Ypsilanti City Council members identified an unarmed response strategy as a top priority for the city in 2026. At an April 21, 2026, council meeting, Councilmembers Desirae Simmons and Amber Fellows, both Ward 3, introduced a resolution to establish a city-run community responder program.
Vote on the resolution was tabled until the May 5 meeting. If approved, the proposal would establish a community responder program to address mental health emergencies, substance use, homelessness and other public health calls, with a budget allocation of $1 million.
Public commenters at City Council meetings indicated community support for the proposed unarmed response program, including Ypsilanti resident Sheri Wander.
Wander previously worked for a group called Care-Based Safety, which provided unarmed, non-police crisis response in Washtenaw County. Wander said the program was effective, but needs municipal support.
“We are responding to mental health crises, drug overdose crises, to communities that are afraid to call the police, communities where when the police comes in, it increases their sense of danger, not their sense of safety,” Wander said.
Care-Based Safety was recently sunsetted, with operations phased out by March 31, 2026, Wander said.
“We would have continued if we had more resources to do so,” Wander said at the meeting.
During the council meeting, Simmons said that the proposed city-wide program might need up to 10 responders. City Manager Andrew Hellenga said that funding identified for the program comes from a non-renewable state source, and he advised working with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office to allocate money from the countywide mental health and public safety millage, funded by homeowner taxes, to support the program.
Councilmember Patrick McLean, Ward 2, said there were good ideas in the resolution, but it wasn’t clear where the $1 million in funding for the program would come from, and that creation and funding for a program like this should be included as part of the budget process for the city.
The City Council is set to vote on the resolution at its May 5, 2026, meeting, at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 1 S. Huron St., Ypsilanti.
