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Jackson’s City Council will consider a measure Tuesday night to direct opioid settlement dollars toward transitional housing proposals from local organizations. The decision comes as Mid-Michigan faces a growing homelessness crisis, with nearby Lansing taking legal action against property owners hosting encampments.
The money comes from a 2021 national settlement requiring drug companies like Johnson and Johnson, CVS and Walgreens – among others – to pay billions to communities for addiction treatment and prevention.
So far, the city has received about a quarter of that funding, with the rest to be paid out over 18 years.
Last year, Jackson sought proposals for grants up to $150,000 for general addiction treatment and prevention. This year, the City Council is focusing their $275,000 grant on transitional housing — which they would require grantees to provide up to 24 months for people in recovery.
The grant also aims to expand evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders, including behavioral therapy, medication-assisted treatment, peer support, and family counseling.
Across Mid-Michigan, communities are struggling to address the growing homelessness crisis and find solutions.
In Lansing, the city is suing two private landowners for allowing a homeless encampment to remain on their property. Jackson has faced similar challenges.
Earlier this year, a Fox 47 News report revealed the city was selling and had put into storage ten pallet houses that were used the year before to house unhoused residents.
The CEO of Residents in Action, the organization purchasing the pallet homes, said in that report that the houses required a special ordinance for outdoor use — something that the City Council had not approved for that winter.
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