Law enforcement officers and community leaders are struggling to address homelessness in Hillsdale County as winter approaches and drives the homeless to seek shelter.

Sylvester Taylor and his fiancee Latisha Brown walked into Share the Warmth of Hillsdale County and pulled chairs to a table. They said they are locals who have supported each other through years of homelessness.

“She’s something for me to look forward to, waking up in the morning,” Taylor said of Brown.

Brown and Taylor said they regularly stay overnight at the warming center, located in Sozo Church in downtown Hillsdale. Brown said she has struggled with drug addiction in past years, but has since overcome it and begun exploring her faith.

“I’m clean now, thank God for that,” Brown said. “That’s how I want to stay: clean for the rest of my life.”

Taylor said one of his greatest challenges has been trying to find an affordable apartment. 

“I’ve been on the waiting list for a pretty long time, it seems like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” Taylor said.

Tammy Henderson, a former homeless person and current volunteer at the warming center, said she has had similar difficulties finding affordable housing.

“It’s really hard to get an apartment here for low-income,” Henderson said.

Henderson said she has seen homelessness strike different people in different ways.

“Sometimes you think, ‘Why me? Why is it me?’” she said. “And then you get here and realize it’s all walks of life.”

At Share the Warmth, which is open from November to March, volunteers provide dinner, breakfast, and a warm place to sleep. Penny Myers, the center’s executive director, said she believes it is the community’s duty to provide these services to fellow community members.

“Whether you like it or not, they’re here,” Myers said. “It’s just our responsibility to take care of them. That’s how I see it.”

Mayor Adam Stockford said it is not the duty of the city government to provide or support community services for the homeless, but rather the duty of private charity.

“I think it’s a duty of individual people,” Stockford said. “I think it’s the duty of the churches. I think it’s people’s duty as Christians to try to fix the issue, but I don’t think it’s the city government’s responsibility.”

The center has faced recent opposition from some community members who believe its services are attracting homeless people to Hillsdale. A letter from Hillsdale resident Nicholas Rorick at the Nov. 7 City Council meeting said he thinks that local homeless shelters have contributed to the homelessness issue in Hillsdale. 

Community volunteers and public officials disagree on whether homelessness in the area is growing. Myers said she thinks the number of homeless people has stayed the same in recent years, and that the warming shelter has not contributed to the problem. 

“It has not increased,” Myers said. “That is something that is being said that really irritates me because these people have no idea what they’re talking about.”

Myers said she believes the issue has always been present in Hillsdale County, and that many of those struggling are residents. She also said the warming center’s work has revealed the extent of the issue.

“When we opened, there’s no denying it. It’s out in the open now,” Myers said. “Some people are very irritated with us. It’s easy for them to blame us for this, but it’s not that it’s not our fault. We have just decided to start helping these people.”

City of Hillsdale Police Chief Scott Hephner said he thinks community resources aimed at addressing the issue are attracting homeless people from outside of Hillsdale County.

“When you create services, that word gets around,” Hephner said. “What we found out is other counties then started bringing some of their people over here. That created problems because the people that came here had used up all their services where they were brought here from, and weren’t able to get them anymore.”

Hephner, in contrast with Myers, said he thinks the number of homeless people has been rising.

“We still get new homeless people every year. The population increases,” Hephner said.

Hephner said he thinks an increase in the homeless population has also caused rising crime.

“We have seen an uptick, if you will, in larcenies, shopliftings,” Hephner said. “Sometimes we are able to get there while it’s still in progress or find the people right after we left the store.”

The law restricts police officers in their ability to address the issue, according to Hephner. He said court rulings prevent the city from discriminating against people based on “status,” which can include homelessness.

“If you created a law that says, ‘You can’t sleep on a park bench, or on a public lawn,’ and arrested a homeless person for doing that, the courts have ruled that that is a law against this person’s status,” Hephner said. “If they’re homeless, they have to sleep somewhere. You can’t create a law to go after that status.”

Hephner also said the Hillsdale County Jail has been too crowded to accept those arrested on misdemeanor charges.

“When it comes to jail overcrowding, our jail has been at capacity or over capacity for three continuous years,” Hephner said. “Sometimes we are just denied being able to lodge somebody because they have no capacity.”

The city created a task force in March 2020 to address homelessness in the city. Stockford said he was frustrated with the group’s lack of progress, and will be starting a new one in the near future.

“At this point, I’ve decided to re-establish my homelessness task force,” Stockford said. “But I want to make sure that it’s people that have a vested interest in the community instead of agencies that have a vested interest in homelessness.”

Stockford said he aims to produce better results with a second task force, composed of different members.

“I’m going to try to not have the task force be dominated by bureaucrats who are already dealing with the problem somewhere else,” Stockford said.

Solving the issue of homelessness is complicated, Stockford said.

“It really comes down to what you think the issue is,” he said. “Do you think the issue is that people are homeless in general, or do you think the issue is we have homeless people in the community?”