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Thank you.

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Over one night this week,

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Wisconsin volunteers fanned out to

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find the number of people

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experiencing homelessness in

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what's called a point-in-time

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count.

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There are some 5,000 people without

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shelter in the state, and now 10

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counties in northeast Wisconsin

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are scrambling to find places

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for people to stay after

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a nonprofit provider of homeless

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services abruptly closed

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due to bankruptcy.

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An organization called

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the Balance of State Continuum

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of Care.

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Which covers 69 counties

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in Wisconsin, is rushing in

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to respond, along with

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state agencies and other programs.

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Balance of State Homeless Systems

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Manager, Ryan Graham, joins

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us now.

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And Ryan, thanks very much for being

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here.

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No, thank you for having me.

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So how many people served by the

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bankrupt provider of services are

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at risk of homelessness in those

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10 counties?

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Well, you know, I think there

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was 134 households that were

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served in the direct homeless

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housing programs that we were able

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to maintain

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housing for, but there's a

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significant amount of homeless folks

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still in that community that

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are in need of housing

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and you know that

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lack of services

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and the closing of that agency

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really creates a gap in

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institutional knowledge, it creates

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a gap in process and systems

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and all the things that were

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established there, you know, and

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looking for resources and

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reestablishing that is going to take

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a considerable amount of effort.

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Just stepping back at

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the whole picture, is the number

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of people in Wisconsin experiencing

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homelessness on the rise?

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I would say yes, we just did our

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point in time count Wednesday.

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We are in the process

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of our post pit count,

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meaning we still up for a week after

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our point in time counted.

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We are still looking to engage and

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identify those folks who are

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connecting with services in that

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week prior to the count so we can

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include those folks.

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And so the data is not out yet,

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but we haven't

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fixed the housing problem.

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We haven't fix the lack of

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services problem. So.

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Um, and affordability of living

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just in general has not

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gotten any better.

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So yeah, I do expect, um,

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the housing problem to increase now.

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Because how important is that

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kind of point in time count

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toward understanding the

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needs out there.

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It's very important.

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You know, it's really our only data

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point that includes folks

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that we are engaging with that are

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sleeping outside, so unsheltered

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or places not meant for habitation,

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folks that are sheltered, engaged

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with housing programs, but also

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our DV population.

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And so while we

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obviously do not

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locate everybody who's experiencing

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homelessness in that night or the

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week prior,

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we're really comfortable saying it's

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at minimum, this is what our

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homeless problem is.

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Um, and it's a good place to see,

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see trends, right?

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Because of the structure and the way

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that's been set up consistently for

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years, it's really good data

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point to look at trends and, and

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how, uh, homelessness is

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and how we're responding to

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homelessness, uh in Wisconsin.

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Is there enough state, federal and

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other funding to cover resources

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needed for this work?

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Not even remote.

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We are really working hard

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to do as much as we can with

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pennies of what we need to do the

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work.

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And that takes a collaborative

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effort. So we work hard in

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all of our counties, really to

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build that collaboration

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and work together to try and

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problem solve and figure out

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solutions for people experiencing

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homelessness.

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As to federal funding, that

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point-in-time count, I understand,

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is used to apply for federal grants

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for housing services.

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What kind of uncertainty in

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that federal funding is there right

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now?

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Yeah, I mean, I think there's a

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significant amount of uncertainty.

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You know, I think, you know, looking

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at the federal C O C program,

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uh, through HUD, you know,

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they're looking at making

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significant changes away from

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permanent supportive housing, uh

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programs that we know to be

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effective and moving more towards

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transitional, uh non permanent

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supportive, uh permanent supportive

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housing or permanent housing

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efforts.

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Um, You know, so

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I think that's a significant

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change without protecting the folks

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that were already housed in

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these programs. And so there's

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a, a significant shift

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that is gonna provide, I think a lot

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of housing insecurity for

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folks who were

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previously homeless, now are

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securely housed.

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And we don't know what that's gonna

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look like here moving forward.

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So there's lot of uncertainty that

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way.

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We leave it there, Ryan Graham.

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Thanks very much.

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Yeah, happy.

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For more on this and other issues

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facing Wisconsin, visit our website

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at pbswisconsin.org

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and then click on the news tab.

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That's our program for tonight.

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I'm Frederica Freyberg.

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Have a good weekend.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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That's too bad.

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Yeah. Well, thank you for your work.

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It's unfortunate.