Lansing homelessness rates continue to increase, despite state decrease

LANSING, Mich.—There are at least 515 unhoused people in Lansing on any given night, according to a report from The National Allegiance To End Homelessness. Organizations like City Rescue Mission of Lansing and The Congregation of Every1 (COE) show that it takes a lot of people to help a lot of people. 

“Last year, we provided 365 meals every day. So that’s a little over 133,000 meals last year,” said Laura Grimwood, senior director of community engagement at The City Rescue Mission. For 113 years, The City Rescue Mission of Lansing has prided itself on providing “food, shelter, and hope” to those who need it most. They have a number of locations that offer a variety of services, such as a dining room on Michigan Avenue that offers food to anyone who may need it, a men’s shelter, a women’s shelter and The Outreach, which is designed to help individuals who may struggle in a typical shelter environment.

California native follows dreams to Michigan farm 

Haley Preston, a Michigan State University junior, was born and raised in sunny California, where she said there was no farmland in sight. She is now the South campus animal farm ambassador for MSU. “Ever since I was growing up, I’ve always enjoyed farm animals,” Preston said.  “I was the girl who always watched her horse shows, I loved watching veterinarian shows. I always enjoyed learning and knowing about farm animals.

There is never an off-season for Mason community gardeners

Walking pathway for the garden

It’s never too late in the year to take care of your garden. As harvesting season comes to its end during October, there is plenty of work to do for the next season. Marsha Erics says she’s been gardening at the Mason Community Garden for the past year. “Growing food for the home and food bank is convenient,” she says. 

Erics said food grown in the garden is great for the community because it’s being sent to homes and food banks. The garden is all organic. She said the garden allows residents to rent space for $20 per growing season.

Direct-care workers share their experiences amid the critical shortage

Countywide, there has been a shortage in the direct-care worker population. Concrete efforts from advocates and workers everywhere are being made to change this trend. According to IMPART Alliance, direct-care workers is a general term referring to individuals who provide essential services through behavioral health, community mental health, and long-term care systems to support individuals with disabilities and older adults. They provide care for individuals who usually are unable to take care of themselves without assistance. Unfortunately, these essential workers are amid a critical shortage.

MSU student Jessica Cherniawsky explains struggles of being a Direct Care Worker


Jessica Cherniawsky, sophomore at Michigan State University, details her experiences of being a direct-care worker while being a full-time student. She works directly with children with autism. She finds many parts of her job frustrating, and other parts very rewarding. This profession is facing a major shortage of workers because of many factors, including low wages, long hours and hard labor. Cherniawsky describes the hardest aspects of her job as well as the parts that make it worthwhile.

Wars in Vietnam, Ukraine bracket war protester’s life

Terry Link is a longtime activist in Michigan. Born in Detroit, Link went to Wayne State University where he became interested in social justice and activism. The Vietnam war was happening and, like many other college students, he joined protests against the war. “At that particular time, there was a professor who had a philosophy class on nonviolence as a way to fight against war and other injustices. For one of our classes we were invited to go to D.C. for an anti-war protest.

Nursing student describes struggles in direct care workplace

MSU nursing junior Hannah Saunders works as a resident care aid for Brio Living Services in Chelsea, Michigan. With the recent staffing shortages for direct care workers, Saunders and her coworkers have to work more. 

“We are probably the most short-staffed we have ever been,” Saunders said. “That can be quite a bit overwhelming but we just try to reassure (the residents) that we’re doing the best that we can with the numbers that we have and we just have to take our time and get to everybody when we can.”

During a normal, fully staffed time Saunders would have eight to 12 residents on her caseload. Now she can have up to 20 residents to take care of. 

“We just get double the workload,” Saunders said. “It’s very frustrating just because we know that (the residents) are not getting the care that they deserve and that they pay for.”

Saunders said Brio Living Services has made many attempts to attract new employees such as offering sign-on bonuses, commitment bonuses and more money to work the second shift.

PACE program’s outreach director on elder care options

There are many things to be considered when loved ones can no longer care for themselves alone. However, nursing homes and long-term care can be expensive and being in an unfamiliar place can be frightening. Michelle Rincon, community outreach director for Senior CommUnity Care of Michigan PACE, talks about the alternatives for elderly people wanting to spend their last years with family members who still want to be involved in their loved ones’ lives. Q: What are the origins of the PACE program? A: So, it started out in California, in San Francisco, in a Filipino community where they realized that there wasn’t enough alternatives for aging adults.

Marna Wilson: Living legend in mid-Michigan

At the Spartan Newsroom, we have partnered with Dr. Clare Luz of AgeAlive to speak with people in the communities surrounding mid-Michigan to spotlight local “Living Legends” and others in the community that make an impact through AgeAlive’s programs.

Below is a conversation with Marna Wilson, who is on the board at AgeAlive and is very active in the community. https://youtu.be/s3qq7mShTGQ