ANN ARBOR, MI - Since she was a child growing up without a stable place to live in Detroit, Krystle DuPree has banked on a college degree helping her escape poverty.

She wanted that degree so badly she served four years in the U.S. Army to get help paying for college.

She enrolled at Washtenaw Community College while her son Tytus was a toddler, even though the cost of his child care left her struggling at times to afford food. A child care scholarship offered by WCC saved her from dropping out.

DuPree, 34, and Tytus, now 7, have moved five times in the five years they’ve lived in Washtenaw County.

Even with her military subsistence allowance, it was difficult for DuPree to find an apartment in a safe, quiet area that wouldn’t trigger the symptoms of the anxiety disorder she developed during her military service.

Still, she persisted at WCC, transferred to Eastern Michigan University and completed her bachelor’s degree in social work in spring 2018.

Now enrolled in the University of Michigan’s Master of Social Work program, DuPree’s dream of giving her son a more stable childhood than she had is again in jeopardy because of Washtenaw County’s high cost of living.

“It’s extremely stressful," DuPree said in early March, seated in the townhouse she soon had to move out of. "My whole idea is I don’t want my son’s life to be as chaotic as mine was. I don’t want him to have this constant instability.”

DuPree and Tytus have lived in a three-bedroom townhouse on a quiet drive in Pittsfield Township for 15 months. Her certificate for an Army commendation medal, college degree and a volunteer award from the local Democratic Party line the ledge of the living room’s bay window. Tytus’ artwork hangs on the wall immediately inside the front door.

But since DuPree’s roommate moved out, they can’t afford to stay there anymore. They plan to move soon to a more affordable Pittsfield Township apartment complex, but DuPree says she’ll still be spending about half of her income on rent.

“There’s just so much cost on top of housing,” she said. “If you’re paying more than half of your income on housing, you’re going to be in debt really fast.”

Someone like DuPree - who was honorably discharged from military service, has a service-related disability and is enrolled full-time in college in Washtenaw County - can qualify for a monthly subsistence allowance of up to $1,818 through a vocational rehabilitation and employment services program, said Michael Smith Jr., Washtenaw County’s Veteran Affairs office director.

The subsistence allowance is in addition to the program paying for all of the veteran’s education-related costs, Smith said, and many veterans who qualify for vocational rehabilitation also are eligible for disability benefits. DuPree also recently accepted a fellowship with Mothering Justice, and she hopes to secure a job as a community organizer for the nonprofit that advocates for family-friendly policy.

Even so, the cost of housing in the Ann Arbor area is a burden for DuPree. Average monthly rent in Washtenaw County ranges from $866 in Milan to $1,503 in Ann Arbor, according to RENT Cafe.

Even veterans who qualify for extra assistance from a housing voucher struggle to find sustainable housing they can afford, Smith said.

“We know that Washtenaw County has an affordable housing issue,” he said. “That housing stock is just not there.”

In addition to DuPree’s income constraints, she also faced resistance from some landlords who didn’t consider her military benefits a legitimate source of income, or they confused her subsistence allowance with a Section 8 voucher, which by law, landlords are not required to accept, she said.

It stung when they asked how she’d pay rent if she dropped out of college and lost her housing allowance.

“People kind of look down on you, and I’m not understanding why,” she said. “The only reason why I joined the Army was to go to school. To hear people say, ‘What if you quit?’ I was like, ‘Excuse me, I’m not going to quit.’”

There’s also the complication of delays in processing the vocational rehabilitation benefits, which means veterans may not be able to pay their rent or other expenses that month, Smith said.

DuPree had to leave Baker College, she said, due to ongoing issues with processing her benefits on time, which meant she was often late paying rent. That was when she moved from Wayne to Washtenaw County in hopes of finding better social services.

Washtenaw County’s veteran relief fund can provide financial assistance for rent, utilities, food and gas or bus passes, Smith said. The Buddy to Buddy Volunteer Veteran Program also can help connect veterans with available resources.

“We have this abundance of resources available in Washtenaw County, but - similar to issues for those on the civilian side - it’s also an expensive place to live,” said Bill Bryan, program manager for the statewide peer mentor and veteran resource network that’s affiliated with the University of Michigan Depression Center.

DuPree thinks local officials could make zoning changes to prevent further socio-economic and racial residential segregation and allow for more creative affordable housing options, like tiny houses, she said.

She also would like to see landlords and other service providers offer veterans more flexibility in making payments when their military benefits are delayed.

“It’s just a lot to navigate,” she said. “It’s easy to make one little misstep, and then oops, I don’t have a place to live.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated DuPree is planning to pursue a social work position with the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System. After completing her master’s degree, she plans to work as a community organizer for Mothering Justice.