Chelsea Wilkinson, executive director of Room at the Inn, told the Marquette City Commission on Nov. 17 that demand for emergency shelter in the city has surged and urged the body to allow the nonprofit to use the Baraga Gym as a temporary overflow shelter this winter.

"I have had 46 people sign in every single night for over a year," Wilkinson said, summarizing the shelter’s caseload and recent growth. She said Room at the Inn had opened a second family shelter this week and secured state funding for a permanent supportive housing program, but still lacks immediate capacity to house all people who need a place to sleep.

The plea came during the meeting’s public-comment period, where staff and clients described the short-term need in personal terms. Abigail Andrews, the group’s street-outreach case manager, asked the commission for space "for people to sleep for 6 weeks from now until January 1," calling the request a narrowly focused, immediate response to winter risk.

Residents staying at Room at the Inn described medical vulnerabilities that complicate sleeping outdoors. "If it wasn't for the space at Room at the Inn, I would be in a tent under a tree somewhere," Jeff Renshaw said, describing reliance on electrical medical devices. Lehi Richards, another resident, said the shelter had prevented a life-threatening outcome: "I'd be dead by now," he said.

Commissioners expressed sympathy and a willingness to find a short-term fix. Mayor Paul Schlegel said he did not yet know the best solution but emphasized urgency as cold weather arrives. Multiple commissioners said they wanted staff to examine options beyond Baraga Gym — including other city facilities — to identify the safest and least disruptive location.

The city manager, speaking for staff, outlined practical constraints that a recommendation would need to address, including insurance and liability when opening a public facility for overnight sleeping, staff supervision, and conflicts with senior-center programming that begins early in the morning. "That would be a direction from the city commission for city staff to come up with ... what that would look like," the manager said, and indicated staff could return with a recommendation in about a week.

City staff also flagged scheduling tradeoffs: the manager said senior services programming and other daytime uses limit the hours some facilities are available, and noted that current overflow demand at the time of the meeting was about 10 people but could grow as temperatures fall.

Commissioners did not take a formal, final vote to authorize overnight use of Baraga Gym at the meeting. Instead they directed staff to work with Room at the Inn and other stakeholders to prepare a written plan addressing supervision, liability insurance, scheduling and transportation — and to return that recommendation for commission consideration at a subsequent meeting.

Next steps: staff will draft a recommendation and return to the commission for a formal decision; no implementation or funding appropriation was adopted Nov. 17.