Last year, a partnership of community organizations in La Crosse set a goal of ending homelessness among about a dozen veterans by Christmas of 2016, a target they met. Now, the La Crosse Collaborative To End Homelessness hopes to tackle housing for the chronic homeless in 2017. The group ultimately seeks to end homelessness in La Crosse entirely.
Collaborative chairwoman Kim Cable says they believe La Crosse is the first city in Wisconsin to end homelessness for veterans.
The collaborative, which began in 2016, includes a wide range of La Crosse organizations from homelessness service providers to businesses including many landlords, health care institutions and neighborhood associations.
Cable said they will meet next month and start a 100 day “sprint” of work to end chronic homelessness in La Crosse.
“Many of those people have been unsheltered for a considerable amount of time and now have gained the label of being chronically homeless,” Cable said. “That means that they’ve been on the streets for a period of 12 months solidly or have had at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years.”
Cable said some in that category have been considered homeless for as long as five years.
She said while the chronically homeless are already a priority among service providers, the collaborative plans to approach this group much like it did homeless veterans.
“Our first task will be to try and develop a list of people who we know are in this community and experiencing chronic homelessness and figure out where they are, and then we’ll start looking at who has what services to offer these individuals,” said Cable. “Most are single adults living with a disability of some type, most usually a mental health disorder or a substance abuse disorder.”
La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat is a big supporter of the effort to end homelessness. Kabat said the city has a shortage of low-income housing now and is working with developers and landlords to increase low-income housing so the collaborative has more options to place people.
The city is a partner in three different housing rehabilitation projects (one completed last year and two in the works) that should make it easier for the collaborative to find a place for the homeless to live.
– John Davis
Episode Credits
- Hope Kirwan Host
- John Davis Producer
- Kim Cable Guest
- Sister Karen Neuser Guest
- Tim Kabat Guest
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
