SAFE & STABLE HOMES: HOUSING STABILITY FOR ALL
Housing is more than shelter. It's dignity, stability, and a foundation for everything that follows.
Safe & Stable Homes: Housing Stability for All
The Challenges
On a single night in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties, more than 1,200 people experience homelessness.
More than 118,000 people in our four-county region live at risk of homelessness at any given time due to low income and other pressures that strain already tight budgets.
For many, their margin is razor thin. One unexpected cost, one medical bill, one car repair can trigger a fast-moving chain reaction. Rent falls behind, notices arrive, and choices disappear.
What starts as a setback can quickly become a crisis.
These numbers are not just statistics. They represent neighbors, families, and children trying to stay stable in a system where one challenge can change everything.
Our community proved that ending family homelessness was possible. Now, we are leading the next chapter: preventing homelessness for all by addressing challenges before they become crises.
New and increased gifts are doubled by Landmark Credit Union from 7/1/26 to 6/30/27 up to $50,000.
The Solutions
It’s simple: we are shifting from reacting to a crisis to stopping it before it starts. We are strengthening the systems that keep individuals and families housed, stable, and supported so fewer people face the trauma of homelessness and fewer individuals and families end up in emergency situations.
Safe & Stable Homes: Housing Stability for All builds a stronger, connected prevention system.
We focus on four key strategies:
Effective prevention and rapid resolutions.
We use what we know works: support for legal aid, shelters, rapid rehousing, and strong street outreach to stop evictions and quickly move people back into stable housing.
Targeted prevention outreach.
We use data from nonprofit partners to provide income support and flexible financial help through an expanded Flex Fund before a housing crisis occurs.
Housing development capacity.
We grow long-term solutions by strengthening our support for nonprofits and other partners for affordable housing and the development of new housing opportunities.
Coordinated systems.
We bring it all together into one coordinated network. The Coordinated Entry process assesses the needs of individuals and families and efficiently matches them with the most appropriate support services available. Housing case managers help individuals and families at imminent risk of homelessness secure safe, stable housing. And shared online systems help partners respond faster and more effectively.
This is how we move from crisis response to prevention, from instability to lasting housing security.
The Plans
Acting early, moving fast, and keeping people safely housed.
Here is what we will prevent and how we will do it:
- Prevent street homelessness. This is the person who lives in places not meant for human habitation. We are connecting people living in tent encampments to affordable apartments. We will also support safe spaces–so no one needs to be outside in a Wisconsin winter.
- Prevent evictions and foreclosures. This is the person who is experiencing homelessness because of unaffordable housing costs, domestic violence, or sudden job loss. We will prevent this through free legal aid, tenant/landlord mediation, and flexible financial assistance.
- Prevent returns to homelessness. This is the person who previously exited homelessness into stable housing then loses that housing and re-enters the homeless assistance system. We will prevent this by giving our shelter staff the tools and resources they need to quickly house their clients and keep them housed long-term.
WE HAVE ENDED FAMILY HOMELESSNESS
The goal of Safe & Stable Homes: Ending Family Homelessness was to end family homelessness in our four-county area by 2025. This goal was achieved by meeting the criteria set by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This was only possible through support from our donors.