Attendees at the second Ad-Hoc Committee on Homelessness and Housing Instability meeting discuss experiences related to homelessness on March 25. Mount Clemens City Commissioner Spencer Calhoun, off to the right, moderates the meeting.
By: Dean Vaglia | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published April 3, 2026
MOUNT CLEMENS — It can happen to anyone. Lose a job, miss some paychecks, and suddenly anyone could be at risk of losing their home — or facing homelessness altogether. It’s a problem with many causes and with many factors affecting it, but maybe something can be done at the local level to help it.
Enter the Ad-Hoc Committee on Homelessness and Housing Instability, a group formed by the Mount Clemens City Commission to advise the commission on matters relating to homelessness.
Approved by the commission on Jan. 5, the group is spearheaded by City Commissioner Spencer Calhoun on a mission to develop a report about the causes of homelessness and housing instability; review local programs, organizations and services that are available for people facing homelessness and housing instability; and recommend strategies to prevent and end homelessness, and to improve housing stability.
Calhoun says the commission had been curious about organizing an ad-hoc committee for something under the city charter’s provisions.
“We weren’t looking at first at any particular issue,” Calhoun said. “We just wanted to see if it was possible, because there are issues that could use just a few members to discuss (and) add in a few members from the community.”
Homelessness and housing instability quickly became hot topics in the city following the removal of benches from Rotary Park amid reports of fighting in September 2025. This led to Calhoun speaking with Mayor Laura Kropp about the matter, leading to homelessness being the topic for the committee.
“Overall, the community response has been positive,” Calhoun said. “I’ve gotten messages on Facebook. People have reached (out) to say they’re really happy to see us doing something. I got a call from a very nice lady in Detroit who said she saw in the news Monique (Cook) had passed away and she just was so concerned about people who might be in similar situations across southeast Michigan, and she was very happy to see that we’re stepping up on this.”
Moneque Cook, a 53-year-old woman from Eastpointe, was found dead outside in Mount Clemens in January.
Meetings began in February with a second meeting held in March centered around causes of homelessness.
“We have a very wide range of members from a former deputy warden to folks from Macomb Community Action,” Calhoun said. “We have a pastor, staff from Family Youth Interventions and we had a few members of the community who came in the audience who were interested. They also got a chance to speak.”
The March meeting was loosely structured, with Calhoun moderating while attendees were given the floor to share their thoughts on the topic.
“At the first one there were a lot more providers there, so it was good to hear all of the concerns that all the providers have,” said Lindsey Keesling, housing and outreach coordinator at Family Youth Interventions. “At the second one there were more people with lived experience, so that was also nice to hear because there were two different stories; one with a little more success and one with a little more frustration with how our system works.”
When approved in January, the committee was given a goal to develop its report by the end of 2026.
Calhoun still has plenty of subjects he wishes to tackle before the year is through such as building and supporting affordable housing projects in the region, providing support to renters and cracking down on slumlords.
“I don’t think we can kick the can down the road any further,” Calhoun said. “‘We’ being the Macomb and southeastern Michigan communities, not just the city.”
The clock may be ticking, but community members believe this group will be able to find solutions that will lead to action.
“I think there’s some things that we can do, like centralizing services and getting all of the people who are working toward the same goal guided together in one direction will be a really good thing,” said Brandon Bowman, director of the Mount Clemens Public Library. “I don’t think financially the city has much ability to do a lot of things. I think that’s outside of the scope of what the city could possibly do from a financial aspect. But, if they were an organizing agency for getting all the nonprofits under the same umbrella, I think that would be a fantastic thing and I think that’s something they could accomplish.”
For more information, reach email Calhoun at scalhoun@mountclemens.gov.