Ypsilanti City Council will vote tonight on final approval to create an overnight homeless shelter.
If the resolution is passed, Ypsilanti will have its first overnight shelter in the city’s modern history. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on North Huron Street will be available for people experiencing homelessness Monday through Thursday this winter.
Previously, if someone needed a place to stay overnight, they would have to find transportation to Ann Arbor’s Delonis Center.
Along with theYpsilanti Freighthouse’s daytime warming center, Christopher Jacobs, Ypsilanti’s Community Development Manager, says this is part of a long-term strategy.
“To start with a daytime warming center. To transition into overnight. And eventually get to seven days, including laundry and shower facilities.”
Another goal is to find a location for an overnight shelter during the weekends. The St. Luke’s location still has to hire and train a few more staff members before it can open within the next few weeks.
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