Lansing warming center draws backlash for not providing beds
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Officials say a warming center inside Lett's Community Center on Lansing's west side was never meant to house people to sleep at night.
Community activists and homeless people say this space could do so much more.
"Just trying to bundle up the best they can," said Kevin French, who has been homeless in Lansing since last fall.
He said he was on the streets for a few weeks before he found a spot at the Lansing Rescue Mission, but other members of the homeless population haven't found space.
"I know sometimes they go to the CATA station, but then you can only be there for so long before their security gets on you," said French.
This year, a warming center opened up at Lett's Community Center. The center is run by the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, and people can warm up at night between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.
"Given the resources that is available, our focus has been on how to save people's life. And this is the only way that we can save people's life," said Chad Audi, the president and CEO of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.
Audi says the community center isn't zoned to house people to sleep overnight, as it doesn't have adequate fire suppression. However, one local activist said the city must do better to help the homeless population.
"We have an agency coming in from another city that really has experience for decades to help the homeless," said Mike Karl, a Lansing activist who advocates for the homeless. "We should not just be laying people in chairs. Setting them at tables in a lukewarm community center."
A spokesman for the City of Lansing said in an email, "The Lett's Center was never meant to be a shelter, it is a temporary warming center pilot program being operated with city dollars."
"I think the biggest issue is we're paying $800,000 to shelter 19 people. There's no effort to outreach to get the people that are in the camps," said Karl.