MISSION: Tent Communities in Michigan

MISSION directly partners with homeless individuals in Washtenaw County, Michigan. This partnership is directly related to campers at Camp Take Notice, a tent community for the homeless. MISSION works to establish permanent rotating tent encampments located on private property.

In the past few years the need for adequate shelter has increased almost three fold in the state of Michigan, but adequate facilities and help for individuals without homes has not increased. The lack of facilities leaves many individuals involuntarily homeless. The alternative to sleeping and living on the streets is to establish and maintain tent communities. These communities provide shelter and safety to many individuals, here in the state and around the country. But the issue of where these tent communities may be erected is a source of invariable angst and argument. Tent encampments on state and public property pose a particular problem because the individuals living on this land are under constant threat of arrest for trespass and seizure of personal property by the police, the state, and government officials. Members of MISSION and campers from Camp Take Notice will explore the ideas of tent communities in Michigan, both the history and the future, and around the country. This discussion will be interactive and ask those in attendance to help become engaged in the tent community issue in the state Michigan. MISSION wants attendees to understand that there is an invisible population just out of sight living in tents because of inadequate facilities here in the state of Michigan.