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Local faith groups and volunteers urge commissioners to fully fund Daytime Warming Center
Summary
Public commenters and Interfaith Roundtable leaders urged Washtenaw County commissioners to provide the full $100,000 requested to sustain the Daytime Warming Center, emphasizing its daily service to over 200 people and the center's role filling gaps left by other programs.
Several public commenters asked the board to support mutual‑aid efforts and fully fund the Daytime Warming Center (DWC) at $100,000 for the coming winter. Christine Modi, board chair of the Interfaith Roundtable of Washtenaw County, described the DWC as a community project supported by congregations and volunteers that welcomes more than 200 guests daily and provides meals, a free store and a safe daytime space.
A volunteer with the DWC described the center’s growth since 2013 from an emergency cold‑weather response to a daily community resource; the volunteer highlighted that DWC serves people who cannot access other public spaces and praised long‑term volunteer engagement. Corin Williams from LEAF also emphasized mutual‑aid efforts in Ypsilanti and reported LEAF’s outreach metrics: more than 11,000 participant encounters and about 1,500 service requests per month over the past 10–12 months, and he asked why county collaboration with mutual‑aid groups has been limited.
Commenters were reminded that in the full board meeting there is a longer public‑comment period; the working session testimony was offered to frame the board’s winter shelter funding discussion and underscored the role of community groups in supplementing formal shelter system capacity.
