Michigan

Biannual count of homeless people to bring federal funds to southeast Michigan

Published

2 years ago

February 4, 2024

Biannual count of homeless people to bring federal funds to southeast Michigan

Detroit — Despite freezing temperatures that made it hard to locate people living on the streets, advocates for the homeless searched southeast Michigan communities last month in an effort to count those in need to draw in critical federal funds.

Volunteers joined the Homeless Action Network of Detroit for the point-in-time count on Wednesday night in Detroit. About 120 volunteers, fanned out across the Motor City, spreading out in teams, canvassing several neighborhoods to survey people facing homelessness, leaders said.

Volunteer Ronnika Harris of Detroit is careful about approaching homeless people too stridently to seek information about their situations. She wants them to trust that she has their interests in mind.

“Just being welcoming, being open and not judgy,” Harris said of her approach. “Explaining why we’re doing what we’re doing and giving them as much information that we can to get them to open up. It’s not always easy, but people see and feel your heart, so if you display the right heart, usually they will share their stories.”

Braving the cold in 2021 to find unsheltered people was worth it, Harris said, even though her team of three only found two people. This year she hopes for better results with the Homeless Action Network of Detroit.

“The first time I participated was two years ago and it was still during COVID-19…and we didn’t find a lot of people outside,” Harris said of the four-hour search. “So I’m just hoping to be able to engage more people this year and see if we can get them in shelter.”

The bi-annual count, a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is designed to collect information to draw federal funding for Michigan’s largest city. It takes place the last 10 days of January.

Street outreach workers, homeless service providers and volunteers collected information about those living on the streets, including their stories, and offered to provide them with shelter, leaders said. Volunteers carried new winter hats and scarves, thermal blankets, gloves and mittens, socks and personal hygiene kits and handed them out.

“Ultimately, this is data we report to HUD, and it helps all communities across the country, which are doing the point-in-time count this month,” said Amanda Sternberg, a performance management analyst for Homeless Action Network of Detroit. “HUD uses this data from across the country to report to Congress, to set funding levels, so it’s really data that the federal government uses to drive funding allocations.”

Sternberg said the information helps local governments and organizations in Detroit to understand such needs as mental health and substance abuse services, or affordable housing.

In a 2021 report, the Homeless Action Network of Detroit and the Detroit Continuum of Care, a year-round planning body of stakeholders working to end homelessness in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, found more than 5,600 people facing homelessness in Detroit.

The count, Sternberg said, happens at night because they’ve found someone in the streets at night during the winter likely has no place to go.

“The one thing that I hear often from our street outreach workers is it takes a lot of time to build trust with people who have been staying unsheltered for a long time,” she said. “So we have staff day-in-and-out doing this hard work every day, building trust with folks and getting them to engage in services.”

In Detroit, the weather on Wednesday was warmer compared to past count periods, which volunteers were hoping would affect their ability to spot unsheltered populations. Temperatures on Wednesday were above average around 41, according to National Weather Service records.

Richard Monocchio, principal deputy assistant secretary at HUD, said every year, housing programs are awarded funds and resources from the federal government based on innovative programs that seek to serve homeless populations.

Programs are those that “build permanent supportive housing … build transitional housing for the homeless, they run shelter and food programs for homeless people, they run job training and placement programs … and critically provide rental assistance,” Monocchio said.

HUD announced in October that it allocated 70,000 housing vouchers to local public housing authorities through the Emergency Housing Voucher program to help individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness and other destabilizing situations, according to its website.

The Biden administration awarded $3.16 billion in homelessness assistance to communities across the nation, according to a news release HUD on Monday.

“This Point-in-Time Count is sort of symbolic and important for everything we do at HUD in the homeless space,” Monocchio said, adding that 400 counts occurred throughout the nation in January. In Michigan, 20 communities participated in the count, he said.

Meanwhile, in Macomb County, the state’s third most populous county, dozens of volunteers conducted a count on Jan. 28 with Macomb Community Action, a member of a national network of organizations that helps people move from poverty to economic stability.

Volunteers were assigned ZIP codes and “hot spots” such as parks and bus stops to gather information, including gender, race, ethnicity, veteran status, age and disabilities. Volunteers sought to identify if a person was “chronically homeless” or was experiencing homelessness due to domestic violence or substance use, leaders said.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel described the count as essential.

“It provides support to individuals in our society that sometimes get left behind,” Hackel said last month.

Food, hand warmers, winter clothing, hygiene kits, blankets, fast-food gift cards and bus tickets were handed out, Macomb Community Action leaders said. Local charities donated the items.

Kristin DeFranco, program coordinator for housing resources at Macomb Community Action, said in 2021, the numbers stayed stagnant from the previous count of those experiencing homeless.

“The pandemic time was difficult because a lot more people were becoming homeless due to evictions and job loss,” DeFranco said. “Macomb County in particular, the numbers haven’t changed. If anything we need more resources for the homeless.”

jaimery@detroitnews.com

X: @wordsbyjakkar

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Michigan

How MSU’s deer vaccine capsules could curb black-legged ticks in Michigan

Published

1 week ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

How MSU’s deer vaccine capsules could curb black-legged ticks in Michigan

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Black-legged ticks have been increasing across Michigan this summer, raising concerns about tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease.

—> Michigan health officials alarmed by surge in Lyme disease cases

Researchers at Michigan State University say the large white-tailed deer population plays a key role in spreading these ticks.

To address the problem, MSU scientists are testing food capsules containing biomarkers to see if deer will eat them.

Each capsule currently includes corn, alfalfa, molasses, and a biomarker that helps track how many deer consume the capsules.

