PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Homelessness is on the rise in the Fox Cities.
The Fox Cities Housing Coalition, which is composed of 38 agencies from three counties, public and private groups and communities of various faiths, are all working toward the common goal of reversing that trend.
“The housing coalition really exists to bring organizations together,” said Pillars Executive Director Lisa Strandberg. “All of whom are working to house people on the margins, people who are low-income.”
Homelessness by year, according to Wisconsin Balance of State, has increased dramatically in the last four years.
- 2025: 249 people
- 2024: 183 people
- 2023: 94 people
- 2022: 5 people
- 2021: 5 people
“We have a lot of that happening in our community, whether you see it or not,” said Susan Garcia Franz, vice president of the Fox Cities Housing Coalition. “There’s resources available and connections available.”
Additionally, more families and older adults are experiencing homelessness, according to Strandberg.
The Fox Cities Housing Coalition serves the greater Appleton area, from Neenah to Seymour and just into Calumet County to the east. No additional funds come through exclusively for the coalition.
Coalition Action Plan:
- Action Plan 1: Increase non-employment cash income. This is to create a strategy to increase access to non-employment cash income (this includes, but is not limited to SSI, SSDI, TANF, child support) for people experiencing homelessness.
- Action Plan 2: Coordination and Engagement – Inclusive Structure and Participation. This is to expand participation in the Coordinated Entry – creating more doors in coordinated entry. Coordinated Entry is a process used to centralize assessing individual’s housing needs.
The private nonprofits are the ones who typically work with those in need. It’s not necessarily about building new housing, but making sure those in need can find a place to live.
“In [Pillars’] shelters, about 40% or 50% of our clients are employed,” said Strandberg. “It’s not about just getting a job. There are other barriers that need to be broken down, and breaking down the stigma about that is one of the things that inspires me to do the work that I do.”
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