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
Our goal: We will prevent homelessness for 40,000 people by 2032.
The Challenges
On a single night in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties, more than 1,200 people experience some form of homelessness -- sleeping unsheltered, in emergency shelters, or time-limited transitional housing.
In Milwaukee, we discovered that consistently each year, about 75% of all people experiencing homelessness are doing so for the first time. Unexpected expenses came up, incomes failed to meet the cost of housing, and extended family or friends were unable to provide help. What started as a setback quickly became a crisis. This could happen to any of us.
We know the need is great. 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.
These numbers are not just statistics. They represent our neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family members 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 moving upstream to lead 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.
Over the next six years, we will invest in 20+ approaches built on the following foundations:
Effective prevention and rapid resolutions.
We use what we know works: resolving eviction cases through legal aid and mediation, immediate emergency shelters and permanent housing programs, flexible and individualized assistance, and strong community and street outreach to stop homelessness before it starts or to quickly move people back into stable housing.
Data-driven, targeted prevention.
We use data from governmental and nonprofit partners to provide targeted upstream support at known points when housing crises occur. We work with coalitions specializing in different community issues to provide expert guidance in preventing homelessness for their priority populations.
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.
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 and wraparound support. We will also support safe spaces so no one needs to be outside in a Wisconsin winter.
- Prevent common causes of homelessness. These are people at risk of eviction or foreclosure, or are interacting or exiting from an institution like incarceration or the healthcare system. We will prevent known causes of homelessness through free legal aid, tenant/landlord mediation, flexible financial assistance, cross-system support and targeted efforts for families throughout their child's first year of life and for older adults on fixed incomes.
- 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.
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Advocacy Toolkit: Fund Eviction Prevention in Milwaukee
Encourage the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to fund eviction prevention in the 2027 Budget. Use this toolkit to find talking points, a sample script, and contact information for your elected officials.
Success Story
Safe & Stable Homes: EvictionFreeMKE
Safe & Stable Homes: Hebron Housing Services
Safe & Stable Homes: Rooted & Rising
Video
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. Families still experience housing crises in our area, but we are now able to rapidly respond and quickly end homelessness for a family because of our deeply coordinated and well-resourced system of Safe & Stable Homes funded organizations. This was only possible through support from our donors.