By Shereen Siewert, Wausau Pilot & Review
We all know how dangerous extreme cold can be to people experiencing homelessness. And we all know that this is Wisconsin.
Each winter we experience at least one major storm with subzero temperatures, gusty winds and heavy snow, prompting students to stay home and businesses to close. People who are unsheltered face particularly severe risks during extreme weather that can expose them to the risk of frostbite, hypothermia and death.
It is astonishing to me that each year when it happens, Wausau scrambles.
While many communities have emergency preparedness plans in place, a solid, written blueprint for the process that begins the moment a winter storm warning is issued, we do not. La Crosse, for example, has “extreme weather procedures” that are implemented when certain criteria are met. Other cities have similar policies.
This week’s storm is brutal, with difficult hours and days ahead. Thankfully, the Health Department reached out Wednesday and Thursday to organizations like Open Door and Bridge Street Mission, whose representatives agreed to offer daytime shelter to the city’s most vulnerable residents. The Marathon County Community Outreach Task Force raised money through voluntary donations for hotel rooms for unsheltered residents, keeping them safe and out of the cold. But serious gaps remain, hours that dozens of people will have nowhere to go.
Emergency preparedness plans can’t solve the problem of homelessness, but they can prevent deaths by mobilizing extreme cold response plans for people who are most at risk. For example, the city could call on Marathon County to open shelters and structures such as East Gate Hall in Marathon Park. The two municipalities could collaborate to offer up space at Marathon Hall, the former University of Wisconsin-Marathon County dorms, a county-owned building with dozens of rooms that now stands empty. Turn the heat on. Have cots, blankets, bottled water and hygiene packets at the ready. Empower community resource officers to help with staffing, or have a list of people who can each commit to a four-hour shift when called upon. Reach out to churches and other groups that can provide a hot meal once a day. Establish thresholds that define a public health emergency, when temporary shelters will need to operate to keep the community safe. Then, when the weather becomes life-threatening, flip the switch. Other communities do just that.
It’s hard to imagine why neither Wausau nor Marathon County has such a plan in place – because the resources are there. And you’d think that city officials, foundations and organizations addressing homelessness would come together with a common goal to help the community. That isn’t happening, either.
Take a look at emails obtained through open records requests, and it’s clear that infighting, finger pointing and a sense of “not in my backyard” is a significant barrier to change.
Here are just a couple of examples.
Sandi Kelch, the executive director of the Marathon County Community Outreach Task Force, effectively raised hundreds of dollars in a 24-hour span this week to pay for rooms at local hotels to ensure residents are adequately protected from the elements. In her work she takes a trauma-informed approach to homelessness, emphasizing understanding and compassion when providing services. This is an approach that is backed by the National Coalition on Homelessness as a way to empower people on the pathway to stability. Kelch’s vision, which includes tiny homes and and outreach community center, isn’t perfect. But it could be the basis for a plan that truly works.
Dist. 7 Alder Lisa Rasmussen appears to disagree, as does a trustee with a major foundation in Wausau, according to emails obtained as part of a larger open records request.
Dave Johnson, in a May 23 email to Rasmussen, said his and other foundations talk about key issues such as homelessness. Johnson’s name appears on a list of the B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation Board of Trustees.
“Everyone’s knee jerk reaction is to get something going to help,” Johnson writes. “We [sic] got enough entities trying to do that.” He goes on to suggest that the city focus on the “back side” to ensure people are not homeless – or “move them.”
Johnson, in his email said money could be supplied for such efforts – but only for the “right group.”
“That tiny home group,” he writes, has “no concept of reality.”
“No financial plan etc…guided by rainbows and puppy dogs and feel good ideas,” he writes. “Don’t walk to the door but run when they come.”
Rasmussen responded the same day, saying “I agree with your thoughts on the entity you mentioned that has been vilifying us for trying to give people a path out of homelessness vs. prolonging their being stalled in a desperate situation through enablements.”
In a separate email to a City Pages reporter, also obtained as part of the same request, Rasmussen says Kelch means well but “there have been times that our task force has discussed situations where their work has actually interrupted the work of other agencies that have been working to help people get onto a path out of homelessness.”
And, that’s just the start.
Admittedly, Rasmussen has worked for years to address the homeless issue in Wausau and is a solid leader. The Greenheck Foundation, too, has done immeasurable good in the community and should not be judged by the statements of one individual. But these types of comments show a lack of understanding and a disappointing unwillingness to work through philosophical differences to serve the greater good.
For its part, Marathon County’s Health Department did an outstanding job of putting together options for people to stay safe and warm. But the overall county’s response was lackluster, at best.
On Thursday, Marathon County Administrator Lance Leonhard referred questions about the county’s strategy to communications strategist Sarah Severson, who told Wausau Pilot & Review that the Office of Emergency Management stands “ready to assist municipalities in their response should we receive such a request.”
Ann Lemmer, who represents Dist. 2 on the Marathon County Board of Supervisors, left a Facebook comment on a Dec. 22 Wausau Pilot & Review story that outlined the city’s lack of preparedness for the storm by saying the mayor, county administrator and others are indeed monitoring the weather and working hard on behalf of the community.
“Our county does have an emergency plan as does the city of Wausau and both are watching carefully to make sure there is enough space at our warming shelter,” Lemmer wrote. “At this point, neither have been requested to assist in the set up of an emergency shelter. The emergency operation center and the American Red Cross are at the ready should a request be made.”
Why wait to be asked? And hey, Wausau, what’s keeping you from doing just that?
That aside, if the city of Wausau indeed has a plan, they’ve done a poor job of putting it in motion.
We sit inside our homes, worrying about whether the power could go out or the internet might go down, and wait for it to pass. But for people who are unsheltered, their worries are far greater.
We call on Wausau and Marathon County to establish an official, coordinated response plan to ensure future emergencies don’t require the type of last-minute clambering we’re seeing this week.
It’s long overdue. And lives depend on it.
Shereen Siewert is the editor and publisher of Wausau Pilot & Review. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/shereensiewert
