Year-end thoughts from the Chair:
It’s been mostly a good year for us at Dann’s House. Like many organization, we have had our share of ups and downs, but our dedicated Board of Directors continues to soldiering through as we provide housing to those that need it most. We currently provide permanent housing for 7 men (soon to be 8) who more than likely would be living in the Pines without Dann’s House, providing them a permanent home. It’s not sexy or easy work but is very much needed in our community. Especially with the mounting housing crisis we are facing locally.
In late 2022 and during 2023, we lost a few past tenant’s. Rich Tomey, Anthony Ciccone and David Houseman had all graduated from Dann’s House and were living independently in housing that was less structured than Dann’s House. We commend each one of them for overcoming the darkest side of addiction while working to manage some independency in their lives. Our thoughts go out to their families. They will all be remembered and missed for their individual traits and abilities as we keep their memory in our hearts, knowing they tried the best that could all while struggling with addiction issues. Rest in Peace!
Dann’s House also lost (retirement from the DH board) an amazing board member, Glenda Andrews and her husband Ken. For years Glenda worked with Jubilee House helping those experiencing homelessness. She brought a wealth of knowledge and professional experience to Dann’s House after she left Jubilee House. She help facilitate our weekly group meetings with our tenants and used her professional experience to help develop systems to better run the DH programing. Her husband Ken helped to fix just about everything at the house. His handy work was a wonderful gift to us. Glenda and Ken’s passion and selfless support for our homeless community is unmatched and they both will be greatly missed! Thank you so much for giving us your support!
In 2023 we accomplished a great deal of general maintenance on the property. With the guys help, we constructed a new fence to provide more privacy to our kind and supportive neighbors. An ADA accessible ramp was added to the the northside unit to help tenants access the facility better. We replaced refrigerators through kind donations, added a new hot water heater and the AC unit will be replaced in spring. The southside bathroom was upgraded and a street water erosion issue was resolved, (hopefully). The guys continue to manage a garden, cut the grass and rake the leaves. In winter, they blow the snow and clear the walkways while all year long they help with maintaining/cleaning the common spaces at the house. Some times we need to light a fire under them to get them to help but with Sandy’s help (our house manager), most projects get completed. Thank you Sandy for all that you do! Our guys very much appreciate all that you give them and regularly call you their mother, in a good way.
I would also like to give a big shout out to our regular volunteers Julie, Sue and Luana for coming to the houses with food, taking the guys on field trips and just being there for them. Our guys get such a kick out of this and we thank you for providing the social support they need.
Dann’s House is a Housing First/Harm Reduction housing model, that is working. We are helping to house some of our most challenging citizens by helping them to over come the fears that come with chronic alcohol use disorder and homelessness. We want to thank our partner organizations, Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing (NMSH), Goodwill Street Outreach, Safe Harbor, Father Fred, Northern Michigan Community Action Agency, and the Traverse Health Clinic. The Traverse City community is lucky to have so many people and organizations helping those that are less fortunate.
All this said, we need your support. Though we operate this program on a shoe-string budget, we still need your financial help. Donations can be made at the website or mailed directly to us. We can always use household products like kitchenware, pots and pans, plates, flatware, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, toiletries such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, etc. Returnable soda/pop/beer cans are always accepted, which help to purchase extra supplies the guys may need. One of our greatest needs is a newer Minivan. We provide transportation to doctors appointments and regular trips for supplies and our current van is literally being held together with duck tape. A tax deductible donation of a late model van, in reasonable condition, would be hugely appreciated!
In closing I would like to thank the hard working Board of Directors at Dann’s House for keeping this program together. I would also like to encourage anyone out there interested in our program to contact us and consider joining the board. We need more citizen support. Staton, Bob, Tim, Harry and Jeff, none of this could happen without your dedicated support. Housing the homeless is the first step for helping to end our housing crisis and we are doing our part at Dann’s House, the best we can. Thank you to everyone (past and present) who keep this important program going. And thank you to our sponsors (listed on this website).
Happy Holidays with PEACE & HAPPINESS to all in the coming year!
Jim Carruthers
Board Chair