Would love to see pictures. I’m also wondering how she was able to get up and down from the roof, and how she was able to get furniture up there.
The furniture you can pull up with a rope or extension cord if it’s light enough. As far as getting on the roof there’s sometimes an attached ladder or pipes that can be climbed easy. Sometimes there’s a dumpster and lower roof that you can pull yourself up to get onto the main roof. Most likely the attached ladder with the cage unlocked or broken.
As far as we know the store manager probably stashed his side chick up there and was in on it
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Reminds me of this episode of 99% Invisible where a group of friends found an unused space at a mall and made it their own personal condo.
this was a great read, thanks for sharing
Also in a similar vein, the tunnels under Las Vegas
I support the medical professional trying to help those people.
Fascinating!
Amazing, I loved this story!
Before I read this story, I regretted having gotten out of bed.
Now I'm a millionaire. Can't thank you enough.
Too bad the mall didn't let them stay in there, that would have been pretty cool ,all they should is ask them that them be security guards and help protect the mall something then they would just let them live in there for free
Here are some alleged pics . I pulled them from the "Midland Scanner News" Facebook group.
I was just coming here to post the pics after I saw the scanner page post
Probably don't want to encourage any copycats or show anyone how to get away with it.
I want to see photos of the setup as well. Im sure the contractor who caught her or a store employee or someone has got to have some.
i have a few pictures of the setup
I read the article, still don't believe it. We need pics.
Need to make "liminal-squat-core" a thing.
Caught-age core
Squatter chic
Here are some alleged pics . I pulled them from the "Midland Scanner News" Facebook group.
That jug in the last pic definitely had pee in it.
Yeah, I was glad to see they're not pressing charges. Seems a bit strange to make the staff get her stuff down, but I'm guessing liability considerations means the store doesn't want her or the police doing it.
There's a vendor kiosk at Great Lakes Crossing for essential oils or some shit called OMGoils. Every time I walk past I have to say to my wife OH MA GOILS.
She doesn't find it as amusing as I do.
I appreciate you.
I also am amused. Lol.
There is a nail salon on my town that is called S Nail Lounge but the S on the sign is really big on the left and the other words are stacked next to it. So my husband has a similar compulsion to exclaim “Snail Slounge!” Every single time we pass it
OMG full send to print. Midland doesn't read.
With 44% of people older than 25 in Midland having a Bachelor's or higher (national average is 34%), it sadly might be one of the most well-educated cities in the region.
The town full of chemists doesn't read???
They probably skim well enough to pass the test.
A town full of Northwood University professors, students and faculty don’t read 🧐 ?!?
So the way I see it, if they tried to sue her, she might have grounds for a messy squatter's rights law suit.
So what you're saying is there's a vacancy
$1,475/mo + utilities. First month/last month + $1000 security deposit up front. Monthly net (not gross!) wages must be 3x rent. 785+ credit score. No pets, no overnight guests.
There is already an 18-month waiting list for the sign.
1475 + utilities would get you a condo in some of the nicest neighborhoods in Midland. Your joke might land if you weren’t describing a very low income area of the state, everything is cheap here compared to the rest of the state and the country as a whole.
Signs point to yes.
"The rooftop Ninja" lol like they really called her that
This is actually pretty common. I’ve found numerous places where homeless people were squatting while doing roof leaks for businesses.
You were doing the roof leaks? How inconsiderate of you!
Gotta keep that job security somehow.
Respect
Still less rude than the vestibule dumps I take.
Any highlights or particularly creative discoveries?
I’ve found them in big signs like this, under overhangs that were safe from water/rain, and inside rooftop penthouses which hold the hvac equipment mostly. One person was sleeping in an old large hvac unit that was gutted out.
The best one I found was in a large unused penthouse on some industrial factory. It was decked out like a studio apartment. Had a tv, ps3, hot plate, cot, clothes hung up on the pipes, and a heater. Dude even put a rug on the ground. It was pretty clean and nice. The maintenance guy figured it was probably an employee staying in it though.
