October 27, 2010 - Homelessness in Milwaukee

This post is one of five that will dig deeper into the issue areas that will be featured at the SDC’s Symposium on Poverty  – Family Relationships, Community Violence & Public Safety, Community Development, Neighborhood Development, and Job Creation & Workforce Development.

Under the issue area of community/neighborhood development, the Milwaukee Continuum of Care will be presenting a session entitled, “Homeless No More:  Milwaukee’s 10 Year Plan” at the upcoming SDC symposium on poverty.  During this session, leaders from the Milwaukee Continuum of Care will engage symposium participants in better understanding homelessness at a personal level and at a system-wide level through a community education component and a community-based planning component.

Milwaukee’s 10 year plan is a strategic effort to end homelessness.  It is not a plan to manage homelessness.  There is a big difference.  As you walk around the streets of Milwaukee, chances are you won’t notice many individuals who fit the stereotype of the homeless.  Why?  Two main reasons – Milwaukee’s ability to manage homelessness and the stereotypes surrounding homelessness.   

As countless advocates for the homeless have said before, Milwaukee has done a pretty good job of managing homelessness over the years.  The Milwaukee homeless shelter system, transitional housing providers, & permanent housing providers have done an amazing job of keeping people sheltered and moving them into permanent housing.  Milwaukee’s population of 1,660 individuals experiencing homelessness (of which 220 are living in places unsuitable for human habitation) is far less than other comparable metropolitan areas such as Cleveland (2,236 homeless individuals) and Detroit (3,694 homeless individuals).  The development of the Milwaukee Continuum of Care has created new permanent housing options and new service options for Milwaukee’s homeless population.  Moreover, the Milwaukee Continuum of Care has improved the community’s capacity for managing homelessness.

A second plausible reason why you may not see the expected number of homeless individuals on the street is because you may not really know who they are and where they are.  In short, the stereotypes surrounding the homeless are just that, stereotypes.  Did you know that twenty-one percent of Milwaukee’s homeless population is employed either full-time or part-time?  Although this number is unacceptably low, it does point to the fact that the homeless are fully capable of doing the same type of work that everybody else does.  Do you see any families on the street?  Probably not, yet there are over 170 families in Milwaukee without a permanent place to live.  Families are living in shelters, cars, doubled-up with friends, and in other places where you may not see or notice them.  Milwaukee Public Schools, which uses a broad definition of homelessness, reports that over 2,000 children are homeless and go to school every day.  They attend class and play alongside children with more stable homes.  Again, managing the issue. 

A number of years ago, the Milwaukee Continuum of Care was challenged to go beyond managing homelessness.  After a lengthy process, the Milwaukee Continuum of Care created a 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.  Based on the pillars of prevention & emergency services (p. 19), economic support & employment (p. 25), mental health/substance abuse/supportive services (p. 31), and housing (p. 37), the 10 Year Plan is a strategic effort with concrete objectives and tangible outcomes written into each component.  It is also a plan that needs support.

One of the reasons why the Milwaukee Continuum of Care is presenting at the symposium on poverty is to solicit engaged individuals and institutions to help carry out the activities detailed in the 10 Year Plan.  In essence, the Milwaukee Continuum of Care recognizes that while it has been able to manage homelessness over the years, ending homelessness requires a far greater effort.  The Milwaukee Continuum of Care currently consists of over 100 individuals, agencies, and institutions yet there are sectors of the community such as employers, philanthropic organizations, and other local leaders who can and should get more involved to move the plan forward.      

If Milwaukee can manage the issue (which is no small feat in itself), why can’t it take the next step and eliminate it?  Simply put, is Milwaukee content with managing its social ills or does it have the resolve to end them?

If your imagination can take you to a place where the number of unsheltered individuals is zero and if that place has been able to reduce the 1,660 individuals experiencing homelessness in Milwaukee to zero, then please join the SDC and the Milwaukee Continuum of Care on November 10, 2010 for what promises to be a beginning to an end.

Steve Schultz

Policy Analyst

Social Development Commission

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