Let's Build a Better Community Together
If you need assistance please call: 586.415.5101
Homelessness can happen to anyone.
A friend. A child. A neighbor. Maybe even you.
For more information on giving, call 586.415.5101
BY THE NUMBERS
Local families are in critical need.
Macomb County is home to families facing difficulty securing their basic needs. One in four Macomb County renters suffered eviction in the years before the pandemic, the second highest rate of Michigan counties.
MCREST has offered help and hope during the pandemic. Together with your support, MCREST sheltered a total of 601 adults and 154 children in 2020, compared to 422 adults and 118 children in 2019.
Now, too many local families are being left behind.
Need in Macomb County has reached a critical level, and we need your help.
What is Returning Home?
The annual year-end MCREST Returning Home Campaign ensures the not-for-profit can continue to provide the emergency shelter and support services that are critical to return local individuals and families back to independence in the coming year.
By pledging your support, you will be helping hundreds of individuals and families who have run into unexpected misfortune. People, especially children, lose their sense of stability when they lose their homes. They’re confused and scared. They feel unsafe.
32 Years of Service
640,000 shelter nights provided
Approx. 20,000 per year
18,048 people served
Approx. 564 per year
Homeless Children in Macomb
1448 - 2018-19
Learning & Resource Center
Since Oct. 2015
Guests Served - 630
Employment Placements - 195
Certificate Programs - 34
HISTORY OF MCREST
MCREST has provided rotating emergency shelter to families experiencing homelessness for nearly 35 years.
Your investment in MCREST goes far beyond a handout.
By supporting MCREST, you will be giving individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness a hand up to help them on their journey back to self-reliance. When you give to MCREST, you can give confidently: 92 cents of every dollar donated in 2020 directly supported individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
PRESENTING SPONSOR
SPONSORS
43%
Of the statewide homeless population are families with children
24%
Rate of Macomb County families evicted from 2014-18.
500-600
Individuals each year who are taken in by MCREST
Hear the story of
the Johnson family.
When COVID-19 hit, many families found their lives upended. The damage of the pandemic has been profound.
Hear the story of one of these families in their own words.
Hear the story of
Connie and her son.
COVID-19 is a huge obstacle to those in need of help, already struggling to find solid ground.
Hear the story of Connie and her son who seek a return to stability.
Hear the story of
Freshauna and her son.
Through the help of MCREST, Freshauna was able to secure permanent housing and become a children's book author.
Hear the story of what some assistance can do for a family.
Hear the story of
Connisha.
Listen to her story, from homelessness to self-sufficiency.
"A safe place to sleep for me and my son. They push me to do better; to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. They never gave up on me."
Returning Home Press Release
MCREST Launches Returning Home Campaign to Support Macomb County Individuals and Families Experiencing Homelessness
ROSEVILLE, MI, November 9, 2021 — Macomb County Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (MCREST) is launching its year-end Returning Home campaign with a $25,000 matching donation from Weingartz to ensure that the not-for-profit can continue sheltering Macomb County individuals and families experiencing homelessness, as well as help them return them to stable housing throughout the coming year.
The community’s tax-deductible donations will enable MCREST to continue to meet the increasing need for its emergency shelter services and permanent housing support. Residents’ donations will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000, thanks to Weingartz’ s generosity. Other lead donors to-date have been Axiom Construction Services Group.
MCREST has offered hope and help throughout the pandemic, sheltering a total of 755 people this past year, a 40 percent increase over the 540 people it served the previous year. Children represent more than one-quarter of those MCREST serves annually.
MCREST also operated a temporary warming program last winter that provided food and shelter to an additional 275 individuals per month. MCREST will once again care for this vulnerable population this coming winter. In total, MCREST has provided nearly 800,000 nights of shelter to Macomb County’s homeless population during its history.
MCREST feeds and shelters individuals, families, and children experiencing homelessness for 32 years through vital partnerships with more than 70+ Macomb County congregations.
However, MCREST incurred increased operational expenses in shifting shelter to a local motel when its partner churches temporarily closed at the onset of COVID-19. Though many churches are reopened for worship, they are not yet hosting MCREST weeks, leaving the organization with increased costs for the foreseeable future.
Over the years, MCREST’s support of homeless individuals has continuously evolved to better serve the community. This includes providing nearly 800 adults with educationa opportunities and job-readiness and placement services, helping its guests to secure stable employment in high-demand fields and make the transition to a stable lifestyle.
In 2022, MCREST will open a permanent Mt. Clemens shelter that will provide wraparound services to up to 45 women and children at a time as they transition from homelessness to self-reliance.
“MCREST has stepped up to the plate throughout the pandemic to provide hope and a path to self-reliance for increasing numbers of individuals and families,” said MCREST’s Executive Director; CEO April Fidler. “Now, we’re asking for the community’s help, so that we can continue to shelter families experiencing homelessness and return them home in the coming year.”
A $25 donation this holiday season to the MCREST Returning Home Campaign will provide a night of shelter for a Macomb County adult or child experiencing homelessness.
To donate or sponsor to the campaign, please visit www.mcest.org/returninghome
MCREST Has a New Building!
MCREST has fed and sheltered individuals, families, and children experiencing homelessness in Macomb County for nearly 35 years. And along the way, the support we offer has continuously evolved to better serve the community.
By partnering with foundations, private donors, and the public, MCREST is successfully renovating a Mt. Clemens building to serve as a permanent women and children’s shelter. The new shelter will be opened to guests in early 2022 and will serve more than 45 women and children with emergency shelter, reducing the traumatic impact of homelessness in children by giving families a stable location to
transition to self-reliance. Men experiencing homelessness will continue to be sheltered and receive support services through MCREST’s partner churches.
More than 1,000 children are experiencing homelessness right now in Macomb County.
As they transition to self-reliance, women and children in the new facility will be offered wraparound services, including transportation and childcare assistance, self-improvement classes, student tutoring, and job readiness and job placement support. MCREST also will expand its Learning & Resource Center at the new shelter to better serve individuals experiencing homelessness in Macomb County with job readiness and job placement support services. The expansion of the Learning & Resource Center aligns with MCREST’s focus during recent years on “housing first” interventions, as well as improving opportunities for economic self-sufficiency. MCREST is committed to assisting every individual and family entering our program to successfully transition to self-reliance.
