Here & Now

Ryan Graham on Northeast Wisconsin's Homeless Resources

Frederica Freyberg:
Over one night this week, Wisconsin volunteers fanned out to find the number of people experiencing homelessness in what’s called a point in time count. There are some 5,000 people without shelter in the state, and now ten counties in northeast Wisconsin are scrambling to find places for people to stay after a nonprofit provider of homeless services abruptly closed due to bankruptcy. An organization called the Balance of State Continuum of Care, which covers 69 counties in Wisconsin, is rushing in to respond, along with state agencies and other programs. Balance of State homeless systems manager Ryan Graham joins us now. And Ryan, thanks very much for being here.

Ryan Graham:
Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So how many people served by the bankrupt provider of services are at risk of homelessness in those ten counties?

Ryan Graham:
Well, you know, I think there was 134 households that were served in the direct homeless housing programs that we were able to maintain housing for. But there’s a significant amount of homeless folks still in that community that are in need of housing. And, you know, that lack of services and the closing of that agency really creates a gap in institutional knowledge. It creates a gap in process and systems and all the things that were established there, you know, in looking for resources and reestablishing that is going to take a considerable amount of effort.

Frederica Freyberg:
Just stepping back at the whole picture, is the number of people in Wisconsin experiencing homelessness on the rise?

Ryan Graham:
I would say yes. You know, we just did our point in time count Wednesday. We are in the process of our post count, meaning we are still up for a week after our point in time count, and we are still looking to engage and identify those folks who are connecting with services. And that week prior to the count so we can include those folks. And so that the data is not out yet. But you know, we haven’t fixed the housing problem. We haven’t fixed the lack of services problem. So and affordability of living just in general has not gotten any better. So yeah, I do expect the housing problem to increase, not decrease.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because how important is that kind of point in time count toward understanding the needs out there?

Ryan Graham:
It’s very important. You know, it’s really our only data point that includes folks that we are engaging with that are sleeping outside, so unsheltered or places not meant for habitation. Folks that are sheltered engaged with housing programs, but also our DV population. And so while we obviously do not locate everybody who’s experiencing homelessness in that night or the week prior, we’re really comfortable saying it’s, at minimum, this is what our homeless problem is, and it’s a good place to see trends, right? Because of the structure and the way that’s been set up consistently for years. It’s a really good data point to look at trends and how homelessness is and how we’re responding to homelessness in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
Is there enough state, federal and other funding to cover resources needed for this work?

Ryan Graham:
Not even remotely. We are really working hard to do as much as we can with pennies of what we need to do the work, and that takes a collaborative effort. So we work hard in all of our counties, you know, really to build that collaboration and work together to try and problem solve and figure out solutions for people experiencing homelessness.

Frederica Freyberg:
As to federal funding, that point in time count, I understand, is used to apply for federal grants for housing services. What kind of uncertainty in that federal funding is there right now?

Ryan Graham:
Yeah, I mean, I think there’s a significant amount of uncertainty. You know, I think, you know, looking at the federal CoC program through HUD, you know, they’re looking at making significant changes away from permanent supportive housing programs that we know to be effective and moving more towards transitional, non-permanent supportive housing or permanent housing efforts. You know, so I think that’s a significant change without protecting the folks that were already housed in these programs. And so there’s a significant shift that is going to provide, I think, a lot of housing insecurity for folks who were previously homeless, now are securely housed. And we don’t know what that’s going to look like here moving forward. So there’s a lot of uncertainty that way.

Frederica Freyberg:
We leave it there. Ryan Graham, thanks very much.

Ryan Graham:
Yeah. Happy too.