County Launches Housing Program for Homeless Veterans

Marcia P. Coggs Human Services building, 230 W. Cherry St. Photo taken June 13, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is taking over a housing program for veterans who are homeless or lack stable housing.

The department, which contains the county’s Housing Services Division, will use a federal grant to fund a transitional housing program for up to 20 veterans and their children at a time over the next three years. Two community organizations have historically provided this veterans housing program in Milwaukee. One provider is the Center for Veterans Issues.

The program, funded through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is not new to Milwaukee, but this is the first time it will be managed by Milwaukee County. As a provider for the program, the county’s Housing Services will serve as a connection between the veterans and the full array of the county’s health and human services through the No Wrong Door policy, which emphasizes connecting an individual to whatever services they need — mental health, employment, housing — no matter which service is their initial point of entry.

“We say housing is health, and it’s really hard for people to get on their feet to focus on employment, or you know how they’re going to get to school, or anything else if they don’t have safe and stable housing,” said DHHS Director Shakita LaGrant-McClain. “So it’s really important for grants like this to help us to continue the important work to meet people where they are and to make sure they have safe and affordable housing in the community.”

Housing Services will use the grant to master lease up to 20 apartments across Milwaukee. The master lease model allows the county to act as lessee so veterans can move off the street and into housing quickly. The apartments will act as transitional housing, but the ultimate goal is getting the veterans to a place where they can take over the lease themselves, said James Mathy, Housing Services administrator. Veterans will have a case manager who will help them access whatever services they need to reach that point.

“This is truly what No Wrong Door is about,” Mathy said. “The only way to reduce and end homelessness is with housing and supportive services, and both go hand in hand, which this grant will do.”

DHHS oversees the county’s human services programming, including the mental health system that is mandated by state law. But like other county operations, the agency has faced tightening budgets as the county’s structural deficit grows. The department manages to fund programs, like the new veterans housing program, through a variety of state and federal grants. But it will become difficult to maintain services through grants alone if long-term, sustainable funding is not realized.

“Is it gonna be harder in the future if we don’t have sustainable funds? The answer is yes,” LaGrant-McClain told Urban Milwaukee, adding that she prefers to remain an optimist. “We have the most committed and dedicated staff I’ve ever worked with in my life, and we have the most amazing advocates and allies who are working alongside us.”