About a dozen people working on the local homeless problem gathered at the Sharing Center in Trevor last week to discuss the issue.
“Housing costs keep going up, incomes are flat, and every month, more and more people are being sucked into that gap, and into homelessness,” said Michael Basford, who currently heads Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness.
The face of homelessness is rapidly changing. The numbers from the west coast are eye-popping. These people are freshly homeless. The working homeless. Since Wisconsin lags behind economic trends, our area could be next.
Basford stopped at the Shalom Center and 58 percent of the clients had jobs, meaning many are working homeless. According to the United Way A.L.I.C.E Report, 2016, 38 percent of Kenosha County households meet Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and poverty definitions.
Organizations that help the homeless from all over the state identify lack of affordable housing as the number one barrier to getting homeless off the street. Leaving people homeless is not cheaper. More emergency room visits, more encounters with law enforcement, emergency services, and paperwork mean municipalities pay about $40,000 a year for every homeless person.
“People look at a homeless person and think there but for the grace of God go I. Second, they must have done something wrong or bad decision to end up there. Third, it’s normal. It’s not normal. “Basford continued.
Sharon Pomaville, is executive director of the Sharing Center in Trevor, which covers a rural 200 square mile area, I-94 to the Walworth County line. Some 212 people in that area are unstably housed. They don’t have a permanent place to sleep. The number has continued to rise over the past 4-5 years. The increase may cause Pomaville to increase hours and staff at the Center.
Western Kenosha County does not have a homeless shelter. Most people in the county have an aversion to go into the city to use Kenosha’s services. Most of Kenosha shelters have waiting lists, anyway. Other shelters are out of county.
The Sharing Center became a member of the balance of state continuum of care coordinated entry system in July 2018 and since then helped 18 homeless last year. The system prescreens and assesses people, then they are put on a list.
There are nine homeless currently in Western Kenosha County. In August, Pomaville had 12 people come in, freshly homeless, or about to be, and over half were working in one day.
The Sharing Center is more than just a food pantry. Pomaville said, it’s more than just a food pantry, it’s a good first stop. It’s a resource center. She can help people before they are homeless, sometimes. Services provided by the center include: senior dining Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; Women’s Empowerment Group; Individual Peer Counseling; HEAL Batterer’s Intervention Program; clothing; computer and Internet access; free bus transportation.
The center also has information on other issues and services. Some providers come from the city and offer their services on site. A dozen service providers come out, dental, medical, etc. and serve the clientele at the center. Diversion funding helps people find housing. It’s preventative funding, helping cover shortfalls, short term expenses, to keep people in their home, which is far cheaper in the long run.
Paul Gagliardi, president of the Sharing Center Board of Directors, says the county has a problem because of logistics — everything is spread out.
Gagliardi thinks this center is successful because of the people who run it and because local people invested their time and efforts to bring the Sharing Center there. They bring people in to give guidance. It’s a community resource. They can be the first step to get them where they need to be. Through casework, they try to find a long-term solution. They provide free bus transportation to bring anyone to the Sharing Center. There are vouchers for housing, but they can’t find any within the guidelines in the county because housing is so expensive. Vouchers are for $689 for a one bedroom with utilities. Most rentals in the county are for $850 and up.
State Sen. Wirch, who attended the meeting, asked why there couldn’t be a tiny house community like Racine has for veterans. Byron Wright, chairman of Emergency Services Network, former director of Kenosha Human Development Services Inc. Network, answered nothing is zoned for that. Local government would have to want that to happen.
Pomaville didn’t know if an actual shelter would help. She thinks a better funded voucher program would help.
“Wages are stagnant,” Wirch said, “Housing has gone up. Minimum wage in Wisconsin is $7.25. Government is not going to come to the rescue.”
Pomaville finds many homeless have had adverse childhood experiences. Some have very complex issues, and some need psychiatry. Basford said that many are a result of trauma — some in early childhood, some domestic violence, some combat.
The local Emergency Services Network has been meeting monthly since 1985. The group has tried to meet emergency needs through coordinated planning, cooperative delivery of services, for people who are poor or experiencing homelessness. The group is made up of not-for profits, faith-based, law enforcement, health, people interested in helping. About 35 people meet monthly. They wrote the original HUD housing grants in Kenosha. They get emergency food and shelter money. Their coordination of services in Kenosha leads to less duplication of services. Wright sees the biggest change in the last 10 years is lack of affordable housing.
“No one person or no one group can eliminate homelessness,” Wright said “It has to be a coordinated effort.”
While some monies have already been disbursed from the state budget to combat homelessness, currently an additional $3.75 million is waiting for a vote by the Joint Finance Committee, Pomaville said. The additional funds were placed in the budget to support the recommendations of the Wisconsin Interagency Council on Homelessness, which was created by 2017 Wisconsin Act 74, with unanimous support in both the Assembly and the Senate.
