Rumors are circulating that County Executive Joe Parisi is gearing up to veto some of these initiatives. However, the county board supervisors are taking housing and homeless issues seriously! And putting their money where their mouths are! It’s awesome! (And I can’t believe I didn’t blog this earlier!). The press conference was last Friday, but I couldn’t attend and this got buried in my inbox.
County Board Unveils Homeless Initiatives Temporary Warming Shelter Will Give Way to Permanent Shelter, Single-Room Apartments
Dane County’s homeless would have access to a permanent, year-round daytime shelter, as well as affordable
housing and other facilities, under a series of initiatives proposed by the Dane County Board.“We will rent shelter space through the winter, and that’s important. But it’s not enough,” Dane County
Board Vice Chair John Hendrick said. “People need shelter from the heat and rain as well as the cold. They
also need a safe, clean place to access daily necessities, as well as a path to real housing, even if that’s just
a room. A place to call your own, however small, is a powerful thing.”The County will rent space at 827 East Washington Avenue, or other location to be determined for a homeless
warming shelter from mid-November through March 2013. At its November 1 meeting, the Board introduced a
resolution signed by 23 supervisors to approve a lease.Also proposed is a permanent day center that will cost $600,000 to build and $150,000 per year to operate. It will
include daily living necessities such as restrooms, laundry, showers and storage lockers. In addition phones,
computers and mailboxes will assist with applying for jobs, housing and public services.In addition to the warming shelter and the day center, the County Board is considering a number of other initiatives
against homelessness. Another budget amendment by Sup. Bayrd proposes the building of a single-room apartment
building in which people of limited means could rent a single room. The building would cost the county an
estimated $1.7 million over two years. Sup. Melissa Sargent is proposing funding to Briarpatch for outreach to
homeless youth. An additional public toilet has been installed this month in the county parking ramp in downtown
Madison. A comprehensive study of the housing needs and resources of Dane County is also proposed.Homeless veterans (and all veterans) will see better services in 2013, thanks to a total of $42,000 being added to the
2013 budget to expand the veteran’s service line, purchase technology for the Veterans Services Office, and digitize
Veterans Services records. These are proposed by Sup. Dianne Hesselbein with a goal of eliminating homelessness
for veterans by 2015.“This is the kind of thing County government is really meant to do,” said County Supervisor Heidi Wegleitner. “We can only tackle the issue of homelessness with a comprehensive approach to the immediate needs of shelter and safety followed by access to other services. I’m proud of our County Board for taking that approach.”
Sounds like the SRO housing will only have part of the money this year in 2013 and the rest in 2014. And I’m not sure that the study done by staff will get us what we need, but its a start. And at least they are working on the issue! City council? Will we see any progress there when the amendments come out? I kinda doubt it, haven’t heard of anything from anyone. But we’ll see, tomorrow. And they will debate their budget next week.
