HILLSDALE — Camp Hope has provided resources to 107 homeless persons since opening last year, with 37 transitioning to housing.

With 19 people still living in a tent, or occupying office space at the Hillsdale Community Thrift — located at the intersection of M-99 and Mechanic Road — Missy DesJardin provided an update to the Hillsdale City Council in late May on her passion to help the less fortunate.

DesJardin launched Camp Hope in early 2023 when the council took action to fine homeless persons camping on city owned property after a number of incidents, including an overdose and indecent exposure, were reported along a popular recreational trail spanning through the city.

Of the 107 persons DesJardin has provided resources to, 21 have been children and five have successfully completed a drug rehabilitation program.

DesJardin’s Camp Hope, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has filled a critical gap in assisting the homeless with Hillsdale’s only shelter, Share the Warmth, which opened only during night time hours in the winter months.

DesJardin said she acts as more of a case manager and assists people with obtaining photo identification, job resources, substance abuse treatment, if needed, and ultimately housing.

Her camp has strict rules such as no drug or alcohol use, and guests are regularly screened for violations with three violations resulting in an end of services.

“They (the homeless) all have one thing in common, and that is a lack of a support system,” DesJardin said. “There is a huge problem in Hillsdale whether you want to believe it or not.”

Partnering with community resources and even the state of Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, DesJardin said that she is working on the possibility of obtaining the Fayette Street Church of Christ (located next door to the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office) to serve as a more suitable transitional housing option other than having persons live in a tent behind the Hillsdale Community Thrift.

“The problem is we don’t have the resources,” DesJardin said. “I had no idea there was going to be this many people.”

The homelessness issue is centered partially in Hillsdale’s lack of affordable housing, with rent in many apartment complexes being more than the housing vouchers available, DesJardin said. And if a person gets a job to make up for the differing cost, they are no longer eligible for a housing voucher, which can be frustrating.

Other homeless persons face unique obstacles such as criminal records or other hurdles that can compound the voucher issue.

DesJardin said that is why the process of transitioning homeless persons from the streets into housing can be lengthy, with some other established programs setting unreachable timetables.

Hillsdale City Councilman Rob Socha and others thanked DesJardin for her tireless work.

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Socha serves on Mayor Adam Stockford’s Homeless Task Force, which is a data-driven coalition aimed at addressing a narrower scope of the homeless issue, but was never designed to establish a long-term shelter or provide transitional housing.

During the early course of the Homeless Task Force’s work, some of the data collected from a local “point in time” count showed skewed data reflecting Hillsdale County only had a handful of homeless persons.

“What’s shocking to me is the number,” Socha said. “When they do the (point in time) count every year, it’s one or two. And we all knew it was more prolific than that.”

— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Camp Hope in Hillsdale tackles multi-faceted homeless crisis