My predecessors at Wisconsin Watch have done some amazingreporting on people experiencing homelessness in Wisconsin.
A big question came up when I started my internship – how can unhoused people get help?
There’s no simple answer. Homeless shelters and nonprofits for low-income families are still extremely limited by resources, available beds and caseworkers. And counties, especially rural ones, simply don’t have enough shelters. Some may not even have a single one.
So when I set out to answer this question, I knew that doing some light research online and making a list of shelters would not be enough. Plus, those lists already exist. At Wisconsin Watch, we spend time thinking about how our stories can fill information gaps and serve our communities.
This resource guide has been many weeks in the making. The process started with going out in the field, talking to people with lived experience, listening in on meetings and watching homeless system leaders do their work.
I asked them: What don’t people understand about homelessness and the network of resources available?
Here’s what I heard about what’s needed:
A guide that walks people through the process, instead of just a list.
More information about how the homeless response system works.
A printed version to distribute widely.
A resource that clears up misconceptions and stigma around homelessness.
Information on how to help and get involved in your community.
If you read more, you can get the answers to questions like “How many people are homeless in my region?”
You can also download a flowchart on how to access homelessness resources in northeast Wisconsin. If you want to help, I’d love it if you could share the flowchart online, or print it out and put it somewhere in your community. Let me know if you do.
Reading Time: 9minutesClick here to read highlights from the story
Wisconsin Watch spoke to community leaders in northeast Wisconsin to understand how support systems work, how people who are unhoused can get help in each county and who counts as homeless.
Officials explain how waitlists for housing programs work, how they’re funded, why people who are unhoused are more visible in cities and ways people who have housing can help.
The story includes links to resources and a flowchart available for free download.
An estimated 1,200 people are homeless in northeast Wisconsin — and that could be a vast undercount. Nonprofit leaders say shelters are at capacity on a regular basis and a lack of affordable housing is contributing to the problem.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, someone would have to work 112 hours per week at minimum wage to afford a modest 1-bedroom rental home in Wisconsin. Amid rising costs, Jackie Baumgart, director of youth services for Foundations Health & Wholeness, says rural counties Foundations serves have few homeless shelters.
“We need a shelter or three in every county … If there was somebody to call and get somebody in every time, we could do wonderful work, because it wouldn’t always be in crisis,” Baumgart said.
Experts say there are misconceptions about who counts as homeless and how the homeless response system works. That prevents people from accessing resources and contributes to stigma around homelessness.
To understand how support systems work, how to get help in each county and who counts as homeless, Wisconsin Watch put together a guide of frequently asked questions about homelessness informed by interviews with community leaders in northeast Wisconsin.
Homelessness is measured nationwide by a “point in time” (PIT) count — a snapshot of all the people experiencing homelessness on a single night. The federal government requires this to happen annually in January, but all counties in northeast Wisconsin conduct an additional summer count in July.
During the PIT count in January, volunteers found 560 individuals who were living in shelters or on the street in Brown County. Other counts can be broken down into coalitions that include multiple counties.
Northeast (Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto and Shawano counties): 83 people
Lakeshore (Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties): 224 people
Fox Cities (Calumet, Outagamie and northern Winnebago counties): 330 people
To count someone as homeless, volunteers must speak to people who seem to be living on the streets to confirm they’re unhoused. Those who are sleeping on the couch of a friend or family member don’t count. This means many people aren’t included in the count who might be considered homeless, especially in rural areas. That’s important because the PIT count is indirectly tied to the amount of grant funding designated for each region.
Who is considered homeless?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, breaks its definition of homelessness into several categories. These categories determine which programs or aid you can apply for.
Category 1: Literally Homeless
This includes who most people generally picture when they hear the word “homeless” – anyone who is unsheltered and could be sleeping outside, in a tent or in a car. It also includes people living in a temporary homeless shelter or using hotel vouchers.
Category 2: Imminent Risk of Homelessness
This category includes individuals or families who will lose their housing within 14 days of applying for homeless assistance and who lack resources to obtain other permanent housing.
