As school lets out for students across Wisconsin, more time will be spent at home, and many families will look to prepare quick and affordable meals.
“During the summer, many families experience disruptions to their normal routines, which can make healthy eating more difficult,” said Carmen Baldwin, community nutrition manager for the Hunger Task Force.
Disruptions in healthy food habits during the summer include increased grocery costs and less structured meal times, which lead to unhealthy snacking, limited access to healthy foods and more.
Here are some tips and recipes to try with your family over the summer.
Simple at-home recipes
According to Children’s Wisconsin, children should eat three meals and approximately one to three snacks a day.
In case you’re looking for healthy meal ideas, Baldwin and community nutrition educator Leah Kostos manage a collection of recipes with the Hunger Task Force, which includes foods like vegetable lo mein, parmesan chicken burgers, chili pasta and more.
When making healthy food choices, Baldwin suggests paying attention to serving size, added sugars, sodium and fiber on the nutrition labels as a guide.
“A simple tip is to compare similar products and choose the option that has more fiber and less added sugar and sodium,” she said.
Baldwin also encourages families to ensure children stay hydrated since weather will be warmer and activity is increased.
“Water, milk and fruits with high water content help prevent dehydration,” Baldwin said.
Foods with calcium, electrolytes, vitamin D and iron serve as an additional support for growth and staying full and active during the day.
For more balanced meals with fruits, vegetables, grains and protein, click here to view the Hunger Task Force’s full collection of recipes.
Making mindful food choices
Bridgett Wilder, founder of Perseverance Health & Wellness Coaching and nutritionist contracted with the Milwaukee County for nutrition and behavioral health programs, wants adults and children to understand why they eat the way they do.
“A lot of the time when we have a cultural preference, that’s sometimes associated with highly salted foods, soul food and other recipes,” Wilder said. “I’m more about sustaining a healthy lifestyle.”
To help create positive experiences around food, Wilder takes existing recipes and transforms them into something healthier.
“If we’re making greens, we can stop putting pork in it and add smoked turkey instead,” she said. “It’s like tweaking it to keep people engaged in healthy eating and also having people still enjoy food that’s culturally relevant.”
Click here to watch Wilder make healthy recipes like sweet heat potatoes, watermelon cucumber salad and banana pudding parfait.
For nutrition education, collaborative menu planning, emotional eating support and other nutrition and behavioral services, Wilder can be emailed at perseverancewellness@gmail.com.
After 35 years renting her home, a leaky and unkept roof forced Farina Brooks and her husband to move into a hotel.
It wasn’t a rash decision. For three years, Brooks said, she pleaded with the property management company to fix the roof as water damage spread and conditions inside the home worsened.
City inspectors eventually came, issuing citations and fines. Still, she said, little changed.
“We kept getting the runaround,” Brooks said.
Eventually, she and her husband entered Milwaukee’s rent abatement program. Even that failed to improve conditions, she said.
Now, she said, the couple is burning through their savings to pay for a hotel room while searching for stable housing in an increasingly expensive rental market.
Brooks said the situation was not always this way.
“For the 30 years or so (the landlord) was good, you know, she handled things,” she said.
But in recent years, she said she learned the woman had developed dementia and was placed under a conservatorship, a change Brooks believes coincided with the property’s decline.
Her story reflects a growing frustration shared by many Milwaukee tenants confronting deteriorating housing conditions and asking a question that local officials hear constantly: Why can’t the city force landlords to fix problems with their properties?
City response is limited
According to Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke, the answer lies in a complicated mix of state law, property rights and limited local authority that has steadily narrowed the city’s oversight powers on rental housing during the past decade.
The city has powers to do certain things, but not others, Goyke said.
“The federal government can limit what states can do, and the states can limit what municipal governments can do.”
State Sen. Dora Drake said Wisconsin law requires landlords to maintain rental properties, including making necessary structural and plumbing repairs and complying with local housing codes. But, she said, tenants often face barriers when conditions deteriorate.
“Under most circumstances, a tenant may not refuse to pay rent entirely unless the conditions are so poor as to force a tenant to move out,” Drake said. “If the conditions in the rental premises are poor where the tenant’s health or safety is affected, or the tenant is unable to use part of the premises, the tenant is entitled to reduce the amount of rent proportionately.”
Much of Milwaukee’s housing enforcement is controlled by Wisconsin state law, particularly by legislation passed between 2013 and 2017 that limited how municipalities regulate rental housing.
One major change, specifically state statute 66.0104, pushed cities into complaint-driven inspection systems – meaning inspectors cannot proactively inspect properties for violations unless someone files a complaint.
“The Department of Neighborhood Services can’t just walk up and down the street and say, ‘That house, that house, that house,’ ” Goyke said.
Instead, the city relies heavily on tenants and neighbors to report unsafe conditions to the Department of Neighborhood Services.
Drake said the current system leaves too many renters vulnerable before problems are addressed.
“We need more accountability measures and preventative measures and standards to prevent those situations from getting so bad with tenants,” she said.
Complaint-based enforcement
When tenants report unsafe conditions, Department of Neighborhood Services inspectors investigate and may issue written orders that require repairs within a specified time frame.
If the violations are not addressed, the city can issue citations and pursue penalties in municipal court. Unpaid judgments can eventually become liens on the property.
But that process can take a long time, especially for a city balancing thousands of complaints with limited staff and funding, according to Goyke.
He said many residents get frustrated because they expect immediate intervention.
Farina Brooks has had problems with her ceiling for the past three years. The problems came to a head when water started to come into the unit through the light fixtures. (PrincessSafiya Byers / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
The city can escalate serious or repeated violations into lawsuits in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. In extreme cases, courts can appoint a receiver to take over management of a property.
Under receivership, a court-appointed manager can collect rent and use it to make repairs if a landlord has failed to maintain safe conditions.
“It’s a very heavy hammer for the landlord,” Goyke said. “Somebody else is going to step in and fix (the properties) for you.”
Tenant fears and limited options
Housing advocates have long argued that complaint-driven enforcement creates another problem: potential retaliation or displacement of tenants.
Many tenants won’t report poor conditions out of fear.
Goyke said those fears are real, particularly for tenants living in severely deteriorated buildings who worry they could lose housing if the property is condemned.
“I feel terrible that people are placed in a position where they feel they need to live in unsafe conditions because it does beat living outside,” he said.
Under Milwaukee’s rent withholding program, tenants continue paying rent, but the money is held by the Department of Neighborhood Services until repairs are completed. Rent abatement, meanwhile, allows tenants to reduce rent payments when serious conditions affect habitability.
Legal and service organizations, including the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Legal Action of Wisconsin and Community Advocates, can help tenants understand their rights and options.
Property rights and bad landlords
Residents also frequently question why landlords with poor track records are still able to purchase additional properties, Goyke said.
Goyke said cities generally cannot interfere in private property transactions unless the city has a legal interest in the property, such as unpaid taxes or code enforcement judgments.
“If we do not have an interest in the property, we can’t stop it,” he said.
That limitation stems from long-standing American property rights protections, he added.
“It is not a shortcoming of some ordinance that could be tweaked,” Goyke said. “That question goes to core property rights in America.”
Drake said she has co-authored proposals aimed at expanding rent abatement protections and shielding renters from landlord retaliation.
“We know it happens,” Drake said. “Whether it’s Berrada or other properties that are known to have these stories, those are things that we can do.”
Berrada Properties owns more than 8,000 units and has been named in lawsuits by both tenants and the city attorney.
Drake also said the state should expand access to legal representation for tenants facing eviction or living in unsafe housing.
“We can create an office of civil legal aid to provide a right to appointment of counsel at the state’s expense for tenants in eviction actions,” she said.
Community action
Brooks said she was pushed to leave her home by her daughter and several local community leaders.
“They told me you cannot live here,” she said. “The final straw for me was when water started coming in through the light fixtures.”
Brooks said community leader Ajamou Butler shared a post about her situation that garnered support from the community and helped pay for her first several days in the hotel.
She said local leaders including Butler, Vaun Mayes and state Rep. Sequanna Taylor have supported her through the move. Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and Community Advocates have supported her search for accountability and a new home.
“It was hard accepting help, but it reminded me of how the community shows up,” Brooks said. “This made me worry for the people that don’t know who to call or have people to show up.”
Goyke encouraged residents to vote and stay engaged politically and also emphasized on-the-ground organizing and collective action to address housing issues.
He pointed to local organizations like Common Ground, the Community Development Alliance and the RON Coalition as examples of groups working to improve housing conditions.
“There’s a lot more that people can do individually that make an impact,” he said.
Goyke described a boarded-up house on his own block that has sat vacant for years, saying neighbors could potentially organize fundraising efforts to help support redevelopment.
“Don’t wait for somebody else to solve your problems,” he said. “There’s a ton of energy in trying to figure out how to do this, and it’s a great time for people to get involved.”
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Dane County ended a four-year program that distributed pipes and smoking supplies to reduce overdose deaths and disease transmission among people who use drugs.
Public health officials said the program increased visits from people seeking overdose reversal medication, fentanyl test strips and other harm reduction resources.
County officials halted the program in March after questions arose about whether distributing pipes violated Wisconsin paraphernalia law.
People who relied on the free supplies say they may now buy pipes elsewhere, use makeshift devices or inject drugs they previously smoked.
Dane County has ended an initiative to prevent overdose deaths by giving out pipes.
Four years ago, public health officials started giving people pipes and other supplies to reduce health risks associated with smoking drugs.
The program was part of the department’s broader efforts to reduce harms of drug use. For decades, syringe service programs across the country have provided harm reduction supplies to people who inject drugs. Though controversial, these programs reduce hospitalizations and overdose deaths while increasing participation in drug treatment.
But in recent years people have increasingly smoked drugs rather than injecting them. Adapting to that trend, harm reduction providers, including Public Health Madison and Dane County, began offering smoking supplies.
The pipe handouts worked. More people visited health officials to receive overdose reversal medication and other resources to prevent drug-related illnesses and injuries.
But the program was likely illegal under Wisconsin law, which allows injection supplies, not smoking materials.
Staff stopped offering smoking supplies in March. Spokesperson Morgan Finke cited a need to re-evaluate the program after the risk of COVID-19 transmission from shared pipes sharply declined and federal guidance on harm reduction shifted.
The department still offers injection supplies and other harm reduction items not intended for smoking.
“While syringes are classified as disease prevention materials under state law, smoking supplies have less clear protections,” Finke wrote in an email to Wisconsin Watch.
Halting the distribution of smoking supplies is already having an impact.
People who previously received pipes from the health office said they will buy similar supplies at smoke shops and gas stations, use makeshift pipes made from foil and soda cans or inject drugs they would have smoked, according to records and interviews obtained by Wisconsin Watch.
Others said they would likely stop visiting public health altogether.
Why did health officials hand out pipes?
Wisconsin opioid overdose deaths hit a record high in 2022, topping 1,450.
Officials found more evidence of smoking than injecting at fatal overdose scenes across the U.S. in 2022, a shift from years prior, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although it still carries overdose risks, evidence shows smoking instead of injecting reduces the spread of diseases like hepatitis, HIV and bacterial infections and abscesses. It may also lower overdose risks. Regular access to new pipes can reduce how often people share pipes or use broken and unsafe materials, according to a national research study that included 2024 survey data from Public Health Madison and Dane County.
Public Health Madison and Dane County offered evidence-based resources to prevent disease and overdoses, including sterile needles, fentanyl test strips and overdose reversal medication. But the office primarily served people who inject drugs, the department’s medical director, Dr. Jonathan Temte, wrote in a 2022 letter explaining why the office would start ordering smoking supplies.
“People who use drugs by means other than injection have no reason to visit,” Temte wrote.
