Family of kids who froze to death reached out at least three times to Detroit's homeless response team

[Passages]

Julia Cardi
The Detroit News

A family facing homelessness reached out at least three times to Detroit's homeless response team, including as recently as late November, before two children froze to death in a van in a casino parking structure on Monday.

A day later, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan called for a review of city services for homelessness, the city's homeless call center and ways to make services more accessible after the children's deaths. They were ages two and nine.

Duggan said a preliminary review of city records shows the mother of five reached out at least three times, the last time being Nov. 25, 2024. The family said they'd been living with relatives but were told they'd need to find another place and would need somewhere to go.

"In the course of that conversation, there was no resolution reached on where they would go," Duggan said.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2025/02/11/detroit-officials-to-give-update-on-two-children-found-frozen-to-death-in-casino-parking-lot/78411225007/

America just keeps on winning.

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. How to frame the message? Bureaucratic inefficiency (us) or understaffing?

[Passages]

2. I don't know. Unjustifiable failures IMHO.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[C0RI0LANUS]

4. A college friend of mine became homeless decades ago in a warm weather state.

He slept in his mid-size car and used the washrooms in gas stations. To shower, he'd grab his tennis bag and walk into nearby college campuses like a student and conduct his ablutions in the gym. This was in the day before people were checked entering campuses. He got a job as a security guard and called me from the site using their phone. So I wired him money (again) and he was able to rent a room.

I'm told that today the working homeless buy memberships in "World Gyms" or somesuch just to use the shower facilities, but parking regulations have stiffened to avoid vehicular squatting.

This is from the Detroit municipal page:

If you are having a housing crisis or need emergency shelter, please call 866-313-2520.

If you or someone you know is sleeping outside, please fill out this form to request a street outreach team to contact you.

I hope the city of Detroit figures this out as they seem to have several shelters and warming stations, but somehow this family couldn't get into one.




Link:

https://detroitmi.gov/departments/housing-and-revitalization-department/homelessness