Milwaukee-area homeless shelters battle the cold and coronavirus
Weather drives people in, but virus reduces beds
Before coming to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission in April, Sergio Vasallo O’Reilly spent roughly two years on the street.
Coming inside after being in the courtyard at the Rescue Mission, Vasallo O’Reilly was layered up, wearing a zipup Green Bay Packers hoodie over two fleece jackets and a T-shirt. Wisconsin residents are used to layering up during the winter, but it’s something he had to do in earnest while living on the street.
“That’s what I had to do,” Vasallo O’Reilly said. “I had to have a lot of layers because it’s cold.”
Vasallo O’Reilly, an immigrant from Cuba, had issues with his wife and her family while living in Cudahy, which led to him doing some time in prison. After he got out, he was estranged from his family with no place to go.
Vasallo O’Reilly struggled with alcohol and substance abuse while homeless and credits the Rescue Mission with not only keeping him out of the cold but helping him turn his life around.
“When I’m here, I don’t have to go to the corner to ask for 75 cents,” Vasallo O’Reilly said. “When I’m here, I don’t have to ask (people) for something that I would need later on to destroy my own life. When I’m here, I don’t have to worry about what will happen tomorrow if I’ll still be alive or not . ... That’s saving my life and not destroying myself.”
Vasallo O’Reilly said he’s reconnecting with his son who wants to become a doctor.
“Right now, I’m repairing myself to give the opportunity to him to see the kind of father he’s got,” Vasallo O’Reilly said. “I don’t want him to see the way I was.”
As temperatures hover just above zero, Milwaukee shelters are working to provide services to the most vulnerable population in the city, while adhering to city guidelines and recommendations to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“The pandemic has added a whole layer of complication to it,” said Patrick Vanderburgh, president of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. “Normally, during real cold snaps like this, everybody’s trying to make room to make sure everybody is in off the streets.”
Vanderburgh said they’ve had to reduce the number of beds in their men’s shelter from 250 to about 130 to spread people out.
‘Homelessness doesn’t go away in the summertime’
Philip Connelly, director of housing for Guest House of Milwaukee, said their emergency shelter was reduced from 52 beds to 40 beds because of the pandemic, but they were able to repurpose a community room to accommodate 12 more people.
“The pandemic makes this a delicate balancing act,” Connelly said, adding they plan to continue following their safety protocols. “But we also feel that right now it’s really beneficial to take extra individuals into our shelter until the extreme temperatures subside.”
Connelly said Guest House is filled to capacity “365 days a year.”
“Homelessness doesn’t go away in the summertime. It’s present then, it’s present now,” Connelly said.
The Salvation Army Emergency Lodge has a partnership with Advocate Aurora to test people for the coronavirus as they come into the shelter.
“I know with our quarantine procedure, that we have caught a few people with COVID,” said Cody Andrews, Salvation Army shelter admissions manager.
Nancy Szudzik, emergency lodge director, said residents are compliant with the safety protocols put in place to prevent the spread of the virus.
“With COVID, it’s complicated a lot of things in the community, everywhere,” Szudzik said. “I think it comes down to what it always is every year, the number of homeless people that we see in the city of Milwaukee is often more than available beds or places to stay, especially during the winter months. I think we all hope that family members and friends reach out and maybe take people in for a night, but we don’t really know.”
Currently at the emergency lodge, there are nearly 80 people, including 21 children.
“It’s so important to have 24-hour shelters, especially during the winter,” Szudzik said. “That’s a big piece, I think, for all of us is sheltering as many people as we can in safe fashion.”
Several residents at the emergency lodge have recovered from the coronavirus.
Juanita Dawson has been at the Salvation Army since August. She was living with her sister after getting a divorce, but constant disagreements made it difficult to live with her.
Dawson was working as a resident assistant for a senior living facility when she got the coronavirus. She describes her battle with the virus as the “roughest days of my life.”
Dawson quarantined at Claire Hall on the grounds of St. Francis de Sales Seminary in St. Francis.
“I got better, it took a minute, but I got better,” Dawson said.
After she tested negative for the virus, Dawson moved into the emergency shelter.
“At first, when I got here I was very skeptical,” Dawson said. “I’ve never been in a shelter before, never. It’s very tough, but I got over it.”
At first, Dawson said she kept to herself.
“When I started getting to know people, I started trusting them,” Dawson said, saying she opened up to her case manager and other staff members. “I know I’m going to get very emotional when I leave here.”
Dawson was recently approved for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, which will help her pay rent. She hopes to move out in the next few weeks.
During her time at the emergency lodge, Dawson kept working as a resident assistant at a different living facility.
“When you think you’re down and out, you’re not down and out,” Dawson said of the help she’s received at the Salvation Army.