 All right, we're going to get started here. I See some familiar faces out there. So that's good to see on there Thanks for joining us and tuning in tonight on our second of our four town halls the last two weeks ago we did bridges out of poverty and Alice which is an acronym for Acid limited income constrained employed. I can't believe I got that and So if you didn't get a chance to view that it is out on the city's website and it's worth each one builds on on the other so Feel free to go out onto the city's website and take a look at session number one also Tonight's session is is about understanding concepts of housing and homelessness the housing spectrum and We have a quite a panel of in individuals here My name is Joe Cruz. I'm a member of the housing coalition Also in our lineup is Emily who is the chair of the housing coalition Krista who is from the Salvation Army? Morgan who's from Lakeshore cap? Abby who's from also from Lakeshore Lakeshore cap Steve Steven who's from the warming center the Schwagen County warming center and then hopefully we're going to have Some lived experience individual Michael who may be joining us remotely virtually or he may join us In-person we will find that out so a couple of housekeeping Items, please keep yourself muted during the presentations and the discussions If you have questions, we really want your questions. This is a town hall so feel free to write them down to Be able to share with us at the end when we open up for that so that you will have a time period when we will unmute the mics Or you could put them in to the chat area and we will Field them a little bit later on So let's get started on the housing spectrum and finding out of a little bit more about What all goes into? Understanding housing so Emily Oh, there we go. Hi, my name is Emily. I am one of the co-chairs of the housing coalition Schwagen County's housing coalition And I still look like Joe When we look at this we do have a slide show presentation which I think We're looking to pull up here, but So my name is Emily Cooney. I am the co-chair for the housing coalition I'm also the behavioral health manager for the production farm in Schwagen County And tonight we're gonna be talking about understanding housing complexities now. I'm gonna be really clear I'm way too deep in the weeds with this PowerPoint. So you're gonna love all the details But the nice thing is we're really we're gonna try and get the slides out to you So you will have the information that I have in front of me later on in addition to that As Joe said, there will be a digital recording of this coming out in the future as well So if your friends want to see it and you know your neighbors your community members are interested in it And you felt like it was worthwhile. You certainly could suggest it to them and they can watch it later This we are doing four town halls as Joe said the next one is on Thursday, February 17th The signup will be forthcoming just like it was for this one and we're doing each of them individually So please consider Joining us for the third town hall as well. The last town hall is actually gonna be a panel discussion We're gonna have a group of people up here that will be here to answer any questions that are remaining We'll have a limited experience. I'm sure at that point more than one lived experience on the panel as we move forward You also may be asked to complete a survey at some point So the only way that we can improve these and get them to start running better Or the way that you're looking for them to run is to get some of the feedback from the community So if you have an opinion about how these ran or other topics that you'd like to see in the future You don't need to wait. You can let us know there'll definitely be ways to contact us as we move forward So can we get the four point run in? There we go. So we're understanding how the complexities this tall town how to it is February 3rd 2022 So we can slide on to the next slide here The next slide talks about just what I just told you. So those are some of the details of what's forthcoming And we can go to the next slide so we're actually gonna talk about some of the concepts that I'll be reviewing tonight Some of these might be really in depth and I'm gonna really try and break them down so that they make sense We're gonna talk about the cost of living the living wage What is housing an urban development or HUD like you may have heard like blah blah blah HUD standards Let's explain what that means. We're gonna talk about what fear market rent is. What if what's the term affordable housing really mean? We also need to talk a little bit about media market rent and what that means as well I think one of the most common things that people don't understand is the difference between low-income housing and Income-based housing. So we're gonna talk about that We're also going to talk about some of the pros and cons of renting versus buying and what vacancy rates are I think vacancy rates are a super important concept They're gonna get discussed further as we move through the town halls But at the same time people are like, what does that mean and why is that important? I had a very difficult time finding where to put it in my list of concepts So we will but we'll try and break that down a little bit so it makes sense as well as we move forward So that's what I'm going to be talking about as quickly as possible so everyone else gets a chance to talk Let's talk about cost of living. The definition of cost of living is the total cost of living in the communities What does it cost to actually live somewhere? Those costs include housing, utilities, food, transportation, education, child care, health, and there's some other concepts So if you look at the little graphic that's on here I compared Sherwayne and Mantuaq on a really cool tool that's out there in the community You can just Google cost of living comparison and you can kind of get an idea So if we look at this, the cost of living according to this in Mantuaq versus Sherwayne is a 7.3% cheaper to live in Mantuaq than it is in Sherwayne So when we look at this the index is based on a hundred is the national average So when we look at that like it's the concept of is it cheaper or more expensive to live here than it is Nationally somewhere else. So when you look at the ideas around Sherwayne Food and groceries here We're at like 92.6% of the national average where it's cheaper to buy groceries in Mantuaq so You know how much does it cost to buy a home in one community versus the other and anyone who's actually been looking for apartments or housing Oftentimes it'll show you when you look online What other communities around you what their rent looks like and you can definitely tell that in Mantuaq County the rent is cheaper It's just less expensive The whole ownership is cheaper in Mantuaq and less expensive as well And I'm sure there's a lot of reasons why that's the case And I'm sure that they're gonna catch up to us at some point But right now it does cost more to live in Sherwayne than it does in a similar community like Mantuaq So it's like I said it's based on the natural national average and it can be cared compared across communities I did it with Fond du Lac I did it with Milwaukee just to kind of get a feel for it But I figured Mantuaq is a community that a lot of us are very familiar with and it's not that much smaller than Sherwayne So what does that look like? Our utility costs. There's a huge difference Transportation is a difference as well. So These you know are as updated as possible, but just to get a feel for what that looks like. So what does it cost to live somewhere? And that's important when we're deciding about housing and how much things how much money we have total to live Can we skip to the next slide? All right, so now we have an idea of what the cost of living is let's talk about a living wage So when we change wage, it's a wage that is high enough to maintain a normal standard of living So, you know, you might have heard the fight for 15 or the I think it went back in the day It was like the fight for 10 Now it's the fight for 15 where they're looking to move that minimum wage up to $15 an hour And people a lot of opinions about that one way or the other but ultimately what people are looking for is a living wage They're looking for the ability to work full-time and be able to afford to live without assistance So when we look at that like what's the living wage allowed it allows for you to pay all of your bills It allows your children to be cared for on your transportation is covered whether it be public transportation whether it be a vehicle with insurance and gas and Maintenance that your food budget is covered. You have enough money to eat for the entire month And that there's no ongoing financial assistance required to survive So you're not relying on food share. You're not relying on badger care. You're not relying on Housing assistance you have enough money to be able to sustain yourself and your family for the duration of that month and Ongoing that's a living wage. So when people talk about that concept around like the fight for 15 There's reasons for that. They want people to be able to live working full-time. So Let's go to the next slide here The next slide just kind of talks about what is the living wage for Sheboygan? So when we look at this it talks about one adults two adults working or Or one adult working when the two family at home And then both adults working full-time and that's kind of the assumption here So we talk about what is the poverty wage? What is the minimum wage and Wisconsin the minimum wage is 725 an hour for a non-tip profession? So that is the minimum wage If someone were working minimum wage full-time like look at the difference in that at the amount for that Depending on how many people you have living in your home. How much does it actually cost to reside in that community? I can't even say it like most of my staff just so you're aware come from 2021 There are some updated stats as we move into 2022 some of these move quicker than others and we'll talk about that I just want to keep my stats more or less consistent So I did try and stay across the board on 2021 as much as I could so this is kind of what the idea was in 2021 one of the things just to be aware of is with COVID in the pandemic and the way things ran You can't always get the statistics the most up-to-date statistics because of some of those transitions So I believe most of what I have here is 2021 So look at what it costs like if you have two children you need to be making $36 an hour to be able to afford to raise two children So when you look at the cost for childcare and you look for the cost of other pieces, that's what they're looking at I Not to get too personal, but I have three kids We had one and then we end up with twins. So I was like, oh, we can afford a second kid Then we had three You can't put one back. So, you know at that point then if I were by myself I would need to make $46 an hour to be able to afford the three children that I ended up with so I do not make $46 an hour So Good thing. I got another adult working in my home So when we look at that like that's that's what we're talking about is the reality of this So when we tell people to kind of pull up but themselves up by their bootstraps and to go out there and find a job and that you could Succeed and you won't need any assistance if you just try harder This is how much harder we have to try and this is what the wage They'd have to make to make this make sense and to get off of all of systems and be able to afford to live independently So just to get an idea of that. All right, let's keep moving now. We're gonna talk about HUD Okay, so this slide is super busy. It's got tons of information on it What is HUD? It's the Department of Housing and Urban Development It's responsible for national policy and programs address American housing need That improve and develop the nation's communities and enforce fair housing laws So that you can go on HUD.gov and they've got all sorts of legal use and fun Yeah, yeah, you want to sleep you could surely hit HUD They run or participate in many programs intended to they support home ownership Increasing safe and affordable rental housing reduce homelessness the fight for housing discrimination like there's all sorts of pieces of what they do They foster FHA loans the community don't in home partnership block grants They subsidize some block grants they subsidize some housing including section 8 housing and they have assistance for supporting homeless individuals So there's a lot of different pieces to what they do But HUD sets the definition