If successful, the capsules will eventually contain a vaccine to help deer build immunity to ticks, similar to how dogs are vaccinated.

The goal is to reduce the number of ticks on deer, which could lower the risk of tick-borne diseases for people spending time outdoors.

MSU professors describe this as an innovative method that could be a game-changer for controlling black-legged ticks and Lyme disease in Michigan. The capsules are being introduced in selected parks and land preserves in the Mid-Michigan area as part of the early phase of this research.

In the future, the team plans to add a drug or vaccine to the capsules to eliminate ticks on deer, aiming to stop the problem at its source.

—> 4 ways to protect yourself from ticks in Michigan, and 4 things to do after you’re outside

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Michigan

Trump administration renews push to fire Fed governor from Michigan ahead of key vote

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

Trump administration renews push to fire Fed governor from Michigan ahead of key vote

Alan Suderman
| Associated Press

President Donald Trump’s administration renewed its request Sunday for a federal appeals court to let him fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, a move the president is seeking ahead of the central bank’s vote on interest rates.

The Trump administration filed a response just ahead of a 3 p.m. Eastern deadline Sunday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, arguing that Cook’s legal arguments for why she should stay on the job were meritless. Lawyers for Cook argued in a Saturday filing that the Trump administration has not shown sufficient cause to fire her, and stressed the risks to the economy and country if the president were allowed to fire a Fed governor without proper cause.

Sunday’s filing is the latest step in an unprecedented effort by the White House to shape the historically independent Fed. Cook’s firing marks the first time in the central bank’s 112-year history that a president has tried to fire a governor.

“The public and the executive share an interest in ensuring the integrity of the Federal Reserve,” Trump’s lawyers argued in Sunday’s filing. “And that requires respecting the president’s statutory authority to remove governors ‘for cause’ when such cause arises.”

Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has accused Cook of signing separate documents in which she allegedly said that both the Atlanta property and a home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, also purchased in June 2021, were both “primary residences.” Pulte submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which has opened an investigation.

Trump relied on those allegations to fire Cook “for cause.”

Cook, the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor, referred to the condominium as a “vacation home” in a loan estimate, a characterization that could undermine claims by the Trump administration that she committed mortgage fraud. Documents obtained by The Associated Press also showed that on a second form submitted by Cook to gain a security clearance, she described the property as a “second home.”

Cook sued the Trump administration to block her firing and a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.

The administration appealed and asked for an emergency ruling just before the Fed is set to meet this week and decide whether to reduce its key interest rate. Most economists expect they will cut the rate by a quarter point.

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Michigan

Michigan football vs. Central Michigan: Live updates, score, injuries

Published

3 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Michigan football vs. Central Michigan: Live updates, score, injuries

It’s an in-state matchup on Saturday, Sept. 13, as Michigan football (1-1) takes on the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-1) for the Wolverines’ second home game of the season.

After a loss on the road at Oklahoma last week in which Michigan struggled to generate offense, the Wolverines — and particularly freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood — are looking to sharpen their offensive skills against a weaker Chippewas.

They’ll have to do so without coach Sherrone Moore, however. The coach is serving the first of a two-game suspension sanctioned by the school for his role in the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. In the interim, Biff Poggi will lead the Wolverines.

Michigan’s task will be to hone its skills on both sides of the ball, but with an emphasis on offense. The Wolverines struggled to run the ball last week and Underwood had difficulty connecting with receivers downfield as well. Central Michigan provides a perfect opportunity for Michigan to build its offensive cohesiveness before beginning Big Ten play.

Follow along below for live updates.

Michigan football vs. Central Michigan early availability report

Michigan – Out: QB Davis Warren (knee), OT Andrew Babalola (knee). Probable: DB Rod Moore (knee), DB Shamari Earls (undisclosed), DB Caleb Anderson (undisclosed). Questionable: TE Marlin Klein (right foot/ankle), DB Zeke Berry (lower body), RB John Volker (undisclosed), LB Jaydon Hood (undisclosed), RB Bryson Kuzdzal (undisclosed), RB Donovan Johnson (undisclosed), edge Devon Baxter, DT Ike Iwunnah (undisclosed), WR C.J. Charleston (undisclosed). Doubtful: OL Gio-EL Hadi (left ankle/foot)

Central Michigan – Missed Week 2: TE Rory Callahan, OL John Iannuzzi.

Matchup: No. 22 Michigan (1-1) vs. Central Michigan (1-1)

Kickoff: Noon Saturday, Sept. 13; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.

TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WCSX-FM (94.7).Looking for a free mini puzzle? Play the USA TODAY Quick Cross now.

Line: Wolverines by 27½.

Michigan football schedule 2025

Week 1: W, 34-17 vs New Mexico.

Week 2: L, 13-24 at Oklahoma

Week 3: vs Central Michigan, Saturday Sept. 13, noon ET (Big Ten Network).

Week 4: at Nebraska, Saturday Sept. 20, 3:30 p.m. ET (CBS).

Week 5: BYE.

Week 6: vs Wisconsin, Saturday Oct. 4, 12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.

Week 7: at USC, Saturday Oct. 11, time TBD.

Week 8: vs Washington, Saturday Oct. 18, time TBD.

Week 9: at Michigan State, Saturday Oct. 25, time TBD.

Week 10: vs Purdue, Sautrday Nov. 1, time TBD.

Week 11: BYE.

Week 12: at Northwestern, Saturday Nov. 15, time TBD.

Week 13: at Maryland, Saturday Nov. 22, time TBD.

Week 14: vs Ohio State, Saturday Nov. 29, noon ET (Fox).

Contact Matthew Auchincloss at mauchincloss@freepress.com.

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