Livingston County is losing its only emergency overnight shelter.
The closure of the Severe Weather Network Livingston County Homeless Shelter was due to "a lack of funding and volunteer commitments," according to Diane Duncan, co-chair of the group's board.
Eric Hufnagel, head of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, said other shelters are facing the same problem from the pandemic.
"You can't rely on a volunteer basis as you did in the past," Hufnagel said. "You have to pay staff to do some of the key work that needs to be done."
Hufnagel called the situation in Livingston County a "perfect storm" as winter approaches, and federal dollars that were available for housing assistance during the pandemic are now running out.
The drying up of housing funds, he said, is also a statewide problem.
"This is an ongoing issue. We know that there are more people who are reaching out for help now. That is that big wave that we're seeing."
Hufnagel said cities and counties need to finance short-term solutions to shelter the surge in homeless people.
But long term, he said, cities and counties need to aggressively pursue public-private projects to build affordable housing. "The free market won't fix this problem," said Hufnagel.
