Jesse Garza

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A highly visible downtown Milwaukee homeless encampment known to its occupants as Tent City has all but disappeared because county housing officials found housing for most of the occupants.

The number of occupied tents beneath the I-794 overpass at North 6th and West Clybourn streets had swelled to 38 but has been reduced to four, said Eric Collins-Dyke, outreach services manager at the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services Housing Division.

Another four occupied tents at an encampment on MacArthur Square remained there this week after the number had grown to 41, and between 60 and 65 people who had been living at both sites now have homes, Collins-Dyke said.

"The logistics of the housing process can take time. From required paperwork, to getting approved for a voucher, and then once approved, moving someone indoors," Collins-Dyke said. "We have a housing plan in place for everyone at both encampments and will work with each individual to get them into housing as quickly as possible."

Countywide, during the past few months, division outreach workers have placed 102 people who had been without homes into housing through county Section 8 vouchers and the county's My Home and Housing First programs, he said.

The City of Milwaukee has also been a partner in the effort, he said.

"The outreach staff works with someone at their entry point into the system and stays with them until they find permanent housing, and then transitions them to permanent case management to help with housing retention," Collins-Dyke said.

Owned by DOT

Tent City sits on land owned by the state Department of Transportation.

The site began gaining media attention almost two years ago when it and other encampments were targeted for removal by the city, which said they had become health hazards.

Police placed signs at the sites ordering the removal of property within 10 days, and the DOT placed “no trespassing” signs warning that violators would be subject to municipal citations.

The evictions never materialized, and the number of occupants began to multiply. Their visibility increased when makeshift cardboard and wood structures were replaced through donations of tents by average citizens and grassroots volunteer groups like the Street Angels.

The site also became the target of an outpouring of compassion from people who regularly dropped off food, clothing and other items.

Established nonprofits like Community Advocates and Outreach Community Health Centers also participated in the effort, said Mandi Herbst, a community intervention specialist who works directly with occupants at the two sites.

"We were mainly focusing on doing a roll call of who was there, how many people were there," Herbst said. "We established who was working with who, what do they need, what's their plan."

In December, with approval of the city, the Hunger Task Force deployed two Porta-A-Johns at “Tent City.”

"The State DOT, County DOT and City of Milwaukee (Department of Public Works) have been incredibly understanding and patient regarding the encampment situation and have allowed the bathrooms to remain up to this point, without a permit," Collins-Dyke said.

Hunger Task Force Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler said for her organization it was simply a matter of compassion."

"One of our core values is compassion, and we felt it was a compassionate thing to do. It's also an issue of human dignity to allow people to use a bathroom," Tussler said.

“We’ll leave them there until all the people living there are gone.”

"

Some occupants of the camp said opioid addiction led to life under the overpass, life which had been nearly impossible to escape.

"How are you supposed to apply for a job when you can't list an address or a phone number?" asked a woman living at the site who did not want to be identified.

"How can you go to a job interview when you can't clean up and put on some decent clothes?"

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Kevan Kaizer, 58, said a work injury and subsequent unemployment led him to Tent City about six months ago.

He began working with an interventionist in late October and was placed into an apartment on Milwaukee's near north side in early November.

"Within three weeks after I met her I was in an apartment," Kaizer said.

"My main plan was to get a roof over my head and I've accomplished that," he said.

'"Now I'm looking for employment."