FOND DU LAC, Wis. — John Wilson of Fond du Lac is homeless and sleeps outside, even in dangerously cold weather conditions.
“Real cold. Freezing. My toes freeze, my hands. I have gloves and my fingers are really cold,” said Wilson.
He was recently released from jail.
“I was in shorts and a t-shirt and flip-flops during the winter. They let me out at midnight,” said Wilson.
He now wears shoes and has a sleeping bag but sleeps outside.
Wilson was told to seek out ADVOCAP and discovered its newly formed Opportunity Center. Brenda Hull is the special initiative manager at the center, which offers support to help get individuals out of poverty and more.
“Homelessness, job loss, car repairs, evictions, food shortages, so many different things. Everybody’s story is different,” said Hull.
She said since it opened on Nov. 18, the newly created center and its small staff now see around 30 participants every day. They’re all looking for some kind of help.
“We’re bringing people in and saying why are you homeless or why did this happen? What we’re finding is, they don’t know how to do the applications. They don’t know how to find an apartment. They don’t know what to do when their husband passed away and they’ve been evicted,” explained Hull.
She said a lack of affordable housing is a huge issue in the Fond du Lac community. Angel Thieleke came to the center needing to find a better job so she could keep up with her rent payments.
“I’ve been homeless twice and I have a child depending on me and she was homeless with me both times,” said Thieleke.
The center’s staff helped her find a better-paying job to avoid the dangers of life on the streets. She now volunteers at the Opportunity Center because she can empathize with others in a similar situation.
“It’s a helpless feeling. You lost your home. I felt like I was at rock bottom,” said Theileke.
Hull calls her staff “resource navigators.” They greet new participants with a questionnaire to determine how they can best serve them.
“Everybody has a story and a goal that they want to meet. We just help navigate the system to help get them there,” said Hull.
Wilson said they treat him with respect and are helping him to find housing. In the meantime, the center offers him a welcoming space.
“They help me get around to my appointments and it’s a place where we can come eat and keep warm,” said Wilson.
Hull said many people are only one bad life event away from being in a rough situation.
“If you lost your job tomorrow, do you think you would be stable if you didn’t have a support system? Ask yourself that. If you can’t answer that, ‘Yes, I’d be ok,’ that’s exactly what we’re seeing every day,” said Hull.
Theileke said she wants those facing rock bottom like she once did to know there is hope for them at the Opportunity Center.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel and there are people willing to help you,” said Theileke.“There is light at the end of the tunnel and there are people willing to help you,” said Theileke.
Hull said the staff will continue to motivate and navigate their participants out of tough situations in the Opportunity Center.
“We help make sure it’s done here. We make the calls with them. My team is trained to just get it done, so when they leave, they have hope,” said Hull.
She also said the Opportunity Center doesn’t receive funding for its efforts. It welcomes financial contributions and would especially like help finding more affordable housing for its clients.