HILLSDALE — Hillsdale is awaiting notification of a pending court date for a civil infraction issued to Melissa Desjardin, executive director of Hillsdale Community Thrift and organizer of Camp Hope.
Desjardin was issued an ordinance violation May 1 when she failed to meet the city’s hard deadline of April 30 for removing a large tent behind Hillsdale Community Thrift, erected in 2023 as a temporary solution to Hillsdale’s homelessness crisis.
Hillsdale’s Public Safety Committee considered a request for leniency May 22, when residents of the nearby Apple Run Apartments voiced concerns with loud music, campfires, and foul language at all hours of the night.
On June 16, Desjardin spoke during a meeting of Hillsdale City Council, saying she was “shocked, disgusted, and felt threatened” by the commentary of the Public Safety Committee, chaired by Councilman Rob Socha, and some of the comments made by residents.
“The slander and defamation of character did not fall on deaf ears,” Desjardin said. “I’ve had two lawyers reach out to represent me in the future case I will have.”
The Public Safety Committee recommended “no leniency” for Desjardin or Camp Hope. Several councilmembers feel Desjardin and others have been given enough time to shutter the tent and work toward a permanent solution that doesn’t pose a hazard.
“The residents (of Apple Run) don’t feel like Missy has been a good neighbor because of the trash, the loud noise, the fires, the coarse language and people using the woods between them as their own personal dumping grounds,” Socha said June 16. “Having respect for our neighbors is something we should all cherish and fight for.”
Socha added, since Camp Hope’s inception in 2023, there have been 28 police calls and 42 fire calls (for medical emergencies). He said those numbers “are taxing our resources.”
City Attorney Tom Thompson said he’s awaiting notification from the 2B District Court for a hearing date on the civil infraction.
Camp Hope was created after council enacted an ordinance prohibiting camping on public lands in 2023. Since then, the city “turned a blind eye” to the camp’s ordinance violations, since it helped centralize the homeless population. But last fall, officials gave Desjardin until the end of spring to shutter after safety concerns were raised by the Hillsdale City Fire Department.
Desjardin has since offered a more permanent solution.
“We have located a building downtown to move our thrift store to, and our current location will become a transitional facility,” Desjardin said. “I can execute this plan in less than four months.”
Desjardin said it would take a few weeks to move the thrift store and empty the current location on Carleton Road in order for renovations to begin. The building would need to be rezoned, she said, and transformed into a transitional housing facility capable of housing up to 25 people at a time with a full kitchen and on-site social worker.
Hillsdale Zoning Administrator Alan Beeker said turning Hillsdale Community Thrift into transitional housing is possible but “exceedingly expensive.”
Hillsdale County’s latest point in time count for homelessness places numbers around 70.
— Contact reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @cmurrayhdn.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: ‘Shocked, disgusted’: Camp Hope organizer laments commentary from Public Safety Committee
Reporting by Corey J. Murray, Hillsdale Daily News / Hillsdale Daily News
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