for homelessness. So there's been a lot of questions about why Does your income have to be a certain point or why can't I get assistance? You know when I make this much money versus someone who gets that much makes that much money or is in this housing situation Versus someone who's in this housing situation Why can't they get into shelter or why can't they get support to you know to avoid being homeless? They have four categories of homelessness according to HUD So the number one is the literal homelessness that you have to literally be homeless And that's the standard by a lot of programs. It's sleeping on the street a place not meant for habitation or a Shelter if you're staying in one of those you are category one homeless according to HUD category two Is at imminent risk of homelessness? So you're gonna be homeless within 14 days You don't have anywhere else to go and there's no shelters available to you So when you look at that, it's I'm sorry There's no other resources available to you like you don't have a huge savings account You don't have a brother who has a five-bedroom mansion You don't have anywhere else necessarily to go and you're going to lose your housing in 14 days So that's category two category three is homeless under other fat federal statute So let's think about what is another federal statute that has to do with homelessness That one of those I think is the McKinney-Vento Act So it really is looking at youth under the age of 25 especially unaccompanied minors and then families that call like I said under McKinney-Vento So when we talk about that there's people who haven't necessarily been on the lease in over 60 days They've moved to or more times in the last 60 days Or And I'm sorry son or it's an and they're going to continue to struggle with these issues It's not suddenly going to magically fix or they're not going to suddenly magically have a place to live It's that we can expect them to continue to struggle Those individuals that we're talking about we're talking about couch surfers. We're talking about people who are doubled up We're talking about Individuals who are unaccompanied minors who are under 18 and can't sign a lease, but they don't have an adult That's responsible for them under the federal guidelines in the funding around homelessness. They're not eligible for those funding But they can get other support So we have a McGinney-Vento liaison in the Shebang area school district There are McGinney-Vento Liaisons in every district in the community in every community So they can help support with things like free lunch and making sure kids get in school and helping with other pieces Our McKinney-Vento Lee is on a Sheboygan is fantastic. She's a really nice lady And she's supporting our homeless population Sheboygan the city of Sheboygan and we really appreciate her So when we look at that the fourth category is fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence So when they talk about domestic violence, they're talking about sexual violence domestic violence There's a lot of different definitions under domestic violence But again, they have to have no other housing options and no other resources to support themselves And then they can also be considered homeless under the guidelines of HUD So when we look at that we're talking more like it's really narrow view, you you know Like it's not necessarily sleeping in a cardboard box, but perhaps you're sleeping in a car Perhaps you're sleeping in a tunnel slide in the park. Perhaps you're sleeping in an encampment in one of our like forested parks You know when we talk about that or you're staying at the Salvation Army or you're staying at the Warming Center Those are the individuals that are considered category one homeless And those are the ones that they prioritize for helping with housing and when we look at that That's gonna get discussed further as we move down the table to my left, which is fantastic I just want to give you an idea that that HUD has a huge impact in all these pieces And there's regulations that go beyond like short cap that go beyond the Salvation Army That go beyond the Warming Center and Safe Harbor and all of our other Awesome places that help and support the individuals who are homeless that they have these rules They have to follow in order to continue to be funded to support the people in our community So it's not always a choice that they make sometimes. It's a decision that's made by the federal government So I just felt like that was a really good piece for the community to understand if we keep moving We're gonna talk about fair market rent. Okay, FMR I don't think anyone ever just says that but fair market rent is determined also by HUD So when we look at that HUD decide excuse me what the rates are for a fair market rent Fair market rent includes rent and utilities, but it doesn't conclude phone service or any other services So your internet or like your cable television or any of those other Pieces that people typically have in a normal industrialized community like we have here. It doesn't cover any that We're just talking about renting utilities So the S this estimates the 40th percentile of the area total rental cost So when you look at that that means that just like 60 For every rental that we're talking about 60 of them of the hundred are gonna be more expensive and 39 are gonna be less expensive So it's this really kind of moderately low Rent but not super low rent. It's significantly below what rent actually costs in Sheboygan So when you understand it, I'm talking like rent. I'm not even talking rent plus utilities. It's it's fairly low It sets the payment standards for federal housing assistance program So the federal government decides what this number is going to be and then we have to kind of adhere to it locally and the Assistance that's offered is all based on this amount and it's gonna get discussed further as we move down the table I just want you to understand the concepts around it It can be differentiated between metropolitan in versus small areas So our fair American rent is not compared to Milwaukee's fair market rent It's compared to other communities and communities of our size So we are listed under the small areas caveat of there. It's not a one-size-fits-all communities kind of approach It also does not connect to luxury housing. So if there's luxury housing in your community It doesn't get considered within the fair market rent, which I thought was interesting and unusual at the same time so When we looked at this and I looked at the numbers the fair market rent in our area is it is more expensive than 50% of The other fair market areas in our region Which was I thought was an unusual stat But that's where we're at so As we look at that, this is 2021 again I was told that Morgan's gonna talk to you a little bit more about this as we move down But she has the 2022 stats. They've come out already. So I like I said, I was trying to keep every all my stats in line So in 2021 these are what the fair market rents were for Sheboygan. So With this again rent and utilities so your gas your electric your water your sewer your garbage removal Everything needs to be under a 769 to be considered partner for like a two-bedroom if we're looking at the fair market rent for our community So anyone who's been out there looking at apartments right now It's really very difficult to find a two-bedroom apartment for less than 750 just for the rent So when you look at that like that leaves you $19 for utility costs That's not gonna happen. It's a really tricky number. So when we look at this if we're basing it off of fair market rent It's really even more difficult to find an apartment that's gonna match with this So let's talk about what is affordable housing then we moved to the next slide here The definition of affordable housing is housing that a household can pay for while still having money left over for other Necessities like food transportation and health care the federal government typically defines housing as a portable when it consumes no more than 30% of a household's income. So when we look at your income, you know We're looking at that 30% it's 30% of your net income So it's taking out things like your taxes your medical coverage and other expenses So based on what money you take home You don't want to spend more than 30% of that on housing related costs So again, that's kind of going on that I same idea of the fair market rent So it's your rent your utilities your garbage, you know all of those pieces that should all fall under 30% of your take-home income So housing costs are I think what we talked about all those It does not include your phone your internet your TV The goal is if you only spend 30% of your housing you will have money for your cell phone your house phone Maybe some internet service some cable services. I don't know like gas for your car You know school clothes for your kids all those pieces So the goal is to put your housing costs at a certain level so that you can afford the rest of that cost of living that We were talking about so let's move on to the next slide here. We'll talk a little bit about median rent So that we're telling like mid-range rent that's like 50% or higher 50% or lower We're just talking that mid-range rent in a community The median rent for a Sheboygan is for two bedrooms about 819 This is not fear market rent and remember we talked about fear market rent includes the utilities in it We're just talking about the 50th percentile for rent in Sheboygan So what can someone who's working full-time at minimum wage afford? So we're back to the idea of 725 so you're working at 725 an hour for 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year That brings us to 15,080 dollars a year So we only might spend 30% of that and that's gross so we're not even looking at the net We're just looking at gross here when we look at that We're gonna take 30% of that and put that towards our rent So annually we don't want to spend more than 4,524 dollars in rent if we divide that by 12 months We're looking at a housing cost of 377 a month So if you're working full-time you can't afford more than 377 with utilities For your rent so you can't afford to live in Sheboygan without assistance if you're working full-time at minimum wage So we talk about that cost of living that living wage. That's way below a living wage for Sheboygan So, you know, even we have these people are we can work when their bottom's off to really just work full-time and 40 hours at Jobs that are paying 725 an hour and they're not able to make it. There's no way There's no way to stop going to Starbucks and have enough to pay your rent or there's not enough to like Oh, if I cut my cable or I drop my internet, then I'll be able to afford to live There is no way to afford to live on minimum wage full-time in Sheboygan The numbers don't lie. I've got the math right there. There's just no way to do it We don't have a lot of apartments that are 377 a month or less with utilities included I haven't seen any anyone here seen any and we've all kind of been looking to I imagine so So how much would you have to make an hour working full-time to afford a two-bedroom at a median rental rate? So like just that mid-range rent how much how many hours or what how much will we have to make? So we're doing a kind of reverse math here now I wanted to include utilities in this so that we can can get that whole housing cost So when I looked up utilities, I was like, I'm gonna guess like 150 a month I think that when I looked at that cost of living it was actually 170 for a two-bedroom But when we look at it, we're looking at 12 times 819 plus 150 because we're gonna do a two-bedroom, right? So we put that in together and we're gonna say this is how much our rent is gonna be a year with utilities is 11,000 628 so again, you know what we want 30% of our income. So that is our income is gonna have to be 38,000 760 divided by 52 weeks a year divided by 40 hours a week We're gonna work full-time right all year every year that you have to make a minimum of 1863 an hour So if you want to afford a two-bedroom in Sheboygan and have it be 30% of your gross not even your net Your gross income you need to make a minimum of 1863 an hour This is the barest minimum you can make now. I also want to talk about the fact that you can't have unpaid days off There's no wiggle room here. There's no like oh no, I got COVID and my employer is not gonna pay me for these two weeks I've been sitting at home It's not gonna be where I'm working through a temp agency at 1863 an hour And I need to take some days off for a funeral and it's not covered None of that is covered. So if you take days