Sunrise Mission has named Tracy Bouren its new executive director, placing a licensed builder and faith-based program leader at the helm of the Alpena shelter as she works to change how the community understands homelessness.
Bouren said her goal is to keep Sunrise Mission focused on family while providing a safe place for people who are struggling. She has been in the director’s role for two months and said the transition has been supported by the shelter’s administrative staff, even though the organization is understaffed.
A new leader with a service-focused background
Before accepting the Sunrise Mission position, Bouren led Every Heart Restored at Northeast Sanctuary Church in Alpena. The eight-week program offers faith-based guidance and healing for people responding to trauma related to abuse.
Bouren is also a licensed builder. She lives in Bliss, a small town outside Harbor Springs, and said she drives two hours each way to reach her job at Sunrise Mission.
She said her husband encouraged her to accept the position despite the commute, and that her pastor agreed with him. Bouren described her faith and concern for people in difficult circumstances as central to her decision.
“I'm a strong person,” she said. “My faith is very strong, but my heart is truly for the downtrodden, and just people in general.”
Bouren said Sunrise Mission’s staff have helped her learn the shelter’s internal operations and make difficult decisions. She praised employees and supporters for their expertise and service-oriented approach.
“The Sunrise Mission family ... the people that support me ... they are absolutely incredible,” she said. “They know their job very, very well. They're incredible at their craft but they're also more than that. They're very service oriented. I couldn't do it without them.”
Rules are intended to support stability
Sunrise Mission has 33 beds and serves people 365 days a year. Bouren said guests must follow rules and other requirements while staying at the shelter, with the goal of helping them become self-sufficient again.
The shelter does not permit guests who have been convicted of criminal sexual conduct crimes. Guests must also maintain sobriety. Bouren said that requirement covers mind-altering substances of all kinds. Tobacco products and vape pens must be stored in lockers.
She said the rules are designed to protect the wider shelter community while helping guests achieve stability and success.
“Helping one person and endangering the rest of my home is not acceptable,” she said. “Our whole goal is to see that people are enriched and stable and successful. That's what gives all of us great joy.”
Bouren said decisions at the shelter will be made within established rules and parameters, but she does not want every situation treated as simply black or white. She said services should be delivered with compassion and dignity.
Personal experience shapes Bouren’s approach
Bouren said her interest in serving people experiencing hardship was influenced by her husband’s recovery from a terminal illness in 2020. Doctors reportedly described the recovery as a miracle, and Bouren said the experience led her family to reconsider what mattered most.
At the time, she said, her family was financially stable and her business was doing well. The sudden change in circumstances convinced her that anyone can face dire conditions, even after making what appear to be the right choices. She said that realization helps her empathize with Sunrise Mission guests.
Her broader goal is to challenge assumptions about what homelessness looks like and why someone might need shelter. Bouren said hardship can result either from a series of poor choices or from painful events outside a person’s control.
“Do we make a series of poor choices that can sometimes get us in situations, but on the flip side of that, some of us, just living life, have a series of sad choices happen to us,” she said. “So whether it's by our own doing or through some other providence, in whatever way that is ... that's why this is so near and dear to my heart.”
Although she has lived in the Alpena area for only two months, Bouren said she has already seen strong community support for Sunrise Mission. She described people as protective of one another and said residents regularly pull up to the shelter to donate.
Sunrise Mission also recently received a facade grant from the Alpena Downtown Development Authority to improve and update the building’s curb appeal. Bouren said she hopes the shelter can eventually expand to house more people.
“Alpena has gifted us this and we're going to make them proud,” she said.