to turn away more than 130 people so far this year because of space limits and that last year the shelter turned away more than 150 people.

Peters described the shelter’s case-management approach and said stays have been lengthening as the housing market tightened. “Realistically, all of them — that’s the number one biggest hurdle for people,” Peters said when asked whether lack of affordable housing keeps guests in shelter longer.

Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency staff said the agency operates the regional coordinated entry and diversion system for ten counties and that Charlevoix and Emmett counties currently have 55 households seeking housing assistance and support. Sarah Hughes, director of homeless and housing stability, said the agency’s Charlevoix/Emmett service area has eight rapid‑rehousing program slots (18–24 months each) and that those slots are full. “We are asking for $100,000 over three years to increase these funds to support our growing caseloads,” Hughes said, describing a request for new program dollars and additional rapid‑rehousing slots.

Agency staff said caseloads for street‑outreach and rapid‑rehousing case managers have grown from an average of 30–35 clients to 35–45 clients in recent years. Their presentation identified recurring obstacles: transportation gaps in a rural region, a shortage of overflow locations when shelters are full, and the lack of income‑based affordable rental units at roughly 30–50 percent of area median income.

The Salvation Army described daily food and hygiene services and a new twice‑weekly shower ministry. “Right now, we’re averaging about 40 people each day” at the lunch program, Roman Haith, Salvation Army envoy in Petoskey, said; Haith estimated about eight to 10 of those participants are experiencing homelessness.

Representatives of North Country Community Mental Health outlined how mental‑health and developmental‑disability services intersect with housing needs. Brian Babbitt, chief executive officer, said many clients rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and that single‑adult SSI benefit levels (about $967 per month) make unsubsidized rental housing unaffordable. Babbitt also described Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams and specialized residential supports used for people with severe needs. “People with a disability and mental illness are 11 times more likely to be victims of violence than they are to perpetrate violence,” Babbitt said, urging care when discussing public‑safety risks.

Council members and presenters discussed several program‑level data points: Nehemiah’s bed limits (men’s shelter 12, women/children 9, transitional 4), roughly 8,000 annual bed‑nights capacity at current operations, Nehemiah outcome breakdowns from 2024 (about 19 percent to permanent housing, 32 percent to temporary housing with friends/family, 13 percent to institutions, 17 percent unknown, 19 percent returning to homelessness), and Action Agency figures for Charlevoix/Emmett (55 households currently in need, eight rapid‑rehousing slots; 22 people currently at Nehemiah was reported as part of the 55). North Country noted that specialized adult‑foster‑care beds are limited locally; Emmet County had two specialized AFC homes serving 12 people in FY24.

Providers detailed financing sources and constraints: emergency solutions and rapid‑rehousing funding through ESG and MSHDA, federal/state pass‑throughs via DHHS, vouchers from the Housing Choice Voucher program (Section 8) handled by MSHDA and local partners, and private donations. Peters said Nehemiah is donor‑funded; the Salvation Army said it is roughly 98 percent donor funded for local operations. Hughes described how state and federal grants and ESG slots are allocated and how per‑capita funding limits local program capacity.

Council members raised public‑safety concerns and asked providers whether homelessness in Petoskey was driving crime; outreach staff emphasized that most people experiencing homelessness are not perpetrators and that many who appear in public spaces are transient or come from other counties. Dr. Charlene Sweeney, a caller who identified herself as a neurologist and Petoskey resident, asked whether people discharged from corrections were being paroled to local hotels; Peters and agency staff said paroled individuals are generally returned to areas where they have ties and that the Department of Corrections and offender‑reentry programs coordinate placements.

Peters also announced that Nehemiah has acquired roughly seven acres near U.S.‑31 and Interstate Drive and said the organization plans to develop a larger facility — a proposed 60‑person shelter/project — over several years, subject to fundraising and partner support.

Next steps: Mayor Murphy and council members said they will assemble a city‑led work session with county and agency partners to evaluate options, funding pathways and potential sites for expanded shelter and supportive housing. The meeting concluded with the council scheduling further joint work to explore the requests and models presented.

Discussion, requests and the providers’ statistics were education‑focused; no council motions or votes were taken at the Sept. 9 session. The council’s stated follow‑up is a study/exploration step rather than an immediate budget commitment.