Temte is a family medicine physician and University of Wisconsin-Madison associate dean of public health and community engagement. He advises the health department on a limited basis.
When staff asked Temte to approve adding smoking supplies to the department’s syringe service programs, they told him Wisconsin law allowed it, Temte recalled. He focused on whether medical evidence supported the initiative.
Health research overwhelmingly supports harm reduction, he said.
Adding smoking supplies addressed two major issues: Health officials needed to get life-saving resources to people who smoked drugs. And without access to safer smoking supplies, people were more likely to share pipes or use materials that cause cuts, burns and infections.
Monthly visits jumped nearly 30% once department offices began regularly offering filters, mouthpieces and two kinds of pipes.
Even with increased visits, the department distributed 3.7% fewer syringes between 2021 and 2023.
But despite the public health benefits, Wisconsin paraphernalia laws criminalizes smoking materials.
A woman visited a public health office and asked for a pipe in early April. When she found the office no longer distributed them, she asked for syringes, according to emails obtained by Wisconsin Watch. Staff asked if she would inject the drugs she usually smokes. She said yes. Without a pipe she would dissolve powdered drugs in water and inject them.
Screenshot from a “Harm Reduction Saves Lives” pamphlet included in materials Public Health Madison and Dane County produced in response to a Wisconsin Watch public records request.
Screenshot from a “Harm Reduction Saves Lives” pamphlet included in materials Public Health Madison and Dane County produced in response to a Wisconsin Watch public records request.
Screenshot from a “Harm Reduction Saves Lives” pamphlet included in materials Public Health Madison and Dane County produced in response to a Wisconsin Watch public records request.
Screenshot from a “Harm Reduction Saves Lives” pamphlet included in materials Public Health Madison and Dane County produced in response to a Wisconsin Watch public records request.
Why did the program end?
The city-county agency was likely the state’s only syringe service provider that publicized pipes online, according to a 211 list of syringe service programs.
While reporting a feature highlighting the seemingly unique initiative, Wisconsin Watch emailed Madison City Attorney Michael Haas on March 23 to ask how the department could legally distribute pipes.
The email was forwarded to public health staff, records obtained by Wisconsin Watch show. The public health agency redacted correspondence related to the email, citing attorney client privilege.
The next day, a public health supervisor instructed a staff member to remove smoking supplies from an internal tracking system. By the end of the week the department’s website no longer mentioned safer smoking supplies.
Wisconsin’s paraphernalia law bans equipment used, designed or intended for inhaling a controlled substance. Possessing paraphernalia carries a penalty up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.
Dane County lowered local penalties for drug paraphernalia citations in 2023. County sheriffs and local police have continued to fine and charge people for possessing smoking materials similar to those health officials distributed.
Madison police cited paraphernalia possession in around 350 arrests in 2025, department records show.
“Public health programs must follow federal, state and local law,” Finke told Wisconsin Watch. “While we continue to evaluate disease transmissions within the community and evolving guidance from federal agencies, we have currently removed smoking supplies from our offerings.”
But the medical evidence supporting the service has not changed “one iota,” Temte said. “It’s just one more (example) of the politicization of public health.”
A pipe is shown. (Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch)
The smoking supply rollback came as harm reduction lost support from federal leaders.
The Biden administration spent millions on harm reduction efforts but prohibited spending grant dollars on pipes after reporting on the potential distribution of safer smoking kits went viral and drew criticism.
The Trump administration announced in 2025 a “clear shift away from harm reduction and practices that facilitate illicit drug use and are incompatible with Federal laws.”
Federal health leaders wrote in April that federal dollars cannot be used to buy “drug paraphernalia or supplies that promote or facilitate drug use” including pipes, injection supplies and fentanyl test strips.
The city-county’s harm reduction program focuses on reducing overdose deaths and preventing disease transmission, Finke said.
“We will continue to engage with and educate policy makers to ensure that federal and state policy evolves consistent(ly) alongside the growing evidence base supporting effective substance use prevention and harm reduction strategies.”
Opioid overdoses have dramatically declined since 2023, but overdose deaths involving stimulants have increased. People who smoke stimulants, like methamphetamine and cocaine, are at a growing risk for overdose, said Giavana Margo, Wisconsin program manager for Vital Strategies, a national nonprofit working to reduce overdose deaths.
“There’s a lot to be celebrated, and we’re still losing way too many lives to overdose,” Margo said.
A Public Health Madison and Dane County office is shown, May 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. Staffers previously distributed pipes and other supplies to reduce health risks associated with smoking drugs, but they were told to stop doing so in March 2026. (Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin’s paraphernalia laws only exempt smoking supplies associated with tobacco consumption.
But Wisconsinites can still buy pipes typically used to smoke illegal drugs, several advocates and people using drugs told Wisconsin Watch. Gas stations, local shops and online sellers advertise the glassware as tobacco products, decorations or household items.
Standing outside the department’s East Madison location in late-April a woman who identified herself as Ashley said she received pipes from the office for years. Without the free pipes, people will buy them at nearby stores for around $8 or “improvise” makeshift supplies, the 39-year-old said.
She visited public health for pipes whenever one broke, usually about twice a month. Staff asked whether she had enough fentanyl test strips and wanted to help her “stay as safe as possible,” she said. She can still go to the office to get things like condoms, bandages, injection supplies and tampons.
“It helps when you’re homeless like I am,” she said.
Most people who received harm reduction supplies from health officials in 2024 left with fentanyl test strips and overdose reversal medication, a survey of more than 250 program participants shows. Respondents reported feeling safer and no longer needing to steal smoking supplies after the visits.
Still, a quarter of respondents said they weren’t sure or would likely stop visiting the offices if smoking supplies vanished.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story included captions that misidentified the source of screenshots from a harm reduction pamphlet. The pamphlet was produced in response to a public records request submitted to Public Health Madison and Dane County.
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Milwaukee’s homelessness crisis is growing more visible, but advocates say there are still signs of progress.
A few years ago, Milwaukee leaders said the city was on track to end family homelessness. Since then, the number of people who are homeless has grown. Organizations on the front lines and others working on the issue still say Milwaukee has quietly become an example of how coordinated prevention efforts can work during a larger national crisis.
“When we talk about ending family homelessness, it doesn’t mean no family will ever experience homelessness,” said Krystina Kohler, impact manager at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “It means we’ve built a system that can respond quickly, prevent homelessness when possible, and rapidly connect families back to stable housing.”
Rising homelessness
Data collected through the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing and Homelessness shows more people are entering Milwaukee’s homeless service programs than exit it.
The 765 people who entered homeless service programs in 2025 had been without stable housing for an average of 88 days; 77% were homeless for the first time.
Ten percent became homeless again within a year.
According to David Nelson, chair of the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, the totals include people living in shelters and those sleeping in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not meant for habitation.
“On any given day, we have 750 shelter beds in our city,” Nelson said. “Beginning in November through the end of March, we have an additional approximate 250 shelter beds, which (are) our winter warming rooms.”
A worker distributes free clothing at MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary. (Courtesy of Sarah Lipo)
Even with the extra capacity, he said beds are almost always full.
Nelson said official homelessness figures fail to capture the full scope of housing instability because many people who temporarily stay with friends or relatives are not counted until those arrangements end.
“What we don’t count (are) people who are doubling up,” he explained. “If you let me stay on your couch through the winter, it’s not counted as homelessness. But the minute you say, ‘You gotta go,’ suddenly I become homeless.”
Sister MacCanon Brown is president and CEO of MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary. She said her organization’s welcome center at 2461 W. Center St., which distributes clothing, food and household necessities and offers showers to people in need, saw 4,600 people in 2025.
Why homelessness is increasing
Most people leaving homeless service programs have no documented housing destination, making it difficult to know whether they are securing stable housing or eventually returning to homelessness, Nelson said. The percentage of people transitioning into permanent or temporary housing remains mostly unchanged.
Nelson said the end of pandemic-era federal housing assistance contributed to the rise in homelessness.
“During the Biden-Harris administration, we were sheltering people in hotels, and that was paid for by the federal government,” he said. “That funding is no longer there, and so you can see this gradual increase and then the spike in the number of people having to go back to homelessness.”
Other economic pressures are pushing more residents toward instability, especially low-income renters already struggling with rising housing costs.
“The people who are most squeezed are the people who are most vulnerable,” Nelson said. “Those at the lower ends of the economic spectrum are sometimes paying 50% and 60% of their income just to keep an apartment.”
People over 65 are now the fastest-growing age group entering Milwaukee’s homeless services system.
“It’s the fastest growing population in the country,” Nelson said. “If they go on Social Security, they are suddenly on a fixed income. The numbers don’t meet.”
Kohler said senior homelessness is becoming a major concern for local providers.
“Older adults experiencing homelessness for the first time in their lives is something that should never happen in our community,” she said. “They’re often widowed, on fixed incomes and one emergency away from losing housing.”
Kohler said she hopes homelessness initiatives expand beyond families to include seniors, single adults and people exiting facilities.
Nelson added that eviction records can trap people in long-term instability.
“The eviction stays on their record for a long time,” Nelson said. “Landlords can use CCAP and see there was a legal proceeding against them. Suddenly they’re charged first, last and middle month’s rent.”
Brown said that many of the housing unstable people she sees were renters.
“The lack of landlord regulation, the evictions and the prices have a lot to do with increased homelessness,” she said. “Some type of landlord regulation is crucial in keeping people housed.”
There have been assumptions by some that homelessness may be tied to migration from outside the city. But nearly everyone enrolled in Milwaukee’s homeless services programs during 2024 and 2025 was from Milwaukee County, according to local data.
Prevention efforts have worked
Kohler said Milwaukee’s prevention efforts increasingly focus on helping families before they lose housing entirely.
“We’re trying to get ahead of the trauma of homelessness,” she said. “Sometimes a family just needs help with a car repair, utility bill or mediation with a landlord before a housing crisis begins.”
She pointed to partnerships with schools and even animal welfare organizations as part of Milwaukee’s early intervention strategy.
“If a family is surrendering a pet because of housing instability, we can now connect them to services immediately,” Kohler said. “That’s a unique approach here.”
Though homelessness overall has risen, Kohler said Milwaukee has seen family homelessness remain relatively stable, or even decline, compared with many similar cities nationwide.
“Nationwide, family homelessness has increased dramatically, but Milwaukee is one of the only peer cities that has stayed relatively flat or even slightly decreased,” she said. “That’s because of intentional investments in prevention services and rapid rehousing.”
Working together to address homelessness
Organizations across the city continue working together through the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, which includes nonprofits, universities, faith organizations, outreach teams and local government agencies coordinating resources and services.
“We have a really rich and robust system in our city,” Nelson said. “Homelessness is not a choice. It’s not something people choose to be in.”
Kohler said Milwaukee’s coordinated response system has become a model for other communities.
“Right now, there are no families on the literal homelessness list searching for shelter,” she said. “If a family is identified as needing emergency shelter, they should have immediate access to beds.”
She said Milwaukee’s collaborative approach deserves more recognition.
“The providers here are doing amazing work,” Kohler said. “Other communities are reaching out to Milwaukee to model what we’re doing.”
Kohler said Milwaukee’s response shows progress is possible even during a growing national housing crisis.
“Milwaukee is actually an example of success inside a larger crisis,” she said. “There’s still tremendous need, but we’ve shown that prevention and rapid response can work.”
She encouraged residents facing housing instability to seek help early by calling 211 and connecting with local support services before a crisis escalates.
“Keep calling and keep advocating for yourself,” Kohler said. “Sometimes resources open up quickly, and that early connection can prevent homelessness entirely.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Women and girls find refuge from trafficking inside a nondescript building on Morrow Street in Green Bay.
