About 80 families could move into a new emergency shelter in Grand Rapids in the coming weeks.
The shelter is inside a former nursing home. The city planning commission approved the site for use as emergency housing, but only for one year.
Cheryl Schuch is the head of Family Promise, which will run the shelter.
“We’ve had a big surge in need for shelter,” Schuch says. “And mostly housing for families with children in Grand Rapids.”
She says the new shelter will help address the problem in 2019. But the work continues to find a permanent solution to the growing problem of homelessness in Grand Rapids.
“We don’t have enough resources,” says Schuch. “The demand is exceeding the resources we have right now and we’ve got to do right by these families.”
Anyone in need of housing assistance in Grand Rapids can call 211 to find out about what resources are available. You can also click here.
