An important Milwaukee resource center closes with little to no notice, leaving residents frustrated by the relocation
It was like any other Monday at the west side Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center. Many residents milled through the front entrance of the building, looking for food stamps, the Medicaid enrollment booth, social and aging services, and to pick up their Social Security checks and other monthly dividends at the center's designated P.O. Box.
But many left confused and enraged after learning that the center had with little to no notice to residents and families closed its doors to those services and relocated them to an unfinished, less accessible site 8 miles north of the current Coggs Center at 6055 N. 64th St., set to open Tuesday.
"Today's check for Oct. 31 — they're telling us we've got to wait until tomorrow," one resident shouted, throwing his arms up outside of the building. "Who are they to tell us?"
The only people there to answer his question were Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the anti-hunger public policy nonprofit, Hunger Task Force, and her organization's FoodShare advocates, who had set up camp outside the Coggs Center, 1220 W. Vliet St., to provide resources to people leaving empty-handed.
"They're closed today because they are moving and they have no one here to help him," said Tussler, as the man stormed off down the street.
"They could have sent notices to people's houses. They could have put much larger signs up at this building. They could have put them up so much sooner," she said. "They did nothing. Our concern is that people don't know. It's going to take a long time for people to adjust."
People will need to use the new center to receive their mail
The situation is but one of the concerns that Tussler has about the move, which could leave residents scrambling for access to services and keeping track of their mail when the center's P.O. Box intended for residents who are homeless is inactivated.
"If you're going to change your address, you will change your address to your new location, right?" said Scott Van Derven, former president of the Wisconsin State Association of Letter Carriers. "In this case, the mail is changing its address and you have to follow it — that is backwards — so I think that's gonna be very difficult for folks."
The sudden closure announced Thursday by Karen Timberlake, secretary-designee of the state Department of Health Services, follows a monthslong tussle at the county to demolish and rebuild the center or relocate out of concerns for accessibility as well as lead and asbestos issues.
“Based on feedback from our Milwaukee County members and partner organizations over the past several years, we are pleased to be making this transition to a new location for MilES (Milwaukee Enrollment Services),” Timberlake wrote in a news release. “This is a big move, and our team at MilES is dedicated to helping members navigate this transition and get the help they need with their benefits."
Timberlake and representatives of the department could not be reached for comment or to answer why the department didn't have staff at the Coggs site Monday to help residents.
Hunger Task Force has serious concerns about level of services state providing to Milwaukee County
For Tussler, the closure and relocation of MilES in Milwaukee mark the latest in what she sees as deteriorating services to Milwaukee County residents by the state.
In August 2021, Hunger Task Force filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in which it alleged discrimination, racism and disparate treatment of Milwaukee residents.
The decision to file the complaint came about after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted a mask requirement at all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) offices across the state except for Milwaukee County, leaving more than 200,000 Milwaukee County households remaining without in-person help to obtain emergency food benefits during that time, according to Hunger Task Force.
The complaint alleged limited hours and resource availability at the Milwaukee site, including homeless people being directed to call an 800 number instead of receiving in-person help or access to a telephone and no application assistance and translation services provided to individuals visiting the site.
In October 2021, Hunger Task Force filed a retaliation complaint when the Department of Human Services directed Hunger Task Force staff not to enter the public building and offer help, Tussler said.
“The intentionally disparate treatment of Milwaukee demonstrated by the careless actions of state employees who deny and delay help as a matter of business practice is not just careless, but discriminatory,” Tussler said. “Harming people based upon their race or status through intentional public policy is not acceptable for the people of Milwaukee.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Coggs Center closing in Milwaukee leaves Hunger Task Force frustrated