Category 3: Homeless Under Other Federal Statutes
This group includes unaccompanied youth under age 25 or families with children who don’t meet the previous definitions, but still lack permanent or stable housing, which often means living in someone else’s home due to economic hardship. Referred to as being “doubled up,” this could look like someone sleeping on a friend’s couch or staying in another family’s basement. Category 3 can also include youth who are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or campgrounds due to lack of alternative options.
In the 2024-25 school year, over 20,000 students in Wisconsin were homeless, including 15,400 who were “doubled up,” according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Although this category is considered homeless under the federal definition, doubled up students don’t qualify for most federal homeless assistance. Instead, they are supported by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which requires each school district to designate a homeless liaison and provide transportation for students experiencing homelessness.
“A majority of our students experiencing homelessness are living doubled up,” said Kristine Nadolski, state coordinator of Education for Homeless Children and Youth. “It’s a big piece kind of missing in other counts, and I do think that our students are still under-identified.”
Category 4: Fleeing/Attempting to Flee Domestic Violence
Anyone who does not have a residence due to fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence is placed in Category 4. Specific shelters exist solely for domestic violence survivors that provide crisis intervention, counseling, support groups and legal advocacy.
Categories cover broad swath of people
Overall, these four definitions encompass a wide variety of people who aren’t usually included in the broader public perception of homelessness. Eliza Cussen is the community engagement director for Pillars, a shelter and low-income housing agency in Appleton. She said some people might not consider themselves homeless even though they fit one of these definitions.
“If you have moved in with your mom because your landlord raised your rent and you couldn’t swing it, you might not identify as homeless,” Cussen said. “So that can make people really hesitant to call for those services, or think that they are deserving.”
How do I get help?
There are many ways to find services, including calling 211, your county Aging and Disability Resource Center or your local government. If you’re seeking shelter, you should probably access Coordinated Entry as a first step, which will place you on a list that all organizations in your area can pull from based on your eligibility.
The NorthEast Wisconsin Community Clinic mobile unit is parked across the street from St. John’s Park on June 18, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
How do waitlists for housing programs work?
Waitlists are managed through a system called Coordinated Entry, which is designed to streamline the housing application process. Rather than operating on a first-in, first-out basis, the system prioritizes people based on their level of need.
Organizations statewide can access this list and pull people who meet their requirements when a spot opens up. To be put on the Coordinated Entry list, people are asked questions about their chronic disabling conditions, medical needs, the length of their homelessness and more.
Instead of calling every housing program in your area to get on a waitlist, you will already be on a list that they can see and pull from. They can figure out your eligibility.
Who gets the highest priority depends on the different requirements of each agency. You will also be asked about things like veteran status or if you are fleeing domestic violence. Applicants are also asked which counties they would consider moving to, allowing them to access housing if a spot opens elsewhere.
Peter Silski, homeless outreach case coordinator for the city of Green Bay, right, talks to a formerly unhoused friend at St. John’s Park on June 18, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
How are these programs funded?
Regional Continuum of Care programs distribute federal funding for homelessness service organizations. Milwaukee, Dane and Racine counties have their own CoCs, while the Balance of State CoC oversees the rest of the state through regional coalitions.
Each federal grant is designated for specific types of support, such as homeless prevention, emergency shelter — through HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant — or the CoC’s motel vouchers, permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless and transitional housing with the goal of helping residents achieve stable housing elsewhere
Successful applicants must meet one of HUD’s homeless definitions, in addition to other eligibility requirements. Grants are sometimes designated for specific populations like veterans, domestic violence victims, youth or individuals who are chronically homeless. Plus, anti-poverty nonprofits and homeless shelters often don’t have enough beds available for the existing homeless population, which is why people sit on waitlists for months or years.
A recent HUD memo announced broad changes to Continuum of Care funding. Josh Benti, homeless initiative project director for the Greater Green Bay Blueprint to Prevent and End Homelessness, said CoCs across the country now must compete for 40% of HUD’s budget based on criteria like criminalizing homelessness. Previously, 10% of funds were competitive.
This represents the Trump administration’s broader shift from the Housing First model, which prioritizes providing permanent housing for people and then addressing the root causes of their homelessness.
