Funding Volatility and Homelessness in Washtenaw County During the COVID-19 Era

Homelessness in Washtenaw County has been shaped by rising housing costs, limited affordable housing supply, and fluctuations in public funding for shelter and supportive services. This report examines how funding volatility has influenced homelessness outcomes in Ann Arbor and the surrounding county over the past decade. Using a case-study approach drawing on annual reports from the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, state eviction data, and rental market indicators, we analyze trends across three periods: pre-COVID (2014–2019), the COVID-era funding expansion (2020–2021), and the post-COVID rollback of emergency assistance (2022–2025). Before the COVID-19 pandemic, rising rents and stagnant shelter capacity contributed to persistent unmet need, despite a 33% decline in the number of individuals served between 2014 and 2019 as capacity constraints tightened. During the pandemic, emergency federal and state interventions, including eviction moratoria and expanded rental assistance, temporarily stabilized housing outcomes. Government support for local shelter operations nearly doubled, and average shelter stays declined from 117 days in 2019 to 69 days in 2020. However, as emergency protections expired and funding levels receded, homelessness pressures intensified. Shelter stays lengthened, demand increased by nearly 20%, eviction filings rebounded, and housing assistance waitlists closed amid funding shortages. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that short-term funding expansions can produce measurable improvements in homelessness outcomes, but such gains are difficult to sustain without long-term investment in affordable housing and prevention infrastructure. The experience of Washtenaw County illustrates how reliance on episodic emergency funding contributes to cyclical patterns of housing instability and underscores the need for stable, coordinated housing policy responses.