off that that's gonna mess with this now. You're in trouble So when we look at this, you know, there are some employers in our community that do pay 1863 an hour And there are some great employers in Sheboygan County. They're doing a great job for our employees But you've got to be able to get to that job When we talked about transportation last time you have to be able to consistently get to the job You have to have consistent childcare and childcare is expensive and hard to come by for some of the shifts that might pay 1863 an hour. There's a lot of components to this. It's not just like oh, I'm making 1863 an hour now I'm solid. I've got it. There's a lot of pieces to this And I know like I'm getting old and 819 and for a two-bedroom I'm like holy cats like before I purchased my house. I was paying 405 for a three-bedroom But you know, that was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away in Sheboygan County. So That's not what we're experiencing anymore. So 819 is not an unusual amount to pay for a two-bedroom in Sheboygan for just a mid-range apartment So as we keep going here, we're gonna talk a little bit more We're gonna get off this heaviness and talk about the difference between low-income and income-based housing So a lot of people have feelings like oh, you know, there's just all this low-income housing There's all these ability for people with low-income to get housing in Sheboygan County And there really isn't a ton of low-income housing in Sheboygan. We have Ridge Court formerly known as Eisner Court We have Camelot Manor, which I always call the Carmine Avenue apartments because they're in Carmine Avenue Parkwood, which is over by South High School and Georgia Avenue Those for the city of Sheboygan are our low-income housing units Another way to get low-income housing would be working with the section 8 voucher, which is typically closed and it's hard to get There's a lot of pieces to that too, but it's designed for those in our community that are lower income The tenant pays 30% of their income to housing So it takes that model the federal government says and says like 30% is what we should be paying You pay 30% you make more money you pay more rent you make less money you pay less rent But we're looking at 30% so those are just some opportunities when we look at that you can't have evictions You gotta have a decent rental history. You have to have a decent credit history to get in there You know can't have any evictions on your record. There's a lot of barriers to even getting into low-income housing So I don't want to make it sound like hey these apartments are available and everybody who needs them can just move into them There's a lot of pieces to this, but let's talk about what income-based housing is instead So the Washington school apartments are income-based the Badger State lofts have some income-based. There are a couple other places I know that partners had a place and sunny side was doing some income-based There were some other places in Sheboygan over the years that have had this because typically what happens is is that individuals who build the buildings get a subsidy from the government to put in some lower income rents or Units into the building and for a certain period of time and then they get tax breaks and they get some incentives to do this But it's set for a certain period of time for a certain number of apartments So when we look at like the Washington school apartments, not all of those apartments are meant for people that are lower incomes or in the income-based area Just a certain number of them are And then we look at it There's some of these buildings were like this but then they're not anymore you get a certain number of years So there were a couple of like the shoe factory was had some income-based units in it. There was some on East Street Yeah, it's been since Okay, so income base for 20 years Long time, you know and some of that has expired from some of the older ones that we've had before and that's a good period of time But when we look at what does income-based mean income-based means that you can't make over a certain amount of money and live there You have to be at what does it say like I think 50 to 60 percent of the community's median income So the median income from 2019, which is the last I could get from the census was 51,104 for the city of Sheboygan So that's the median income so the median is the mean median mode look at my stats stuff coming back here me Mediate is the middle number. So mode is the most frequently occurring Mean mean mean is the average so right now we're talking about median, which means middle So 50% of the people are making more than that 50% are making less than that. It's the middle or No, it isn't that's not 50% is making more 50s making less It's this is the top salary in Sheboygan This is the lowest salary in Sheboygan and this is the middle range between those two So when we talk about someone who maybe owns a factory in Sheboygan, they're taking home this much money Whereas we already learned what someone making minimum wage full-time is making So it's the number halfway between those two numbers is the 51104 So we look at that you can make 56% of that And the rent is set at 30% of the median income So rent is when we look at that 30% of 51104 means that the rent is $1,277 we've already established that's not affordable But it is what we're talking about when we talk about income-based housing Now I will tell you right now that that's adjusted for apartment size So if the one bedroom it's probably gonna be less than that It was a three bedroom it might be more than that But that is that it's based on the size of the apartment So it's not a one-size-fits-all with this either But when you look at it you have to make under a certain amount of money to live there But you can't so you can't make over a certain amount, but you still have to pay that amount in rent so it ends up being kind of a tricky spot for people because It's hard to get ahead or it's hard to save money. It's hard to to put yourself in the situation where you're then succeeding or thriving I guess beyond surviving so 12,000 $1,277 a month is an income-based housing So when we make judgments about that and you're like, oh, they got an income-based housing spot That doesn't mean that they're necessarily paying less rent than Other people in the community. It really just depends on the apartment probably less rent than other people in the building But not necessarily less rest less rent than other people in the community So we move on to like let's talk about the difference between renting and owning the pros of renting Basically like your furnace dies your landlord is gonna pay for that a Tree falls on your house The landlord's paying for that. You don't have to pay any property taxes. So there's no like hidden fees in that You pay what you owe each month. It's also easier to move and change neighborhoods. So Bob dole moves next door and you don't like him He's you know, he's loud and use dog barks all night and you don't want to live in that neighborhood anymore You can move, you know and Bob doles passed away RIP double Bob Dole. I'm sorry. I reference him all the time You know, there's really some nice easy pieces to renting So when we look at that like there's just definite pros to renting you can it's short term You don't know, you know, you don't love it. You don't have to live there forever. You can move Homeownership it builds equity, you know, it's usually considered good debt. So you have the positive of that You also have the autonomy of owning pets painting adjusting your living dwelling to how it fits you You know, you want a new deck and you get a building permit you make a new deck So there's a lot of pieces to owning a home. There's also that stability. There's no more moving You don't have to get your piano to another of dwelling Which after you hit a certain age your friends do not want to move you anymore And they especially don't want to move your piano just to be really super clear. It's it's the truth So we look at that there are definitely some pros to homeownership, but there's difficulties that both of these pieces share Whether you're renting you're buying people are checking your credit in your payment history So, you know, whether you're renting you're buying people want to know have you been paying your rent? Have you been paying your utilities? Have you? Absconded have you been evicted There's also a few quality affordable spaces available So whether you're looking for housing in the community or you're looking for rental in the community There are really very few and we'll talk about the vacancy rates because that's kind of a nice segue into that But we'll get to that There's also we're not that far yet. We'll go back again. That's what I'm talking about There's also a steep competition for each quality space. So when we look at that Everybody in their dog has applied to rent that apartment, you know So basically or or that house like I have friends who are looking forward to buy a house in Basically, you know, you gotta just kind of like cross your fingers and hope that you bid high enough or that they like your face Or they like your proposal on paper. There's not enough housing. So people are really, you know Oh, I lost that house again, you know, like I really like that one I was hoping to get it, but then they can there's lots of people to choose from There's potentially a steep down payment or security deposit So one of the things that has happened with the change of vacancy rates is this concept around people asking for like a double security deposit or a security deposit in first and last month's rent and now we're like at triple the cost of the apartment So I didn't do the math on this, but if someone can do like 819 times 3 So we're looking at like 16 2457 thanks Chad So you have to come up with that right off the bat like to get an apartment You know because they can do that because they have so many people to choose from that They could probably find someone who's willing or has that money available and if you don't you're now gonna lose out on that apartment So it really puts you kind of in this pickle Plus the down payment for a house. Whoo You know, they want you to put a lot of cash down to get your house And not only the more cash you put down the last year monthly payment is so you do want it to kind of put a lot down if you can And then you also have to worry about poor upkeep from the previous tenants or the previous owners So when you're looking at it and you move in, okay? My house was flipped when I bought it and we're 20 years ago And we're like, oh, it's beautiful. It's so wonderful They redid the whole thing and then you move in and realize that they spray painted the grates But they did it on top of the hardwood floor. So now there's the you didn't notice that there were squares on the ground of Spray paint, you know, and you gotta you're gonna be like, oh man, you so you have to deal with some of these pieces I do know that the light switch at the top and the bottom of my steps Both of them turned a light on when I did the walkthrough when I purchased my house The bottom one just is for fun at this point and somebody just flip it for fun You end up in these situations where like you kind of get what you get and you know And maybe you bid so hard for that house, you know, people are taking off the contingencies They were taking off like the inspection. Well, I just need to own a home I just want to own a home. I'm going to you know what if you choose me, you don't have to have a home and inspection I'll take it as is. So then now you have to deal with what that looks like is my foundation safe, you know Is there a raccoon in my chimney? You know, what does that look like you are kind of left with that situation? So whether you're buying or renting you kind of get stuck in that and you know Everybody knows that there are apartments in Sheboygan that the landlords are not able to or unwilling to keep up and you're stuck in them I worked for Head Start for 11 years I had a family that when they moved in did not realize there was no furnace and Winter came around and they're like well the thermostat's not turning on. There's no actual furnace in their house So and apparently like as we move forward that that was something that had been that way for a long time So we look at just because we have to get in somewhere sometimes We settle for a less than desirable building and we have to worry about what that upkeep looks like or what the way things are at So whether you're renting you're buying there's certain downfalls and pitfalls that are pretty static. Let's talk