On Aug. 7, a district court ruled in favor of a coalition of state governments – including Wisconsin – to effectively block HUD’s 2026 notice of funding, saying HUD failed to provide the proper notice and public comment period required.
Why do I see more homeless people in cities?
Rural homelessness is usually harder to see. It’s more common for people in rural areas to live out of their cars or doubled up with a family member or friend, especially since there aren’t as many shelters. Lots of people might not even consider themselves homeless if they are sleeping on someone’s couch.
Because rural areas are sprawling, with many people doubled up, homelessness can be harder to count. That means rural coalitions may report lower numbers in the PIT count, which indirectly reduces federal funding.
Rural areas also have fewer resources — like shelters or supportive housing — forcing more people to relocate to Green Bay or other cities.
Peter Silski, left, and Jeremy Pingel, homeless outreach case coordinators for the city of Green Bay, talk to Wisconsin Watch reporting intern Astrid Code, center, on June 18, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. Homelessness is often more visible in cities like Green Bay where there are more shelters and supportive housing resources. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
But the solution isn’t always to move. Shawano Area Matthew 25 Executive Director Kendra Brusewitz said people used to being homeless in Shawano might struggle to adapt to living in a larger city. She sometimes encourages people to relocate, but only if they don’t have any support systems in their community.
“Affordable housing is a challenge everywhere,” Brusewitz said. “So it’s not healthy for anybody to make all these promises, too, of like, ‘Hey, if we just get you to Green Bay, you’ll have all of these opportunities and resources,’ and then they’re in a community that still has the same issues, and then they don’t have supports there either.”
How can people who have housing help?
Many organizations that don’t provide shelter still interact with people experiencing homelessness and can benefit from understanding how the homeless response system works. These organizations can help brainstorm community-wide solutions, Benti said.
“Housing is something that affects us all, either housed or unhoused … Our hospitals aren’t homeless providers, but they provide services to those who are experiencing homelessness,” he said. “Our employers hire and employ people who are experiencing homelessness. … So, it’s getting all these systems to work and communicate and collaborate better.”
The Fridge is a free, 24-hour source of food hosted at Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church, 520 S. Oakland Ave. in Green Bay, Wis. It is pictured on June 18, 2026. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
People who want to help can donate if they have disposable income or volunteer with organizations serving people experiencing homelessness. Volunteering can start with contacting a local shelter or attending a coalition meeting.
Northeast Coalition(Shawano, Oconto, Marinette and Menominee counties): Contact Abby Ries at abby.ries@wibos.org
Even if you can’t donate or volunteer, you can still help fight the stigma surrounding homelessness. Brusewitz said she welcomes tours of the SAM25 shelter for greater community understanding.
“We’re not a big city, but we do have people who are struggling,” Brusewitz said. “The stigma with homelessness, too, of like, ‘Well, they should just get a job,’ or ‘Maybe they should just quit doing drugs or drinking,’ and that’s not always the case.”
Ryan Graham, homeless systems manager for the Wisconsin Balance of State Continuum of Care, said widespread homelessness reflects a broader affordability issue, with many people just one crisis away from losing their housing.
“What you’ll see is we have all these people who just can’t afford basic needs or can’t afford their current housing, and they’re one bad event from becoming street homeless,” Graham said. “If we don’t have any kind of homeless prevention or diversion programming to stop that from happening, you’re just increasing the bottleneck that we have at our crisis response system, which we don’t have enough of already, right? So it’s really a tough environment across the country, but in particular in a lot of our rural counties.”
This story was updated to reflect that the Coordinated Entry system places people on waitlists for federally funded housing programs. It was also updated to correct the fact that Continuums of Care organizations distribute funding for homelessness service organizations. Wisconsin Watch regrets the errors.
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The nonprofit’s closure reveals how the loss of a single agency can have a staggering effect, especially in rural areas where resources for the unhoused are already few and far between.
Reading Time: 9minutesClick here to read highlights from the story
Newcap was a leading provider of homeless services for 10 counties: Brown, Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Shawano, Forest, Langlade, Oneida and Vilas.