They can attend support groups, eat a warm meal, take a shower, get new clothes or access community resources.
But whatever they do, it’s their choice.
“(Case management) is designed to make sure that every single woman and girl reaches independence. It’s their way. It’s on their terms,” said Carly McClure, operations director for HER Alliance. “We are just here to offer the support needed along that way to help them become the best version of themselves.”
The nonprofit organization formerly known as Awaken has served 251 women and girls since June 2022, according to the organization’s most recent Impact Report. In addition to directly supporting survivors, HER Alliance offers education sessions for the community about the dangers of human trafficking.
“The uphill battle that everybody is facing in this position is, first of all, societal stigma,” McClure said.
In 2025, the organization provided 4,908 units of service. A unit of service, for example, could be a meal, a call to the warmline or a referral to a community resource, among others, McClure said.
Art made by trafficking survivors is seen at HER Alliance on April 30, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. (Jen Zettel-Vandenhouten / Wisconsin Watch)
Community members in general tend to think trafficking starts with a stranger kidnapping someone, and while that does happen, it’s not common, McClure said.
“Trafficking begins with the grooming process. It’s happening to our children online more often than not now, and a trafficker is typically targeting someone that already trusts them,” she said. “So familial trafficking in Wisconsin is one of the highest forms of trafficking that we see.”
The intake process at HER Alliance happens in a quiet, private room with cozy furniture. The conversation is different for every person because needs vary, McClure said.
Generally, staff ask questions to learn if a person’s basic needs are being met:
Do they have safe housing?
Do they have access to food? Clothing?
Are they employed?
Are they in school?
Each person decides what support – if any – the person wants from HER Alliance, McClure said. Staff can connect people to community organizations to meet their specific needs, though local nonprofits also refer people to HER Alliance.
The Brown County Jail refers many clients. HER Alliance has a full-time outreach case manager who spends most of her time working with women and girls at the jail, McClure said.
Varying degrees of help
The organization operates what it calls a warmline – a 24/7 phone line staffed by a HER Alliance case manager. An important distinction, McClure said: The warmline is not a crisis line.
“The warmline is available for people to call if they need (nonemergency) help, or if they’re already in contact with us and have already had an intake (session) – that number is for their use,” she said.
Some people call the warmline just once, seeking advice or resources.
The programming area at HER Alliance, seen on April 30, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis., includes cozy furniture and homey touches meant to help trafficking survivors feel welcome in the space. (Jen Zettel-Vandenhouten / Wisconsin Watch)
Others seek additional help. HER Alliance offers weekly peer-to-peer support groups in a space that looks like a living room. There are couches, comfortable chairs, a TV, plants, a bookshelf and more.
Clients can schedule one-on-one appointments with a case manager, or drop in during designated hours depending on their needs.
A small kitchenette with a coffee station, a toaster oven and a refrigerator sits in the back of the building. Volunteers supply meals weekly, and frozen meals are always available.
Clients can take a shower in one of the facility’s two restrooms, or “shop” a small boutique filled with gently used clothing, outerwear and shoes. Women and girls who complete an intake session and receive services get a punch card to shop the boutique, McClure said.
“So if they have an interview coming up, or they’re going to school, or they just need new clothes, or they need new shoes, this is available to them throughout the year,” she said.
Getting involved
Carmen Van Schyndel first learned about HER Alliance in 2024, during a TAT Freedom Drivers Project event co-hosted by her employer, Breakthrough. She remembers walking through an exhibit in a semi-trailer focused on the stories of trafficking survivors and their experiences.
Prior to that, Van Schyndel thought human trafficking was something that happened in big cities like Chicago, not around Green Bay.
But the experience “hit home,” she said.
Art made by trafficking survivors is seen at HER Alliance in Green Bay, Wis., on April 30, 2026. (Jen Zettel-Vandenhouten / Wisconsin Watch)
Van Schyndel spoke with HER Alliance staff at the event and started learning more. She joined the organization’s Advisory Board and later its Board of Directors. She now serves as the board secretary.
She hopes to one day measure success by seeing the number of people HER Alliance serves decline. That will be a signal that the organization’s education, advocacy and community outreach efforts are making a difference.
“There’s still a need. There are still people that are not getting help who need it,” Van Schyndel said. “We still need to grow, but I think over time, as we really watch those numbers, I hope that those numbers go down, and those will be really good signs we’re making an impact in the community.”
What’s next?
HER Alliance acquired space next to its office in 2025, and it has big plans for it, McClure said.
The programming area that looks like a living room will move as a result of the expansion, and McClure said they plan to add a full kitchen with an oven – an upgrade from the kitchenette and the toaster oven they currently use.
“Now we’re kind of waiting on some grants to finish developing this space,” she said.
Find resources
If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, contact HER Alliance:
Want to raise awareness about human trafficking, volunteer your time or donate to HER Alliance? Here’s how:
HER Alliance holds education sessions on human trafficking throughout the year, though they take a break in the summer. Email info@heralliance.org to learn when the sessions will start in the fall, or keep an eye on the HER Alliance events calendar.
This story is part of Community at Work, an ongoing feature series focused on community organizations that make a difference in northeast Wisconsin. Who should we feature next? Email jzvandenhouten@wisconsinwatch.org.
More older residents in Milwaukee are facing homelessness, according to findings from a yearlong study funded through a grant from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, which included Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Community Advocates is a social service agency that provides a number of services, including those related to housing.
Researchers examined why older people are at risk for homelessness and what changes need to be made to keep them housed.
“Older adults used to be stable and now there’s instability,” said Erin Cronn, director of nursing for the City of Milwaukee Health Department.
The breakdown
The study showed that the majority of Milwaukee’s homeless older adults are Black males between 55 and 65, who have a high school diploma or some college.
According to Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and the Medical College of Wisconsin, their homelessness was due to a loss of income, family conflict or health challenges.
Matt Raymond, supportive housing programs director for Community Advocates, said intakes of people 62 and older have doubled and sometimes tripled over the last 10 or so years.
Raymond said that many of the older adults had never been homeless and that accessibility to resources for them can be difficult.
“This is many of their first time experiencing homelessness and having to navigate a system that can be complex and nuanced,” Raymond said.
To help get older adults the housing resources they need, Cronn said, there needs to be a better way of sharing important information.
“A lot of information is disseminated in electronic ways and there’s a lot of isolation, so word of mouth doesn’t always work,” Cronn said.
The study also revealed that many older adults would prefer for all services to be in one place and have better transportation and more places to stay.
Understanding the hard truth
Although the study highlighted promising solutions, Emily Kenney, director of strategic initiatives and transformation at the Milwaukee County Department of Health & Human Services, said there’s still no housing system, which is why older adults struggle.
Matt Raymond, Emily Kenney, Dr. William Calawerts and Erin Cronn, left to right, shared insight about housing instability among older adults. (Courtesy of Community Advocates)
She believes that homeless shelters, housing programs and landlords should be functioning under one system instead of operating separately.
“When you think about the criminal justice system, health or behavioral system, those systems work together with you from beginning to end, but not for housing,” she said.
She said this gap causes a lack in prevention support for older adults and only assists people when they’re already homeless.
“When I was running a coordinated entry system, what I heard all day was people were on the brink of losing their housing and needing resources, and the only solution was to come into a homeless system first,” Kenney said.
Homelessness and the health care system
Family medicine specialist Dr. William Calawerts said he’s received older patients with high blood pressure, diabetes and other health challenges but can’t help if they don’t have stable housing.
Without a home, older adults can’t take their medicine or attend doctor appointments, which will make them more ill, he said.
“Their health issues are usually extremely complex and serious, but oftentimes we’re not able to address that adequately in the outpatient setting,” he said.
Cronn said health can mean different things to homeless older adults compared with health care professionals.
For older adults, it means having safe housing, clipped nails, ability to wash their hands or having clean and dry clothes, but professionals may see health as traditional doctor visits, he said.
“As a practitioner, it’s hard to prioritize health and the folks we’re seeing because their version of what their needs are is different than what we’re seeing,” Cronn said.
Calawerts said when he’s training medical students about homeless patients, he teaches them to take their time, have compassion and treat them beyond their illness.
“We try to tell them that you’re a human first and a physician second,” Calawerts said. “I think we’ve lost the humanism component in a lot of things we do.”
Affordable housing challenges
Kenney raised concerns about housing programs that give out vouchers to help with paying rent but have been a contributing factor to older adult homelessness.
She said developers are using loans to build houses, and the way the loans get paid off is through rent.
“Developers can’t offer rent at a price people need because the tax credits they get aren’t enough,” Kenney said. “The people who get the vouchers have already entered the homeless system.”
As a result, Raymond said some older adults have been moving into permanent supportive housing. These programs help homeless individuals get their own long-term place and additional services to help.
Community Advocates refers some of its intakes to Autumn West Safe Haven, an apartment on Milwaukee’s North Side that gives homeless or mentally ill individuals a place to stay short term until they find stability.
According to Community Advocates, 36 individuals who were homeless or mentally ill received services and housing through Autumn West Safe Haven, while 101 individuals who were chronically homeless and living with a disability received immediate help in 2025.
“Over the last few years at Autumn West Safe Haven, we’ve gone into outreach community centers to offer on-site telepsychiatry care to our residents and established a relationship with Advocate Aurora to bring in their mobile clinic on a monthly basis,” Raymond said.
Hopes for the future
Overall, community leaders want people to know that existing organizations need to make their population broader and do a better job at synthesizing resources, even though it may take time.
“There’s no reason for Milwaukee not to be at the forefront fighting this nationally,” Kenney said.
Calawerts also mentioned the resilience of older adults, having heard many success stories of them getting through mental health, homelessness, unemployment and other challenges.
“Those stories are the ones that give me hope, and with more robust services that are connected in these spaces, we can see more of those successfully,” Calawerts said.
Flood Hope 500 organizers are raising concerns about the city of Milwaukee’s policies and calling for changes as residents continue to face flood recovery challenges.
The group was created by a group of community organizers to help North Side residents with disaster relief after flooding.
Flood Hope 500 organizers Vaun Mayes, Aziz Abdullah, Montreal Cain and JaQai Ali help residents with water pumping, debris removal and mold remediation and provide other flood recovery support.
“We’re always dealing with a situation where the government moves slower than the people,” Abdullah said. “Flood Hope 500 shouldn’t exist.”
With backgrounds working with youths and younger adults, the organizers were able to also include individuals between the ages of 13 and 25 to volunteer and get compensated for their work.
Abdullah said after the latest flood that Milwaukee lacks innovation and the financial capacity to come up with quick solutions.
“The mayor in New York had the fiscal capacity to hire residents and pay them $30 an hour to stop at neighborhoods and shovel snow,” he said.
When disasters occur, Abdullah thinks the city should be open about its capacity and give its residents the opportunity to help.
Then, work to reallocate funds from sources like the American Rescue Plan Act, funds from property tax levies and more.
“For Flood Hope 500, we catalyzed our own money and resources before anybody ever gave us a dollar,” Abdullah said. “We were just showing up because we knew people needed help.”
Abdullah said he went to Ozaukee County during the August flood to purchase four water pumps, and a local donor also pitched in to help.
Mayes said there were times when Flood Hope 500 had to complete unfinished work by the city or other organizations.
“You have some residents who may have started with an organization, but then that organization didn’t complete all the work, so we had to go in and pick up where they left off,” Mayes said.
Creating better systems and partnerships
Mayes, also founder of ComForce MKE-Disaster Relief Division, said he feels like the city of Milwaukee hasn’t put much thought into investing in disaster relief, despite the recurrence of severe weather.
“I don’t want them to drop the ball, so I would encourage them to be more inclusive and open to having things in place when it comes to this,” he said. “So we’re not scrambling every time this happens.”
