MADISON, Wis. — Homelessness and mental illness often go hand in hand.
According to the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration, there were 4,861 people living in Wisconsin shelters in 2023.
Fares Fares, who manages the Men’s Drop-in Shelter on Madison’s East Side, said the number of people using his shelter has increased drastically over the past year.
“Rising rent makes it difficult for people who even make $15 an hour to survive and have somewhere to rent in Madison,” said Fares.
Often tent encampments will pop up throughout Madison and Fares said that’s because people, such as Mike, are dealing with unaddressed trauma and choose not to sleep in shelters.
“A lot of our guests dealt and still deal with trauma, so having rules and structure is a bit difficult for them to abide by,” said Fares.
Mike is one of those people who would often rather sleep outside than in a shelter.
As someone who is fighting to stay sober, he said that can be difficult when you are around others struggling with addiction.
In the past, he said others around him broke his sobriety.
“I was with some people and they had passed me the pipe a couple of times,” said Mike. “At first, I turned it down and then I was up in my head and on the third time when they passed the pipe I took a hit thinking one wouldn’t kill me and I was back to it.”
He said he has now been sober for four months from crack cocaine and eight years from alcohol.
Without the proper medication and job opportunities, Mike said he doesn’t know what will happen to him in the future.
He said is trying his best to remain sober and get his life back on track.
