GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A collaboration between area nonprofits, philanthropists, business leaders and more, the Downtown Pathways Project will attempt to end chronic homelessness in the city of Grand Rapids by the end of the year.
As of Monday, there are 172 people in the city who are experiencing chronic homelessness, according to the Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, which keeps a by-name list of these people and, along with its partners, works to find permanent residencies for them.
In March, the Downtown Pathways Project officially began, building on the progress already made by 100 in 100 in Kent County, a prior collaborative effort to permanently house and provide supportive case management to a hundred individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.
"This feels like a moment in time," Mel Trotter Ministries CEO Chris Palusky said to FOX 17. "There's this momentum that partners really want to work together, and I think we are getting there. We're solving it. Is it perfect? No. But is it much better and can it get better? Yes, and I think that's where we're at right now."
Palusky said the past year or so has helped him realize the important of specialization in the process that comes with finding someone a place to live and continuing to care for them even after they have a roof over their head.
'It's not just Mel Trotter doing this alone. It's not just Dégagé doing this alone," Palusky said. "We want to look at the individual and be able to treat them as an individual, as a person, and find the best pathway for them to a permanent housing solution."
Notably, ending chronic homelessness in the city does not mean no one will ever become homeless again, but rather that these periods of homelessness can be rare, brief and non-recurring because of the local resources that have been built up to be readily available and dispersed.
"We want to have a healthy, vibrant downtown with people living their best lives," Palusky said.
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For Jennye Slack, a case manager at Dégagé Ministries, the goal to end chronic homelessness in Grand Rapids "motivates me every day."
As part of her job, Slack drives around the city and meets with people who are experiencing chronic homelessness and tells them about available assistance. Many of them she knows by name. Many know her name, too. Sometimes they are ready and willing to receive help. Other times, they are not.
"I could be getting cussed out one day because I'm trying to help somebody get housing," Slack said. "But I'm not going to give up."
If they are willing, Slack then tries to secure them housing and continues to works with them for up to a year as they get back into the habit of paying bills, shopping for groceries, receiving medical care and more.
"The stability of it is the most important thing," she said.
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At Dégagé, Slack serve as the case manager for up to 25 people at a time while also working to secure housing referrals for many more.
A success story of hers comes from one of her first clients, a younger man who struggled with alcoholism and had been chronically homeless for some time.
Slack repeatedly checked on him and eventually convinced him that he was deserving of housing and that a permanent residence would improve his life.
He then moved into a house on Leonard Street, an arrangement made possible by a private landlord.
Slack, who still checks in with him monthly, says he is "doing great."
“He always says, 'You were my angel.'" Slack said. "That feels good to hear, but more for them, it's just, it's great that they can turn their lives around."
According to the Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, a total of 227 people have been housed in through the coalition since the launch of 100 in 100 in September 2024, a work that has now been picked up by the Downtown Pathways Project in March 2026.
If I think it is ambitious," Palusky said about the end-of-year goal. "But if you're not going to have an ambitious goal, why have a goal?"
For more on the Downtown Pathways Project, click here.