He said there should be a shared system or database developed where flood relief tasks are tracked across all organizations because it can be hard to determine which homes have been helped or not during the recovery phase.
“You have bigger organizations that are doing their own thing and have their own listing of people that they help,” Mayes said.
Abdullah also said that the city should build more trusted partnerships with organizations that can assist in emergencies.
Abdullah said that Flood Hope 500 drew financial support from organizations that saw its collaborations and also that they were involving youths in efforts. Among them were the Brewers Community Foundation and Mental Health America.
Other financial support comes from Safe & Sound Inc., the fiscal operator that manages the organization’s finances and gives reimbursements.
He said both are an example of how collaborations can draw financial support and quick problem solving.
“The city doesn’t have an agile structure to respond to those mechanisms and measures,” he said.
‘Volunteering is more of a privilege today‘
Abdullah said he recalls when people used to have more time and stability to help each other. Today, many residents don’t have the support they need, so it becomes harder to help others, he said.
“Volunteering is more of a privilege today,” he said. “The people who are closest to the issue also are experiencing the highest level of disenfranchisement, disengagement and divestment that we’ve seen in modern history.”
Mayes said there are people who mean well and want to help when disasters occur but can’t always do that without compensation.
“If you get people in the mindset to only work when they get paid for it, that kind of does a little bit of a disservice,” Mayes said. “When dealing with certain things like disaster relief, it must be done carefully.”
Getting involved
If you are a youth or young adult interested in becoming a part of Flood Hope 500, click here to register.
According to Mayes, participants can receive $50 for a half day or $100 for a whole day.
Individuals who want to donate can give monetarily or supply industrial garbage bags, water pumps, gloves and other supplies.
Contact Mayes at 262-289-0412 or email comforcemke@gmail.com to arrange a time to drop off supplies.
If you are a North Side resident in need of assistance from Flood Hope 500, click here.
As of this week, animal welfare organizations say they’ve completed the process of getting 1,500 beagles out of a Wisconsin-based facility that bred them for scientific research.
That process has involved a nationwide network of volunteers and veterinary professionals, said Amy Good, the director of marketing and development for the Dane County Humane Society.
“It has been a tremendous couple days so far, going into Ridglan every single day, bringing the beagles back,” Good said. “Then seeing so many staff and volunteers welcoming them with open arms, giving them those first snuggles, taking them out.”
Even after that deal, Center for a Humane Economy CEO Wayne Pacelle estimates there could be about 500 dogs still in Ridglan’s custody, though he said advocates don’t know the exact number. He said the Big Dog Ranch Rescue and The Center for a Humane Economy still hope to buy any remaining dogs in the coming months.
A beagle is carried by a volunteer for the Milwaukee campus of the Wisconsin Humane Society on May 12, 2026. (Trevor Hook / WPR)
Hundreds of the Ridglan Farms dogs are expected to be adopted in Wisconsin, while the rest will go to homes out of state, advocates said.
The Dane County Humane Society is among the groups caring for some of the dogs. In all, that organization will stage a total of 500 Ridglan Farms beagles before they’re ready to be adopted out.
So far, the level of interest in adoptions has been explosive.
Fifty of the beagles will be adopted out through the Dane County Humane Society. But, as of Friday, roughly 1,300 people had filled out interest forms asking to take in one of the dogs, Good said.
“The reality is, there’s more people willing to adopt and foster these dogs than we have dogs,” Good said. “We’re really grateful for people’s willingness to open their arms.”
Ridglan Farms was the second-largest beagle breeder in the country, and activists have alleged that the facility has been guilty of animal abuse dating back nearly a decade. Ridglan Farms has denied those allegations.
A settlement between Ridglan Farms and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection will have the facility give up its state-level breeder license by July to avoid criminal charges.
In March, a group of animal rights activists broke onto Ridglan Farms property and took 22 beagles out.
In April, activists attempted another raid at Ridglan, but were met with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray after law enforcement officials said some of the protestors acted violently. That confrontation resulted in more than two dozen arrests, according to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.
The fate of the Ridglan Farms beagles has made international news and attracted intense interest on social media.
During a news conference at the Dane County Humane Society in Madison on Tuesday, pop star Debbie Gibson and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler each snuggled Ridglan Farms beagles and joined advocates in calling for an end to scientific testing on animals.
Pop star Debbie Gibson and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler each snuggle a beagle during a news conference on May 12, 2026, at the Dane County Humane Society in Madison, Wis. Animal welfare advocates purchased the dogs from Ridglan Farms, which bred the animals for scientific research. (Sarah Lehr / WPR)
Veterinary technian Danielle Fendrich was among the volunteers who traveled from out of state to care for the dogs.
She was part of a team that helped with medical exams on Tuesday afternoon from an area set up in a barn at the Dane County Humane Society.
As Fendrich worked with a wriggly puppy, she gave the dog occasional squirts of spray cheese to make the exam more pleasant.
“I think a lot of these dogs have very little handling,” said Fendrich, who lives in northern California. “So we want to make it as positive as possible for their first experiences around humans. Sadly, a lot of them lived pretty much their entire life in a kennel.”
A beagle is being administered de-worming medication by a staffer with the Milwaukee chapter of the Wisconsin Humane Society prior to meeting its foster family on May 11, 2026. (Trevor Hook / WPR)
Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Humane Society held events in Milwaukee and Green Bay, where about 20 dogs each will be rehomed.
Angela Speed is with the Wisconsin Humane Society and was in Milwaukee for the first transport of dogs. She told WPR dogs rehomed from research facilities require patient, quiet households to thrive.
“Some dogs may be very fearful, some may be curious,” Speed said. “But it can take dogs days, weeks, months or even years — depending on their individual personalities — to really learn what it’s like to be a beloved family member.”
Speed said of the roughly 130 dogs the Humane Society plans to transport this week, 90 will be immediately placed in foster homes. The other 40 will stay at Wisconsin humane societies or other shelters. But they’ve had hundreds of inquiries from people interested in adoptions.
“We’re talking about dogs who have lived in cages their entire life,” Speed said. “Everything is new. A toy, a treat, a collar, a leash, walking on grass or exploring with their nose. It’s a beautiful transformation to be part of.”
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Wisconsin leads the nation in reported fall deaths among older adults, with more than 1,800 in 2024.
The reasons aren’t fully clear but may include how local officials report deaths, graying demographics and Wisconsin’s culture of alcohol use.
Many falls can be prevented — and Wisconsin is a leader in that work.
Programs from ballroom dancing to parkour help older adults build strength, balance and confidence.
About a dozen gray-haired adults line the playground fence at Madison’s Warner Park. Standing on narrow wood planks, they balance on the balls of their feet.
“Calves are burning, woo!” someone yells. The class stops to shake out their legs. Participants, most in their 60s or 70s, step back onto the boards and lift their heels off the ground — one of several movements in the class to help build muscle to prevent falls and practice parkour.
Alice Morehouse, 70, hits the playground’s blue, rubber surface. She shifts her weight to her left side and pushes herself up onto her toes. An instructor reminds everyone to flatten their hands — a tip Morehouse already picked up during two years in Parkour for Seniors classes.
She drops to the ground and confidently springs back up twice more.
“When I first started, I went home, drank a cup of coffee and took a nap,” Morehouse tells a classmate. “Now I only need the coffee.”
Sitting on a swing, holding two Jenga blocks in the form of a “T,” Morehouse says she has tried other workout classes. But parkour is “way, way more fun,” she adds while pushing off the ground.
Anne Cook, left, practices a balancing exercise with Kathy Reinhard during a parkour class at Warner Park on April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin has the nation’s highest reported death rate from falls among older adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. More than 1,800 older Wisconsinites died from falls in 2024.
It’s not clear why Wisconsin stands out. Without firm evidence, experts point to several possible factors, including how local officials report deaths, graying demographics and Wisconsin’s culture of alcohol use.
But one thing is certain: Many falls can be prevented.
Wisconsinites are national leaders in fall prevention work. A local nonprofit trains people across the country to provide an evidence-based course, Stepping On, recommended by the CDC. Oshkosh health care providers started a “Mugs-for-Rugs” event to get older adults to trade hazardous throw rugs for free local coffee. Madison area advocates and experts developed a network of balance-enhancing classes, including ballroom dancing and parkour.
Still, the number of fall-related EMS calls in Wisconsin increased between 2023 and 2024, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Falls made up more than 20% of 911-related ambulance runs in 2024.
Stepping On is offered in 43 Wisconsin counties, including Dane. Madison residents can also access a wide range of additional classes. Still, falls remain a leading cause of injury deaths in the county.
To change those numbers, advocates say they need to reach more older adults. But that costs money. Attempts to dedicate state dollars toward fall prevention failed in the Legislature.
Parkour for Seniors grew popular enough this year to add a Thursday morning class. Morehouse has gained confidence since joining.
“I’m no longer afraid to fall because I know I’m going to do it, and I know how,” she says. “And I’m much, much stronger.”
Her favorite part of the class is watching participants have fun.
Kathy Reinhard, right, lifts her leg while participating in a parkour class at Warner Park on April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
She stands in a circle with the others, stretching.
“Have we talked about grapefruit in our armpits yet?” asks Shelby Copeland, a parkour instructor and former “American Ninja Warrior” contestant.
The group looks confused before Copeland explains the warmup. She tells everyone in the circle to pretend they placed two grapefruits inside their armpits. “See if you can juice them using just your shoulders,” she instructs the group.
“What do we do with the juice?” someone asks.
“Citrus deodorant!” another attendee jokes.
‘Every senior should take this class’
“How’s everybody doing with their exercises?” facilitator Marcy DeGreef asks the Stepping On participants.
“I’m thinking about it,” 89-year-old Gary Geller responds after a brief pause.
“We work together on that,” adds Jim Jenkins, 79.
The small group of older adults laugh before reviewing exercises that reduce fall risk. Heel-toe walks help with balance. Knee lifts build strength. They can easily do these at home. TV commercial breaks are long enough to finish several sit-to-stands, someone says. Another attendee says she practices side steps while waiting for hot cocoa to heat in the microwave.
It’s the last of seven weekly classes. They’ll return to the Jewish Social Services building in three months to check in. Before they leave, DeGreef runs through some of what they learned: Vitamin D supplements can help with bone health; trained professionals should install grab bars in the bathroom; they should clean shower mats regularly so they don’t lose their stick; proper footwear is a must. The attendees should talk with their doctors and pharmacists about how their medications affect balance. They should also consider regular bone density screenings and get their vision checked.
A participant in a Parkour for Seniors class at Warner Park, April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. The class aims to build balance and coordination to prevent falls. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Older adults stand on wooden planks to build strength and improve balance, April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
“We just had our eye exam,” Geller says. “They went from 20/20 in my right eye to 20/40 to 20/25.”
“He’s getting better instead of worser,” his wife Denny quipped.
As the review wraps up, Geller offers an endorsement: “Every senior should take this class.”
Stepping On reduces falls by more than 30%, says Jill Renken, executive director of the nonprofit Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, which licenses the program and helps distribute its curriculum nationwide.
But expanding the class and other prevention efforts in Wisconsin requires more funding to train instructors and run awareness campaigns that reach more participants, Renken says.
Earlier this year, Rep. Patrick Snyder, R-Weston, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, introduced bills to set aside money for the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging and community emergency medical initiatives.
The Assembly unanimously approved Snyder’s proposals in February, but they stalled in the Senate — failing to reach Gov. Tony Evers’ desk before lawmakers wrapped up work for the year.
Snyder says the proposals died due to Senate Republicans’ concerns about funding, including $600,000 for community EMS and $400,000 for fall prevention across the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years. Neither James nor Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, responded to questions from Wisconsin Watch about the failure of the bills.