about the vacancy rates Vacancy rates literally are the amount of open rental units or homes versus the number of those Rentals available in the community. So there's a little graphic that talks about how to do the math on that a healthy rental Vacancy rate typically hovers around seven to eight percent and a healthy homeowner vacancy rate is pegged at much lower at like around two percent ish The vacancy rate above 12 percent is considered high and above 20 percent is considered hyper vacancy So when we look at hyper vacancy, that's not our problem in shabuagan But that's when you're thinking about communities that end up being kind of either ghost towns or there's just like A lot of high crime because there's a lot of open space, you know open apartments or buildings where nobody's living So people just kind of squat So when we look at that there's dangers to having too many vacancies But at the same time we really have a lower vacancy So according to the housing study that Chad's going to tell you about probably next time we meet The shabuagan right now is at 3.3 percent, which is up from 2019 which would it was 1.43 percent So when we look at that there has been a change in the vacancy rates, but there's been since 2019 There's been some really cool buildings built in shabuagan apartments and whatnot You know when you look around you see a lot of new buildings So we've increased the amount of housing in shabuagan county since 2019 So the vacancy rates have changed a little bit Yeah, when it was 1.43 we're all going what are we going to do about this like where are people living? But rent at that time in 2019 was actually cheaper and less expensive than it is today So you could get a two bedroom for less than you can today So there's some differences in there too What does it mean for renters and home buyers when we don't have enough vacancy? There's not enough housing It's hard to define the right fit But it's also just harder to find housing Landlords and home sellers have more choice in tenants and buyers and there's also that supply versus demand Which means that landlords can increase their rent houses can increase their costs So we had a really big housing purchase boom here a little bit ago I think it's starting to die down a little bit But there were people that were offering 20 or 30 000 above Asking for a homeowner for to purchase a home So when you look at that like it's way more than what it would even be worth when they appraised it Because they just there just was not very many houses out there and people wanted to buy So it just hit this boom where people are paying way more than what the building was worth And I think we need to be really careful about that because as we move forward and we look at this concept That eventually they may choose to sell it may not be worth what they paid for it And that's like when those first times in history where we're upside down and we're we're owning something That's not an investment And you're not looking at the equity that you would have normally been looking at when you purchase a house But the same thing when we look at rents rent there's that supply versus demand You know we're like so-and-so can ask this much for an apartment I'm going to ask for more and I'm noticing I'm getting like 70 000 tenants applying for one apartment I could charge more and get more because people really want to live in my dwelling So I'm going to start charging more money. Um, so that changes what the market looks like it looks Changes what our rental rent looks like So apartment that maybe like 10 years ago would go for 400 is now going for 750 to 800 a month The building hasn't necessarily been updated to that point, but there's that demand it's supply versus demand That's the way america works so they can charge what they want in addition to that we have some concerns around when we have more People than we have space People can be more picky. I'm not saying that people are out there discriminating against individuals in our community but There is an opportunity to do so when you have more tenant applicants than you have space People can choose to narrow that down however they want and it can Be due to factors that have nothing to do with their ability to pay or their status as a good tenant, so You know there's protected classes for rent, but there's ways to get around that I think in our community when there's too many people and not enough buildings So it is a difficult process So the vacancy rates really define how in-demand housing is and what's available in our community So there's a lot of difficulty in and even when individuals go to get assistance And there's there's someone who's willing to back them and support them in having that housing There isn't still isn't necessarily somewhere they can go They still have to find an apartment they still have to find someone willing to rent to them And that's not an easy process and it doesn't go smoothly all the time So and it certainly doesn't happen overnight As we move forward here, I know that I talk really quickly And I'm really thankful that this is recorded So if I went too fast because I'm looking at the table all the way down here knowing other people need to present You can rewind it and watch me again. So oh, what a what a what a good deal you have there Thank you Emily for giving us a very broad and good overview Specific to both renting and ownership and the the difficulties that go along with that and all the pieces And I hope I broke down some of those concepts a little bit And I know it's totally in the weeds and there's too much here But you get the slides so you can look at all my great stuff And the last slide on my list is actually about the housing coalition A little bit of advertisement for us there. We meet the third Tuesday of each month We are currently meeting virtually so you don't even have to see us face to face We are responsible for that really cool after hours program that started up We support the pit the point in time homeless count We created the town halls which brought us here today We're involved in housing related community decision making come join us Yes, exactly. Well, thank you so much for that In depth really and they can go back and listen to it on there So next up is christen and she's going to talk some more about some of the issues that go along with housing A case manager at the salvation army of shbun county Most people recognize the salvation army for some of our larger programs such as the food pantry the emergency shelter and christmas assistance However, there are so many other programs Some of these programs include our work boot program utility assistance prescription assistance summer camp Spiritual care and partnerships with made new again and catholic charities So I encourage you to reach out to the salvation army if you are in need of assistance or you have any questions about our program Since our focus tonight is on homelessness I want to provide you with information on the emergency lodge Some data we have specific to the residents that we served in 2021 As well as some trends that we have seen over the past few years So the emergency lodge is a nighttime shelter that is open year round We are the only emergency shelter in shbun county that is not specific to those fleeing domestic violence So here are pictures to give you a glimpse into what the emergency lodge looks like You can see two of our dorms on the bottom Our dining area or the main lounge area for our residents a play area for our families And a kitchen our kitchen area which you can see it's dinner time. So it's a little hectic That looks like they're having some tacos So due to covet we are limited in the number of people we can serve But we have continued to shelter people throughout the pandemic The population we serve our individual 17 years of age are older and families So the emergency lodge is ultimately a program Our residents are able to stay up to 89 nights and have access to laundry facilities meals and most importantly case management There are two full-time case managers who work in the emergency lodge and each resident is assigned to one of them The case managers role is to be supportive, but at the same time Hold residents accountable in achieving their goals Although each residents situation is different more often than not their primary goal is to obtain housing In an attempt to help our residents find housing We always make them aware of programs in sheboygan county that can assist them These include lake short cap the sheboygan housing authority rural housing forward services and bridgeway If a resident is interested we make a referral to these programs and assist them in completing applications or gathering necessary documents We also assist residents in working or communicating with landlords and filling out rental applications Our hope is that homelessness is a once-in-a-lifetime experience However, we know that due to underlying issues it can be difficult to get out of homelessness We will get to underlying issues in a little bit, but I want to focus on data from the past year That was provided to us by the residents that we served So in 2021 the salvation army of sheboygan county served 154 people and provided over 7 000 nights of shelter Um through a program called clarity Homeless service providers have the ability to see if people have stayed in shelters before So in 2021 75 of our residents had previously stayed in a shelter and 79 were experiencing their first time in a homeless shelter For those experiencing their first time in a shelter. It may truly have been their first time being homeless But many of them were living with friends or family couchsurfing incarcerated or living in a place not meant for human habitation beforehand I've been asked numerous times why someone would choose to sleep in a place not meant for human habitation When they can stay in a shelter where it's warm. They have food a bed and access to other resources And I wish there was a simple answer for this, but it all depends upon the individual and their situation Um residents have shared that they decided not to seek shelter Um previously because there were no beds available. They were afraid They felt more comfortable sleeping outdoors because that's what they were accustomed to Or because that other people they felt that other people needed shelter more than they did It can be extremely hard to see someone sleeping in a place not meant for habitation Or knowing that they do not have a place to stay that night Um, and I think that's why so many of us are here tonight And everyone here presenting appreciates your interest in this topic As I stated earlier, there are underlying issues that can lead to homelessness And some of those are mental health addiction and health concerns So in 2021 our residents provided us with the following information 67 residents reported mental health concerns 16 reported alcohol abuse 14 reported drug abuse and 32 reported both alcohol and drug abuse On this slide, you can see some of the other underlying issues and how they have impacted our residents as well These these numbers might actually be higher Than what I have here because not everyone is comfortable talking About disabilities or struggles with someone they do not know Um, so in an effort to alleviate some of these issues The case managers create an individualized plan for each resident And like I said earlier, make them aware of resources in Shibuyin county that can assist in their specific situation Um, so if if the residents are interested in these services We make the referrals to the providers and assist in getting services started as soon as possible Um, so in my time with the salvation army, I have noticed two barriers that are preventing Our residents from obtaining housing The first is criminal history and the second is having a poor rental history Often landlords are unsure about renting to people that Do not have a clean record Which is completely understandable But the downside is that this prevents our residents from obtaining housing And leads to the continued continuation of their homeless situation Um, a lot of the residents who come to the shelter admit that they have had at least one rough patch in their life Where for example, they were unemployed Or had health issues and could not afford rent or they made poor decisions And ultimately any of these situations can lead to an eviction and having an eviction on your record makes it so much harder To find housing in the future So many of our residents recognize the negative impact their decisions have had on their life But they have taken it upon themselves to make the necessary changes to improve their