Ann Arbor City Council voted 9-0 this week to adopt a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness, formally affirming the principle that losing housing should not mean losing access to public spaces, emergency medical care or fair treatment from city employees. The measure, approved Monday, comes as shelters across Washtenaw County report the highest demand on record.
The resolution outlines eight basic rights for unhoused residents, according to mlive.com, including the right to use certain public spaces without being targeted because of housing status and the right to receive emergency medical care without discrimination. It also recognizes the right to request disability accommodations, keep personal information private, register to vote and expect fair treatment from city employees, per the outlet's reporting. As WXYZ reported, the resolution also outlines access to emergency medical care and use of public spaces without discrimination based on housing status.
Council Member Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, who sponsored the resolution alongside Council Members Cynthia Harrison, Erica Briggs, Jenn Cornell and Chris Watson, said the goal is making sure unhoused residents are treated with dignity and retain the same rights as everyone else, according to WXYZ. “Everyone deserves basic rights to be guaranteed, and losing your home should never mean that you also lose your rights,” Ghazi Edwin said, per the station's reporting. She added that existing laws protecting public and private property will continue to be enforced by police, and that enforcement should focus on conduct rather than housing status itself.
What the City Says It Will and Won't Do
City officials were careful to note the resolution preserves Ann Arbor's authority to enforce lawful rules governing conduct in public places, according to the City of Ann Arbor. It does not block police from enforcing conduct laws; it simply directs that housing status itself not become the basis for exclusion from public spaces or city services. The resolution also rejects the criminalization of homelessness, prioritizing outreach, shelter connections, voluntary services, eviction prevention and permanent housing over punitive responses.
The measure stops short of creating new resources. As one student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, reported, the resolution will not create any additional shelter beds tomorrow or immediately expand affordable housing. Instead, the City Administrator has been directed to review existing city policies and report back within 180 days with recommendations for how to put the new rights into practice, according to the city's own account of the meeting.
Community Reaction at City Hall
David Zuza, who supported the measure, called it compassionate and humanistic, telling WXYZ that government should work for all residents. Darshannie Francis said she hopes the resolution translates into more resources and more places for people to secure stable housing, according to the station's reporting. Ann Arbor already offers a range of services for people experiencing homelessness, including shelter options, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and Alpha House, WXYZ noted — though the city's shelter system currently carries a waitlist.
A System Already Stretched Thin
The vote lands amid a sharp rise in need across Washtenaw County. The county ended March with 846 people experiencing literal homelessness, a 27% increase since March 2025 and an all-time system high, mlive.com reported. Single adults experiencing homelessness rose 65% over the same period to 437 people, while the number of people with disabilities experiencing long-term chronic homelessness climbed 88% to 124, according to the outlet's analysis of county data.
Shelter capacity has not kept pace. The Delonis Center served an average of 113 people per night during the 2025-26 winter season, up from about 68 the year before, mlive.com reported, citing shelter staff. Then in August, the center's emergency shelter capacity was reduced to 52 people under building code requirements, even as its 60 residential beds remained available — a change that could leave 78 people without shelter space this winter compared with last season's overflow numbers, according to the same outlet's coverage. The Shelter Association of Washtenaw County said it expects to find another location to shelter about 100 individuals this winter. Outside the coldest months, people seeking shelter or other services can wait months for help, mlive.com reported. Other local agencies are feeling the strain too: Ozone House reported a 12% increase in clients from fiscal year 2025 to 2026, and the number of young people on the county's wait list for help jumped from 31 to 93 in about a year.
How Ann Arbor's Measure Compares
Ann Arbor is not the first city to adopt this kind of resolution. Indianapolis passed an ordinance creating a Homeless Bill of Rights in 2015, becoming one of the first cities in the country to do so, according to USA Today. That measure, which passed by a 16-13 vote, protected the right to move freely in public spaces, receive equal treatment from city agencies, obtain emergency medical care and expect privacy for personal belongings, and it required the city to give 15 days' notice before clearing a camp. The Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, reflecting on a similar 2012 state law, told USA Today it had been difficult to get agencies to follow the new rules, even as the law gave legal advocates a tool to defend homeless people.
Housing Access of Washtenaw County, known as HAWC, provides a central intake process for households that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, according to the City of Ann Arbor's housing commission. Whether the council's new resolution changes how that system operates will depend on what the City Administrator recommends when the 180-day review comes back to council.
