Music.
Our morning show today from wrco.
We're talking about the national point in time, the account for homelessness in our area and across the country in the studio with us today.
Roxanne Klubertons Gerber, manager with aging and disability resource center of Eagle country.
We also have JB Muller, who's in to talk a little bit about what he does and also about Lydia's house and Bridge of Hope and some other opportunities.
And we'll introduce you to Haley Elam, who is the coordinated entry specialist for our area.
We'll talk about what she does and what that means as well.
So Roxanne, here we go again.
We did this a year ago, I believe.
We do.
Yeah.
We do this actually a couple of times a year.
And you do it in the summer, as opposed to right in the heart of winter time too, don't you?
We do.
So it's always the fourth Wednesday, sorry about that, of January and the fourth Wednesday of July.
Do
you notice numbers different?
for homelessness in the winter and in the summer?
Generally we find more in the summer, but this year was one of those years that there were a lot of individuals that we found in January, which was unusual for us.
And we had that cold snap in January too, which was really scary, wasn't it?
It was very scary.
We had a couple of people that were really in critical condition, needing a warm place to stay.
So luckily we had a local church that opened up a shelter for a few days to be able to house those individuals.
individuals, but it was definitely a scary time this year.
Explain why this is an important thing for not only our area, but all the way across the country, isn't
it?
Yeah.
So, um, Richland County is part of the Southwest Coalition, um, for homelessness.
And so we do these point in time counts twice a year and we want to be out there and we want to find out how many people do we have in our communities that are struggling with homelessness from that, um, when we
pull all that together for Richland County.
We have a team of individuals that go out through the overnight and look for individuals who are homeless.
Once we get all that information, we send it on to our Southwest Coalition lead.
They put all of the information together from the five Southwest counties and then they send it to the state.
From there, it does go to the federal government and then that really does help to dictate funding that may come back to our area to be able to help provide supports to individuals
who are homeless in our area.
That's what makes it so important.
It's not just account, just to find the numbers, is it?
Right.
You know, we don't get a lot of funding in our fives, our five counties, but we are seeing more and more homelessness throughout those counties.
So that's where it's more important than ever for us to make sure that we have those numbers and we are able to then also through this, hopefully connect people to some services or at least some resources to see if they qualify for different types of services.
How many times have you
done this personally if you count winter and summer.
Goodness.
I think I am on my 25th, 24th
or
25th point in time count.
Wow.
So I've been doing it since I started at the ADRC back in 2013.
Has anything surprised you during that time?
I think this year.
This year surprised me the most in January is just to see how desperate people were and see how many people that we had that were luckily in shelter.
But then there were some that were still in their vehicles and people trying to be intense.
I think this year has been the worst year that I've seen it through all the point in time counts that I've done.
Okay.
We'll introduce you as well to Haley Elam today.
Haley, tell us a little about what you do.
I work at Family Advocates, which houses my position.
So my full position is I'm the SSO for the Southwest Homeless Coalition.
So what I do is I manage our coordinated entry.
database.
And so what I do is I'm kind of the entrance into it, although you can be connected to it from other agencies as well.
But what I do is I do an assessment with individuals who are experiencing homelessness, maybe at risk of becoming homeless or fleeing type, any type of abusive situation to get them connected to those resources within their communities.
So my assessment doesn't take too long.
Just ask for basic information on what that person's situation is
like and then from there kind of doing some case management with the individual or family to see what supports we can get them connected to.
Typically how receptive are people when you ask them for information?
A lot of people are kind of already connected with some type of community.
Agency or organization.
So I think that that kind of warm handoff to me of You know, they give kind of the background knowledge of who I am and what I do So I think people are very receptive A lot of people really do just want help and kind of a listening ear because they've been turned away at places or Different things like that.
So I get a lot of good reactions from people that are just trying to Talk about their situation and get any support they can from it.
It's all kinds of different situations
because some might even choose to be homeless, right?
Yeah, that can be someone's choice.
And we just try to meet people where they are at and we're not trying to force any support or get them to do things that is not best for them.
So a lot of my conversations with clients and individuals is giving them all the information they can they need so they can make an informed decision for themselves and what's best for their situation.
So if the group that's counting the homelessness and then maybe if somebody hasn't been contacted, is that where you step in then after Wednesday?
Yeah, so after Wednesday, if they haven't been contacted with, they can still be included in that point in time count up until a week after if they disclose that they experienced homelessness Wednesday night.
So we can still connect them with resources, count them.
So from there, I'd be trying to find different supports for them.
So yeah, a lot of law enforcement will reach out to me, agencies like ADRC trying to get supports for their clients.
So yeah, a lot of different community connections will reach out to me after the count, if anybody wasn't connected with.
And passages, another great resource in our community as well.
Yeah,
absolutely.
Passages covers this area and then family advocates is also another one in connection with our Southwest Homeless Coalition.
And then we also have Greenhaven family advocates in Green County.
Do you find this work rewarding?