situation This includes successfully completing rent smarts through consumer credit counseling receiving mental health or addiction services gaining full-time employment and utilizing other community agencies The residents are hopeful that these changes will give them a better chance of obtaining housing that is safe and appropriate Uh besides the barriers and struggles our residents are facing they also have to deal with the stigma of homelessness Um homeless individuals are often viewed as outsiders because they do not meet the status quo of society Um, and as a result they are often subjected to stairs which reinforce their outsider status by either making them invisible Or making them visible through negative attention The outsidership renders people Um Experiencing homeless vulnerable to acts of violence Exploitation, um an extreme social isolation Which can create barriers to stable housing and employment as well as trigger or worsen mental health and addiction issues Uh, so ultimately people experiencing homelessness are looking to fit in with society instead of having a stigma Attached to them. They are looking to have a sense of normalcy or stability and a roof over their head that they can call their own and feel safe So the final topic I want to address Is what happens when residents discharge from the emergency lodge? In 2021 we had 33 residents discharged to permanent housing Five went to institutional settings such as a mental health facility or a nursing home And unfortunately the remaining 103 left to temporary living situations such as other shelters couch surfing with friends or family Or a place not meant for human habitation We would love to see these numbers, um of residents discharging to permanent housing be much higher But it is extremely difficult to find housing that is safe and affordable when you have the stigma of being homeless Have a criminal history a poor mental history Or are dealing with mental health or addiction So we are so thankful that we have landlords and housing providers in Sheboyne county who are willing to give people a second chance And let them prove that they are amazing people who have lived through some rough times and are now stable and successful So all of the homeless service providers truly want to see more people go into permanent housing And the number of people seeking homeless services decrease Uh the salvage army is working towards ending homelessness, but we are only one piece of the solution As a community we need to raise public awareness of the homelessness Encourage community engagement and working towards ending homelessness And supporting those who are currently experiencing homelessness or are on the verge of homelessness Um, so I want to thank you for taking the time to come tonight and learn more about homelessness And as always, please feel free to reach out if you are in need of assistance or have any questions about our programs Thank you, christa That's uh The complexity that goes along with that is is so intense and yet It needs to be known. Yes, so I appreciate that. You're welcome. Thank you Next is morgan from lakeshore cap and she's going to continue on telling us a little bit more about Their services and also homelessness and housing situations You're welcome Good evening. My name is morgan wyman I am a supportive housing case manager for the prevention program with lakeshore community action program or lakeshore cap Um, I cover shabuigan county manitoba county kiwani county and door county However, most of my clients are in shabuigan and manitoba county I've been with lakeshore cap for four plus years, but I've only been in supportive housing since january of last year Um My caseload basically consists of people. It's it's a process. So my caseload is Applications that are reviewing for eligibility Those who are in the process of entering the cv prevention program Um and those whose front i'm currently paying Some basic eligibility requirements for our current covet prevention program um Oh, I'm sorry covet prevention funding requires clients to be Below the 50 percent cmi Um, have an eviction notice and or be facing homelessness within 21 days after the date of application for assistance If that that's coming up all right Um, okay Once a client is enrolled he or she is required to meet with me on a monthly basis So I can ensure continued eligibility as well as collaborate to Develop a secure housing plan Which includes developing goals and tasks the client will complete to become Self-sufficient before the program ends Client goals look something like meeting with consumer credit counseling Um services to do some budget counseling Uh obtaining employment and finding childcare in order to maintain employment My job as a case manager is to educate my client on resources in our community In order to accomplish their goals or meet their needs The prevention program is meant to be a short term program that can potentially Pay arrears utilities in three to six months of rent assistance to prevent homelessness um next slide So this is just taking a look at um regular prevention versus cv prevention So pre COVID um, we had the regular prevention program Um, so clients needed to be at 30 cmi Units needed to be at fair market rent and rent reasonable Um, so the definition would be So this would include anybody that would be eligible would be individuals or family Um, who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residents provided that residents Will be lost within 14 days of the date of application for homeless assistance Um, no subsequent residents has been identifying And the individual or family lacks the resources or support networks needed to obtain other permanent housing um that The regular prevention did not have a lot of funding um So that could potentially help maybe a few clients or a few families um during the year But when COVID hit we received more funding for the prevention program So it kind of relaxed um those eligibility requirements So clients needed to be at 50 cmi Um units no longer needed to be fair market rent, but they did need to be rent reasonable And definition, I sorry, I can't see Has moved because of economic reasons Two or more times during this uh during the 60 days Immediately proceeding the application for assistance or is living in the home of another Because of economic hardship or has been notified that their right to occupy their current housing or living situation would be terminated Within 21 days after the date of application for assistance Or live in a hotel or motel that is self paid So in other words, there was a lot more situations that were eligible for the cb prevention program um With the cb prevention funding we were allowing Um clients that were doubled up or couch hopping to be eligible for the prevention program Actually moving forward with the regular funding We go back to those strict eligibility requirements where they need to have some type of Eviction notice from their landlord Okay Okay, so I kind of touched based on this already due to COVID the prevention program eligibility requirements became more flexible Um, this meant that individuals and families experiencing cold couch hopping could now potentially be eligible for the prevention program Whereas pre-covid they would not be eligible Eligibility now means Clients have to be below the 50 cmi whereas pre-covid was 30 cmi Next slide So this is actually taking a look. So this is um I guess what I use so when I am determining If a client or household is eligible for our prevention pro so for cb Prevention, we will be looking at that 50 percent Um, so like a family of four would need to make 38,500 or less to be eligible for that prevention program um Again pre-covid and moving forward because that cb funding is ending Will be back at the 30 cmi. So the 30 percent is I don't think it's exactly what that middle Um row is but it's it's close to it So moving forward a family of four would need to make 26,500 or less to be eligible um, okay and now A unit has to be at least front reasonable if even if it is in fair market rent Pre-covid units had to be fair market rent by definition Rent reasonableness or rent reasonable rent means that the rent may not exceed the rent That is charged for a comparable unit with similar amenities in the same or a similar location in the private unassisted rental market next slide Okay, so I think emily was looking at 2021. I have 2022 um, so what that means is um If a client is eligible for a two bedroom apartment um They would need to find an apartment for 797 with utilities included um okay On the other hand Fair market rent is generally calculated as the 40th percentile of girls friends for Regular standard quality units in a local housing market Fair market run is uh data to typically Taken from recent move-ins rather than long-term tenants As long-term tenants generally receive a lower monthly rental rate um Because we are able to pass a unit that is rent reasonable Um, even if it's not fair market rent that kind of gives our clients an opportunity to find More housing even if it means that it would be a little more pricey than their budget allows um, however with the eviction moratorium in place much of the pandemic um clients had a harder time finding available units because um Tenants couldn't be kicked out during that time. They couldn't be evicted so there wasn't a whole lot of Moving around I guess you would say um The other problem I was finding as a case manager throughout the pandemic Is that many units were not passing a basic habit habitability inspection? uh next slide please so um as a case manager, I would conduct conduct a basic habitability inspection um after I determined that a unit is rent reasonable um So I go into the unit and it's just a real basic inspection just making sure that Lights turn on and off that water turns on and off that there's warm water um that there's working smoke detectors um Windows must open and shut things like that if there's anything wrong with the unit um landlords have 30 days to make repairs um and after that then we would move on to lease signing um, so as I was saying Many units were not passing a base basic habitability inspection um So again on the slide, you know, some of them the windows aren't opening and closing um and landlords have the option to Make those repairs and some landlords were not making those repairs And um, so therefore clients are forced to find housing elsewhere They have to move on to finding another apartment if the landlord is not willing to make those repairs While my prevention client search for housing they are issued a housing coupon A housing coupon is a document that states how many people are in the household and how many bedrooms a client is eligible for It also states the steps moving forward, which um include submitting a request for unit approval form Which the landlord fills out and returns to the case manager, which is me Um, and then from there I would cut calculate rent reasonableness and complete that inspection Each housing coupon is good for 30 days. Um, so with cv prevention. I was able to um issue You know two three four, um housing coupons to allow clients more time to find an apartment um There have been instances where I've issued five housing coupons to a client And they just they can't find the housing. They just they can't find Something that is affordable or something that passes that inspection or they just can't find any available units Um, so I'm not entirely sure what the support of housing Programs look like pre-covid, but what I can say is that it has surely been busy for the past year At times my caseload feels unmanageable The applications keep coming in faster than I can process them some weeks I receive five to ten applications for supportive housing The amount of missed calls voicemails and emails that I have on a daily basis Is not something I experienced before january of last year I have had clients so desperate for housing that they have gone off on me cuss me out And even cried to me on the phone Yes, I have heard much older men cry on the phone explaining to me That they got hurt at work and have no clue where to go Or what to do because disability is not coming in just yet I have spoken with seniors who are living out of a vehicle or garage because that what that is what life has brought them to Ultimately the reason they can't find housing is because many of them are in a fixed income and they can't find affordable housing in shawing county Sometimes I feel stressed out and frustrated myself that I cannot immediately help those who need help immediately I empathize with those who are vulnerable and need help as I have been in their shoes