The homeless population at MacArthur Square continues to grow, Milwaukee Downtown BID blames Street Angels
The number of people without homes who are living in tents at downtown Milwaukee’s MacArthur Square is growing, and one official says a local nonprofit group is enabling them.
There are over 30 tents at MacArthur Square, just east of the Courthouse, compared to just three tents two and a half months ago, said Beth Weirick, chief executive officer of the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District.
The district, which is financed through special assessments on downtown commercial properties, works with the Milwaukee County Housing Division and other groups that try to move people from homeless camps to supportive housing.
That idea, known as Housing First, focuses on providing permanent housing to homeless people so they can have enough stability to then obtain such services as drug and alcohol addiction counseling, health care and employment.
But those efforts are being hampered by Street Angels, a local nonprofit that provides clothes, food, sleeping bags and tents for the homeless, as well as resources to help them find housing, Weirick said at a Thursday business improvement district board meeting.
People camping at MacArthur Square and other downtown sites are less inclined to accept housing vouchers that will move them off the streets when Street Angels is providing new tents, sleeping bags, pillows and coolers, Weirick said.
The unintended consequences, she said, is an increase in such behavior as fights among homeless people, illegal drug use and sanitation issues — including discarded hypodermic needles as well as a lack of bathrooms and showers.
“We’re seeing an enabling of this kind of behavior,” she said.
Weirick said conversations with Street Angels haven't brought any changes in the group’s approach.
Street Angels say the business improvement district is making 'bogus' claims
The president of the board of directors for Street Angels, Jan Wilberg, calls Weirick's claims "bogus."
"MacArthur Square comes and goes as a place where people decide to stay and what we have been seeing now for months is just a complete lack of shelter space," Wilberg said.
Finding the homeless population shelter space is the top priority for Street Angels, Wilberg said. But, "it's very difficult, there really is no shelter space," she said.
The Housing Division, the county agency tasked with finding the homeless housing, falls under County Executive David Crowley's purview.
Crowley issued a statement in the days following publication of this article, where he said the County has made significant strides since it started implementing Housing First initiatives in 2015, calling the business improvement district a "collaborator" and "partner."
"Milwaukee County’s Housing First Program is a nationally recognized model rooted in collaboration and dedicated to the reduction of individuals experiencing homelessness and shortening the length of time individuals experience homelessness," Crowley said.
"We work with the City of Milwaukee, business leaders, and community partners to address the unsheltered homeless leading to the lowest unsheltered homeless count in the nation as quantified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, has been a supportive partner and collaborator in this work."
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recognized Milwaukee as having the nation's lowest unsheltered homeless population of any community per capita. The ranking was based on a 2021 count, which found 17 unsheltered people in January 2021, a reduction of 70% from 2020.
MORE: As rent prices rise in Wisconsin's competitive housing market, refugees are losing out
Despite the recognition, Wilberg said the county is experiencing an increase in homelessness in recent weeks.
"County housing resources right now have been really stretched thin," Wilberg said. "So there's really not many options for people who are unsheltered, living outside and we've been seeing the numbers go up steadily for the past several weeks."
The district's gripe with Street Angels stems from the group's willingness to provide tents to the homeless. Wilberg said she is going to continue to give people tents who need them.
"This whole issue about causing homelessness has come up before and it's bogus. People are homeless because they don't have housing," Wilberg said.
"And, frankly, if someone comes up to me, and they're living outside, and they're in a desperate situation, and in need of a tent, and I have one, I'm giving them a tent. That's not the issue. The issue is people don't have a place to go."
Crowley's communications director, Brandon Weathersby, said "the County Executive appreciates what valuable services the Street Angels provide to the community."
However, Weathersby points to Milwaukee's U.S. HUD homeless population recognition as proof that Housing First initiatives have more of an impact on reducing the homeless population than the actions the Street Angels take, adding that all parties must establish "partnerships" and have a "collaborative approach."
Business improvement district going after Street Angels' donors
At Thursday's business improvement district board meeting, Weirick said a letter is being circulated among community leaders to bring the issue to the public, she said, including people who donate to Street Angels.
"Are you serious?" responded Wilberg after being told that the district would attempt to question Street Angels' funding.
"Our funding comes from hundreds of individual donors. So they're going to have to call a lot of people to go after our funding. We don't have city funding. We don't have county funding. We're funded by individual donors. And many of them are pretty impressive in their donations," Wilber said.
"(Our donors) have a lot of respect for people who will go out in the dark, find people who are homeless and give them a meal and some friendship and some hope for the future.
"So if the downtown BID wants to go after that kind of work, that really doesn't speak real well for the downtown BID. And yeah, quote every single sentence. Just ridiculous."
Contact Drake Bentley at 414-391-5647 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Downtown BID blames Street Angels for homeless at MacArthur Square
