Fond du Lac’s nonprofits are struggling to keep up with a growing homeless population. Here’s what can be done.

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Fond du Lac’s nonprofits are struggling to keep up with a growing homeless population. Here’s what can be done.

FOND DU LAC – Community need for homelessness prevention and support has reached an all-time high, straining Fond du Lac resources.

Last month, Fond du Lac City Council unanimously passed a public safety “code cleanup” ordinance, which included a new ordinance in the city code that prohibits camping on city property.

The new ordinance came into effect Sept. 23, after a number of downtown Fond du Lac building owners, building owners, business owners and residents spoke out about their experiences with groups of people who appeared to be experiencing homelessness regularly loitering or camping around the Fond du Lac Public Library, the downtown area and other parts of the city.

Mike Breszee, council president of Society of St. Vincent de Paul Fond du Lac County, said the county’s regulations have not done anything to solve homelessness in Fond du Lac, only move it.

One place Breszee said he’s noticed tents since the ordinance passed has been near the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store, which makes customers more reluctant to shop there.

Breszee said the city and county governments both need to take ownership of Fond du Lac’s homeless situation.

“They’ve always seemingly been satisfied to let the nonprofits handle the problem,” he said. “And the problem has gone beyond anything that the nonprofits can really handle.”

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St. Vincent de Paul in Fond du Lac is seen in this file photo.

St. Vincent de Paul Fond du Lac County owns the St. Katharine Drexel Shelter and runs the side of the shelter that takes in singles, while the Solutions Center runs the side that takes in families.

Between July 2023 and July 2024, the shelter provided 15,163 nights of housing, including both adults and children, Breszee said.

As of September, the shelter had a wait list of 297 singles and 196 families, amounting to more than 500 people.

Additionally, St. Vincent de Paul provided other programs to help people get out of ********, aiding with clothing, food, transportation and other necessities.

Shelter residents and other community members take part in the

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, which provides workshops, education and resources to improve life skills.

“It isn’t just a matter of giving money and providing space for them. We’re actually trying to provide training to help people move beyond the current situation,” Breszee said.

However, the community assistance St. Vincent de Paul provides is costly, and the organization has needed to focus on the shelter and temporarily stop helping with rent, utilities and transportation in Fond du Lac because of a lack of funds.

More: Many Fond du Lac households’ incomes don’t match living costs. These organizations are helping ****** the housing crisis

The organization pays all maintenance costs for the shelter, and the elevator and generator upkeep alone costs more than $10,000 annually, Breszee said.

He said the community has been good about making donations, but long-term solutions come down to the government needing to come forward on the issue — whether it’s local government or broader.

“The homeless people actually are citizens of the city and the county and need to be respected,” Breszee said. “Their needs need to be honored, just as well as anybody else.”

He added the issue is broad and has many causes, but a major one is a lack of affordable housing, which had been a long-term issue and was identified in the

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.

Fond du Lac lacks housing at all levels, but particularly for seniors and low-income households.

Breszee suggested Fond du Lac could look into solutions other cities have implemented, such as tiny home villages and the purchase of a hotel or motel to house people experiencing homelessness.

Community resources express urgent needs and other ways to help

Requests for help to St. Vincent de Paul Fond du Lac County have been at an all-time high: so far in 2024, the organization has received over 3,300 calls for help, and over 200 volunteers have provided aid to about 6,000 people in Fond du Lac, including 750 people currently experiencing homelessness, according to the organization.

St. Vincent de Paul Fond du Lac County has an urgent need for funds, and is accepting donations to continue helping community members in need. More information is available at

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Information on donating directly to the St. Katherine Drexel Shelter is available at

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.

In addition to running the family side of the shelter, the Solutions Center also runs the local domestic ********* shelter and provides resources for both those experiencing homelessness and those experiencing domestic *********. Information on donating is available at

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The Holy Family Warming Shelter, 73 E. First St., has been renovating the space to improve capacity and accessibility for this season’s guests.

As of Oct. 24, the Holy Family Warming Shelter raised $84,000 to support the shelter this upcoming season through its raffle. Currently, the shelter is in need of new laundry detergent, towels, full-size shampoo, Kleenex, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. Information about donating these or other items, as well as monetary donations, is available at

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.

ADVOCAP has recently earned two grants that will help the organization further its homeless prevention and affordable housing programs: the Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration Grant will help enhance the support ADVOCAP provides to the residents of its affordable housing units, and he Continuum of Care Program Subgrant will help the organization’s efforts to rehouse people experiencing homelessness or fleeing from domestic *********.

Information about donating to support these and ADVOCAP’s other programs is available at

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Hope on the Block operates community pantries with essential items in Fond du Lac, North Fond du Lac and Ripon, and also provides a free meal-to-go in Fond du Lac on Fridays. As of Oct. 27, the Fond du Lac pantry has been relocated to ADVOCAP, 19 W. First St.

A list of accepted donations for the pantry and opportunities for monetary donations is available at

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Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at *****@*****.tld.

This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter:

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#Fond #Lacs #nonprofits #struggling #growing #homeless #population #Heres

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