Rural shelters respond as homelessness rises

The homeless population in Wisconsin rose to its highest population last year since at least 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care (COC) program.

Twice a year, COC gathers input from across the state for its Point in Time report, a one-night headcount of the state’s homeless population.

Last year, COC reported a population of 5,049 unhoused individuals in Wisconsin, with 3,693 in emergency shelters, 846 in transitional housing and 510 unsheltered. These counts are held in July and January.

The count marks a swift rise from 2023, which reported 4,861 homeless. The five-year trend shows a gradual rise from 2019 with 4,538, with only one remarkable reduction in 2021 (3,996) — though that count was gathered amidst pandemic restrictions.

Worldwide, homelessness is difficult to gage, as reflected by COC’s volunteer-driven “snapshot” count being the best indicator of the population. Homelessness itself has an expansive definition that includes individuals living on the street, in shelters, in transitional housing, or “couchhopping” by temporarily living with family and friends.

This veil of ambiguity can obscure the growing concern of homelessness — particularly in rural Wisconsin, where the homeless population can stay less visible by camping or couchhopping.

There are, however, dedicated organizations working to secure housing and prevent homelessness in Oneida and Vilas counties. One invaluable resource is Northwoods Alliance for Temporary Housing’s (NATH) Frederick Place — a 16-bed temporary shelter in Rhinelander that serves families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

Last year, Frederick Place reported a 74 percent success rate, according to NATH director Abbey Dall Lukowski, and this year they’re on pace to meet an 80 percent rate. Success rate, she said, is determined by measuring how many individuals who have lived at Frederick Place are working and staying in a sustainable housing situation one year after they left.

As of October, Frederick Place is nearing 1,300 people successfully served over the last 10 years.

“That’s successful folks who have stayed with us that we’ve tracked,” Lukowski said.

Annually, Frederick Place serves about 100-150 individuals, Lukowski said.

“Of that, 80 percent are seemingly successfully,” she added. “Of the other 20 percent, 10 percent are folks that just don’t contact us again, so maybe they’re successful, maybe they’re not — we just don’t hear from them again. The other 10 percent of that are folks who have reverted back to living a homeless lifestyle.”

Lukowski said there are misconceptions around what the homeless population is like and what factors lead to homelessness.

“There’s a perception around that anybody who’s homeless is dangerous, that they are living in an addiction-type of manner, that they are living in a way that is unpresentable to the common person — and that in the Northwoods is just not as true,” Lukowski said.

“I think a lot of folks believe that homelessness is all addiction related or mental health,” she said. “There is a strong piece of mental health that, from a national perspective and a state perspective we’re trying to figure out how we can work with folks who are dealing with some really high-risk mental health states like schizophrenia or personality disorders where it’s difficult for those folks to communicate with others.”

When someone is admitted to Frederick Place, an independent case plan is developed. These plans can vary widely from individuals who are suffering a mental health crisis to other individuals who experienced a significant life event that lead to homelessness.

“Say it were me who was homeless, I might walk in and just need to find sustainable employment and housing,” Lukowski said. “If a person walks in who has a significant mental health concern, maybe a part of their plan is stabilizing their mental health in whatever capacity that might look like.”

Right now the greater majority of people who stay at Frederick Place are families with small children, Lukowski said.

“Housing opportunities have really dramatically changed, particularly since Covid,” she said. “Covid saw an influx to the area of individuals who are able to work remotely and became permanent residents. Awesome for our economy because it builds up our economy and we have new people and new ideas and we see this generation of all these cool businesses and things like that — but at the same time a lot of those rental units now became folks who maybe had affordable living at the time … have now found themselves without a home.”

In recent years, Frederick Place sees an average of 2-3 families at any time with kids under the age of 4.

Due to similar housing affordability issues, Frederick Place has also seen an influx of 80-plus year olds in recent years.

“Those single-bedroom units of affordable living that qualify for HUD-related funding are just non-existent,” Lukowski said. “The ones that we have are full … We have some developers in town who are trying to solve that problem, but solving that problem costs a lot of money to do.”

Frederick Place currently has three residents over the age of  80, Lukowski shared.

“It’s so concerning and sad because, I guess I was raised that you treat your elders with the most respect. I feel like we’re trying to do that but these are folks who are living on Social Security and they cannot afford $1,200-1,300 a month rent,” she said.

Another common demographic at the shelter are veterans. Lukowski said Frederick Place serves “two to three at any time.” 

That need will soon be met by greater resources at Northwoods Veterans Homestead (NVH), which is working on establishing housing for homeless veterans in 3-4 years, Lukowski said.

NVF is just one of many organizations that NATH partners with to help serve the homeless community — other groups like the National Alliance on Mental Illness, local food pantries, churches and thrift shops are instrumental partners.

“All of these agencies exist they support us when they’re staying at Frederick Place, and they’ll also support these folks once they leave,” Lukowski said. “They build these relationships with own their community. What we have found in the last two years is that some of these folks that have stayed at Frederick Place will come back and serve in one of those capacities. It’s just so awesome.”

The best way local residents can help the cause, Lukowski said, is to pick one organization to support (to prevent burnout) and commit to it.

“I think the bigger piece is commitment ... Attend those fundraisers, bring a meal, commit to making it a priority: ‘Oh I’m going to call Frederick Place before I go to Goodwill, they might need the clothing or the bedding,’” Lukowski said.

Most importantly, today’s committed volunteers can become tomorrow’s valued leaders.

“Our board is aging,” Lukowski said. “We have members who have been around for 15 years, but we need the next generation to start committing … you need to be a part of your community to keep it rolling along.”

Individuals who are not able to commit their time may be able to help local organizations long-term with valuable donations, Lukowski said.

“What we have seen is folks make the commitment to making a contribution upon their death,” she explained. “They’re writing us into their will and we’re very grateful for that … It’s making a commitment to the next generation. Homelessness isn’t going to go away anytime soon.”

For more information on NATH activities and Frederick Place resources, visit www.nathnorthwoods.com.

Michael Strasburg may be reached at [email protected].