(CBS NEWS PHOTO)
FARGO (KFGO) – In 2015, Wisconsin’s Milwaukee County embarked on an effort to place homeless people into permanent supportive housing through an initiative called Housing First. By 2022, the city was being recognized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the community with the lowest per-capita unsheltered homeless population in America.
The Housing First program, which is reliant on crucial collaboration between public entities and the private sector, maintains a 96% retention rate and is credited for a 45% reduction in overall homelessness in the county.
Next week, the City of Fargo is hosting two community conversations with the author of the plan. James Mathy, the Administrator of Milwaukee County’s Housing Services, will lead discussions about the components that are necessary to develop solutions to chronic homelessness in the F-M metro.
The events are being held as part of the city’s most recent push to address the growing concerns and significant increase in homelessness locally. The number of unsheltered people in Fargo has been steadily rising since 2017, and in even more significant increments during and since the COVID 19 pandemic.
Statistics from the United Way show there are currently typically 1,000 people in the metro area who are homeless in the area on any given night. Estimates from various non-profit and advocacy groups show area homelessness rates rose 60% from 2022 to 2023 alone. They say more people are experiencing homelessness in the F-M metro than in all of the rest of North Dakota combined.
Until there is a concentrated, coordinated effort between the public and private sectors, Fargo Cass Public Health officials have said those numbers are unlikely to decrease.
Milwaukee was experiencing a similar spike in homelessness in 2014 when the city’s Downtown Business Improvement District convened a group of civic and business leaders to figure out what could be done to interrupt the constant cycle of chronic homelessness.
Those discussions led to the county adopting the Housing First approach, which prioritized getting people connected to housing, even before addressing other issues like mental health, substance abuse treatment, education, and employment. The approach quickly produced results. Besides reductions in the county’s homelessness rate, crisis service utilization, emergency room visits, and public nuisance citations also dropped.
Next week’s events will be held on Wednesday, February 21 – starting with a community discussion about the Housing First approach featuring Mathy happening from 1-3:00 p.m. in the Fargo City Commission Chambers downtown. That night at 7:00 p.m., a panel discussion and documentary screening will take place at the Fargo Theatre to discuss realistic approaches to addressing homelessness locally.
Both events are free and open to the public. Community members are encouraged to attend and join in the conversation. The events will also be livestreamed at TVFargo.com and the city’s social media channels. Additional information can be found here.
Comments