MILWAUKEE — Kevin Perez struggles with addiction and has been living on the streets for four years.
For the past few months, he has been living at the Holt Avenue Park and Ride. Recently, the camper he was living in burnt down.
“You see the remains of it?” asked Perez. “The biggest thing was my dog was killed out here and the memorial was in here. It is something I can’t replace.”
Perez is one of over a dozen people that were living at the Holt Avenue Park and Ride throughout the winter.
It’s a number that Steve Hill, housing navigator with Milwaukee County, has been working to reduce over the past few months.
“The process is people get assigned housing navigators after being verified by street outreach teams and that’s what happened with Kevin. He was verified and we knew he was down here a lot,” said Hill.
In 2022, Milwaukee County had the lowest per capita count of unsheltered homeless people in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Hill said he and his team have gotten six people living at the park and ride into housing so far. They started by focusing on those living in tents and are now working to help those living in campers.
“There are difficulties when finding people housing,” said Hill. “A lot of people have evictions that landlords are not going to appreciate, they may have criminal backgrounds and no income is a barrier as well.”
Hill and his team are able to help those struggling overcome most of the barriers they face.
“We help pay the application fees and if they get approved we pay security deposits, first month’s rent, whatever is required,” said Hill.
Just days before Perez’s camper burnt down, Hill was able to get him into an apartment on Milwaukee’s lower east side.
“This place is pretty nice for a studio. I have been in a studio before, and it was never this nice,” said Perez.
Perez said rent for the first year is covered and when he gets a job, he will be required to pay 30% of the rent.
“At the end of the year, they say if you can’t afford it, they will figure it out, but if I can’t come up with rent in a year, I am kind of a bum,” said Perez.
Throughout his life, Perez has struggled with addiction.
According to an article published by the Center for Care Innovations, it can be challenging for someone who was previously homeless or struggling with addiction to stay in housing.
For now, Perez has a roof over his head and has goals to become a clinical substance abuse counselor.
“I have companies on the north side that want me because of my past, because I have been through it,” said Perez.