HILLSDALE – Camp Hope has provided resources to 107 homeless people since it opened last year, 37 of whom have transitioned into housing.
With 19 people still living in tents or occupying office space at the Hillsdale Community Thrift – located at the intersection of M-99 and Mechanic Road – Missy DesJardin provided an update to the Hillsdale City Council in late May on her passion to help the less beggars.
DesJardin launched Camp Hope in early 2023 when the city moved to fine homeless people camping on city property after a number of incidents, including overdose and indecent exposure, were reported along a popular recreational trail running through the city.
Of the 107 individuals to whom DesJardin provided resources, 21 were children and five successfully completed a drug rehabilitation program.
DesJardin’s Camp Hope, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has filled a critical gap in helping the homeless with Hillsdale’s only shelter, Share the Warmte, which was only open at night during the winter months.
DesJardin said she acts more as a case manager, helping people obtain photo ID, employment resources, substance abuse treatment, if needed, and ultimately housing.
Her camp has strict rules, such as no drug or alcohol use, and guests are regularly screened for violations, with three violations resulting in the end of services.
“They (the homeless) all have one thing in common, and that is the lack of a support system,” DesJardin said. “There is a huge problem in Hillsdale, whether you want to believe it or not.”
Working with community resources and even the State of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, DesJardin said she is working on the possibility of acquiring the Fayette Street Church of Christ (located next to the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office) to serve as a more suitable temporary housing option, except individuals live in a tent behind the Hillsdale Community Thrift.
“The problem is we don’t have the resources,” DesJardin said. “I had no idea there would be so many people.”
The homelessness problem is partly due to the lack of affordable housing in Hillsdale, with rents in many apartment complexes exceeding available housing vouchers, DesJardin said. And if someone gets a job to offset the various costs, they no longer qualify for a housing voucher, which can be frustrating.
Other homeless people face unique obstacles, such as criminal records or other hurdles that can exacerbate the voucher problem.
DesJardin said this is why the process of transitioning homeless people from the streets to housing can take a long time, while some other established programs set unachievable timelines.
Hillsdale City Councilman Rob Socha and others thanked DesJardin for her tireless work.
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Socha is a member of Mayor Adam Stockford’s Homeless Task Force, a data-driven coalition focused on addressing a narrower scope of the homelessness problem but never designed to set up long-term shelter or provide temporary housing.
During the early work of the Homeless Task Force, some data collected from a local census at one point in time showed skewed data, showing that Hillsdale County had only a handful of homeless people.
“What is shocking to me is the number,” Socha said. “When they do the (time) count every year, there are one or two. And we all knew it was more productive than that.”
– Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Camp Hope in Hillsdale tackles the multi-faceted homelessness crisis
