The current home in Homer Township is insufficient for the needs of Midland County women and children. Relocating these services to 1610 W. Carpenter provides a facility in better condition with the capacity to serve more women and children in need.
Since initiating the tracking of shelter calls and service numbers in 2015, the women and children’s shelter is consistently unable to meet the need of homeless women and families in Midland County. Despite adding a new program in 2017 to move female-headed families out of shelter and into independent housing via MOD’s Family Support Program, the Open Door continues to only meet 60% of needs for homeless women and children in Midland County.
In this new facility, Midland’s Open Door will nearly double our capacity for women and children in crisis, expanding from 18 beds to 28 beds, with emergency capacity for 31 individuals.
Most of the women who stay at Open Door’s shelter do not have personal vehicles and therefore rely on County Connection for transportation. This can create an added financial burden for those already struggling. Moving services to a facility within the city limits will improve walkability and remove significant transportation barriers to employment and other resources and services frequented by those in shelter.
