Milwaukee Parking and Ride Closings Disperse Growing Homeless Population » Urban Milwaukee

Camp and hike at Holt Avenue park on March 17, 2024. Photo: Jeramey Jannene.

It wasn’t uncommon to see people living out of their vehicles in Milwaukee’s park-and-ride areas at Holt and College Boulevards. Eva Welch. As co-founder and executive director of a homeless outreach group Street AngelsFor nearly a decade, he had watched park-and-ride areas transform into their own unique communities.

Welch was dismayed to hear officials were closing the lots. The team traveled around Milwaukee using the Street Angels outreach bus filled with all kinds of supplies. Between its stops were four park-and-ride lots where commuters parked their vehicles and boarded public transportation. Over the years, more people living in tents or out of their vehicles — functional or otherwise — have opted to stay on the trails.

“Holt Avenue Park & ​​Ride has actually been a stop on our route for the nine, almost 10 years that we have existed,” Welch told the Wisconsin Examiner. He called the lots at Holt and College streets “by far the largest” in terms of how many homeless Milwaukeeans live there. “The majority of those who lived there either had some kind of camper or car, but there were still a few — more than a few — people in between (shipping and horseback living in tents and roaming the grass fields on the park’s grounds.”

He said park-and-ride residents provide a modest form of shelter and community. “There’s actually a group of people who have been removed from Holt Park & ​​Ride and are trying to get around in groups,” Welch said. “And unfortunately it failed for them. They were told to leave within 12 hours wherever they went. “And they’re very determined to stay together because they’ve become family in a way.”

Welch said this group consisted of about 15-20 people. On October 14, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced that two park-and-ride lots in Milwaukee County would be closed, along with another partial closure, “due to decreased safety conditions.” Over the course of a year, more than 80 people were evicted from the lots and found housing through the county’s housing services. Despite these efforts, more homeless Milwaukeeans continue to find land, the press release said.

“We see a lot of people experiencing homelessness, sometimes for the first time,” he said Eric Collins-DykeDeputy administrator of Milwaukee County Housing Services. There also seem to be different factors that drive people to party. “Part of this has to do with past traumas and the complexities that accompany that, and we’ve also seen individuals who are working more economically and have either lost their jobs for rent, or have been working and earning an income but are not currently working. I don’t make enough money to cover the rent.”

Items on the Street Angels outreach bus. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

This trend is spreading “pretty quickly,” and not just in park-and-ride areas, Collins-Dyke said. “That kind of made us think we needed to be more robust in the preventative space.” In general, most of the people living in Park & ​​Ride parklands are from the Milwaukee area. “It’s almost everywhere in the county,” Collins-Dyke said, adding that more older adults appear to be homeless in Milwaukee County. However, age ranges in the camps can vary from people in their early 20s to elderly people in their 70s.

WisDOTs Press release He emphasized that camping near highways or “adjacent crossings” is illegal under state law. Unlike some metro areas across the country, Milwaukee has no ‘safe camping’ initiativedesignating areas where homeless people can camp.

WisDOT said there were 275 calls for service to lots between July 1 and September 30 of this year, an increase of about 42%. These incidents included reports of assault, theft, and overdoses.

WisDOT Deputy Secretary “Public safety is first and foremost.” Joel Nilsestuen in question. “Park and ride areas are not safe or suitable places for anyone to live. We worked closely with our partners to connect individuals with available resources and direct them to safer situations. “We do not take this action lightly, but we recognize the importance of doing the right thing for the safety of people in the park and rides, the traveling public and nearby communities.”

“We are concerned for the safety of those who choose to live on these lands, as well as the safety of the surrounding community.” Wisconsin State Patrol Inspector Tim Carnahan in question. “Reporting the events taking place in these camps and surrounding neighborhoods is unacceptable. “We are committed to protecting the public, and in doing so we must do what is necessary to keep everyone safe.”

Some wonder whether these actions really work in the long run. Welch said park-and-ride residents had been previously sent notice of the closure, but officials failed to do so. “Usually the news picks it up and the notifications get canceled,” Welch said. “So a lot of them didn’t believe it was going to happen.” Welch said many park-and-ride residents are nervous. Then the fences went up, police patrols arrived, and other signs appeared that it was time to leave. “It was quite an experience for those who stayed there,” Welch said. “They had difficulty taking their belongings out, and when they went out, they could not go back in to get their belongings.”

Tents around King Park in Milwaukee. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)

With the arrival of winter, emergency housing and shelter areas are also limited. Reaction among local officials to the closure of park-and-ride trails has been divided. County Supervisors Caroline Gómez-Tom And Jack Eckblad one was released joint statement He said WisDOT’s response “failed to address the underlying issues that contribute to homelessness in our community.” Supervisors called for affordable housing, strong tenant protections and support for people facing housing instability. Earlier this month, Milwaukee County Executive david crowley Announced $4 million in affordable housing financing focused on Milwaukee and Oak Creek.

per night, Street Angels encounter approximately 300 people living on the streetsCamp tucked away in wooded areas or park-and-ride areas. In September 2022, the group encountered 223 people experiencing homelessness. As of September this year, the number had risen to 488; That’s a 120% increase over a two-year period. Welch told the Wisconsin Examiner: “We’ve never served this many people with rides… We’ve seen people, sometimes in really nice vehicles, choosing their car payments over their rent because they can’t afford both and still can’t afford to eat. ”

Outreach groups, either affiliated with the county or on their own, are also struggling to keep up. Welch said Street Angels do not have a permanent form of financing. “The amount we grow each year is what gets us through to the next year,” he told the Wisconsin Examiner. Still, the group is adding new programs and providing more meals ahead of winter.

Collins-Dyke said the county will work with nonprofits and the city to support warming rooms and increase its own presence. “I think this year coordination between teams within the system will be more important than ever.”

Milwaukee Park & ​​Ride closure disperses growing homeless population Originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.