Yeah.
I very much so love the work that I do.
Like I said, a lot of people just kind of need someone to listen to what they're going through.
And I try to understand their situation and connect them with resources.
But being a support system is for somebody to me is a really, really rewarding thing to do.
And just knowing that I was able to listen to somebody who maybe doesn't always get listened to.
Well said.
JB Muller is in the studio with us as well.
This is one of the organizations you're involved in, one of the many.
Why do you do it?
I'm with Lydia's
House and also with Bridget Hope, a charity that I started to St.
Barnabas Church and also on the Richardson County Homeless Coalition Board.
And so what I do is that I have
14 different or 15 different agencies that I can contact or give them to contact so that way when I do what I call intake on them I ask them a series of questions and that way I can direct them to the ADRC or other agencies where they can best fit their needs of what situation you're in.
My demographics and I try to get these all to the state because that's important for funding and stuff.
My demographics last year were three months to 80 years old.
Wow and There's a lot of children out there, and that's what we take care of a lot, you know children and stuff Then we find out that if they're on certain type of the programs and if they're if they're using them and sometimes we'll offer financial Counseling so that they can make their checks last and probably a lot some people say that people come to rich and common because of our benefits here We found that about 85 if not more
percent of the people that come for help usually have family in this area and that's why they come here because but then what happens nobody ever grows up saying I want to be homeless and nobody ever grows up and say I want to be addicted.
It's certain circumstances beyond their control that they need to be directed back to where they belong and if we find situations where we can't handle that we can also refer them to
charities in La Crosse and also to Madison where there's more of a variety like the Catholic Diocese.
Salvation Army has a larger broad base and stuff, but a lot of it is just trying to, for one thing, make the people who are calling in
comfortable because they're not, they're not used to asking for help sometimes.
And if I can get them to laugh on the phone, I've accomplished some of my, some of my mission and stuff.
But the, um, the thing about it is, is that a lot of these people, uh, I go to runs at enrichment center three times a day.
I go exactly where they're at.
because I know all of their locations so I go to every place where they're holed up at and our best information we get about homeless people is from the homeless people themselves.
They're pretty well, there's kind of a connection with all in there.
And if you see, and we recognize which ones are homeless by how they're living, how their car looks and stuff.
So we try to keep gas in their car, especially during the summer to keep the air conditioner rolling and then during the winter to keep the heat rolling so that they don't, first thing I like to check is make sure the car is safe.
So there's no chance of carbon monoxide poisoning and stuff.
And then
A lot of this stuff and another one we broke her through to our broker, I hate to say broker, but partnership with is a Richland thrift shop.
There are a source for getting clothing to people that need it.
Choose the most requested item that homeless are looking for is socks.
That
is because by keeping their feet dry and warm, that's part of the battle there.
And we did have a couple of last time that got what was called trench foot where they had to be hospitalized because their feet weren't dry cause you were living in tents.
So you gotta be conscious of that and stuff.
And a lot of them too, if I know just exactly how they move and stuff, like if they are
out in the elements and they have backpacks.
We supply them with what's called emergency food and that is snacks that are that are don't have a parish date on them vitamins Sometimes we give them hats during the winter gloves Nutritious snacks vitamins and stuff stuff that that really is important and another thing we do too is supply them with the RD a ARDC supplies them was we call I call them goodie basket
And that is on some of these programs, some of the programs that the government has is pretty hard to navigate them, which ADRC does an excellent job because they're kind of scary.
And so also what Bridge of Hope supplies is soaps and commodities.
That means for your personal hygiene, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorants.
Uh, paper towels, toilet, you know, all that kind of stuff where you can't purchase off a share card.
I call them share cards and stuff.
So that way there, there's cleansing this because I think the more a person who's homeless feels good about themselves, the more of their app to get.
You know take care of themselves stuff and some of us as well they can pull yourself up by their bootstraps or if you don't have a decent pair of boots to wear.
And it's just like with a food pantry some see people say well their cars are better than mine I said but that might be their home that might be where they're living and so you've got to look you got to walk in your shoes for a little bit and see just exactly what kind of life they're living and stuff.
So you say, you kind of know where the, where to find them.
But I mean, I'm guessing that you take tips as well, like from law enforcement.
Law enforcement, we're in contact with them.
And normally what they'll do is they'll give us a call because normally what happens is ADRC works five days a week, but I work the weekends and that's sometimes the calls come in there.
And what I do is I temporary take care of that until they can get to the services that they need.
We used to do.
vouchers, but that dried up and we no longer can, that no longer is feasible for that.
I do have one local that will take them, but it takes transportation.
Gas cards are a premium to keep gas in a card, and also two taxi cars through Trent, Rich and Trancid.
That way there they can get to their appointments, get to where they've got to go, and we always make sure they make their appointments, you know, that they're hitting their mark to make sure that they are trying their best to get
out of the situation that they're in.
When you do an interview, what are some of the types of questions that you asked me?