The organization’s abrupt closure in March left counties scrambling to fill the gaps.
In Shawano County, for example, residents no longer have a year-round homeless shelter.
Furthermore, Newcap took the lead in three regional homeless coalitions, and its staff served in key roles, fulfilling responsibilities for Coordinated Entry, the point-in-time count and federal and state funding.
Newcap’s Brown County federal grants have been transferred to House of Hope and Foundations Health & Wellness.
It’s been more than three months since the anti-poverty nonprofit Newcap closed, laying off 90 employees and leaving more than 100 low-income households on the brink of homelessness. For Shawano County residents, that means losing their only year-round homeless shelter.
At Safe Haven domestic abuse shelter in Shawano, Executive Director Mindy Lohff started getting dozens more crisis calls and observing more unsheltered people on the streets or in wooded areas.
“We’ve seen an increase in our shelter stays directly, we’ve seen an increase in the calls for looking for shelter,” Lohff said. “Unfortunately, if they aren’t actively fleeing domestic violence or sexual violence, they’re not eligible (to) stay here, and there’s nowhere for them to go in Shawano County.”
It’s not just that Lohff has nowhere to direct unsheltered people in Shawano. Newcap was a leading provider of homeless services for 10 counties — including Brown, Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Shawano, Forest, Langlade, Oneida and Vilas. In 2025, Newcap had the capacity to provide nearly 250 beds across those counties, from emergency shelter to permanent housing.
These mostly rural counties have been rocked by Newcap’s abrupt closure March 31, which came amid financial challenges and leadership changes. Former CEO Cheryl Detrick was placed on leave shortly before the nonprofit closed its doors and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, revealing that it owed nearly $4 million to creditors.
The nonprofit’s closure reveals how the loss of a single agency can have a staggering effect, especially in rural areas where resources for the unhoused are already few and far between. As a federally designated regional leader — or Community Action Agency — Newcap held the keys to funding for many programs and can’t be easily replaced by a single organization.
Working together on shelter solutions
Shawano Area Matthew 25 is a seasonal overnight homeless shelter open from Oct. 15 to May 15. Newcap’s closure means Shawano County residents no longer have a homeless shelter to turn to during warmer months. Newcap also led Shawano’s homeless coalition, meaning it controlled state funding for SAM25. Executive Director Kendra Brusewitz said she’s still waiting on $12,000 in funds.
Over the summer, SAM25’s resource center is still open, providing food, showers, laundry and other assistance.
“We just continue to see an increase in the numbers coming through our resource center,” Brusewitz said. “Not having a place to refer people, families to in the area during the summer months is challenging.”
Without Newcap, nonprofit leaders realized there was no longer a way for Shawano County residents to access Coordinated Entry – a prioritization list that matches people with housing resources throughout the state based on their eligibility.
The children’s space sits empty during the day at Safe Haven in Shawano, Wis., on June 19, 2026. Newcap was a leading provider of homeless services for 10 northeastern Wisconsin counties, and the organization’s abrupt closure in March has left service providers scrambling to fill gaps. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Safe Haven and SAM25 teamed up with Shawano Area United Way to form a coalition, educating local officials on housing needs and brainstorming solutions. Brusewitz and Lohff took charge of signing people up for Coordinated Entry.
“We’ve actually had clients getting pulled for the housing assistance because they wanted to move to other counties, so that’s been great,” Lohff said.
They’ve also applied for grants to fund a housing coordinator for Shawano County and collaborated with Bonduel middle and high schools to make hygiene kits. The coalition’s efforts aren’t funded, nor are they part of anyone’s job description. But Shawano community leaders feel it’s necessary.
“A lot of us have lived here, grown up here, and we’re so passionate about it, so some of (the work) may be slightly out of the scope, but it’s so important,” Lohff said.
Support for survivors
Newcap’s grants allowed victims of domestic violence in Shawano and neighboring counties to obtain permanent housing, which is vital since Safe Haven is an emergency shelter, Lohff said. So far, no agency has been identified to permanently take on the grant.