Snyder plans to bring the proposal back next session, which starts in 2027. That’s if he’s reelected later this year.
“I’m hoping that next session we can actually get a substantial amount of money for fall prevention,” he says.
Barb Brown, second from left, and Shelby Copeland, second from right, instruct a group of participants during a Parkour for Seniors class at Warner Park on April 23, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
An antidote to loneliness
For Jim Jenkins, the class has already prevented a fall.
The day before the final class, he noticed a raised edge in the floor while leaving a restaurant. Paying close attention to his surroundings, he climbed over it.
“Six weeks ago, I probably would have just blundered through there and on down,” he says.
The classes have helped him avoid injury and loneliness, Jenkins says. His wife died more than a year ago, and he now lives alone. Stepping On gave him a social outlet, he says. He plans to take as many classes as he can.
“I wish I was going to be seeing everybody every week,” Jenkins says as the class wrapped up its final spring meeting.
He and others exchanged emails to plan extra outings.
Where to find fall resources
The nonprofit Safe Communities works to reduce injury-related deaths, like falls, in Dane County and keeps a list of fall prevention resources on its website and hosts community events focused on fall prevention.
The Madison School and Community Recreation program guide lists classes — like Parkour for Seniors —- that help people build fall resiliency. People can register online or get assistance by calling 608-204-3000.
AgeBetter provides free home safety assessments for older adults in Dane County. Elsewhere in Wisconsin, residents can ask their Aging and Disability Resource Center about local home safety resources.
Fallsfreewi.org lists schedules and locations for Stepping On across the state.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Housing instability for young adults in Milwaukee is a growing problem. Looking for solutions, young adults, residents and leaders gathered at Wellpoint Care Network in late April to discuss systemic gaps and realities young adults face with renting and homeownership.
“Homeownership is a privilege when it shouldn’t be,” Tamia Abney, youth-coordinated entry liaison at Pathfinders, said.
The convening challenged members to think of possible solutions to the young adult housing crisis.
Basic needs aren’t being met
A 2024 Wisconsin Policy Forum study revealed that half of Milwaukee renters are using at least 30% of their income to keep a roof over their heads.
Joe Peterangelo, research director at Wisconsin Policy Forum, shares information from a study that found home prices are outpacing incomes in Wisconsin. (Courtesy of Wellpoint Care Network)
In 2024, the average monthly rent in Milwaukee was $1,177. Workers in common jobs like fast food, retail, nursing assistants and other occupations earn between $28,000 and $44,000 a year and can only afford approximately $720 to $1,100 in rent, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
“Those are important jobs that make up most of our society,” Abney said. “The income isn’t meeting the needs to pay for their living.”
During the convening at Wellpoint Care Network, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said there are young people who have decent jobs and still struggle with affordable housing.
“When you make that first good job out of college and make a certain dollar amount, everybody thinks you have it when that’s not the case,” Johnson said. “I lived it, too.”
Milwaukee housing shortage
One reason for the high rent prices in Milwaukee is that the number of people needing homes is growing faster than the number of housing units available.
According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, Milwaukee’s households increased by 17,335 between 2010 and 2024, but only 11,038 housing units were available, leaving an underproduction of 6,297 units.
“There’s a shortage for low-income families because somebody else has already snatched it away from them,” said Carl Mueller, founder and chairman of Mueller Communications.
The mayor, who declared 2026 the year of housing in Milwaukee, said the city is working to increase housing supply so rent can become cheaper and change how tax dollars are being used to support young professionals.
“We still invest in affordable housing, but what we’ve done now is open it up to make investments in workforce housing, so young professionals don’t end up in situations where they’re spending 30% of their income, too,” Johnson said.
Mueller and other community members suggested the city build developments similar to NeuVue and ThriveOn King, which bring housing and community resources together.
Community members have breakout sessions about how housing instability can impact younger adults and families. (Courtesy of Wellpoint Care Network)
Additional challenges
Another reason for the local housing shortage is that residential projects take the longest to get approved.
According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the median time it takes for a Milwaukee building project to go from zoning to final building permit approval is 145 days, but for residential projects it takes about 224 days.
Johnson said when he came into office, he challenged the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services to speed up the permit process.
“I think if we had been more aggressive and if we had cut more red tape over the years, then a lot of the development that’s happening in some of the surrounding communities would have happened in the city,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that Milwaukee’s zoning policies need to be updated so more properties can be built.
“We haven’t had a whole-scale zoning policy since John Norquist was mayor,” he said.
A need for a better quality of living
Al Smith, chief operating officer at Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, said youths, families and young adults are living in places with high rent prices but are experiencing poor conditions – lead issues and infestations among them.
“Some are paying up to $1,500 a month for places they don’t want to live in, but it was the only option they were left with,” Smith said. “We need a better quality of housing stock.”
Iasia Sawyer, 21, a member of the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council and participant of the Youth Transitioning to Adulthood program, said she’s already in her second apartment and has faced ongoing challenges with her landlord over mold and pipes.
Smith said more young adults and families in stable housing would bring an increase in graduation rates and other benefits.
“When I think about education or even kids having to switch schools constantly, there’s no stability in that,” he said.
Johnson recalled how traumatizing it felt when he had to attend six Milwaukee Public Schools throughout his childhood because of housing instability.
“As mayor, I’m working to make sure that more kids in Milwaukee have the stability that I didn’t have growing up,” Johnson said. “It’s not just about housing support; you guys are also providing the foundation for everything else in life.”
Homeownership can be attainable for young adults
Smith said he found it disheartening to know there are some who have no desire to become a homeowner.
“If you’ve seen multiple generations of your family that were only renters and never owned a home, they don’t think homeownership is a possibility for them,” he said.
He said the best way to encourage young adults into homeownership is through community support to address credit, bankruptcies and other barriers so they can make the adjustments to become eligible to buy a home.
Smith said Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity is teaching individuals how to financially prepare for homeownership.
According to Smith, it takes about $275,000 for the organization to build a home, and families who participate in the program only pay about $150,000 for their first mortgage. The program provides additional financial support to help keep monthly payments affordable.
“You’ll also get the benefit of building wealth and equity into that,” Smith said.
Sawyer said she wants young people navigating adulthood to know that although finding stable and quality housing is a challenge, it can be attainable.
“There are people who are ready to give up because they don’t have the right support around them for their situation,” she said. “Now it’s about moving forward.”
Isaac Solis knows all too well how taking a pill bought off the street can lead to tragedy.
His son Isaac Solis Jr., known as “Bubba,” died in 2019 after taking what he thought was the prescription drug Percocet.
Instead, it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can kill in trace amounts.
Isaac Solis’ son Bubba died in 2019 after taking a fake Percocet laced with fentanyl. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Since then, he’s been on a mission to help prevent others from losing loved ones through his “One Pill Kills” awareness campaign.
His message is being amplified in time for Fentanyl Awareness Day, observed nationally on April 29, through three billboards that feature his son. The billboards direct residents to the 1pillkills.org website and social media pages and include the message: Together We Will Save Lives.
“It’s about spreading awareness obviously that even one pill can kill you, one line can kill you,” Solis said. “If one family sees it and reaches out to their loved one and one life is saved, that’s our goal.”
Two of the billboards can be seen off of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee near West Becher and South Fourth streets, and the other is a north/south display on South 27th Street and West Morgan Avenue. The billboard near West Becher will be up for eight weeks and the one on West Morgan for four.
Solis’s campaign has utilized several billboards over the years to increase community awareness on fentanyl.
The message on the first billboard, he said, was very aggressive.
“Our grief was a bit more raw at that time,” Solis said.
Another billboard featured photos of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl.
“Eight families put their angels up there,” he said.
Drop in overdose deaths
Fentanyl has fueled the opioid epidemic nationally and a rise in overdose deaths.
The drug had devastating impacts on Milwaukee County, which experienced multiple years of record high drug overdose deaths in the 2010s and 2020s. Those totals peaked at 674 in 2022 and 667 in 2023, according to data from the Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl alone or in combination with other substances.
Since then, the number of fatal overdoses has fallen. Last year 387 died, with 236 of those cases involving fentanyl.
County Executive David Crowley credits increased funding for opioid prevention and collaboration for the decrease.
“Thanks to the investment of opioid settlement dollars, increased access to free harm reduction supplies, and efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, fewer people are dying of overdose, which means more opportunities for treatment, recovery and a path forward,” Crowley said in a statement.
A OnePillKills billboard is on display next to I-94 near the intersection of South 4th and West Becher streets in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Fentanyl still a major problem
While Solis said the drop in fatal overdoses is great, it’s also concerning.
“The troublesome part is we don’t know what amount of people are addicted to fentanyl and using it daily,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.The closer we get to zero deaths, the better.”
He said fentanyl products continue to evolve and get more potent, and it can be in powder or liquid form, and even in vapes.
“It can be hidden in something but you can have no idea what,” Solis said. “There’s always a threat of it being in any type of drug.”
Working together
Like Crowley, Solis credits collaboration for the progress made in addressing the opioid epidemic. He partners regularly with Team HAVOC, a grassroots South Side group.
Rafael Mercado, founder of Team HAVOC, said Solis’ story and “One Pill Kills” message are having an impact.
“He does a lot to bring awareness by way of billboards, social media and pop-ups,” Mercado said. “He has lost a son to this, so he knows firsthand the pain and suffering a family goes through and the ripple effect of addiction on a family.”
Solis also partners with Samad’s House, a Milwaukee-based sober living home and behavioral health clinic dedicated to supporting women. He said he’s working with Tahira Malik, founder and chief operating officer of Samad’s House, to help organize a Walk for Lives event on July 11. Walk for Lives is a nationwide movement to raise awareness about those who died from fentanyl.
Solis said he wishes he could do even more but knows that ending the fentanyl crisis won’t happen quickly.
“The problem didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s not gonna be any one group, not any one solution. Together we will save lives.”
Isaac Solis Jr., who died in 2019, had a passion for working on cars. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
The mayor’s office and the Milwaukee Department of Public Works are defending the city’s parking enforcement during last week’s flooding.
From April 15 to April 16, the city issued 4,666 parking citations, according to data provided by the Department of Public Works, or DPW.
Officials said enforcement is still necessary during extreme storm-related conditions.
“Severe weather events make it particularly important for people to obey the posted parking restrictions,” said Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “During rain events, quite a number of parking restrictions are in place to enable full street cleaning.”
Fleming also said flooding can be exacerbated when street cleaning is impeded by parked vehicles.
South Side resident Jacob Quinones said he was too busy dealing with the flood to worry about parking.
“My basement flooded, and I was late to work because of getting towed,” he said.
Parking enforcement looked much different during the historic storms on Aug. 9 through Aug. 10, which also caused severe flooding throughout the city.
According to DPW data, 991 citations were issued on those days, which occurred over the weekend.
Behind the numbers
The 4,666 parking citations issued on April 15-16 include all standard parking enforcement activity, said Tiffany Shepherd, DPW marketing and communications officer.
Citations were issued earlier on Wednesday before the storm and after conditions improved on Thursday, she said.
She said officers did adapt during the most intense conditions.
During a peak storm window, from roughly 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., parking enforcement continued but focused on responding to complaints, resulting in 141 tickets, said Shepherd.
She said safety concerns limited enforcement during that time.
“Our staff is not going to be driving through flood waters or anything like that. That’s just not safe,” Shepherd said. “For those two hours where things were really bad, no tickets were being issued.”
Response in August
During the August floods, there was a period when parking enforcement was formally suspended and staff redirected to flood-related work, said Lisa Vargas, administrative specialist with DPW, in an email.
Overnight enforcement was also formally suspended in the days following the storm, from Aug. 11 to Aug. 14. Enforcement was not suspended as a result of last week’s storms.
