MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley put pen to paper on a first-of-its-kind housing project that could begin construction in June.
The project, which would be located in Milwaukee’s Uptown neighborhood just north of 50th and Lisbon, will include 20 units dedicated to crisis housing beds for people experiencing emergency housing situations and dealing with trauma. The remaining 21 units will be affordable-rate housing, with eight of the units receiving project-based vouchers from the county’s Department of Health and Human Services.
“I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Housing is a matter of public health, and housing security is a critical social determinant of health” said Crowley Monday. “This project brings together critical services to bridge the gap between housing insecurity and behavioral health needs.”
Half of the 2 million dollar investment in the project comes from federal American Rescue Plan funds, and it has received the endorsement of both U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Representative Gwen Moore.
Crowley tells WTMJ the security setup on site is still a work in progress. “There’s still going to be a Request for Proposals to see who’s going to be providing many of those services within this building” said Crowley. “I would make the assumption and would hope that they will have communication and a partnership with law enforcement if anything were to happen. It is no doubt in my mind that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this place is safe, and it’s quality.”
Renderings of the site once complete are included below, courtesy of Milwaukee County:
Each of the 41 units will be separated, differing from other crisis housing centers and shelter spaces. As for the process of selecting who will qualify for the crisis housing units, Housing Services Administrator Jim Mathy tells WTMJ that DHHS’s Behavioral Health Services are intentionally keeping that process open-ended for the time being.
“We want to make sure that those with boots on the ground who are doing outreach don’t necessarily pigeonhole the program for what we’re trying to do” says Mathy. “We certainly assume that a lot of individuals that are going through a homeless crisis will be one of our target populations. Going with whoever needs it most is what we’re targeting, but we’re not necessarily limiting it on diagnoses or exact situations. It could [also] be domestic violence, that’s one situation we’re targeting as well.”
Anthony Kazee with KG Development says the project is on track to break ground in June. It’s unknown whether or not the family services operation currently running from the building on site now will transition to the new facility or move somewhere else.
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