“The financial assistance for them to be able to obtain the housing has vanished,” Lohff said. “Within the realm of domestic violence, so many of our clients experience financial abuse … and that’s one of the reasons why they don’t leave that abusive relationship, is because their abuser holds finances over their head.”
Rainbow House, a domestic violence shelter serving Marinette and Oconto counties, was similarly left as one of the area’s only providers after Newcap closed. Executive Director Courtney Olson told Wisconsin Watch she’s received a “steady increase” in calls since then.
Like Safe Haven, Rainbow House cannot respond to general calls for housing. As it is, its waiting list for domestic violence clients continues to grow, which means ensuring their safety in other ways.
“In response to these long waits, we are working hard to keep survivors safe in their own homes whenever possible,” Olson wrote in an email. “That means offering more on the security side (cameras, cell phones, panic alarms, lock replacements, temporary restraining orders) and working with landlords to remove the person causing harm from a lease rather than displacing the survivor.”
A ‘long, slow road’
Regional Continuum of Care programs distribute federal funding for homeless shelters. Milwaukee, Dane and Racine counties have their own CoCs, while the Balance of State CoC oversees the rest of Wisconsin through regional coalitions.
Although based in Brown County, Newcap also served as the lead agency for the Wisconsin Balance of State’s Northeast Coalition — in Florence, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto and Shawano counties — and the NWISH Coalition – made up of Forest, Langlade, Oneida, and Vilas counties.
A sign for Safe Haven is posted on the front lawn on June 19, 2026. Executive Director Mindy Lohff teamed up with SAM25 leader Kendra Brusewitz and the Shawano Area United Way to educate the community about housing issues and to brainstorm solutions. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
The loss of Newcap comes at a time when national funding for Continuum of Care programs is already uncertain. President Donald Trump’s proposed 2027 fiscal year budget would eliminate the Continuum of Care program, reducing all homeless assistance funding by $400 million.
Meanwhile, the 2026 budget will require the Wisconsin Balance of State to compete with Continuum of Care programs nationwide for a greater portion of funding based on the Trump administration’s priorities. An estimated 1,287 people could lose their housing in Wisconsin, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
The Balance of State is acting as a temporary lead for the Northeast and NWISH coalitions, ensuring the “point-in-time” homeless count happens – an essential step to securing federal funding – and filling vacant board positions.
Balance of State homeless systems manager Ryan Graham said they’re essentially starting from square one, and they won’t be able to replace Newcap easily.
“Now, it’s about, ‘How do we rebuild some kind of homeless response in that area?’ because the agency that pretty much did all of that and provided the capacity to do it is no longer there,” Graham said. “They were the coalition lead, they were the point-in-time lead, they were the state funding lead.”
Graham has been impressed by organizations like Safe Haven and SAM25 stepping up, but finding an organization qualified to take on Newcap’s responsibilities is still hard.
“It’s going to be a long, slow road, “ Graham said. “Hopefully, it won’t be too slow, but we’re really starting from scratch in a lot of areas, especially in the Northeast and NWISH Coalition, as far as building a homeless response system.”
Federal grants transferred to Brown County nonprofits
Even in Brown County, where organizations do exist to take on Newcap’s clients, it’s still not that simple.
When Newcap closed, the 134 households that depended on federally funded programs were immediately put at risk of homelessness. Public officials advocated to get four federal grants transferred to local organizations and waited nearly a month after Newcap’s closure to receive confirmation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
House of Hope in Green Bay will take on three of the four grants, but Director of Community Engagement Beth Hudak said it’s collaborating with multiple Brown County agencies to manage cases for Newcap’s former clients.
“One of the biggest lessons we learned … is that when one agency holds all of the funding – does all of the work – when something happens, our community is devastated by it,” Hudak said. “What we really want to make sure we’re emphasizing in the future is having many, many more organizations involved in all of this work.”
A truck pulls out of a Wolf River access point in Shawano, Wis., on June 19, 2026. Since Newcap closed, Shawano County residents no longer have a year-round homeless shelter. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
House of Hope’s primary mission is to serve homeless youth — not to provide permanent housing for adults, which some of the grants stipulate. But according to Hudak, HUD said House of Hope was the only agency qualified to take on the grants.
