ANN ARBOR, MI - Melvin Bell knew exactly who to call when he needed help coming up with $919 to pay his first month's rent at a new apartment.

Bell spent 19 years working at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washtenaw County, where he helped people determine what types of government aid they qualified for and then helped them fill out the applications.

He used that expertise when he was without a stable place to live this summer. But no one could offer him the money to help him move into a new apartment.

"I'm a positive, productive member of society and here I'm in need of some assistance and no one is responding," said Bell, 60, who retired from DHHS in 2015. "I'm disappointed - not in terms of the programs they have to help the homeless, in terms of the actual advocacy that's being done."

A combination of bureaucracy and insufficient funding makes it difficult for some Washtenaw County residents to find assistance in the face of a housing crisis.

After contacting 11 social service agencies and sometimes getting conflicting information about his options, or simply not having his calls returned, Bell said he connected with Michigan Medicine's Housing Bureau for Seniors, which has access to various community funds and provided him with $279 to help with rent.

Gaps exist in the types of assistance local agencies can offer -- often because they're distributing state and federal grants with specific stipulations on how the money can be used and who qualifies for assistance, said Marla Conklin, Salvation Army of Washtenaw County's director of social services.

In need, but not needy enough

A string of unfortunate events hit Bell, an Ypsilanti native, in the last year.

Last September, he was injured in a fall while doing volunteer advocacy work for someone in Genesee County. In December 2017, his car was stolen and he borrowed money from his sister to buy a new one.

In May, Bell moved out of his Ypsilanti apartment due to poor conditions.

Still trying to catch up financially from some of the unexpected expenses of the prior months, Bell lived for about four months with a friend in Genesee County before deciding to move back to Ypsilanti.

He spent four weeks in September in hotels and motels while looking for an apartment and help with paying for his first month's rent.

Bell's fixed retirement income is too high to qualify for rent assistance from the state's emergency solutions grant, which is reserved for people making 30 percent of the area median income or less - about $19,500 for a person in Washtenaw County.

Still, the $919 Bell needs each month for a 700-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in Ypsilanti takes an outsized amount of his social security and disability checks, he said.

If Bell had been living on the streets, he could have applied for the federal Rapid Rehousing program. If he had been evicted from his previous apartment, he could have applied for assistance through a federal Homelessness Prevention grant.

But Bell's circumstances didn't qualify him for those.

Washtenaw County shelters are full, Conklin said, and there's rarely a bed immediately available.

So Bell - a problem-solver by nature - had to come up with his own solution.

Due to the timing of his income checks, Bell told his landlord he would have to pay his rent late each month - which comes with a $50 fee.

"I'm still in a crisis," he said. "I feel that more resources should be available to help individuals that are in my position."

Filling the gaps in services

Washtenaw County is aware of the gaps in services available to those in need.

Housing Access for Washtenaw County, a Salvation Army hotline, is intended to be the first stop for people facing a housing crisis. 211, a hotline run by United Way, also refers people to local resources for various types of help.

But Bell worries many people fall through the cracks.

"When trying to navigate through the bureaucracy there's a lot of paperwork and legwork and running around that needs to take place," he said. "Most people don't have the coping skills and resources and ability to do that, and they just give up."

Bell would like to see better case management that truly meets people's needs, even if their circumstances leave them ineligible for certain types of assistance.

Washtenaw County's Barrier Busters -- a program Bell said he contacted -- aims to help people through a network of more than 100 local social service agencies and government entities.

Barrier Busters' "emergency unmet needs fund" doles out about $225,000 annually from local sources, and every dollar is matched by $0.38 from other funding sources, said Moonson Eninsche, human services supervisor for Washtenaw County's Office of Community and Economic Development, which coordinates the program.

In 2017, Barrier Busters responded to 363 emergency requests, 47 percent of which were related to housing stability, Eninsche said.

However, Eninsche said Barrier Busters' local funding is often exhausted nine to 10 months into the year.

"This year, we functionally ran out of funds by September," he said. "I'm not saying there isn't any funding available, but it's got to be more of a nickel-and-dime approach where you get $250 from one agency and $300 from another."