For the most part I never told the building owners about what I found unless they were on the roof and seen it themselves. I figured the people have it hard enough without coming home and finding their whole life in the dumpster.
Good on ya for keeping quiet. Time tough.
"When you're here, you're family!"
apparently not lol
Lol this was the store I'd bike to every other day when I didn't have a car. Respect ✌️
Chuck Manjonie?
What does a celebrated flugelhorn player have to do with this particular situation
Is this like that episode of Malcolm in the middle?
You do not get to do this.
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.
So, they are going to help bring her furniture down for her. Ok, that's nice, but how did she get it up there to begin with?
I can't help but suspect she got help from the same employees who will be helping her remove it.
The reaction is suspiciously polite...
"The reaction is suspiciously polite..." Yes, this is very suspicious for Midland. Everyone should stay away from this evil town. Especially, don't move here. It is incredibly horrible and no one likes living here at all.
I'm joking, of course. This place is a lot more small town than city. I imagine the store owner as the Ron Burgundy meme, "I'm not even mad. That's amazing."
You might be right about that!
Great question. Some great answers , need more answers though
By looking at the pictures she didnt have anything too heavy in there and a rope to pull stuff up would be my guess
“It’s free real estate!”
y'know... I respect the hustle. Hope she's doing well.
Homelessness is so sad. As a society, we kind of suck.
I heard someone say once the difference between a European view of homelessness and an American view is that in Europe they see a homeless person and see a failure of society but in America we see a failure of a person.
This difference covers a lot more than homelessness too. Fancy people with fancy words would say "Americans view systemic problems as individual problems, which is why they are unable to solve systemic problems."
Because we don't want to look at our societal housing policy failures that make housing so expensive
It's healthcare too. A lot of homeless people have family that could support them but they're too sick with mental illness or drug addiction. Creating a universal healthcare system and expanding mental health and drug treatment facilities would go a long way to solving this issue.
Having housing makes getting healthcare a lot easier too
💯
I’d say that’s mostly accurate.
It’s sad that an employed person can’t afford a place to live. The gap between the haves and have nots just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
This is such a bizarre story, she has a job, a car, and declined housing assistance (Midland has several low income programs)
Officers offered the woman housing assistance and other resources. She declined their help.
The officers may have offered it to her, but whether she actually qualifies for assistance probably isn’t up to the officers. She has a job - which could mean she doesn’t qualify.
Would be interesting to know the exact circumstances.
I’m really glad the officers offered, but you’re right, having employment would at least put her in a different category from the “emergency” cases. Receiving housing assistance/advocacy unfortunately does not guarantee actual housing—even if you’re “lucky” enough to get an emergency housing voucher (air quotes because one is generally in a very bad spot to receive one of those, and the waitlists are…long), for example, good luck finding a place that accepts it AND has rent/utilities within the allowed price range. I can’t speak for Midland county but over here in Isabella it’s really rough.
Also, of the places that do accept it … is it actually better/safer than living in your car? I would say not always
Are sleeping in a store sign which is probably a lot more safer and living in some areas aren't she's at work she comes home all her stuff's gone cuz the other attendants 2 don't have nothing beside to clean her unit out
LOL. Atta girl! Hold out for something on the water (pet friendly) in a decent neighborhood.
They had options for low income housing problems.
Why is this downvoted? Honestly? It's a fact. They had a lot of options in Midland to help themselves get housing and assistance. Why do you redditors just want to pretend everything is worse than it really is?
You crave misery.
I'm not saying I'd live off grid if I lost my job. But there would be signs.
I see where your going with this
Well you gotta live somewhere
I always wanted to do this when I was a child. I especially wanted to live in the Freeway Fritz sign
I want to see pics of the space and how she had it decked out lol
Someone in the comments has uploaded links
this is profoundly puzzling to me in so many different ways
This isn't a fake roof for design purposes and there is an actually room/area on shopping center buildings like this? what?
how does she have such easy roof access?
has no one seen her climbing the side of a building everyday/night?
