County Adding Funding To Emergency Housing

Homes on S. 15th St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee County’s Housing Division will expand emergency housing assistance in 2025.

The agency is preparing to deploy approximately $500,000 in additional funding for rent assistance and emergency housing services.

The Milwaukee County Board approved the additional funding during the 2025 budget process after the Wisconsin Department of Transportation closed two park-and-ride lots along the freeway where homeless individuals were camping.

James Mathy, housing services administrator, went before the board’s Committee on Finance Monday seeking approval for a contract with Community Advocates to act as the agency’s fiscal agent for the funding. The non-profit has worked with the county on housing assistance programs for years and helps the county release the funds quicker than it otherwise could, according to Mathy.

“Sometimes we need to work in a 24-hour fashion,” Mathy told the county board’s Committee on Finance Monday. “A contract like this allows us to access these funds very quickly.”

The additional funding will bolster the agency’s existing emergency homeless response, which serves people living on the street and others who are at an immediate risk of losing their home and ending up on the street. The contract needs one final approval from the full county board before the funds can be dispersed.

“We have individuals who are currently in warming rooms that will now have access to these funds for security deposits, different types of down payment mechanisms, making sure their apartments are ready to go,” Mathy said.

The budget amendment providing the funding was sponsored by Sup. Shawn Rolland. It uses money originally set aside in anticipation of the state raising intergovernmental charges for juvenile corrections. There was concern during the budget process that the county’s Department of Health and Human Services could end up in a budget deficit if the rate is increased.

The debate underscored the growing challenges county policymakers face as COVID-19 pandemic stimulus funding runs out and annual budget deficits return; when funding one program could mean taking money away from another.

Since taking office, County Executive David Crowley‘s administration directed approximately $45 million to affordable housing development, and dispersed more than $80 million in federal funds for rental assistance during the pandemic, according to the county executive’s office.

The county is faced with growing budgetary uncertainty, as future deficit projections suggest policymakers will have to begin making cuts to government spending. To continue the momentum on housing, Crowley is looking to the state and federal government for greater funding.

“To be able to utilize our [ARPA] dollars to make initial investments, feels like we got a little bit ahead of the curve,” Crowley recently told Urban Milwaukee. “But now that we’ve exhausted those dollars, it’s going to take greater state and federal partnerships.”