News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz On Tuesday, Michelle Bailey is seen giving a presentation at the Alpena County Board of Commissioners Finance Ways and Means committee meeting. Bailey presented an overview of the scope to which homelessness has affected Alpena County and provided possible solutions.

ALPENA — John Kozlowski, Alpena County Board of Commissioners chairman, told the other commissioners that he doesn’t think the community “realizes what goes into running a shelter,” at Tuesday’s Finance Ways and Means committee meeting.

But the county is considering having a town hall style meeting to educate people and brainstorm possible remedies to the growing homeless problem.

Michelle Bailey, director of the Sunrise Mission, a homeless and domestic violence shelter located in Alpena, asked the board for future support in obtaining a larger building to house homeless individuals in the community.

At the meeting, Bailey gave a presentation about what Sunrise Mission does for the community and statistics that illustrate the extent of the homelessness crisis in Alpena.

Bailey presented the following statistics:

— Between 2023 and 2024 homelessness increased by 33% in Alpena County.

— Sunrise Mission estimates there are approximately 168 unhoused individuals in Alpena County. Of those, 132 were native to Alpena County; 13 had strong family ties to the Alpena County, and 16 had strong family ties to communities that touched Alpena County.

— In 2024, Sunrise Mission provided “well over” 12,000 bed nights, Bailey stated. From January 2025 to Nov. 22, the shelter has served 168 individuals and provided 8,253 bed nights.

Kozlowski stated, during Bailey’s presentation, that to effectively address the homelessness problem, the county cannot open a building and “let people come in willy-nilly and do whatever they want.”

Kozlowski added, referring to a conversation he had with Bailey last week, that the information she had provided then “brought attention to how difficult it can be to do that.”

“It isn’t just offering the building and walking away and saying, ‘Everything should be good now,'” Kozlowski said. “There’s a lot that goes into it.”

Bailey told the board that “whatever happens in the future needs to be well planned out and it needs to be set up for success.”

She noted the county’s previous plan to offer the Merchant’s Building at the Alpena County Fairgrounds as a temporary warming shelter for the All Saints Center for Charity.

The center declined this offer on Thursday.

“Trying to do something very quickly is almost a recipe for disaster,” Bailey added. “There’s a lot of risk that’s involved with those that you do bring into shelter because there could be another guest that comes into that shelter and can be of great danger to others that are there.”

Bailey explained during the meeting that the shelter turns down approximately $400,000 in federal grant money each year so that they do not have to comply with federal guidelines that they believe would be harmful to the community.

Bailey said that federally and state funded shelters, with “good intentions,” are required to provide amnesty. These shelters, she explained, are usually open 10 to 12 hours a day, mostly overnight, and allow individuals to bring weapons, drugs, and alcohol which are locked up for the night.

In the morning, “you’re turning those individuals out into the community,” Bailey added.

Bailey said that Sunrise Mission is open 24/7, 365 days a year, including holidays. She described steps that Sunrise Mission takes to ensure that the organization keeps shelter guests accountable such as random sobriety tests, seeking and maintaining employment, et cetera.

Bailey told the board that there are a variety of reasons why people become homeless.

“There’s a lot of talk about the causes of homelessness,” Bailey said. “It seems our community is still trying to grapple with what causes homelessness. We are well beyond that.”

Bailey noted “segments” of the unhoused population in Alpena County include domestic abuse survivors, women with children, families, and the elderly.

She stated that Sunrise Mission is “seeing huge segments of elderly individuals” and disabled individuals who are receiving social security and disability. She explained that this population struggles to cover the cost of living after paying for their medical costs, such as covering procedures and medication.

“This segment of our guests are being faced with, ‘Do I buy my medications this month, or do I pay my utilities?’ And so their life becomes unfeasible,” Bailey added.

Bailey also told the board that her organization has taken on a number of women and children who have experienced some form of sexual violence or have suffered adjacent forms of trauma, which have likely influenced their state of homelessness.

“I have children in my shelter right now that were gang raped,” Bailey explained. “We have women in our shelter right now that have survived even worse, horrific abuse … this segment of our community members is very real and growing.”

Bailey told the commissioners that per zoning restrictions, they are only allowed to house 33 individuals per day.

“My goal is to work with the local government to see if we are able to obtain a much larger facility with the intention of keeping the focus on our community members,” Bailey added.

County Administrator Jesse Osmer updated the board and reminded commissioners that their previous offer to open the Merchant’s Building up for the All Saints Center of Charity was declined by the center. He said that he has plans to meet with a group of volunteers from the Trinity Episcopal Church in Alpena to discuss further, volunteer based solutions. He said he also has plans this week to meet with City Manager Rachel Smolinski to discuss solutions, as well.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.