I need photos of the inside area so badly
Somebody linked the photos of it above and its literally like a little shed on the roof. We have a family fare a couple blocks from me so im going to go look tomorrow and see if somebody is up there and if its vacant im moving in.
Here ya go ya filthy animals. Lol https://ibb.co/6mV209j https://ibb.co/C0dYjgQ https://ibb.co/6P5KCfM)
Apologies for my poor structure of those links. There is three of them
Thank you !!!!!
Wow thanks so much for this!
It wants me to "sign" in...
Wait so how did she get all the furniture up on the rooftop?? lol
Kudos to her for finding, adapting, and maintaining a space to live. Young people are resourceful and creative in solving their problems. Hope she lands on her feet with her next housing stint.
She was trespassed from the business. No criminal charges were filed against her.
So 1 year with no bills and no charges? Sounds like a good deal.
The plaza is old, that part of it before I was born was a Yankee department store until it went out of business and when I was little it was another discount chain named 3D until it went out of business, then the local Giant supermarket moved from the Eastlawn plaza to it and it was that until I think 1994 when the location was taken over by Glen's which was later bought by Spartan and some time later became Family Fair. So, that use to just be a window where lights would shine through IIRC. It's probably not surprising if there's an upstairs to the store that's probably gone unused for decades aside from maybe storage of stuff people have forgotten about. I haven't been there in years but there's a stairway inside the store, I can't remember but she could've snuck up at night before they closed or there could be a service ladder outside.
I might be wrong after seeing the roof pic, it's been a really, really long time and I was in the single digits.
Somebody linked pics above in a comment and the family fare down the road here was also a glens. The sign is literally like a little shed on the roof with a door and everything. Im gonna head down there in a few hours and see if the sign here is the same little shed setup and if its vacant im moving in
She should have just said that she was a squatter; it would probably take them months to force her to leave.
Reminds me of the people living in the parking garage in Providence, RI…
I love my town!
With prices of rent these days I don't blame her. Wish I'd thought of that. Imagine the money you could save. 🤣
Its about time somebody got their moneys worth at Family Fare because they been robbing their customers for years now
How does it occur to a person that the sign on THE ROOF of the neighborhood grocery store would be a good place to live? Several problems come to mind: the biggest one being able to get on the roof. All these buildings have those steel ladders that are cut off at about ten feet off the ground; she must have been stacking boxes or getting on top of a dumpster to get to one of those ladders. It seems like somebody would notice that kind of thing.
It's amazing where you can go when you just look the part and act like you belong. People these days are so afraid of confrontation that they just let shit go if it looks even close to OK.
They close at 10pm i do believe so she had all night
Not the Onion
Its a grocery store not somebody's home
In this housing market?? You would snitch??
She had been living there for bout a year! Sounds like Family Fare is missing out on a new potential revenue stream. That's right for $100 a month you too can live the good life in our store sign apartments.
Knowing how stupid their prices are, renting from them would probably lead to homelessness
Are there no cameras at this place, how did she get away with it for a year?
Not on the roof apparently
How did she not freeze to death over the winter??? I guess heat rises, from the building, or maybe she had somewhere else to go when it got really cold? I mean, that’s horrifying, being homeless in a cold state like Michigan.
She had power so maybe a space heater or electric blanket
Inside?? The sign?? C'mon family fare, get your shit together. I work for you. C'mon.
It’s a sign of the times
I wonder if she has a receipt for the groceries.
Something about this seems not right.
Just Because some people were curious, I have some pics of the setup
Something tells me this “public relations officer” needs a little p/r training.
Phrogging
In Midland it's illegal for homeless humans to hang out in town. Hopefully this lady will find a better place to live.
How can it get any better than free and if that is true its a unenforceable law that may as well not exist. They wont be locking up every homeless person they see inside the city limits and there is no effective way to to enforce it without burdening the jail
You obviously are either not familiar with Midland or are in denial.
Was hoping for photos of the setup, these stores never have them.