too Sometimes my eyes feel with tears and I carry my workload home And think to myself only the rest of shawing county sees what I see and here's what I hear every single day What I am seeing with applications that end up on my desk is that those applying for rent assistance Are mostly individuals who are literally homeless. That means sleeping in a car Outside or in a place not meant for human habitation or an emergency shelter those fleeing domestic violence seniors Those getting hurt at work and individuals and families who are couch hopping Many of these applicants are in crisis mode Many of them don't know the resources here in shawing county Many lack the supports and resources to obtain and or maintain housing Especially when in many of them are in a fixed income and or their landlord increases the rent Next slide So the shawing county pit or point in time Um, so a lakeshark cap leads the point in time or pick count Every year in january and in july The pick count is an event where volunteers go out from either 11 pm to 2 pm or 4 am to 6 am Throughout shawing in county and identify individuals who may be experiencing homelessness And try to connect them with resources and personal hygiene items if they need them The next morning we do an outreach event where we also try connecting those experiencing homelessness with housing and resources Each year we are identifying more individuals experiencing homelessness than the previous year. I would say overall Um, so taking a look at the numbers january 2021 three individuals were found july 2021 six individuals were found And we just completed the january 2022 What a week or two going out. I don't know And we found five is that correct abbey five individuals were found Lakeshark cap also participates in the health or the homeless hygiene drive Every year something we are participating in again this year Um, the health or the homeless hygiene drive is held by agencies including lakeshark cap safe harbors st finney's um salvation army the production farm love ink um shawing in county interfaith organization and catholic charities Um to collect personal hygiene items and household supplies These donations are divided up amongst the agencies that participate and we are able to provide um Those items to the clients we serve who are in need of those items In the past lakeshark cap had a hard time getting rid of those donations that we would receive through the drive um this past year we probably Gave most of our stuff away um, so initially we weren't going to participate in the drive uh this next time around and Uh abbey and I looked over at our shelves and realized that we have like nothing left um, so it was kind of a last-minute decision like we need to participate in this drive again because um clearly our clients really need these items Um our clients depend on us and we want to support them in any way possible Even if it's just providing a toothbrush and toothpaste Um as mentioned before that cba funding that we have is actually ending in april Um, so we are at this point Determining eligibility based on that regular um prevention um However, I want to remind the community members that there is we're assistance available And to apply for that assistance. Um either through lakeshark cap or esi Our staff wants to accommodate you the best way that we can Whether that's making referrals outside of our agency or sending your paperwork For another agency to that agency Just a reminder that we're not perfect and although we want to help Assist and house everyone. We simply don't have the resources to do so Supportive housing is not emergency assistance So we encourage community members and our clients to get to know the other resources other resources We have in this community and to utilize those other resources Um, and with that being said it is abby's turn Oh, perfect. Um, good evening everyone. My name is abby reese My role is the supportive housing outreach coordinator for lakeshore community action program That role is multifaceted. So part of that role is I oversee this process on the lakeshore So that includes as morgan said before shaboy again, manitouac door and qanay counties Um called coordinated entry So coordinated entry is essentially a process that the government housing programs So specifically government housing programs that Include intensive case management used to prioritize households for services We do have to do this because we simply do not have enough funding to serve everyone in our one program Although I wish we did overseeing this process means determining who is next for services When a case manager can work with a new household working with other agencies to help them understand the process Um reviewing data for accuracy outreach activities and also reviewing data for who is referred for different programs Um and trends and gaps in that programming I also work as a rapid rehousing case manager Rapid rehousing is a medium term case man intensive case management program for individuals experiencing homelessness And when i'm talking about homelessness, i'm specifically talking about individuals who are Living in a place not meant for human habitation or an emergency shelter Um our work so the work of homeless service providers as morgan just said before and you kind kind of caught the wind Of is extremely daunting. It's incredibly difficult Seeing housing insecurity every day Is it's really actually painful But I try to remember that if it's painful for me, it's a thousand times painful for the people actually living it in that moment While this work has always been difficult, kovat has certainly elevated the crisis here in shibuykin county In conversations, I've also noted that notice that this is the first time many of our households Are really in need of housing assistance and are really experiencing housing crisis I truly think that a big piece of this is that we are currently living in a world of constant chaos And that is more traumatic than it previously was Also, let's be honest all of our systems have imperfections and we do our best to fix these imperfections as we notice them I think part of what we are also seeing are these imperfections of multiple housing systems being exasperated For example, we intersect affordability or lack of affordability in the form of rising housing and rental rental costs and Really just rising costs of basic needs overall With a middle class that actually has stagnating wages And it's really not a surprise that we have a housing crisis on our hands. Um, in fact Last year We had the wages increased by an average of 4.8 percent But if we include inflation wages were actually down 1.9 percent from 2020 Okay So if we can just go to the next slide Perfect. Okay So at lakeshore community action program we work in programs that do assist with financial assistance But I believe there's often this misconception that our programs are financial assistance alone Our actual actually our permanent housing programs are intensive case management programs that come along with that financial assistance Right So these programs tend to prioritize those individuals with the most vulnerabilities and barriers in either obtaining housing in the first place Or removing themselves from home or maintaining housing. Sorry or removing themselves from homelessness In order to do this we use a process called coordinated entry that I talked about before We utilize our application and applications and evidence based assessments In our process of referring individuals to programs That information determines how a person is prioritized for a program. Well, the process is not perfect There's always there's constant efforts to improve it and actually most of the state Works on improving it all the time The reason this process was put into place was that in the past each agency receiving this federal funding for these intensive case management programs Um, actually were they were making policies on their own Um About who is most appropriate for programs and oftentimes what that meant Is that they were making policies about who they thought would be most successful in that program? Um, and while it wasn't intentional sometimes that was a little bit biased, right? So then the government kind of came along with our housing first practices And they said no more doing that because everybody's housing ready ready and you shouldn't be picking and choosing who gets housing um So that's how the coordinated entry kind of came along And it attempts to prioritize those who need housing the most by putting everyone in an equal starting point It attempts to provide equity in how we prioritize individuals putting everyone through the same process and prioritization Coordinated entry also allows us to coordinate services throughout the state with other counties Right. So if we want to go to the next slide, yeah So we also get so a lot of much needed data that we need or for our community Um in something called prioritization lists So what happens is after we make these referrals? When our housing case managers can take on a new household we run a list of everybody who's been referred And we call them prioritization lists because they prioritize the order in which we should offer household services Um and so while people are waiting we have kind of a snapshot right on any given day of what homelessness kind of looks like in our community So I took some numbers So because all of these numbers come from shibuygan manate walk door in kiwani counties I had to kind of separate separate out the shibuygan referrals and who was actually residing here Um, so I found out and this is from mid january There are were 42 households in shibuygan county at on one specific day. So it was january 17th experiencing homelessness And that totaled 64 individuals 12 of those households were fleeing domestic violence. So that is 28.6 percent of our homeless population here 25 of those households identified that they had a disability, which is 59.5 percent of our homeless population Nine were experiencing chronic homelessness So that's 21.4 percent Our homeless population and when i'm referring to chronic homelessness It's essentially an individual who has a disability, but they also have been homeless for 12 months or more in the last three years Um, we had two veterans, which was 4.8 percent of our homeless population And that number really never gets much higher. It's actually mostly zero Our veteran services are phenomenal here Um, and we had one youth at that time 2.4 percent And that number doesn't get much higher either and I can accredit some of our fantastic youth programs to that as well Um, and then households spent an average of 60 days on that priority list Um, and individuals come off for a number of reasons. Sometimes we pull them into our programming Sometimes they resolve their own issues. Sometimes they just disappear You know That's kind of those are the main reasons I would say sometimes they just don't want to be on that list anymore And that's completely up to them If we go to the next slide I actually took that information and then I looked at A priority priority list or prioritization list I had saved from January 2021 And I compared the numbers I didn't have the numbers of individuals from 2021 just because we used a different database And our referrals only included one person But as you can see the numbers are actually Up quite a bit higher. Um, so I think the number for January 2021 is we had Seven households experiencing homelessness Um, so I just kind of wanted to show a brief comparison for everybody Okay, so if we go to the next slide All right, so what's so stressful about being homeless, right? Whether chronically homeless or first time homeless being homeless is traumatic Individuals who become homeless for the first time deal with a whole lot of loss They lose their once safe warm place to sleep. They might lose personal possession And then a life that they once had seems to evaporate right in front of them Experiencing homelessness is a trauma in and of itself You have to learn to share space in a shelter and follow rules that you never had to follow before Find places to safe to sleep in the elements if you're sleeping outside Learn to be highly aware of your surroundings and be on constant alert that there's nothing around you to protect you Another form of trauma is a community is community judgment and assumptions of how an individual may have become homeless Who they are because they are homeless and how a person should remove themselves from homelessness Additionally traumatic events often lead to homelessness This may be a one-time occurrence or perhaps a multitude of traumatic events throughout one's