Photo by Jon Tyson 
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FAMILY Emergency Motel STAYS Program
​F.E.M.S. Program

​A program designed to provide short term (one to two weeks) shelter for homeless families in the  Public School system.
​Funding was provided through a generous grant from Masco Corporation.
Qualifications:

  • Families must be attempting to access other reasonably available resources such as Housing Access for Washtenaw County
  • Families must be literally homeless. If a family can double up in a friend or family member's home, they do not qualify, other wise, if a family has no place to spend the night other than a vehicle or a tent, they qualify for the program
  • Families must have at least one child age 18 or younger in the Public School system
  • The family MUST ​be referred to MISSION's FEM Program by a Case Worker or Liaison Representative of the Ann Arbor Public School System.
In such situations, the fund will pay for temporary, short term motel or hotel stays, usually for two weeks or less, OR as resources become available.
​Application forms for qualifying families are made available through the McKinney-Vento Education Liaison representative through a Public Schools District Office or School
​MISSION’s program/service:
  • Is designed to address the need for an “overflow solution” to the County’s brick and mortar family shelters in light of the County’s affordable/low income housing problem. 
  • Works with case workers, social workers, case managers and others that assist families with a homelessness crisis to provide low cost, highly effective respite and planning time to seek an alternative sheltering solution.
  • Is designed with particular attention to maintaining and cost effectively supporting the County’s “Housing First” strategy while still leveraging the significant over capacity in the County’s motels.

 
The program was developed by MISSION and has been in operation since 2018. 

 For additional information about the program contact:  [email protected] or (734) 418-8192