Ypsilanti faces rising homelessness amid soaring housing costs
Ypsilanti faces growing homeless problem
There are no shelters in Ypsilanti, but there are resources like SOS Community Services that help with food, housing, transportation and mental health.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (FOX 2) - From groceries to rent, rising prices are pushing some people into homelessness. The city of Ypsilanti is now dealing with the growing problem of more people living outside in tents and encampments.
Big picture view:
Officials say this is a health and safety issue for everyone, those who are unhoused and those in the surrounding neighborhoods.
One of the encampments FOX 2 encountered while walking a wooded trail along the river downtown had people living in them with their clothing and food nestled in the woods.
There are no shelters in Ypsilanti, but there are resources like SOS Community Services that help with food, housing, transportation and mental health.
"Families are squeezed right now," said City Councilwoman Amber Fellows. "Groceries have gone up 55 percent since 2020. In Washtenaw County, rent has gone up 45 percent since 2023. So food and housing, now they can't make ends meet anymore. More people are finding themselves on the brink of homelessness, and more people are finding themselves homeless."
Dig deeper:
Fellows says one homeless encampment on city property in the Bell Kramer area has become increasingly problematic for the surrounding neighborhood. It's not clear how many people are still living there in tents, but Fellows says the council has voted to clear out the encampment in the next four to six weeks while working to address housing solutions for the people who remain there.
Fellows says she doesn't think this is going to address the problem.
She later says a task force will work to connect services with those being displaced from the Bell Kramer encampment.
SOS Community Services is also encouraging anyone who is unhoused to come to its resource center on River Road. They say they want to help.