LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — On Thursday, 6 News told you about an underground homeless camp near a state building in downtown Lansing, But to one outreach group, this is just another example of how bad the homelessness situation is getting.
The group’s name is “Punks with Lunch,” and since 2023 they have had an outreach team that walks around Lansing, looking to help the homeless. But it’s been no easy task–and the nonprofit group says things are only getting worse.
“In the past three years, the number of unhoused people has gone up 400 percent,” said Renee Faith of Punks with Lunch.
Faith has been working in outreach groups for most of her adult life. She said this rise in homelessness is the reason we are seeing homeless camps like this one popping up around Lansing.
But the proximity of many of these camps to the Grand River makes for a safety threat to the people there.
“We have had people roll down the riverbank and wind up drowning; we have had people get hypothermia; we’ve had people injured in falls on the river bank,” Faith said.