“I don’t think we really had an option … HUD said that it was either us or the contracts would go to other parts of the state,” Hudak said.
House of Hope will personally take over a $440,000 grant for youth rapid rehousing in Brown County. Through working with other agencies, it hopes to find subrecipients for a $1.1 million permanent supportive housing grant for individuals in Brown County.
The third grant was specifically designated for supportive housing in rural northeast Wisconsin. Hudak said House of Hope is working closely with the Balance of State’s Northeast and NWISH coalitions even though they have yet to receive access to the grant funds.
Foundations Health & Wholeness, also based in Green Bay and primarily serving youth, will take on the fourth direct federal grant from Newcap, which provides nearly $300,000 for a youth mobile outreach program.
Jackie Baumgart, director of Foundations Youth Services, said the grant fits into the work they’re already doing: engaging with homeless youth where they’re at since their access to transportation is often limited.
“Why we were approached for this is because we do community-based services, and we don’t have specific offices where everybody works,” Baumgart said. “So our staff are out in the community … Our hope is to have a counselor go out and do a mental health check-in with young people that wouldn’t otherwise be able to access these services.”
The organization will also take over Coordinated Entry for the NWISH and Northeast coalitions, filling another gap left by Newcap. Baumgart said her nonprofit plans to operate with more transparency and collaboration with other organizations.
“My vision for what to do versus what has been done is to change it up a little bit and make it a more publicly known list for housing … I really want to make sure that we are teaching other organizations how to use it, when to use it, how to take people off of it, when to put people on, so that it’s not us doing all the work,” she said.
Moving forward
A bedroom sits empty during the day at Safe Haven on June 19, 2026. The emergency shelter has fielded more calls for service since Newcap closed. “Unfortunately, if they aren’t actively fleeing domestic violence or sexual violence, they’re not eligible (to) stay here, and there’s nowhere for them to go in Shawano County,” Executive Director Mindy Lohff said. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
In Green Bay, Newcap’s closure has made way for a unique new homeless shelter that takes in people who have been banned from other shelters in Brown County. Although controversial, Safe Haven Hope Center received a permit in May to use one of Newcap’s former buildings to shelter 19 individuals.
Safe Haven technically rents the property from Newcap, which means Executive Director Cathi Oreto isn’t sure if it will be able to keep the property as Newcap liquidates its assets. But for now, she’s moving forward with a harm-reduction approach, offering a community-centered shelter with an extremely forgiving policy.
“We know that we’re going to have to ask people to leave, but when we ask them to leave, we’re going to ask them — and we have asked them — to leave for today and come back tomorrow,” Oreto said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the first time, 10th time, or one millionth time, our exit strategy is the same.”
Meanwhile, a Brown County coalition is making sure the point-in-time count still happens on the night of July 22. Although Newcap led the point-in-time count for the past five years, Hudak said some Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition members have participated for decades.
“I think we have it pretty well handled,” Hudak said. “One of the biggest issues that we’re coming across is just sort of a lack of data transfer, so some of the more in-depth information that Newcap had, we don’t necessarily have access to because of how quickly they closed.”
In the future, Hudak said they’ll make sure the entire coalition has access to PIT documentation, instead of just one organization. It’s part of a broader effort to build interdependence between local anti-poverty nonprofits to minimize the impact of one closing.
That network includes community members, too. Hudak said volunteers are always needed, and anyone who cares about homelessness can provide a fresh perspective. The NWISH and Northeast coalitions are also looking for members.
“All of our coalitions are always looking for more people to be in and support the work, and you don’t have to be a service provider to do that … Having outside perspectives is hugely, hugely important for making sure that we’re doing the best work that we can for the people that we serve,” she said.
Brown County is part of the Balance of State CoC, the Continuum of Care that makes up the majority of the state outside of Milwaukee, Dane and Racine counties, which have their own CoCs. A Continuum of Care is a regional nonprofit or government entity that helps coordinate and distribute funding to homeless and housing providers.