Staff assisted stranded or abandoned vehicles, conducting 88 free relocation tows, Vargas said. During last week’s floods, four free relocations were provided.
A flooded-out car parked on West Burleigh Street in Milwaukee on April 10, 2026. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
‘It cost me $566’
When Quinones’ car was towed near his home on South 13th Street and West Ohio Avenue, he said it left him with no real alternatives.
“It’s my only form of transportation,” he said. “It cost me $566 plus a favor from a friend for the ride to the tow lot.”
Quinones said being ticketed and towed while also dealing with flooding created a great deal of stress. He said the city needs to rethink its approach.
“If severe weather is on the horizon, keep your meter maids and parking checkers safe at home,” he said.
The importance of parking enforcement
Shepherd emphasized that although most enforcement took place before and after flooding conditions, weather is still not an excuse to park irresponsibly.
“What you’re going to find out is the majority of these tickets don’t have anything to do with anyone being affected by the flood,” she said. “Just because there was bad weather, you can’t block a hydrant.”
Appealing citations
The mayor’s office has no plans to forgive tickets issued during last week’s floods, but residents do have an option to appeal.
“The appeal process is pretty straightforward, so we do not have plans for any blanket amnesty,” Fleming said.
People can go through the appeals process if the flood was pertinent to the ticket, and the city will look at that on a case-by-case basis, Shepherd said.
On the streets of Milwaukee, Carter Wilkins and his mom, Carlicia Wilkins, can be spotted picking up aluminum cans or handing out bagged lunches and hygiene items. They do it as an act of kindness for the homeless and to help grow a new organization called Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc.
In March, Carter, 9, founded Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on environmental awareness. The organization uses collected aluminum cans to help fund and support individuals experiencing homelessness in Milwaukee.
“I was so happy when I turned in my first bag of cans,” Carter said.
The idea started when Carlicia Wilkins was on a car ride. She was reflecting on the passing of Carter’s dad in 2020 and about experiencing homelessness three years ago and sleeping in her car.
“This is our reality five years later, and I wanted to figure out how I can continue to make Carter’s life better,” Carlicia said. “He’s a gamer and asks for (Fortnite) V-Bucks, so I figured I could teach him responsibility and how to make his own money while gaining a purpose because it’s not about the money for us.”
Carlicia wanted to show Carter how to use the money to help others.
“Homelessness can be on the street, sleeping on somebody else’s couch, living in someone’s basement or living out of your car,” Carlicia said. “If you are somewhere that’s not yours, then that’s homelessness.”
After discussing the idea with Carter, he wanted to get started as soon as possible.
Carter and his mom Carlicia Wilkins hand out homemade lunches and personal hygiene products on April 3, 2026, in Milwaukee. Carter, with help from his mom, Carlicia, started the Carter Can Collect Community Initiative. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Day-to-day collecting
Carter, a Sherman Park resident, typically spends an hour after school collecting aluminum cans from sparkling water, energy drinks, beer and more while his mom pays him $10 an hour out of her own pocket.
“We pick a block and go around neighborhoods,” Carter said.
Once a month Carter and his mom take the collected cans to All Scrap Metal Recycling Inc., 3330 W. Fond du Lac Ave., to recycle them for cash.
“Everything that we need is already around us,” Carlicia said. “We throw things away when it could really bring financial gain.”
Carter said he recently made $73 after filling five bags of aluminum cans in one month. The bags weighed 90 pounds.
“My goal was about 60 pounds of cans at first,” he said.
Preparing food and essentials for the homeless
Carter Wilkins collects aluminum cans every day in neighborhoods across Milwaukee to help the homeless. (Courtesy of Carlicia Wilkins)
Once he receives the cash, Carter goes to local stores to pick up food and hygiene items to make care kits and cold bag lunches for the homeless.
The kits typically include dental products, socks, wet wipes, deodorant, hair care, towels and soap.
The lunches include water, fruit, a snack and sandwich.
At the beginning of April, Carter and Carlicia gave away 25 bag lunches and 20 care kits to the homeless across Milwaukee’s North and South Sides.
“I was nervous at first when I did my first aluminum can turn-in, but the more I started collecting, then I got more comfortable,” Carter said.
Witnessing the impact
Dier Vaughn, a family friend who volunteers to help the organization, said he’s never seen a duo like Carter and his mom come up with a concept like this.
“You don’t see many young kids who are motivated to give back to their own community,” Vaughn said.
From picking out the organization’s name to shopping for essentials, Vaughn has witnessed the process since day one.
“I really love how Carter and Carlicia actually go out to talk to people to see what they want and need instead of buying what they think people need,” he said.
Carter Wilkins makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give out to homeless individuals on April 2, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Vaughn said Carter has qualities of a community activist and always has a willingness to listen and show empathy.
Carlicia describes Carter as a go-getter since she’s been giving him the space to lead with the initiative.
“He’s getting better at telling other youth about his initiative,” Carlicia said. “I’m learning to let him be a kid and have a voice with entrepreneurship at the same time.”
The initiative was meant to teach Carter and other youths about work ethic, financial literacy, communication skills, responsibility and more.
For youths eager to make a difference in their community but are unsure of where to start, Carter said the first step is being open to trying new things.
“You don’t have to try everything, but at least try one thing,” he said.
Dier Vaughn fills lunch bags with chips and other items to give out to homeless individuals on April 2, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Helping out the new organization
Carter and Carlicia said their long-term goal is to find more youths ages 9 through 14 to help Carter on his mission.
“Carter’s big cousins joined him and were so excited that they couldn’t stop,” Carlicia said.
Youths who join him will receive a reward like monetary pay or get treated to a social outing like roller skating, Chuck E. Cheese and more.
The next volunteer opportunity for youths to help Carter and Carlicia is 4 p.m. Friday, April 24. The youths can crush cans before they turn them in at the scrapyard.
Also, Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc. is in need of board members, sponsors and community leaders.
“We’re looking for people and local leaders who may know more about homelessness and can possibly give us more information,” Carlicia said.
For more information
Other ways residents can help Carter and Carlicia is by donating hygiene products and food or by saving aluminum cans at your home that they will come pick up.
Items can be sent to Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc., P.O. Box 90104, Milwaukee, WI 53209
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses.
The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics to prevent misuse, but Wisconsin imposes more than a dozen additional requirements on providers.
As a result, patients may wait longer to begin treatment, make daily trips to clinics and take more time to reach an effective dose.
Many other states have eased their rules, expanding access without compromising patient safety.
After years of opioid use, Bob saw three paths ahead: jail, death or methadone.
The 70-year-old Stevens Point resident chose methadone, which he has stuck with for more than half his life. He credits the treatment for his long career and ability to raise two daughters. Now retired, he sits in a recliner holding a sheet of paper with a list of old friends; he’s written “OD” next to the names of several loved ones killed by drugs.
Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses, experts say. It reduces drug cravings, prevents withdrawal and can provide stability without a mind-altering high.
More than 10,000 Wisconsinites used methadone treatment in 2024 to recover from opioid use disorder. But state regulations make accessing treatment more difficult for those patients, providers and researchers say.
The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics providing methadone treatment aimed at preventing misuse. Wisconsin adds more than a dozen more restrictive requirements, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
For patients, the state’s laws can mean waiting longer to enroll in treatment, daily drives to the clinic — even on weekends and holidays — and waiting longer to reach an effective dose.
Two years after the federal government relaxed its rules, Wisconsin’s landscape remains largely unchanged. Providers and researchers want Wisconsin to catch up with newer standards adopted by other states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa.
The Department of Health Services is reviewing Wisconsin’s rules, but it’s unclear what will change or when.
Long drives for methadone treatment
Bob wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and starts the 40-minute drive to his treatment clinic. Years ago, he left that early to make it to work on time. Now, he just likes to beat the crowd.
Wisconsin Watch is identifying people who use methadone by first name only to protect their private health information.
Bob tries not to pee before starting the drive. He knows clinic staff will likely send him into the bathroom with a cup as soon as he arrives. It’s been two decades since he used drugs or alcohol, but he takes the drug test all the same.
Bob holds a bottle of methadone at his home, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Bob sits in his recliner, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Next, he walks up to a clinic window, where someone hands him 13 plastic bottles of a cherry red liquid. Bob locks the medications inside a box he brought from home. A staff member watches as he swallows another dose.
He’ll do it all again in 13 days. The treatment saved his life, but it keeps him tied to this time-intensive routine — and to a clinic in another town.
“Methadone is like having a pair of golden handcuffs,” he says.
Unlike other medications, methadone cannot be picked up from a pharmacy. Only 31 locations across Wisconsin are approved to provide medication-assisted opioid treatments including methadone, according to the state health department.
At the state’s northernmost clinic in Wausau, patients traveled an average of 31 miles, one way, to their clinic in 2024.
Wisconsin allows fewer take-home doses
Methadone can be fatal if misused. To prevent people from overusing it or selling it, the federal government limited the number of take-home doses patients receive.
Early in the pandemic, the federal government allowed states to relax take-home rules to limit crowding at clinics — and many states did so. Studies later showed higher patient satisfaction and feelings of being respected without a significant increase in misuse.
In making the pandemic exceptions permanent in 2024, federal regulators wrote that the previous standards “can pose disruption to employment, education and other daily activities for patients, and several of the criteria reflect outdated biases that promote stigma and discourage people from engaging in care.”
But Wisconsin’s take-home regulations remain stricter than the federal minimums from before the pandemic.
The federal standard allows patients like Bob to take home 28 doses at a time. Wisconsin allows only 13.
Wisconsin patients must visit their clinic seven days a week until they complete a month in treatment and meet other criteria not required by the federal government. It takes a year in Wisconsin to qualify for the number of take-home doses providers in other states can offer patients after two weeks.
Bob sits in his recliner for a portrait alongside his methadone bottles, April 14, 2026. For patients, Wisconsin’s laws regarding methadone can mean waiting longer to enroll in treatment, daily drives to the clinic and starting at a dose too low to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Random callbacks disrupt routines
State rules also require clinics to regularly “call back” patients, like Bob, who have more than two take-home doses. The callbacks are intended to help providers make sure patients are not selling or misusing take-home doses.
Between visits, Bob’s provider often calls and tells him to arrive at the clinic within 24 hours with all 13 methadone bottles. If he doesn’t, he has to go back to daily clinic visits.
Federal rules do not require callbacks. In a 2024 report, federal regulators said providers should “consider the disruptive nature of random callbacks.”
It’s hard to make plans knowing you might have to change them any moment, Bob says. “I want to be normal again.”
Rules changes under review
Wisconsin is an outlier whose policies are overdue for an update, said Sharel Rogers, CEO of Addiction Medical Solutions and Vin Baker Recovery. She also serves as president of the Wisconsin Association of Treatment for Opioid Dependence.
Rogers was among several providers who backed a bill last month to update state rules. The measure was introduced right before the legislative session ended and was not expected to pass, but supporters hoped it would push regulators to act.
Wisconsin health officials are considering changing opioid treatment regulations, but without legislative action, the process could take years.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services aims to ensure state regulations support access to “high-quality, evidence-based care for those who need it,” wrote Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokesperson for the agency.
The agency started the state’s “intentionally thorough” rulemaking process last year to bring state regulations “closer in alignment with current federal regulations,” Goodsitt said.
The agency is still drafting proposed changes. They would be subject to public hearings and lawmaker approval in a process that ensures input from providers, advocates and patients, Goodsitt said.
The health department declined to answer detailed questions. Staff plan to review enrollment and take-home requirements, according to a document submitted to the Legislature. It’s not clear if other discrepancies, like callbacks, lab testing or dosage levels, will be addressed.
Opioid treatment providers should be carefully regulated, but Wisconsin’s current rules create barriers for patients, Rogers said.
