Midwest Woman Discovered Living in Grocery Store Sign: A Hidden Homelessness Issue

Midland, Michigan United States of America
A woman lived in a grocery store sign in Midland, Michigan for over a year.
She had created a makeshift apartment inside the sign with belongings like a coffee maker and computer.
The discovery sparked debate about hidden homelessness and affordable housing solutions.
Midwest Woman Discovered Living in Grocery Store Sign: A Hidden Homelessness Issue

A woman living in the Midwest United States made headlines after she was discovered residing inside a sign on the roof of a grocery store for over a year. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was found by contractors working on the roof of the Family Fare store in Midland, Michigan.

According to multiple sources, including body camera footage obtained by MLive.com and local news outlets, the woman identified her living space as an 'old safe spot' known to her family. She had managed to create a makeshift apartment inside the sign with a coffee maker, computer, bedding, and other belongings.

The woman was initially reluctant to leave her hiding place and asked for time to arrange for storage of her possessions. However, police officers on the scene denied her request and instructed her to vacate the premises immediately. The woman emerged from the sign wearing black clothing with ski goggles due to sensitivity to sunlight.

The discovery of the woman living in a grocery store sign sparked widespread interest and debate about homelessness and affordable housing in Michigan. Family Dollar, another retailer with a similar incident, donated $10,000 to a local nonprofit working with homeless populations as a response to the story.

The woman's living situation raises questions about the extent of hidden homelessness in communities across the country and highlights the need for affordable housing solutions. The Midland Police Department has not released further information on how they plan to address this issue.


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Confidence

85%

Doubts
  • It is unclear how the contractors discovered her living situation.
  • The woman's identity has not been released.

Sources

98%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Woman found living in Michigan store sign told police it was a little-known 'safe spot'

ABC NEWS SITE NAMES Name: ABC News Site Names URL: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-officially-blames-iran_106834435 ABC News Wednesday, 22 May 2024 07:00
  • Unique Points
    • A woman was living inside a sign on the roof of a Michigan grocery store for over a year.
    • The woman referred to the sign as an ‘old safe spot’ known to her family.
    • She asked for time to call her employer and arrange for storage of her belongings but was denied by police.
    • The woman emerged wearing black clothing with ski goggles due to sensitivity to sunlight.
  • Accuracy
    • The woman had possessions including a coffee maker, computer, bedding, and phone in the makeshift housing.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

86%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Video Shows Moment Police Found Woman Living in Grocery Store Sign: She Called It Her 'Safe Spot'

People Magazine Wednesday, 22 May 2024 07:01
  • Unique Points
    • The woman claimed her family knew about the 'old safe spot'
  • Accuracy
    • A woman lived on the roof of a Michigan grocery store sign for about a year.
    • The woman referred to the sign as an ‘old safe spot’ known to her family.
  • Deception (50%)
    The article does not disclose sources for the quotes from the police officers and implies that the woman had been living in the sign for a year without revealing that this claim was made by her and not verified by independent sources. It also uses sensationalist language when describing her living situation as
    • It is unclear how the woman continually accessed the roof. She told officers she had been living there for about a year, MLive.com previously reported.
    • The woman who lived in a Michigan grocery store sign for about a year told police it was an "old safe spot," according to body camera footage.
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

98%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Moment police confront woman living in grocery store roof sign

The Independent Michelle Del Tuesday, 21 May 2024 23:27
  • Unique Points
    • A woman lived on the roof of a Family Dollar store in Michigan for about a year.
    • The woman had an allergy to the sun which made her live in the dark space.
    • She identified herself as homeless to the police.
  • Accuracy
    • ]A woman lived on the roof of a Michigan grocery store for about a year.[
    • The woman's accommodation included bedding, a desk, a houseplant, a computer printer, and a Keurig coffeemaker.
    • She had an allergy to the sun which made her live in the dark space.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (95%)
    The author does not commit any formal or informal fallacies in this article. However, there are a few instances of inflammatory rhetoric used by the contractor and the woman herself. The contractor's statement 'It was crazy. I about had a heart attack.' is an example of hyperbole, which is a type of inflammatory rhetoric. The woman's statement 'Trust me, it’s safer up there than it is on ground level right now.' can be seen as an appeal to fear, but it does not necessarily constitute a fallacy as she may genuinely believe that her living situation is safer than being homeless on the ground. Therefore, I cannot deduct more than 5 points from the score.
    • It was crazy. I about had a heart attack.
    • Trust me, it’s safer up there than it is on ground level right now.
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication