LANSING, Mich. — Lansing resident Erica Munchbach is driven by a passion to ensure that no one else experiences the hardships she has endured.
“I made some unfortunate choices that I shouldn't have made over the course of a couple years. I got myself into some situations that were hard to get out of. I was struggling with an addiction, and that sort of thing.”
Erica says she lost her job, home, and car… but one of the most difficult hurdles for her to overcome was homelessness.
“The first couple months into 2017 I was couch-surfing. There was only one night that I spent practically outside because I went to someone's house, and they weren't home. So, I just tried to minimize the burden on everyone that cared about me and just slept in different places.”
Erica eventually made her way to the Lansing City Rescue Mission, where she found help.
Having secured a stable home with their support, she says she was profoundly inspired to assist others in similar situations.
“Because I have lived through those experiences, I feel like I do have some pretty deep insight into what it really takes and the support that's really required not to just get people housing; that's just one piece of the puzzle. But there's a lot more pieces to the puzzle that are quite often overlooked by our current service models.”
Erica founded the non-profit L-Town Jubilee, a network that connects disadvantaged community members in a Greater Lansing area with support and opportunities.
Mark Criss the executive director of the City Rescue Mission of Lansing says Erica has a lot of empathy and wants to help others.
“She wanted to do something different now that she's come through homelessness, plus help others. I think it's such a blessing to know her and that she wants to be able to meet the needs in the community and one of these needs is permanent supportive housing.”
Erica says homelessness is getting worse.
The most recent Statistics (2019) by the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness back her up.
- Over 61,000 individuals experienced homelessness in Michigan in 2019.
- 54% of the homeless population was African American, but African Americans make up only 14% of Michigan’s overall population.
- 7 is the average age for a child experiencing homelessness with their family in Michigan. In 2019, there were over 15,000 children experiencing homelessness in Michigan.
- Over 8,000 seniors experienced homelessness in 2019 with 76% of those having a disability.
Erica's friend and supporter, Adam Williams, says Erica is making a difference.
“Whether you're in it or you're coming out of it, or you're vulnerable to, or at risk of experiencing it, Erica is able to help. Erica helps families find resources and assess whatever supportive services they need to help them manage their vulnerable space and time and their life and so that special.”
We want to thank Erica Munchbach, this week’s Good Neighbor for taking a traumatic event in her life and using it to help others.
If you want to learn more about Erica’s non-profit, L-Town Jubille, visit https://ltownjubilee.org/
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