“I’m just amazed at these patients every day, what they will do for their own recovery,” she said.
Bob flips through a 1974 copy of The Physicians’ Desk Reference to find the drug listing for methadone, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Bob lined up his methadone bottles on a table at his home for a portrait, April 14, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Recovery under tight restrictions
Timothy overdosed three times before starting treatment.
After nine months in Marathon County jail, he relapsed unaware of his lowered tolerance and the strength of the drug supply in 2022.
Within a couple of months, he started methadone.
“Some people don’t get out of that. A lot of people don’t,” Timothy said. “I’m grateful.”
Opioid overdose deaths dropped by more than 42% in Wisconsin between 2023 and 2024, according to the state health department. Still, opioids killed 815 people in Wisconsin in 2024, compared with fewer than 300 deaths two decades earlier.
Rising overdose rates are driven in part by fentanyl, a more potent opioid. Patients with a history of fentanyl use typically need higher methadone doses, said Dr. Hillary Tamar, who oversees Wisconsin treatment providers as a medical director for Community Medical Services.
Wisconsin rules prohibit providers from giving new patients a starting dose above 30 milligrams of methadone. That limit is outdated in the fentanyl era, Tamar said. The average dose at most Wisconsin clinics in 2024 was above 100 milligrams.
Updated federal limits allow providers to start patients at 50 milligrams or higher, based on their clinical judgment. A higher starting dose can help patients avoid withdrawal and reach a stable dose sooner, Tamar said.
Federal regulations also give providers greater ability to decide whether a patient may benefit from fewer visits.
“The regulations in Wisconsin bind us to creating a one size fits all plan, and that is just not how humans work,” Tamar said.
Despite attending regular counseling and dosing in-person daily for four years, Timothy still doesn’t qualify for a single take-home dose in Wisconsin.
That’s because he started using cannabis while undergoing chemotherapy around the time he started methadone treatment. Now in remission, he is working with his counselor to stop using cannabis, but it still prevents him from receiving take-home doses in Wisconsin.
In other states, marijuana use does not bar patients from receiving take-homes, Tamar said.
Last month, Timothy received two take-home methadone bottles while visiting his daughter in Florida.
Before leaving Wisconsin, he worked with staff at his clinic to set up a week’s worth of visits with a Florida provider. He was surprised when the new clinic told him he would receive take-home doses over the weekend.
When at home in Wisconsin, Timothy doesn’t mind the daily clinic visits. But when he’s with his daughter, they remind him of his past mistakes.
For two days he mixed his medication with apple juice and celebrated his 45th birthday with his family without stopping at the clinic.
He said it was the best time of his life.
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For Samantha Gamble and Ishon Arnold, this week’s rain only exacerbated issues they were already having in their home.
Despite reporting their unsafe living conditions in their Lincoln Creek home a few weeks ago, they have had rain pouring in every room for the past two nights. Their upstairs ceiling buckled, and they have buckets everywhere.
The ceiling fell inside of Samantha Gamble and Ishon Arnold’s Lincoln Creek home. (PrincessSafiya Byers / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
“The first night it got really bad,” said Arnold at a news conference Thursday. “Then the second night it got worse.”
They are not alone.
Severe thunderstorms and flooding across Milwaukee this week have left some residents with waterlogged cars, no food, damaged homes and a difficult cleanup.
Another round of severe thunderstorms is forecast for Milwaukee County on Friday night, and a flood watch for flash flooding is scheduled from 1 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Although the full extent of the damage is still unknown, local government leaders and neighborhood groups are preparing to help with the aftermath. Other Milwaukeeans are looking ahead to see how these disasters can be avoided in the future.
Homes near the intersection of West Pierce Street and South 23rd Street where heavy rainfall caused flooding on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Neighbors helping neighbors
VIA Community Development Corp., which works on community, housing and economic development projects in Silver City, Clarke Square, Layton Park and Burnham Park, reported several Milwaukee neighborhood areas had experienced flooding.
“Our team is actively connecting with neighbors and business owners to check on their homes, storefronts and properties to better understand the extent of the impacts and identify where support may be needed most,” said Christian Oliva, marketing communications manager of VIA CDC.
Both VIA CDC and Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, a community and social justice organization focused in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood, encourage neighbors and business owners to report any issues — including flooding, property damage, power outages and fallen trees — to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works, their alderperson’s office and their local neighborhood organization to track damage.
Melody McCurtis, the deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, said neighbors experienced flooding in streets and basements, cars getting stuck in high water, property damage from wind and mudslides in some areas.
“Flooded streets and detours have made it difficult for our team and neighbors to physically reach residents who need support, limiting our ability to respond as quickly and directly as we would like,” she said.
People ride scooters toward several stuck cars underneath the railroad crossing bridge on West Burleigh Street after heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout Milwaukee on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Residents who receive FoodShare benefits and lost food because of the storm may be eligible for replacement benefits. To submit for the reimbursement, FoodShare recipients should fill out the Request for Replacement FoodShare and/or Summer EBT Benefits form.
Requests must be submitted within 10 days of the weather event.
Help available in Amani neighborhood
Amanda Clark with the Dominican Center, which has served residents in Amani for over 30 years, said Amani residents should reach out if they need help.
“We may not have all the answers, but we’ll do our best to assist and connect residents to resources,” she said. “They don’t have to try to figure this out alone.”
How HACM residents can get help
Folks living in Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee properties can notify their property manager about any issues. If they aren’t available, then they can contact the 24/7 public safety dispatch center at 414-286-5100.
IMPACT 211 connects residents to services like housing, food, mental health support, and crisis counseling. It is supporting the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management by collecting reports of property damage caused by flooding such as water/sewage in basements, collapsed walls and lightning-related incidents.
“IMPACT has turned on our local disaster switch this morning as Milwaukee County is now activated for disaster relating to the flooding event,” said Vickie Boneck, the director of marketing and communications with IMPACT 211, on Thursday.
Harold Lewis, owner of Ready to Go Towing, attempts to move a stuck car out from underneath the railroad crossing bridge on West Burleigh Street after heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout Milwaukee on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Looking ahead
Oby Nwabuzor is the founder of Envision Growth, a public health-driven real estate development firm. She put together a legislative framework that breaks down five specific actions organized by what can happen right now at the Common Council level with no state approval needed, what can move this budget cycle at the county and state level and what needs to be built and introduced in 2027.
“The storm is weather, but who floods, how badly, and whether it happens again at the same scale is a policy problem, and we have the data to prove it,” she said in a Facebook post. “What we do not have is legislation, and that is what I put together.”
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges is mobilizing support to repair the Northstar Healing Space’s fence, which was destroyed in the storms, and gather clean-out supplies, air purifiers, dehumidifiers and volunteers to help reduce neighborhood residents’ exposure to mold.
Recovering from vehicle damage
Since Monday, Milwaukee residents have faced dangerous commutes as some were forced to leave their vehicles stranded while others may have been trapped inside their vehicles because of flooding caused by recurring heavy storms.
According to the Milwaukee Fire Department, the North Side of the city was impacted the most, and the fire department responded to approximately 50 calls for water rescues because of submerged vehicles on April 14.
If you are driving and happen to come across a street with flooding, the Milwaukee Fire Department and Tiffany Shepherd, marketing and communications officer for the city of Milwaukee, urge drivers to avoid driving through flood waters.
If a driver’s vehicle is stuck in the middle of an intersection, Shepherd said to report it by calling the Department of Public Works at 414-286-2489 so that a representative can assess the situation and possibly relocate the vehicle.
What to do if your vehicle is under water
When your vehicle has been submerged in water, the American Automobile Association recommends drivers to never start their vehicle as its main parts like the battery, transmission and engine are damaged, even though they may not look like it.
“Unless every part is thoroughly cleaned and dried, inside and out, problems caused by corrosion can crop up weeks or even months after the flooding,” AAA said.
It’s best to have your vehicle inspected and repaired right away by AAA or another auto repair shop of your choice.
Cars drive through a flooded South 43rd Street across from Jackson Park as heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout Milwaukee on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Navigating automobile insurance
Drivers should also contact their insurance company immediately about comprehensive coverage in their auto insurance policy to determine next steps with repairs and costs.
Comprehensive coverage is a type of insurance that pays for the damage done to your vehicle like flooding, fire, theft and more.
The cost of repairing flood damage can easily exceed a car’s value, depending on the make and model, according to AAA.
Dealing with basement flooding
Department of Neighborhood Services Commissioner Jezamil Arroyo-Vega gave tips for what to do if your basement flooded:
If you’re a renter, call your property manager or landlord first. If they don’t respond, then call the Department of Neighborhood Services.
High-level waters in basements can affect electrical breakers and can be dangerous for residents. Do not enter a flooded basement with electrical appliances until those waters have lowered.
Don’t use any electrical equipment that was submerged in water, including the water heater, washing machine, dryer or any other appliances in the affected area. These can create serious hazards including a fire risk.
Once the water has lowered and it’s safe to enter your basement, document the damage by taking photos for insurance.
Don’t attempt to restore your own breaker box or water heater. Call a licensed electrician or plumber.
Check your house for structural damages. Signs of a compromised foundation include various sizes of cracks. A foundation contractor can help identify problems and create a repair plan. Search for contractors approved to work in the city of Milwaukee here.
If you experienced more catastrophic foundation damage, such as a wall collapse, call the Department of Neighborhood Services immediately. The department will send out an inspector as soon as possible. Not only is this necessary for determining the safety of your home, but the inspection could be necessary for insurance claims.
PrincessSafiya Byers, Alex Klaus, Meredith Melland, Chesnie Wardell and Jonathan Aguilar contributed to this story.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Common Ground and its new branch, Tenants United, are leading efforts to hold private landlords accountable, starting with David Tomblin of Highgrove Holdings LLC.
Highgrove Holdings is an out-of-state landlord with more than 260 properties, mostly on Milwaukee’s North Side. A significant number of homes are reportedly vacant or boarded.
Common Ground and Tenants United documented dozens of violations and examples of neglect, from mildew and mold to broken windows and holes in the ceilings.
Now both groups alongside other advocates and Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke have set out to “evict” Tomblin, owner of Highgrove Holdings, from control of his properties through a novel lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
A complaint filed by the city of Milwaukee is asking a judge to appoint a third-party receiver to manage Highgrove’s portfolio if hundreds of alleged nuisance and code violations are not fixed within 60 days. If granted, it would effectively strip Tomblin of operational control over his Milwaukee properties.
“The point of this is to get them to comply,” Goyke said. “No one should need to be sued to be code-compliant. It shouldn’t come to this, but if this is what it takes, so be it.”
Tenants United
Last August during unprecedented storms, Ebony Martin’s ceiling fell in. Not only was she hospitalized as a result of the collapse, but she said her property management company, Highgrove Holdings Management, never fixed the leaks.
Stories like hers led Common Ground and Tenants United to get involved.
Tenants United formed several years ago during a campaign against the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.
The group’s advocacy for Housing Authority residents led to a change in leadership and some operations.
Charlene “Peaches” Bell said she initially joined Tenants United as a resident of the Housing Authority because she saw a need for change and accountability. She’s still there because the need is still there.
“We have to help each other,” Bell said. “They say it takes a village. What kind of world will we have if we don’t do this now?”
The strategy
Tenants United members said Highgrove Holdings has accumulated hundreds of code violations and leads the city in orders for lead abatement. They also pointed out rising delinquent property taxes and ongoing legal disputes with lenders and investors.
Tomblin, who previously lived in California and now resides in Washington, has marketed Milwaukee as a profitable market for investors. He cited strong returns tied in part to Opportunity Zones, federally designated areas intended to spur redevelopment.
