'Homeless People Are Humans,' Milwaukee Advocate Says

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — Street Angels Milwaukee Outreach is a nonprofit volunteer-based organization that reaches into the Milwaukee County area to restore hope by empowering individuals, inspiring others to pay it forward, and providing basic human necessities to those in need.

The work the Street Angels does is on the streets in two transport buses about three times a week.

"Right now we are seeing between 120 and 130 people a night," Eva Welch, Co-Founder and Director said.

They offer basic necessities such as food, clothing, blankets, and hygiene items to many of the homeless population.

"Our short term goal is to make sure our friends/clients have what they need to survive the night," Welch told Patch.

The group's long-term the goal is to connect people with resources that can get them into shelters and ultimately housing. They work with city, county and 211 resources. 211 connects callers with thousands of nonprofit and government services in their area.

There are not enough shelter places for everyone, Welch said.

The team does training experiences as it is important to them to know every step of the process for their clients.

In a recorded call to 211, the team posed as a mother with a child in need of shelter. The Street Angels are adamant their intention was to not discredit the organization.

The person who spoke stated there was no shelter space available.

"I was heartbroken as someone who has been one step away from being in that situation," Welch said.

She said it was hard for her to see what her friends go through and it definitely choked her up. Most of the people they serve don't have children so it "blew her mind."

The Street Angels have heard from single parents living in their cars that they were having trouble with finding shelter options after calling 211, Welch said.

The Street Angels have been paying hotel bills for families. Welch said they paid for one family to stay there for three weeks.

Welch told Patch due to COIVD-19, many day cares and schools aren't open, which means a parent can't go to work because they can't leave their children at the shelter alone.

The goal in sharing the video is to fight for everyone's right to have shelter, Welch said.

John M. Hyatt, President & CEO of IMPACT released the following statement:

"IMPACT is the designated provider of 211 services for the nine counties in Southeastern Wisconsin: Washington, Ozaukee, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Jefferson, Walworth and Dodge. The 24/7/365 call center is the central point of access for all family, health, and social services and our history of providing telephonic services dates back to the Underground Switchboard in 1960.

IMPACT 211 is the largest provider in the 211 Wisconsin system and one of only two 24-hour operations centers. Non-business hours on week nights and weekends, our call center covers nearly 75% of the state’s population.

We have made the service as user-friendly as possible by increasing ports of access to include texting, chatting, and searching our resource database https://211wisconsin.communityos.org/. In addition, nearly a dozen of our community resource specialists speak Spanish and we use a translation service to support other languages.

IMPACT 211 connects people to resources that help them regain stability. When people call, they speak to a Community Resource Specialist who helps them sort through their situation and navigate options.

To ensure that we are providing accurate referrals, we are constantly assembling and updating our extensive database and working collaboratively with other service providers, oftentimes providing a critical role in community response and system improvement. Our data is utilized by stakeholders because it is a current reflection of community needs, gaps in services and unmet needs.

Despite IMPACT 211’s role in community systems such as that which addresses housing instability and homelessness in Milwaukee, we do not make determinations about eligibility, priority or placement into community programs.

IMPACT 211 refers to programs that provide services to help prevent eviction including Legal Aid, Community Advocates, and Social Development Commission.

Other clients are referred to mobile outreach teams and the Navigation Center to connect with homelessness prevention specialists who can assist with eligibility protocols for temporary or permanent housing. We maintain a high level of engagement with program partners such as Hope House, Guest House and the Cathedral Center who also provide prevention programs.

This year, 254 households (including families) have been placed into shelter; 38 this month. One hundred and eighty eight households (including families) have been placed into permanent housing, including 31 this month. In addition, there are 95 singles and 26 families in the Coordinated Prevention program to help them preserve their housing.

The latest report showed that 87% of the people that enter the program do not become homeless. The system is working, even under extreme circumstances. Homeless individuals who are COVID-19 positive or recovering in quarantine are being cared for at Clare Hall. Hundreds of others have been placed in hotel rooms since the beginning of the pandemic.

IMPACT 211 acknowledges that a Community Resource Specialist, in a recorded test call that Street Angels edited and released publicly, made an inaccurate statement that people haven’t gotten into shelters in two to three months. We accept responsibility for the error, have addressed it with the individual, and have retrained all of our Community Resource Specialists to ensure they follow proper protocol.

When Street Angels shared the edited call with us, our funders and other community stakeholders on July 23rd, we immediately reached out to Eva Welsh at Street Angels and met on July 30th with County officials and community members to discuss a more collaborative working relationship.

In the last ten days, we have received six emergency shelter referrals from Street Angels and the Community Task Force MKE. Five of the six individuals declined shelter because they are seeking permanent housing.

Ms. Welch from Street Angels wrote in an email response to me, “We do believe 211 is a brilliant concept, and, Emily Kenney has been an absolutely amazing resource for us. We truly appreciate all that Impact 211 does for our community.

We realize the immense pressure everyone is under during this questionable time in our world. We look forward to everyone working together to ensure the safety of our communities most vulnerable. Please let us know if we can be of any assistance, we would love to be a part of these conversations.

Despite our best intentions and efforts toward a productive working relationship, Street Angels shared a YouTube video featuring the edited call on their social media platforms. We reached out to Ms. Welch and the Street Angels again on August 13th to provide further information and evidence of how the system, albiet not perfect, is working for the benefit of many vulnerable people. We encouraged them to shift the narrative away from the misperception that “no one gets help” but we have not received a response.

Our calls have nearly doubled since the onset of COVID-19 and IMPACT 211’s Community Resource Specialists are a committed group of first responders who are helping nearly 1,000 people every day. The community; county and city government, United Way, many foundations, and all of the community-based organizations who have stepped up during this critical time will persevere by working together and serving as a model for future events".

Homeless people are humans

What people often forget, according to Welch, is homeless people are human.

Welch is hoping to see homeless shelters become more welcoming. She has heard from some clients who have experienced shelters that made them feel as if they were checking into jail.

"People don't want to feel controlled. I have heard people say they would rather freeze to death in the street," she said.

Another issue is the gap between being homeless and finding housing. Welch told Patch it is impossible to find a homeless person housing within 45 minutes but they could get frostbite at that time. She said this gap is where the community is failing.

"Yes, housing ends homelessness but shelter ends suffering," she said.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Street Angels will not be able to accept any donations directly from the community, whether it be clothing, personal hygiene, food or otherwise. However, the need is still there. For safety, they are only able to accept new items shipped directly to them. The organization has updated its Amazon wish list which can be found on the website at www.streetangelsmke.org, which has items listed from highest to lowest need.