PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — For two hours, a room overflowing with people discussed how to help those in our community experiencing homelessness.
Several city leaders on a panel in front of the room said they learned a lot. Anthon Cowan, a Green Bay man who is currently homeless, says he didn’t.
“I don’t think they gained any helpful information. I mean, because the topics that were brought up that are, you know, solvable, are things that normally get talked about all the time anyway,” said Cowan.
Cowan said he was hoping Wednesday’s event would be more than a listening session.
He said, “I’m actually a little disappointed that the panel didn’t have more ready-made solutions to bring to the community.”
The Green Bay Police Department has increased its enforcement efforts at parks.
A common question asked is if the homeless are removed from a park, where can they go? Cowan offered one idea moving forward.
“If they’re gonna clear these parks out, why not provide the shelters, put them on notice that, yeah, when we clear these places you guys have to have x numbers of beds available so we give them information on where they can go when that question is asked,” said Cowan.
One possible solution offered by a speaker was for the city to reappropriate blighted buildings for affordable housing. Members of Green Bay’s common council say it’s not impossible but could be a challenge financially.
Green Bay District 4 Alder, Jon Shelton did promise one change in the near future.
“One of the problems we have in our city code here is that landlords can discriminate against potential tenants when their source of income is a housing voucher. We are going to end that discrimination. We’re going to do that in this city council term,” said Shelton.
The conversation was sparked by several homelessness issues in Green Bay recently.
Several ideas were introduced, now it’s about figuring out how to turn them into actionable solutions.
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