In the Spotlight: Washtenaw Housing Alliance

For our “In the Spotlight” series, we’re shining a light on community and housing resources, sharing how to best find support and give support to our friends and neighbors who may need it most. This month’s highlight: Washtenaw Housing Alliance.

The Washtenaw Housing Alliance (WHA) is a coalition of over 30 organizations working to end homelessness in our community by providing training, advocating for those at risk, and supporting affordable housing developments. We chatted with Community Housing Locator, Sharon Lapides and Communication Coordinator Jessi Averill of WHA to share what’s new and how folks can get involved.

1. What should we know about Washtenaw Housing Alliance?  

Since 2000, the WHA has worked to end homelessness in Washtenaw County. The WHA is a lead coordinator in our county’s homeless system of care and collaborates with over 25 WHA member agencies as well as community partners committed to this work. WHA fundraised over $8M to build the Robert J. Delonis Center, an emergency shelter and service center for single adults; helped Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) find a permanent home at Alpha House; and, created the community’s Blueprint to End Homelessness (the first such plan in the state of Michigan). Today, WHA provides a variety of programs and services to prevent and end homelessness including: systems and program coordination; training and technical assistance; landlord engagement and outreach; and, advocacy and education.

Local landlords and housing and service providers join WHA at a Landlord Advisory Group

2. What upcoming events are planned that the community can attend?

After nearly three years of advocacy by the WHA and statewide partners, the new source of income protections laws took effect across Michigan on April 2nd. The WHA is planning an informational event about this new law for landlords and tenants. Details on that event will be shared on our website at whalliance.org/for-landlords, in an upcoming e-newsletter (sign up on our website: whalliance.org) as well as social media posts (follow us on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn).

Save the date! Every November during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month we host our annual event, The State of Homelessness and Affordable Housing. Stay tuned for us to share about our 2025 event here.

3. Can you briefly tell us about “A Home for Everyone: A Blueprint to End Homelessness in Washtenaw County”?

In 2004, Washtenaw County community members embarked on mapping out the way we could end homelessness in our community in ten years. This work led to the blueprint plan which outlines four primary goals: prevention, housing with support services, reforming our systems of care, and engaging the community. Over the past 20 years, we have drastically changed the way in which we respond to homelessness in our community.

Our community joined new initiatives such as Built For Zero, increased the number of permanent and supportive housing units (including through the 2020 Ann Arbor Affordable Housing Millage, which WHA helped initiate), and worked to establish increased funding for the homeless system of care (including through the Sister Yvonne Gellise Fund for Permanent Supportive Housing Services for which WHA raises funds and provides community education).

4. How can community members who want to provide support get involved? Can they join in on current advocacy opportunities?

Yes! Firstly, community members are welcome to participate on WHA’s Advocacy and Communications Committee. They can join by submitting a form on our “Join a Committee” webpage and a staff member will reach out to them to learn about their interests.

Secondly, they can directly support WHA and our member agencies, many of which are the frontline housing and services providers assisting individuals and families with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability. Donate to the WHA here and find a WHA member to connect with at whalliance.org/member-agencies.

Finally, the WHA and Continuum of Care partners recently completed a 100-Day Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness back in January – we need help from everyone in the community to keep the momentum going in housing and supporting Veterans experiencing homelessness in Washtenaw County. Stay involved by completing a brief contact form here.

WHA staff join housing and service providers at Homelessness Advocacy Day in Lansing.

5. How can community members seeking support start accessing/requesting services? 

Anyone who is homeless or experiencing a housing crisis should first call Housing Access for Washtenaw County (HAWC) at (734) 961-1999.

-Veterans seeking support they can directly contact the VA Ann Arbor Health Care at (734) 845-5058.
- Youth ages 10-17 who are homeless, or runaway, should directly contact Ozone House’s 24/7 Helpline at (734) 662-2222.
- Anyone experiencing intimate partner domestic violence or sexual assault should directly contact SafeHouse Center’s 24/7 Helpline at (734) 995-5444.

There is a severe shortage of housing resources in Washtenaw County. Our homeless system of care can help those who are literally homeless or fleeing domestic violence. For individuals and families who are not literally homeless but still need services, HAWC works to provide resources that can include prevention and/or diversion support.

6. What else should we know about WHA that hasn’t been shared?

This year is WHA’s 25th anniversary. We want to acknowledge again how much has drastically changed in how our community responds to homelessness in the county. WHA was involved in the City of Ann Arbor’s Affordable Housing millage which voters passed in 2020. We are now seeing those dollars invested in new affordable housing projects, most notably the Dunbar Tower on Catherine Street and The Grove at Veridian on Platt Road. The WHA has also been active in recent years in providing Winter Shelter recommendations to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners who in turn have leveraged county to invest in winter warming centers in the county. We recently helped the community secure a $4.3M grant from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to prevent and end youth homelessness and we are excited to see the community develop a plan for how to use these dollars. Lastly, later this spring WHA is launching a Shared Housing Program for Older Adults in Washtenaw County whereby we will match two households (a home provider and a home seeker), one of which must be age 55+, so that they can share housing in exchange for reduced housing costs, increased companionship and connections, and assistance with home maintenance. We are excited to bring this program, as a similar program was previously operated by our member agency Housing Bureau for Seniors, back to the community to create more naturally-occurring affordability for households throughout Washtenaw County.

WHA staff Amanda Carlisle (left) and Sharon Lapides (right) talk about the Landlord Advisory Group on an episode of CTN’s Soapbox.

If you are experiencing a housing crisis, please contact Housing Access for Washtenaw County at (734) 961-1999, or email staff at HAWC@washtenaw.org.

We’d like to thank Sharon, Jessi, and the Washtenaw Housing Alliance for sharing ways to seek and also provide support, and shining a light on these resources. Learn more: www.whalliance.org

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