Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Livingston County Homeless Continuum of Care is inviting the community to participate in a screening of the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” as part of November’s Homeless Awareness Month.

The screening will take place at the Historic Howell Theater on Veterans Day - Friday, November 11th. Doors open at 6pm, with the show at 7pm. Organizers say the event provides an opportunity for residents to think and learn about homelessness, and to better understand the challenges homeless and at-risk individuals face as they seek shelter and work to establish stability.

The movie will be preceded by remarks from Continuum of Care service providers and include a guest speaker who has lived experience of homelessness in the county. The event will also include a display of art created by homelessness survivors.

Officials say Livingston is a relatively affluent community and it can be hard to identify individuals at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The January 26th, 2022 “Point in Time” count conducted by member agencies of the Homeless Continuum of Care confirmed 131 people experiencing homelessness in Livingston County at that time.

Director of Social Services at The Salvation Army of Livingston County Marlena Poff said “This year’s Homeless Awareness Month theme is Homeless, not Hopeless. As a community, we want to raise awareness of this issue. We want to ensure homeless individuals have a community of support, and that they know where to turn if they should find themselves in this situation. We want them to help them to have hope, and real solutions that bring them to stability”.

Donna Bunin is the Assistant Director for Supportive Services for Veteran Families with the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency. She shared that “Over the past 12 months OLHSA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program has served a total of 31 Veteran households, 52 total individuals, with Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing services totaling $138,435.82 in financial assistance.”

Event organizers are reserving priority seating at the event for youth, individuals, and veterans who are survivors of homelessness in Livingston County. Tickets for those priority guests will be distributed through select local agencies that provide housing and sheltering services.

More information is available in the attached release.