Common Ground leads a tour of dilapidated Highgrove Holdings homes in the Harambee neighborhood in Milwaukee. (PrincessSafiya Byers / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Nearly 100 tenant leaders and community advocates gathered on March 26 alongside Goyke to announce a legal campaign targeting Tomblin’s company.
Tenant leader Kiante Shields, who helped launch the campaign, described the lawsuit as a turning point in holding corporate landlords accountable.
“This is about drawing a line,” Shields said. “If you neglect hundreds of homes, there are consequences, not just fines, but losing control.”
What comes next
The lawsuit now heads to circuit court, where a judge will decide whether to order repairs or appoint a receiver to take over management.
Advocates say the case could set a precedent for how Milwaukee and other cities handle large-scale landlord neglect.
“This isn’t just about one landlord,” Shields said. “It’s about changing the system.”
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Monday signed legislation that would give raises for the first time in a decade to permanently and totally disabled people receiving worker’s compensation.
The bill, which includes other changes to the worker’s comp system, was passed by the Assembly (97-0 vote) in January and by the Senate (32-1) in February. Both chambers are majority Republican.
The bill would help people like 65-year-old Bob Hurley, who suffered a back injury in 1982, at age 22. While helping build a car wash, he fell 15 feet from a forklift and “landed flat on my back in a concrete pit.”
Bob Hurley after his back injury in 1982 and pictured with his nephew, Chad Hurley. (Courtesy of Bob Hurley)
Through four surgeries, Hurley continued working for 17 years before being declared PTD.
Hurley, now living in Minnesota, said he receives $2,900 in monthly worker’s comp benefits. He said his only other income is $2,600 monthly in Social Security benefits. Without cost-of-living adjustments in his PTD payments, “it gets harder and harder every year,” he said.
Wisconsin Watch reported in September that more than 300 permanently and totally disabled recipients haven’t received a raise in their worker’s comp benefits since 2016.
The bill would also make these changes for PTD recipients:
Make an estimated 210 more PTD recipients eligible for raises. Currently, only PTD recipients injured before Jan. 1, 2003, are eligible for raises. The bill would change that date to Jan. 1, 2020.
Raise the maximum weekly benefit for PTD recipients by 57%, from $669 to $1,051.
Give PTD recipients annual raises, with the amounts set shortly before taking effect. The raise amounts would vary based on when the recipients were injured and their earnings at the time.
Jimmy Novy, seen at home on July 29, 2025, in Hillsboro, Wis., is one of more than 300 permanently and totally disabled individuals collecting worker’s comp checks from the state since his injury in his late 20s. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
One example, provided by the state Department of Workforce Development: A PTD recipient injured in 1985 and receiving $535 a week would get a 57% increase to $840. The increase would amount to nearly $16,000 per year.
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Changes from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” are forcing states to expand work requirements for those who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
The law did not rewrite the core work requirements for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Instead, it changed who must meet them. In Wisconsin, the changes could put around 36,000 people at risk of losing their food assistance benefits.
Policy consultant David Rubel said federal law allows a third option that could make assistance more accessible for those who are at risk of losing benefits.
Work requirements
The age range for adults required to meet work requirements will increase from 18-54 to 18-64. Parents of children age 14 and older will now also need to meet work requirements.
Federal law allows three primary ways for some adults without dependents to continue receiving FoodShare.
The primary way is employment. People must work at least 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month to keep benefits.
Another way is training or workforce programs. People can participate in state-approved job training programs for 20 hours a week and keep benefits.
The third option, Rubel said, can require significantly fewer hours.
Workfare allows people to work or volunteer in a state-approved program for a number of hours based on the value of that person’s SNAP benefits.
According to federal law, the number of hours required is calculated by dividing a person’s monthly SNAP benefits by the state minimum wage. So, if someone in Wisconsin, where the minimum wage is $7.25, receives $180 in food stamps, they’d have to work or volunteer only about 25 hours monthly to continue receiving benefits.
Rubel said SNAP recipients may not realize that option exists.
“If someone thinks they must volunteer 80 hours a month, they may assume they can’t comply,” he said. “But six hours a week is very different.”
Why you should know
While not directly promoted on the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website, Elizabeth Goodsitt, a DHS spokesperson, said workfare is available in Wisconsin under the FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) program.
According to Goodsitt, once a FoodShare member chooses to participate in FSET, a case manager will discuss the situation and background to see if workfare is a good approach for that person.
“Sites that accept FSET participants for workfare are set up by the FSET vendor and structured to offer members the chance to build their work experience, record and references,” she wrote in an email. “If a member does workfare, their case manager works with them to calculate the number of hours that will meet their work requirement, specifically, based on the amount of FoodShare they receive each month.”
Wisconsin is one of four states, including Texas, Vermont and South Dakota, that signed a pledge committing to work opportunities for people at risk of losing SNAP benefits.
Because enforcement has just resumed in many places, states are beginning to notify recipients through recertification letters. Recertification letters are routine notices SNAP participants receive every six months to confirm their eligibility.
But in many states, the public messaging around SNAP work requirements focuses primarily on the 80-hour employment threshold.
“If people only hear about the 80 hours, they may assume they have no choice,” Rubel said. “People should have all the information so they can make an informed decision.”
The Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin is experiencing a major decline in organ donors while waitlists for patients in need of transplants grow.
There are 1,450 Wisconsin patients awaiting an organ transplant, but there’s been a 350% increase in the number of people removing themselves from the Wisconsin donor registry, according to Colleen McCarthy, vice president of organ and tissue donation at Versiti.
“Organ donation is built on public trust, and we are losing it,” McCarthy said. “There is much national news with misinformation that creates fear in people.”
McCarthy wants people to understand that an organ donation specialist’s role includes supporting families, medically managing donated organs, allocating them based on priority and offering public education.
Especially on misconceptions.
Some people worry that their life won’t be saved if they become an organ donor or that they’re too old to donate one.
“We make every effort to save a life,” McCarthy said. “The oldest organ donor in the United States is 96 years old, so we evaluate all ages regardless of medical history.”
McCarthy emphasizes that if you have multiple health conditions like diabetes, hepatitis C or HIV, there are other organs in the body that can be safe for a transplant.
“There’s very few rule-outs in organ donation,” she said. “We just have to make sure that those organs are matched with the right recipient.”
Navigating life without a kidney
Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin is in need of kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs and other organs to save lives.
“The kidney is the organ in most need,” McCarthy said.
Among the patients waiting for a kidney transplant is Kelly Norlander, who has known since she was a teenager that she’d be in need of a kidney one day.
“It’s never easy when you know it’s coming, but I was able to wrap my head around it and process it all,” she said.
Norlander has a genetic condition called polycystic kidney disease, which causes continuous growth of cysts in the kidney.
She was put on the transplant list two years ago and has been receiving dialysis treatments three times a week for four hours each day for the past year and a half.
Dialysis is a process that filters toxins from the body when kidneys stop working.
Although Norlander works full time remotely, she’s stuck bringing her computer to dialysis with her most days.
“Dialysis feels like a part-time job within itself,” Norlander said. “The longer dialysis is, the harder the transplant will be on your body.”
“I hope people think about Kelly and the others who are waiting on a transplant,” McCarthy said. “We understand that donating is a personal choice, but I think people need to spend some time thinking about getting accurate information on organ donation.”
Norlander’s father passed away seven years ago from the same condition because he didn’t qualify for a transplant.
Norlander also wants people to consider the life-saving impact they can have by becoming an organ donor.
“You’re not just saving one life, you’re saving several,” she said.
Keeping a consistent blood supply
The harsh winter, including the most recent blizzard, is causing residents to donate less blood this year, which has led to a blood supply shortage for Versiti.
According to Versiti, 11 of its donor centers and six mobile drives were canceled on Monday. Versiti was hoping to schedule 450 appointments to make up for the ones that were canceled.
Versiti is also trying to prepare for the warmer seasons, as sometimes the supply can drop during good weather, too.
“It doesn’t take much to disrupt the supply,” said Lauren Patzman, recovery services supervisor at Versiti. “When people are traveling and getting ready to go somewhere for spring break or the holidays, those are the times we see declines in donations.”
Throughout the year, Versiti relies heavily on high school students, as many of their schools host blood drives. But when school is out, finding volunteers becomes harder.
Patzman said the organization attends festivals and local events during the summer to spread awareness about blood, organ and eye donation. However, sometimes it’s hard to utilize its mobile bus because people aren’t always prepared to give blood.
“It’s hot, people are walking around all day and may not be hydrated or had a good breakfast beforehand,” Patzman said.
The organization is urging more residents to donate blood to prevent another shortage.
It’s in need of all donated blood types, especially donors with a rare blood type called Ro.
According to Versiti Research Blood Institute, Ro blood is found only within 4% of donors and is often given to sickle cell patients. Many sickle cell patients in Milwaukee require blood transfusions every three to four weeks and need over 60 red blood cell units each year.
Other individuals, including burn victims, cancer patients, a mother giving birth and more can receive donated blood.
Patzman said the organization tries to keep three to five days of blood supply available to share with hospitals.
“If and when a blood shortage happens, hospitals do have to make difficult decisions that may include delaying surgeries and adjusting treatments,” she said.
Taking next steps with a quick visit
Patzman reminds individuals there’s always room to put donating blood on your to-do list.
“People don’t realize how easy it is to just walk in and out within an hour, and it’s not as scary as people think it is,” Patzman said. “Blood is perishable and it has a shelf life.”
If you are interested in donating blood, click here to enter your ZIP code to find nearby donor centers or mobile drives.
To become an organ, tissue and eye donor, click here for more details.
Wisconsin has thousands of assisted living providers. Some are small houses; others are more like apartment complexes. Some take Medicaid, while others require residents to pay out of pocket. It’s a lot to sort through, especially when someone needs care fast.
Searching “assisted living” on Google pulls up several pages of facilities, many listed under a prominent “sponsored results” section.
Mixed in with actual providers are referral companies that promise a way to compare options. Long-term care referral companies don’t typically charge families for their services. Instead, they often receive money from facilities they recommend.
Wisconsin lawmakers in May proposed legislation to make any financial relationships between a referral agency and an assisted living facility clearer.
Supporters of the bill said disclosure requirements could help families make more informed decisions. Opposing the bill, referral companies argue that they are already transparent and that proposed guardrails would prevent them from helping more families.
The bill failed to pass before the Assembly adjourned last month. But the debate left me wondering: Where should someone start the search for care?
Aging and disability resource centers
Aging and disability resource centers (ADRCs) can provide objective provider lists for free, alongside information about services and payment options, said Janet Zander, the advocacy and public policy coordinator with the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc.
ADRCs cannot recommend one facility over another, Zander said. But they can suggest what to look for during a tour. Zander also recommends looking at a facility’s Wisconsin Division of Quality Assurance surveys.
They can also help people identify what kind of care makes the most sense and explore aging at home, said Sara Tribe Clark, the director of the Eldercare Locator, which offers local resources for older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers.
If you work with a referral agency, ask questions
Tribe Clark recommends asking:
Do you receive compensation from the providers you recommend?
Are your referrals limited to certain facilities?
How do you determine which providers to suggest? What is the criteria for inclusion/exclusion?
Are there providers in my area that you do not represent?
We want to answer your questions
Getting answers to my own questions is a perk of being a reporter. But I haven’t yet navigated Wisconsin’s aging and disability resources for myself or a loved one. I know I’m missing important questions, so please send me yours, alongside your perspectives.
What has been confusing or frustrating about finding care?
What do you wish you’d known sooner?
What made the process easier?
Even after more than two years reporting on long-term care in Wisconsin, I won’t have all the answers. But I will find experts who do. Email me at acostello@wisconsinwatch.org or call 608-616-5239.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
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