Homelessness fell 3.1% nationwide based on the January 2025 Point in Time count, according to the 2025 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (Part 1). This trend is seen locally: In Brown County there was an 8% decrease in homelessness from 453 in 2025 to 416 in 2026 on the night of the Point in Time count.
More people than ever before are receiving housing services nationally: 642,451, an increase of 4%, according to the annual report. However, over the course of 2024, 912,807 people entered homelessness for the first time.
Service providers are tasked to meet the needs of an increasingly vulnerable population, including the chronically homeless. Chronic homelessness is defined as an individual with a disability who has been continuously homeless for one year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years where the combined length of time spent homeless on those occasions is at least 12 months. In particular, chronic homelessness continues to be a challenge for CoCs with funding for Permanent Supportive Housing. Organizations nationwide have Permanent Supportive Housing beds available for, at most, 32% of the chronically homeless population, according to the AHAR report. In Brown County nearly 19% of our homeless population meets the chronically homeless designation and 69% have a disability.
HUD has designated $4.04 billion in funding for CoCs to apply for in fiscal year 2026, more than previous HUD notices. However, this notice redirects CoC programming away from Permanent Supportive Housing and toward Transitional Housing programming, with addiction and mental health treatment as an objective for housing services.
In the notice, HUD tells us that “Housing First” programming has failed, pointing to the 27% increase in homelessness since 2013 when “Housing First” was introduced. In that time, funding for “permanent beds” has increased 150.9% and CoC funding has increased 111%.
From 2013 to 2026 rental costs in Wisconsin have increased nearly 78%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Zillow, with spikes in post-COVID rental markets in midsize Wisconsin cities such as Green Bay and Appleton being hit the hardest.
The minimum wage has not changed in the state of Wisconsin since 2009, and according to data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition this leaves rental options out of reach for many in the state of Wisconsin. In Brown County, an estimated 35% of the population, or 39,000 people, are renters, coalition data shows. This means a minimum wage worker in Brown County needs to work 104 hours a week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental.
With direction from the HUD notice, CoCs will need to meet a new set of requirements that are beyond the scope of nonprofit service providers in our community. This includes increasing the wages of program participants and required mental health and addiction treatment. This is not something that can be done at a CoC level alone. Brown County service providers are working diligently to meet the needs of those in our community who are experiencing homelessness by offering opportunities for permanent housing, transitional housing and emergency shelter. They are not built to respond to a stagnant minimum wage, a housing market devoid of options and a mental health epidemic.
The current CoC project is not perfect, but it does not exist in a perfect environment. For Permanent Supportive Housing programs with full funding to succeed, we need to create that. The HUD notice puts the responsibility of making the perfect environment and running the perfect program on the regional housing coalitions, and if you are unable to meet that, too bad.
Housing is the responsibility of our community and the people who live here. This “pay-to-play” model is harmful to our CoCs, community nonprofits and especially harmful to the neighbors they serve.
We don’t fix our current homelessness crisis by punishing the helpers.
We fix the problem by addressing the root causes:
State and local governments can work to support increased development by repealing restrictive zoning rules.
Grants and low interest loans should be used to support development to ensure there are units available for those at 30-80% Area Median Income. In Brown County we are already doing this; many zoning changes across the community are starting to happen.
We need collaboration across municipalities to keep up with the demand and meet the changing needs of households in our community.
We need grants to help landlords and property managers make necessary repairs to our aging housing stock to keep it up to code and available for program participants.
We need to protect our “mom and pop” landlords from consumer act lawsuits, while increasing tenants’ rights: right to council during evictions, right to organize and the right to purchase.
And this is just the start. We need to increase access points for mental health and addiction treatment by expanding public health care; treating these not as the cause of homelessness but as a health crisis.
It’s not an easy pill to swallow, and addressing the root causes will require hard work and time. But we live in a community that cares and has the resources to make an impact by working together and helping our neighbors.
Josh Benti is the homeless initiative project director for the Greater Green Bay Blueprint to Prevent and End Homelessness, an initiative of the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation that creates pathways to prevent and end homelessness in the region.
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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.
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.
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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