life Furthermore consider the concept of time How far in advance do you think the time horizon is for someone who is Who doesn't know where they'll be tomorrow while you and I can probably see, you know At least five ten years out someone experiencing homelessness Especially chronic homelessness likely cannot be seen past the next day or two I would like to focus some of our energy on this piece this time piece right specifically on how it contributes to chronic homelessness So like somebody who can't pick themselves out of homelessness In general around 70 to 80 percent of individuals Do resolve their own homeless issues and we want to support and empower write that self resolution Shaboy and county's number seems to be slightly on the higher end of that average So since we talked about chronic homelessness before and we have about 21.4 percent of our homeless individuals chronically homeless That that means about 78.6 of the individuals here are likely resolving their homelessness Even if that means they're doubling up what I mean is they're getting themselves out of being back on the street Um So in my discussion below on trauma or coming up on trauma I'm going to be referring to this 21.4 percent of our population Not resolving their own homelessness I want to focus on this specifically because I think there's just a lot of misconceptions about behaviors and and where they come from So I believe that a lot of behaviors that some of us see as What keeps individuals in homelessness often stem from this inability to see their life existing beyond 24 hours In a combination with past trauma Why because trauma literally changes our brain and how it functions Trauma limits the responses from our reasoning part of our brain, which is right up in front of our prefrontal cortex And then it also just emphasizes the responses from the back of our brain, which is our amygdala Which is literally where we get our survival mechanisms from This means in general Someone experiencing chronic homelessness will look at far more situations than the average person as a situation where they need to survive We see these responses as fight fight or freeze and sometimes these responses seem dramatic or excessive to those who don't understand them In all reality They are just someone trying to survive because their brain has essentially changed and there's literally no promise of tomorrow This is why it can be extremely difficult for someone experiencing homelessness homelessness to just simply pick themselves up Out of that position. How do you plan for a future when you can't imagine it on existing? All of this can change but it takes lots of work and support In order to change this we need to build individual and community resilience It is not overnight and I like to remind others that people with chronic trauma are not like cars going through a car wash Um, I often hear these ideas that you know, we help somebody once or they go through a program And they should come out squeaky clean like a car going through a car wash But people just don't work that way. They're complex and real and they need more than one grand gesture to get them through things Fixing homelessness at its core means completely changing the way we see others. It's a community transformation of our perceptions Movement in the right direction is going to take change flexibility And advocacy from all spheres of housing. So for-profit non-profit and government We can't go back and change the past but we can learn from the past and our present and change the future We hope that you the community will be part of the solution building in this future Thank you. Thank you avi and thank you morgan for lake shore captain for what you guys do And the difficulties that you outline just now But an understanding Of the greater picture that goes with that also Next up is steven and he's going to talk a little bit about the warming center the schwaugin county warming center It's just our logo it's okay. No morgan can talk. So sorry. I almost forgot next slide It's just really Um, we we often get questions about how the eviction process works To be completely honest. We don't have all the answers about how the eviction process works with the prevention program we We require like a five-day notice. So that's kind of what we see most um But Overall, we just want to say We encourage you to read through your lease And to Get to know and utilize your resources We typically use legal action of wisconsin and tenant resource center and that's typically what we You know encourage our our clients to utilize as well Hello, my name is steve kinder. I am the director of operations for the schwaugin county Warming center my job is to make sure the warming center works smoothly and so far this year has been a great challenge In 2016 when my wife asked me to be a volunteer for the warming center. I replied why? This is schwaugin. We don't have a homeless. We don't have homeless people here. Boy, was I wrong? I don't recall what my vision of a homeless person was back then, but i'm fairly certain that back then They were right in front of me and I just chose not to see them All it took was to work a couple nights at the as a volunteer at the warming center To help me open my eyes and there they were And when i'm talking homeless people, I guess i'm talking the category one that was mentioned prior to this These are the people who are living underneath the bridges in the parks And in the parks As campers and so forth. So As for the other categories, we're just we're primarily focused on category one Let me introduce you into the warming center The warming center started as a vision of st john's ucc who organized local interdenominational churches Community organizations friends and acquired the support of local government with the sole purpose Of giving the homeless people in schwaugin a warm meal and a place to spend the night during the cold winter nights There were there are no criteria If for staying at the warming center, you basically only need to walk in the door We are a true no judgment zone Division grew so that in 2017 we started our first year of operation in the basement of the salvation army Totally supported by volunteers our first year started slow with four to eight guests per night And we only had we were only open for one month january By 2020 our nightly guest counts increased from 14 to 20 per night And we were open from the first to january till the first of march helping over 40 individuals in 2021 Because of co vid we were forced to find a new location st. Ciro's Methodist catholic church and trim our days To four days per week for only the month of january with the help of st. Vincenty paul lakeshore cap to schwaugin county food bank and numerous church organizations and private individuals We opened our doors on december 27 2021 The first day we started We had five homeless people with the expectation of only having one on day two We had 15 homeless people with the expectation of only having two From that day on We acquired from 13 to 18 individuals per night with providing in the first 20 days with providing up to 300 Sleepovers what we refer to as sleepovers a cop for each night The warming center is not a rehabilitation center. We are a low hurdle rescue center What does that mean that any homeless person that presents themselves? Is welcome without question They are provided with shelter and food with no questions And we ask them only for their name and any special needs And they are asked to follow some very simpler rules Number one, they must be an adult over the age of 18 No alcohol or illegal drugs are allowed on the property No follow-up language no physical contact with staff volunteers and guests Smoking is designated areas at designated times Personal areas should be kept clean and tidy It is required that all that personal belongings be stored In bins in the designated area Personal hygiene should be maintained and they must show respect and be courteous to staff volunteers and all guests If they break any of the rules They will be asked to leave the warming center for the night or permanently the other thing is The homeless the Sheboyin county Warming center can only accommodate up to 20 people And the first 20 people that present themselves at the door are admitted After 20 people We so far knocking on wood this year. We've only hit 20 once Why is the Sheboyin county warming center so important Our greatest value is we are a low barrier. No judgment shelter We ask only for your name and if they have any special needs We accept all guests without prejudisms Let me tell you that this opens your door to a lot of unique guests um Most of our guests fall in the category of addicts unemployed alcoholics Who are seeking a warm place out of the weather? Some of our guests will stay have stayed us from the beginning and will probably Leave us in mid-march But a large percent of it will stay a few days and find a couch on a friend's at a friend's house for a few days Then show up at the shelter again a couple days later To give you an example Let me tell you about one of our more colorful guests and I will refer to him as mike Mike showed up on our up on our In our facility on day two. He checked in just like everyone else But it seemed he knew most of our of the his fellow homeless he He was He was a take charge kind of guy Um, if one of the guests would get out of line, he would talk to them and tell them how Appreciative he should be or they should be And they should because They could be out in the cold So we nicked him Mike the mayor of the shelter But then the tide changed and he started And he started showing up mildly intoxicated Until he came in very intoxicated And Was very vocal that night The rest of the guests didn't like it the following morning. I had a conversation That he needed to curb his drinking But he didn't listen two nights later. He came in very drunk and more vocal than ever In the morning. We had a conversation about the rules of the shelter And the next time he showed up drunk He would not be let in that night. We received a phone call from the police department That drunk Mike Needed a place to stay I then realized that it only took less than seven days to go from Mike From going from Mike the mayor of the shelter to be referred to as drunk Mike I then put on my jacket to wait for the officer and Mike In the parking lot because I was not going to let Mike in to the shelter if he was intoxicated The officer informed me that Mike was not drunk and that he he had spent the past five hours At the hospital trying to dry Try dry out and kept telling the nurses Steve won't let me in If I'm drunk Mike spent the night the following day we talked and he stated he needed to make a change in his life And I suggested the a couple of the local agencies And he thanked me And left for the day later that day He contacted me and he's each that he was checking into the hospital to dry out And that he was going to the Salvation Army because he needed structure in his life In order to stay clean A couple days later. I gave Mike a ride to the Salvation Army drop them off at the door and wished him luck Most of our guests are not as colorful and dramatic as Mike Most of our guests check into the warming center between 7 and 7 45 set up their bed Eat dinner and are fast asleep by 9 30 p.m Then they're back on the road to get out on the street again by 7 a.m But over the weeks you get over the weeks you get to know them Some of the little some of them will tell you that they have found employment And a week or two later They're gone. They're back And they have found a house to stay in or somewhere to sleep on a couch As you walk away you take pride in knowing you might have helped them just a little bit to get out of their situation Just to recap We are located at st. Ciro's on new jersey avenue. We are open from 7 p.m. Till 7 a.m Seven days a week We accept everyone Thank you, steve Appreciate appreciate that update on the warming center of the shpoint and county warming center And now Let's move on. We're going to have michael tell us some lived experience and and his story Let's share with us. Thanks michael On you. Sorry. Oh, hello. I really appreciate um abby you invite me here and I know everyone at this table They're doing phenomenal work And um My story is um pretty much A story of redemption um My current role is um I'm the executive director of the haven of manateau county men's homeless shelter program in manateau, wisconsin I've been there for seven years and um My um beginning um Really started through trauma like was you know, we talked about um You hear the deep rooted trauma um and based off what People go through