Supervisor Rolland Urges County Board to Approve Amendment Supporting Unhoused and Housing-Insecure Residents

MILWAUKEE – In recognition of Homelessness Awareness Week, which runs from October 27 to November 2 across Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, Milwaukee County Supervisor Shawn Rolland (District 6) is calling on his colleagues to support a 2025 budget amendment that allocates $500,000 to Milwaukee County’s Housing Division to support unhoused and housing-insecure residents in finding stable options. Supervisor Rolland highlighted the amendment’s impact, emphasizing the essential role of a flexible housing resource:

“The Flexible Housing Pool is a proven approach initiated by the County during the pandemic, allowing our Housing Division to quickly move underserved individuals and families into stable housing. Currently, when Supervisors call the Housing Division to help an unhoused person in their area, they use these funds to get that person housed. If there are insufficient Flexible Housing Pool funds, the Housing Division will not have the tools they need to help.  

“With rent and mortgage costs up by 31% and 43% respectively, many people are facing severe housing insecurity, including some who are homeless for the first time in their lives. For those recently forced to leave local park-and-ride lots, this means contemplating living in the woods, under bridges, or other precarious places. This situation is a tragedy, and we must act to prevent it.

“Milwaukee County has made significant investments ‘up the funnel’ to prevent homelessness in the future, but as our budget stands, it lacks support for those in immediate crisis. By adopting this amendment, we’ll ensure our 2025 budget lifts people out of homelessness today as we work to prevent it tomorrow. Stable housing is health care. As we observe Homelessness Awareness Week, let’s seize this moment to make our County healthier and safer.”

Supervisors Jack Eckblad, Juan Miguel Martinez, Sky Z. Capriolo, Felesia Martin, Caroline Gómez-Tom, and Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones have all signed on as co-sponsors. The full details of the amendment can be found here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.