Milwaukee Katrina Shelter Will Close at End of Month:

[jane_pippin]

From today's Journal-Sentinel:

(Nancy) Mondy's search for housing and employment has taken on a greater sense of urgency, with word Tuesday that the Milwaukee-area shelter for Hurricane Katrina evacuees will close at the end of the month.

Since it opened on Sept. 8, the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at State Fair Park has housed roughly 400 evacuees. Nearly 250 still called the center home on Tuesday, five weeks after they arrived from the Gulf Coast.

(snip)

The challenge now for the people who fled New Orleans and those assisting them will be to find housing for the evacuees.

Roughly 40 units in the Highland Garden public housing project in Milwaukee will be available for evacuees, likely by the end of the week. Another 15 housing units for families will be opened in the North Lawn housing project and another five in the South Lawn complex by early next week, according to City of Milwaukee housing officials.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct05/362583.asp

This is what I don't understand: People are actively trying to find permanent housing--both the evacuees themselves and people working on their behalf--but instead of staying where they are as they search for housing they're going to move them somewhere else? I read the article twice and I can't find the reason they are closing the shelter.

Help me out. What am I missing/not getting about this?

[Dolomite]

1. I'm not an expert on the matter

but I am a volunteer shelter worker. The ARC provides temporary shelter during emergencies. That’s about the extent of it – every thing else they do is “gravy”.

Why are they moving them around?

Primarily because, the Red Cross is paying the bill for the Tommy Thompson Youth Center rooms.

Secondly, the rooms are barracks style (with 12 beds in a room, a toilet and shower, one community TV area per floor), and I can’t foresee someone wanting to live like that permanently.

So now the ARC case workers are basically saying, ‘we are declaring the emergency over, we’re going to help you find some temporary housing (4 to 6 months), by then you should be on your feet or working with someone else to help you take care of your needs.’

Cold? Harsh? Maybe, but I’ve seen tons of people walk in to the shelter trying to find a way to help our clients with jobs and a place to stay. I’m sure the flow of this particular brand of generosity is slowly fading in terms of public interest – but there are plenty of former NOLA residents I saw at the shelter working their asses off every day for some cash so that they can re-start their life.

There was one group that would come in every morning at 7:00AM speckled head to toe in paint. They’d work a night shift doing painting, then drag their tired butts in for one of those great Salvation Army breakfasts, hit their racks, and get ready to do it all over again the next night. I was impressed by these guys and have zero doubt they’ll have a hard time getting back on their feet quickly – you’ve got to remember, some of these folks just walked a plane that just randomly ended up in Milwaukee. Some had just a shirt and a pair of shorts. No shoes. No ID. Nothing. How far they’ve come is remarkable.

From the article:
"In the next week, we expect to see a significant effort made by the people to seek housing," Pratt said. "By having things so elastic, a number of people didn't want to decide anything."
And I agree with what Marvin is saying there. Nobody is going to be tossing these folks out on the street – but there are just a ton of organizations both private and public extending a hand to help. Now is a better time than later for taking advantage of that.

[jane_pippin]

2. Thank you for your explanation...

I just didn't get why they were closing it and moving them to a different temporary shelter but your description helped a lot.

I just can't imagine going through what they have. They must be beyond exhausted in every sense and they still have to keep at it just to get back on their feet in a place they might not have ever been before. It's unbelievable.

My parents live in the area near the youth center and went by a few days ago to drop off some sweaters and suits for people who are staying there.

I just hope they don't get forgotten about.