um Really kind of formulates their character And the this the decisions they make um It wasn't that I went, you know was constantly in In trouble or anything like that. I you know have a degree in music and um End up dropping out of school before I finished um that degree um but You know when you get to a certain point um And you realize that You know, there's this voice that says that you Won't amount to anything, but you don't know where the voice comes from um, that's what I battled a lot and um It really ended up with me um leaving college um Ended up. Um, I was married and had two children and um from there, um Ended up addicted to crack cocaine Um and didn't do and end up going to prison I Was in and out of jail and um You know, I couldn't really um Put things together. You know here. I am an educated person. I'm not like those people You know, I thought you know You asked the question. Well, how do you find yourself here? Right? So my first in jail wasn't good enough then I went back to doing drugs and then um Ended up being evicted out of my apartment and um Just knowing that once that door closed that apartment like all I had was my car um that You know, there was nothing um in terms of emergency services that I can get into um, I was able to get into a Shelter that you only stay you you only can stay three days at a time And then I was back on the street couchsurfing and then um, there was a time When I had gotten to a point where Either I was going to get help or complete suicide. So I had a plan to do that um but You know my last day doing drugs. I remember That um, I needed to make one more phone call Just to see if something was available and When I made that phone call Someone was available That was my first Introduction to some type of services some type of resources That I was able to say, you know, I need someone to save my life. I need I need help You know, there was no one there. There was none of my friends there You know, I continued to do drugs. I hadn't seen my kids for over two years It was it was the most traumatic experience And it's it it really doesn't it comes down to yeah, if you experience trauma But then you are also living through the trauma you've inflicted on others Because of your behavior A lot of people don't really talk about that They talk about well, um, this is what happened to them. But then Another level of that is how does one forgive themselves In order to really take themselves to the next level and accept the help That's available So I was able to get what they call in minnesota called in minnesota at the time was rule 25 Um, I went to treatment and I've been clean since august 11 2006 So, um, I have over 15 years clean and from there Um, you know, I saw that I could live a life without drugs Um, uh begin to um have a relationship with my children again Um, I went back to university wisconsin, no claire and um in 2007 and got my music performance degree I earned that went back and received that and um My felony charge Um of theft Was turned around to a misdemeanor and I was able to work in um human services for the first time and Applied for a leadership position, you know, just to see if if I can do it And Um being on probation at the time I had 15 years of probation But that was reduced and um, I was done with probation April 30th of 2012 Um, my children live in manatouac in in 2014. I moved to manatouac and I've been an executive director of the haven ever since so it's um One of the Issues that um people like myself who experience homelessness and sometimes the criminalization of homelessness Is that people believe um the stigma is that it's a social issue. That is some moral failing But it's really a poverty issue. You know, you don't have the resources. You don't have the money Um You know due to some mental health you probably can't keep the job But everyone sitting here at this table Is put in position To help someone Who will get it it might take them six or seven times it might take them once It took me quite a few times and um, I was in and I was out of the halfway house I didn't want to listen. I you know, I but I knew there was only one way For me to get help and that's to have full acceptance of the services But what if those services weren't there? Um, especially for a single man at the time there was no emergency services Um, there was 70 chance that a german shepherd can get housed quicker than I could So, um, those are some scary statistics, which still rules today but in being able to accept those services and Um Have those doors opened You know really saved my life being at the halfway house being in a prison reentry program Um, you know all those things there was a salvation army program I was a part of in Rochester, minnesota at the time and um, it's You know because of the mental health services I was able to get it was because of You know the counseling You know to help me put together um A body of work to forgive myself first and foremost for what I have done and that what happened to me wasn't my fault Um, but it it really put into perspective That those people those individuals those agencies That provided those services Never shut the door and these people will never shut the door And it's you know, we're not going to be able to save everyone You know, um and what I do, I know men have died. It's it's It's something that we have to deal with daily But I am um pretty much the poster child for what I do Every day is not like work to me, but um, I lived experience um You know really has proven to be um An asset to what I do and to the men that we serve Um and to be able to come here to shabuagan and share that lived experience Um Is is really really important. Um, and I know you know a lot of men, you know, they really have a hard time. It's um, you know, it's it's it's a different time. Um a lot of suicide Um and you know, we're trying to look at things differently Not just remember for homeless individuals and families as well um You know that the door stays open um in that um You know, we could actually gain integrity again You know by being able to look somebody in the eye and actually Ask for help and I just believe that every homeless individual Um Has built their character if they've gotten through this alive Um Is based on their ability to ask for help um and to um take advantage of those services Um as well and they can take you Um far and you know, I'm living proof of that. So Um I'm glad that I got a chance to come in and kind of share with everyone um What I've gone through and and what I continue to go through even as a professional and and you know, there's still some traumatic events that pop in my mind that I know how to take care of myself and who to call All those things. So the the thing is is that trauma Never goes away. Um, but you learn how to live with it. Um, you learn how to live through it And you know how to um help others to help them live through it and go through it Thank you Thank you, Michael. That was uh very moving on your experience and and it it really does take a relationship Relationship to one another And it takes relationships of agencies and I think that tonight we talked about a lot of that In the agencies and it takes resources and that that hit home tonight too. So um We are Getting close to the end of the hour second hour that's here and I We we have asked you That on the registration form that you put questions down And we have these questions that we are going to tackle Come the fourth session. So next session next session is the um shabuigan housing study the city of shabuigan The shabuigan county economic corporation is going to be talking about arpa and uh the american rescue plan and afford the affordable and workforce housing And then we're going to have a business perspective individual here also talking about affordability and workforce affordability I hope you see the progression that that's happening here in these town halls We're trying to build upon a greater understanding across Housing being All about that relationship all about the understanding of poverty of about understanding the people And understanding the resources that go along with that um If we didn't get to your question I know you maybe want to um We have a moment or two We'll let you unmute if you really want to ask a question if you're burning for for to ask that question so Feel free to unmute if you'd like to ask a question To anyone on the panel on regarding what we've talked about today Oh, we have questions, but I know there actually there's a lot of thank yous to all of you in chat box so Way to go people All right, if you do happen to have questions Feel free on the next next Town hall, which is on the 17th. It's two weeks from today um to Put those questions in there And we will be tackling them On that day or on the fourth one, which will be a cumulative panel of people that have Been up here before or some new faces possibly And we will be discussing a lot of the questions that come through Um at that period of time Anyone else have a comment chat got a question in the audience Yeah Oh, he's going to the question. Oh, he's going to the podium in there So Very well done to the panelists, but I the question I guess I just And and I maybe can touch on this when I speak next time, but When I'm listening to all the panelists particularly the lakeshore cap folks You know one thing that comes to mind is the housing quality issues that Resonates across the county and I think you know one thing that wasn't It would be an interesting topic is you know, how do we overcome those challenges? Because you know, the state legislature has kind of tied municipal hands from doing code enforcement programs in elect in internal You know residential units Prior to some legislation back in 2017 You could do a rental inspection program and building inspectors could go into homes and or rental units on like a five-year cycle And be able to make sure they're up to those quality standards that Allowability has been taken away by the legislature Which has You know clearly proven to be a challenge for people to find quality Housing moving forward that meets those minimum housing quality standards So, you know, I think I don't have the answer, but I think you know as we talk about housing issues across the nation, but particularly across wisconsin and shabuagan county, you know if there's any Times where we can talk to our legislatures We should be sharing the information with them about the challenges that we do have housing Issues within you know housing quality standard issues within our housing units and You know, what are the some of the tools that the state can help? Municipalities with to make sure that these properties are up to code and are safe for people to reside in so thank you Thank you check. Can I have the mic? Yours on am I on oh, I can't see the red. Okay In addition to that when we look at it like homeowners and landlords Some of these repairs that we're looking at are really costly and there just isn't the money You know, I had a friend who actually had to tear their garage down because they couldn't afford the repairs necessary to bring it up To what the code needed to be You know and now you're down a garage, which means your property value is even farther down You know, so there's pieces of this when you say like, you know the home inspections And if we inspected better, maybe we could enforce some of this better But also there's that funding piece that that you know, we know how much it costs to build a building right now You know construction costs and whatnot repair costs are really costly at this point too So looking at the concepts around assistance in those areas might be something That we could discuss and look at as we move forward too. So hopefully this is something that you could look at Even further next session on the 17th everyone's going to register I do believe that will come up next Session because those are some of the recommendations of the affordable housing and workforce development and the city Um, who has been put forth. So a lot of that will be discussed next time also So thank you chad and and also thank the city for opening up the venue here allowing us to Talk about these important issues bring them forward hopefully As you tuned in You see the need for connecting and getting our resources and if you want to get involved Reach out to the housing coalition. Honestly, that is the best way for us to or the city Reach out Get involved and and help us to come up with working solutions And help us facilitate change help us facilitate change. Yes. That's the that's the tagline So I thank you for Joining us this evening and have a good rest of the evening. Thank you