Old McLaren campus to be used to house less fortunate residents in need

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - For those who are wondering what’s going to happen to McLaren’s old campus, News 10 has the answer.

McLaren President and CEO Kirk Ray said that the move isn’t quite over yet.

“The move to the new campus? It’s been very exciting,” Ray said. “Everything except one clinic over on our southeast portion of the campus will all be over on the new campus here in the next month.”

What will happen with the buildings once they are empty? Ray said McLaren has been working with Michigan state officials to identify needs “around mental health services, behavioral health -- areas where we see a huge shortage across the state of Michigan.”

But until the buildings get filled, Ray said McLaren is still obligated to maintain the buildings, the security, services and and more.

“We’ve always committed to the city of Lansing that these will not be a blight in the neighborhood,” Ray said.

And since they have to maintain the properties, McLaren has decided to put the buildings to good use by keeping children out of the rain.

“There’s such a big need. About 1,000 youth are homeless a year in the Mid-Michigan area,” said Child and Family Charities CEO Julie Thomasma. “We’re going to be starting to work on the rest of the campus next, but this is really our first priority is getting the youth home open.”

Thomasma said their old shelters didn’t meet all of their needs and the new spaces would double their capacity to help -- and this is just the beginning.

“Child and Family Charities is what I believe is the catalyst for other things to come,” Ray said. “As we’re starting to really try and put pieces of the puzzle together to get more behavioral health services right here on this campus.”

Due to non-disclosure agreements, McLaren said they are not allowed to say who else may be moving into their old buildings until it’s official.

Thomasma said Jackson National and its associates have donated nearly $1 million to help move Child and Family Charities into the McLaren campus. More information on Child and Family Charities can be found on its official website here.

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