<div>HELP MCREST OPEN IT'S PERMANENT SHELTER FOR HOMELESS MEN IN MACOMB COUNTY!
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<div>This winter has brought the coldest weather on record in Michigan in 7 years. It is not safe for anyone to be outdoors. The danger is very real. Hypothermia. Severe illness. Or worse.
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<div>People need a place to go. They need refuge. Lives are at stake. When tragedy strikes, our hearts break. We ask ourselves: who is going to help?
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<div>The answer? We are.
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<div>At MCREST, we use every dollar we have to expand our services as far as we can. To help as many people as we can.
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<div>Right now, we're on the cusp of something permanent. Something built to last. But we need your help to do it.
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<div>In the last few years, MCREST has been facing a budgetary crisis. For the first time in our 37 year history, we had to pause our Men's Program due to a precipitous drop in host churches. For a while, we paid for motel rooms for our male guests, but as our savings dwindled, our very existence was at risk.
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<div>So we took action. We looked to our permanent shelter building for Women and Children, built in 2022, and set a goal to have the same stability available to Men in Macomb County. No more uncertainty.
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<div>We own a building next door to our shelter. It could be renovated and transformed quickly. We secured a $100,000 grant from Lowe's for the project -- and positive change felt just around the corner.
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<div>Then we hit a roadblock. We were denied a zoning permit from the Mt. Clemens Planning Commission for the Men's Shelter building. We appealed over months -- and we were still denied. The reason we were given? Our guests and their existence would hurt the local economy and diminish property values.
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<div>But this would not stop us. What could we do? An idea formed -- move our Administrative Offices to the empty building and use the floor where they were to shelter the men. This building was already zoned to be a shelter. No more red tape.
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<div>We hired a contractor. And since this summer, they've been hard at work making our dream a reality. The space is close to completion. And we're so, so close to opening our doors. But there is one final hurdle.
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<div>We need to raise an additional $100,000 to staff this new Men's Shelter before it can be opened.
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<div>Expansion means additional responsibility and we've already had to make staffing cuts as an organization. Our remaining staff are spread thin, volunteers cannot be scheduled to work overnight.
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<div>We need you, so we can Open Our Doors.
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<div>Please give what you can and share this call to action far and wide.
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<div>Together, let's take a large step forward to ensuring no one in OUR county has to sleep out in the cold.
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Anonymous

Ron Perfetto

Peter Thomas

Diana Burns

Reagan Wegener

Dawn Pobocik

Elaine Pace

Geri Pleva

Denise Hubert Mulvey

MCREST'S Open Our Doors: Men's Shelter

MCREST'S Open Our Doors: Men's Shelter

Still $93,330 to go. Help us build momentum.