GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – St. John’s shelter says for years there’s been an uptick in homeless people at nearby St. John’s Park.
Now they want to impose new rules on adults trying to visit the park.
The Park is on the east side of downtown Green Bay, at the corner of South Jefferson and Chicago Streets.
The shelter’s plan to address homelessness will be presented at the next parks committee meeting.
“Work on different activities, group activities, it could be physical fitness, it could be group sessions.”
Paul Van Handel coordinates the Homeless Outreach Team for the Green Bay Police Department.
He tells FOX 11 a list of adult programming is part of a new initiative to combat homelessness.
“Sometimes there’s that situation where their less apt to come forward. There’s that fear or the trust and rapport isn’t there. So really this park program is to get them to engage.”
Van Handel is talking about the Engage Initiative.
While Green Bay police is a partner, the initiative is headed up by St. John’s Homeless Shelter.
It cites over a hundred calls to police over the summer.
And a growing number of homeless people in St. John’s Park who the shelter says are resisting support services.
So, the shelter wants to place staff in the park from May to October, and make people 18 and up sign a code of conduct to enter.
St. John’s Park is right across the street from St. John’s shelter. So, the shelter wants to use this program to encourage more people who are homeless to use their services.
“We’ll do the maintenance as we typically would for a park.”
That’s James Andersen on Green Bay Parks role as a program partner.
While he and his team handle maintenance, and Green Bay Police provide support, Andersen tells FOX 11 the hope is to address homelessness not just in this park but in the city.
“And also just to be proactive in trying to find some positive ways to find solutions to homelessness.”
But this is just the first step in the plan.
It’ll be considered at a parks committee meeting next Wednesday.
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