With the average number of daily guest sign-ins nearly tripling from 38 in 2022 to 102 this year, day shelter Jubilee House – operated by Grace Episcopal Church on Washington Street – is seeking city funding support to maintain operations through the end of 2025. Church representatives said they’re working toward a sustainable funding model for 2026 and beyond but hope to receive a $102,256 commitment from the city to make it through the next five months.

Dr. Derek Quinn, assistant priest for outreach and coordinator of Jubilee Outreach Ministries for Grace Episcopal Church, appeared before Traverse City commissioners Monday with the funding request. The organizational model for Jubilee House – which previously operated on half days only Monday-Thursday and was staffed exclusively by volunteers – has changed significantly since the pandemic, Quinn said. That model cost just over $18,000 to operate annually but wasn’t sustainable, especially after the volunteer pool shrank during COVID, Quinn said.

In 2022, multiple community organizations partnered to ensure that a shelter was available 24/7 during the cold-weather months for unhoused individuals. Jubilee House expanded its hours to Monday-Friday 10am-5:30pm and hired a part-time outreach specialist to work with guests. Safe Harbor ran a weekend day shelter in addition to its overnight emergency shelter on Wellington Street, and Central United Methodist Church adjusted its breakfast schedule to provide shelter and food between Safe Harbor closing and Jubilee House opening each day. A combination of grants and city funding totaling $137,596 helped cover costs to run that model for two years.

However, a continued growing demand for services resulted in “unexpected consequences” at Jubilee House, Quinn said. Those impacts included frequent complaints from neighbors, increased critical incidents (including weapons incidents), an unsafe program environment, regular closures due to lack of personnel, cost increases across all budget categories, and volunteer and staff attrition due to stress, Quinn said. A second outreach specialist was hired last spring, and Grace Episcopal Church learned that a “full-time director is absolutely necessary” to run Jubilee House, Quinn said.

“We thought we could continue to operate mostly with volunteers,” he said. “We found out fairly quickly that that really wasn't the case.” Hannah Wescott came on as director, a position “that has been working wonderfully,” Quinn said. Neighborhood complaints have significantly declined, and staff continuity between shifts is providing smoother operations and fewer closures, he said. Volunteers have reported an increased sense of safety and decreased stress, while guest satisfaction levels have also increased, Quinn said. A new free ophthalmology clinic is also available every Friday to guests, he added. “The good news is that it’s working,” he said. “We want to keep the momentum going.”

However, that enhanced model also costs more money to operate. Quinn said the annual program budget is now $217,775, including $161,000 in staffing costs. Another $22,500 goes to supply items for guests, including bus passes, emergency clothing, batteries, food, and hygiene items. Operations adds another $34,275 to the budget, including physical upkeep of the Washington Street property.

“We are putting to use an over-100-year-old home for what frankly has now become a commercial purpose,” Quinn said. “We recognize that there's going to have to be a longer discussion about what it's going to take to continue that operation and whether or not it can continue in that place. But for now, we've got to maintain the structure that we have – and that is somewhat difficult with over 100 people coming into a single-family home.”

Grace Episcopal Church is actively pursuing multiple grants to help fund the new model, with some already successfully secured. The organization is seeking $102,256 from the city to get through 2025 with the goal of lining up other sources for future support. “If you're willing to get us to the end of the year, that really gives us the longest runway to figure out how we're going to have a sustainable funding model for the future and hopefully not have to come back to you in the same way that we're doing right now,” Quinn told commissioners. “Because we'll have those funding partners from local grants, and we can get on their cycles so we know how we're going to be funded in the future.”

Quinn also pointed out that the Housing and Homelessness Task Force – comprised of representatives from multiple local organizations – is working to create a community action plan that will be unveiled by the end of the year with funding recommendations for prevention strategies, shelter, day services, housing, and supportive services. “They are going to also help us figure out a strategy and how we fit into that strategy,” Quinn said. “We know that the operation is going to change, and we are ready to evolve with that. So we also know that whatever funding we get is not necessarily to fund us permanently, it's to help us get to the next stage in our evolution.”

Commissioner Heather Shaw said the region needs a “permanent, all-time, all-season shelter,” and that the current patchwork model of shelter services is “just another Band-Aid.” However, “we absolutely need to cover this,” she said of the funding request. Mayor Amy Shamroe agreed that “it's not a sustainable thing for us to do year in and year out all the time,” but cited the hopefully short-term nature of the support.

Commissioners will vote at their August 4 meeting to formally approve a services agreement with Jubilee House in the requested amount of $102,256. Commissioners are expected to receive a staff report at that meeting summarizing all the city’s various recent investments in addressing homelessness, as well as an update from the Housing and Homelessness Task Force.