In Antigo, community members have opened a new organization called William’s House of Hope.
They’re fundraising to open a homeless shelter.
This January, William “Billy” DeHart of Antigo passed away.
DeHart, a 49 year old, was homeless and found dead in Lake Park.
Most people believe frigid exposure led to his death, however, the police haven’t verified this.
After news of his passing broke, Antigo residents organized a town hall on homelessness and set in motion plans for a new homeless shelter.
William’s House of Hope was created in direct response to need in Antigo and Langlade County, which often goes unrecognized.
This is Nicole Barron, President of William’s House of Hope.
“What William’s House of Hope is aiming to do is that we're not putting a band aid over the problem, we want to offer, yes, the quick fix is the temporary emergency shelter. But we're also looking at this holistic approach,” she said.
That includes comprehensive wraparound services for an individual so that they can transition from the shelter to permanent stable housing.
“A lot of individuals in our community say, ‘well, we don't have a homeless problem.’ But we do, and it's increasing,” said Barron.
The group is still fundraising to open a shelter, but as soon as they received their 501c status, they immediately started seeing clients.
Within four weeks, they’ve already had 12 cases.
In Antigo, there are 26 children currently registered as homeless.
“I would realistically say there's definitely over 100 individuals that are in Antigo right now that are homeless,” said Barron.
That can look like couch-surfing, moving from house to house sheltering under porches, or setting up a makeshift tent, all of which Barron has seen.
“We had an individual that was in an apartment hallway, and he contacted us and before we could intervene, he was- he ended up going and committing a crime. He thought- he ended up stealing and then he turned himself in so that he would have somewhere to stay. Yeah, it's very unfortunate that individuals see jail as a way to end being homeless,” said Barron.
The Palace Twin Theater in Antigo is putting on the new Ghostbusters movie on April 6th with proceeds going towards William’s House of Hope.
Homelessness isn’t just an Antigo problem.
In Wausau, the police department is hoping to add additional staff to specifically deal with unhoused populations.
They say the move will not further criminalize homelessness, but others disagree.
“While public safety is important, throwing more officers at this complex social issue is unlikely to yield lasting solutions. Instead, Wausau should invest in wraparound services, which has been a proven strategy that offers holistic support to those experiencing homelessness,” said Barron.
Those types of services include supportive housing, mental health and addiction resources, and job support and training.
Arecent Wisconsin Policy Forum studyfound that homeless populations in the state increased in 2022 and 2023 after years of decline.
