MILWAUKEE — There is an increasing number of older adults struggling with homelessness.
Milwaukee County has received funding from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to address the issue.
Christina Higa is 62 years old and has struggled with homelessness on and off for 10 years.
“I do have osteoporosis and arthritis, and I know from my doctor it is good to walk around, but not all the time,” said Higa.
Higa is currently working with Nick Tomaro, a community intervention specialist with Milwaukee County Housing.
He said his team found Higa living outside of a church in Milwaukee.
“We were able to engage her and then work through the coordinated entry process to get her into Mercy Lodge and Salvation Army,” said Tomaro.
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 15.9% of Milwaukee’s 60 and older population live below the poverty line.
The Wisconsin DHS developed a program to address the needs of this population.
The program’s goal is to “build an infrastructure that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion to address social determinants of health.”
The work Tomaro is doing with Higa is part of that program.
“For Christina, one of our goals is that we would house her hopefully in this part of town that she feels very comfortable and knows a lot of people,” said Tomaro.
In 2023, the Government Accountability Office found there were 138,000 people, 55 and older, experiencing homelessness on any given night in the U.S.
Tomaro and his team work directly with organizations like the Salvation Army and Guest House to get people the help they need.
Steve Bauer is the CEO of Guest House, a nonprofit that helps unsheltered men.
He said he and his team are preparing a room for older men experiencing homelessness.
“This room can house about 22 individuals and we are excited about the elder justice program that we are going to have for men over the age of 60 that are experiencing homelessness here in Milwaukee,” said Bauer.
Bauer said since the pandemic, there has been an increase of older adults struggling with homelessness that use Guest House services.
He said it can be hard to get an exact count on how many older adults struggle with homelessness.
“They may be living with someone temporarily or couch surfing,” said Bauer. “Here in Milwaukee, we have a housing shortage in terms of housing for the elderly.”
Bauer said the older population has more needs than the younger population.
He said this program should allow his team to address those needs while residents transition to housing.
“It is a lot harder to get regular health care and health checkups to maintain proper health, so this type of environment, we are hoping will be able to provide some of that stability for those folks until we can get them into more proper housing,” said Bauer.
Tomaro said this program will allow the entire county to find the best ways to serve the older population for years to come.
“Try to better fill this gab that we see in the system that struggles, despite everyone’s best efforts, to serve older adults with more specific needs,” said Tomaro.