"God works through others.”
Reflecting on his struggles with homelessness and how the Goodwill Inn helped him turn his life around, Dan Diegle spoke at the ribbon cutting launching the new facility.
The Sunday afternoon ceremony drew nearly 200 attendees to the 24,000 square-foot shelter on Keystone Road that will also include a youth shelter known as Pete's Place.
"In my mind, that means the Goodwill Inn,” Diegle continued.
Diegle is now in college, has his own apartment and is determined to give back with a future career in social work. This is a far cry from moving back to Michigan, being turned out by family and arriving destitute at the shelter. There he was welcomed warmly, given food, clothing, a place to live and guidance to navigate the range of resources in the community.
Following the rules and determined to get his life on track, Diegle knows that the new shelter — where the 79 beds and separate men's, women's and family wings — will turn other lives around, too.
"This is just fantastic for me to see this, (this facility will be) able to help so many more people who need help like I did,” said Diegle, who was named Goodwill's graduate of the year. "Goodwill is family and there are so many people I can't thank them all.”
After the ceremony, visitors toured the Goodwill Inn, which also features a commercial kitchen, a playground for children, expanded meeting and counseling areas and offices.
The abiding mission of "Homeless to Wholeness” is emblazoned on a sign over the main entry and reflects the organization's philosophy of a hand up, not a hand out. Last year the shelter served 412 individuals and families in the region, who stayed an average of 47 days. Just under 1,200 individuals were given food and personal care products last year.
In Grand Traverse County, the 2006 street count found that homelessness affects 224 adults and 175 children. These county and regional figures have only been rising since the largest shelter in northwest Michigan opened in 1979. With 59 beds, demand at the cramped, renovated former motel soon outgrew capacity as the problem of homelessness grew in the region.
"Homelessness is not just a big city problem, as the good people of this community have realized with what you see here,” said Diegle.
The new Goodwill Inn shelter, which will officially open next month, can house from 70 individuals and nine youth, with a maximum capacity of 128 individuals and families. Five years in the making, the shelter represents a cusp of generosity among individuals, organizations, foundations and businesses, who together provided the $4.7 million to create the facility. All levels of government from local to state to federal also contributed to the project.
"This project was personally a labor of love to me and I know it was to so many of you,” said Kerm Campbell, the capital campaign chairperson for the new shelter. "The Grand Traverse community can stand tall and celebrate its work today.”
Named in honor of Pete Warburton, who died at 21, Pete's Place will provide emergency housing for youth ages 14-17, the only facility of its type in the region. Administered by the Third Level Crisis Center, Pete's Place can house and provide intensive services to up to nine youth at a time. Their stay is limited to just two weeks by law, so the stopgap housing provides a window for Third Level staff to help the youth reintegrate with their families, if feasible, or move into a foster home or a host home.
"In my time, I've come across many homeless youth and up until now they've had no avenue to go to for shelter,” said Pat Roth, a street outreach worker for Third Level.