I’ve walked by the tents several times; there appear to be around 7 or 8 of them. Walking back from downtown I walk along Larned until I get to the tents, then cross at the park next to them to get on Jefferson. I walked by several times and each time there seem to be people dropping off food and toiletries.
The shelters in Detroit are terrible, dirty, and bug infested. The NSO [[Tumaini Center - 3430 Third Avenue) is the worst. From their website “NSO is the only 24-hour/seven-days-a-week organization serving homeless people who have nowhere else to go due to behavioral difficulties, mental illness or physical challenges”.
http://www.nso-mi.org/programs.php
The NSO has no bunks- the homeless sit in chairs all night – causing a majority of them to develop swelling in both legs. Some of the monitors [[most have sat in those very chairs) are impossible to get along with and they are constantly getting into it with the various “consumers” – as the clients are called – on a nightly basis. One shining light is that if a person can stick it out at NSO the facility has various programs to place individuals in apartments. Currently that process is taking 2 to 3 months for those that qualify.
With that said most [[about 75%) of the “consumers” are not interested in getting an apartment, and have been utilizing the NSO for years and years. It is a place to come to, in whatever condition they may happen to be in, sleep it off and get a sandwich. The NSO has no kitchen facilities; it relies on the generosity and kindness of the good people of the Detroit metropolitan area. People are constantly stopping by with food and toiletries, especially on Saturdays.
The Mission across the street from NSO has kitchen facilities and overnight.
Peter - Paul [[which is a clean facility) has food, showers, shaving, and laundry services – 7:00 to 11:00 am, m – f.
There are many more facilities in and around the downtown area.
I would say many of the permanently homeless visit all of these facilities.