The first thing I
asked their name, and I have them spell it out to me, and the reason I do that is because I'm not very good at hearing.
I just asked my wife, but anyway.
And the reason I do is that, is that way I can get the name properly and stuff.
And sometimes I've found out when I'm doing intake, the story changes as I go along, which I mean, you know, that kind of a little bit of a red flag.
And I get their date of birth, I get how many children are in the family and their, their ages and their gender and, and sometimes they're raised too, so that we can give those demographics to the state of Wisconsin.
And I give them to ADRC and they,
stand them into the state.
I also ask them, I go into the specific of what they need, what their situation are, you know, like, do you need clothing?
Do you need food?
Do you need emergency food and stuff?
Do you need any of these things?
And what I do is that I can curtail that list to tell them exactly where to go and what agencies to get a hold of.
Like they'll say, I'll tell them where the food pantry, I tell them where the
what time they serve and how much food they serve, which is you have to make compensation because if they're in motel rooms, you're going to get too much food for you to put into that motel refrigerator.
So we tailor that to just
microwave they're not healthy but microwave dinners and stuff where if they do have a refrigerator and can fix food then we go into more like potatoes and where they can do food.
But I like with the food pantry I can just call them ahead and talk to their president and say we have a person coming who that's homeless and they take care of that.
Trudy at the thrift shops the same way I'll tell her a client's coming in and they get all the clothing that they need so that and she helps us out with that.
I'm not sure if original center is unique, but you surely have a lot of places locally that people can go down
there.
There's, we have a lot of places that they can go and, uh, uh, Rich in County has a lot of programs and stuff, but those programs are needed because of the, the demographics of our area and because, um, because of our, our poverty level and stuff like that.
You know, uh, so yeah, but yeah, we have
some very good services here for people.
Roxanne is Jay's talking, you know, we think about individuals that are homeless, but a child being homeless, that just breaks your heart, doesn't it?
It does.
And, you know, like Jay said, we have seen people from, you know, infants all the way up into their 80s.
And you think of those older individuals and you think of those young children and some of our most vulnerable people within our communities.
And I think that's why we're so passionate about it.
We want everybody to have a place to live.
We want everybody to have those opportunities.
And so I think that's what really drives us to make sure that we know really how many people are out there so we can bring as much funding to the community as possible.
to hopefully be able to get some individuals housed.
Can you talk a little bit about how this will work on Wednesday night, the national point in time, and what the hours are and everything?
Yeah, so it's an overnight count.
So we actually, Richland County has always had really robust groups of individuals that go out looking.
So we break it up into five different routes.
We go out to the Casanova area.
We have a route there, one that goes down through Lone Rock, Muscaday, out through Bear Valley even.
And you would think, oh, where are you going to look there?
But even just looking at the ball diamonds, looking under bridges, we also have one that goes out to Boaz and down to the Five Points area, one that goes out to Viola, and then right in the center of Richland Center as well.
So we have those routes.
We also have just a really wonderful partnership with our local law enforcement.
So police and the Sheriff's Department might give them packets as well.
So if they encounter people that are experiencing homelessness,
they will fill out that paperwork as well.
So we really do a really nice job of covering the entire county looking for individuals.
We also make sure that we have information about resources.
So we have quite a few ADRC staff that do it.
So they're very well
versed in resources and so they take those resources with them.
We also usually take a food bag with us.
We have household baskets and those household baskets have like laundry soap and personal care items, things like that.
In the winter we have some sleeping bags and things like that that we take with.
So we just take a lot of information with us and then we go out and talk with individuals.
I think it was last summer
We had quite a few people.
It might have been two summers ago now, but we had people that were camping in the park, which you can't do anymore.
And our staff spent about three hours out there, just with many of those individuals who were homeless.
And hearing their stories and families and single adults and disabled adults.
So hearing their stories, talking to them, making sure that they had information and resources.
So that way, at least at the end of the night, we knew that we were able to do something.
If someone is listening and they're worried that maybe this person's going to be missed or maybe you should check on this person, should they call ADRC?
They should really have the individual reach out to us.
So we're
not allowed to cold call anybody.
It really does need to be that individual reaching out to us.
But they should reach out to the ADRC.
We may not be able to house them, but hopefully we can at least get them in touch with different resources that may be able to help improve their situation.
Haley, is there sometimes maybe an unfair stereotype surrounding homeless that you can think
of?
Um, yeah, I do think there is.
Um, you know, I think everybody is, and I mean, if you look.
specifically at this area looking at our Alice reports and just kind of the income level of everybody and the community members.
I think kind of all of us are a little bit away from one crisis that could possibly send us into a situation where we're losing our housing or we're at risk of losing our housing.
And I think that
that is kind of hard for people when they see someone who may be, you know, homeless and attend or sleeping on the bench to kind of realize that, you know, that's not too far for a lot of people, especially a lot of people in this area.
You know, a lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck behind and rent or different things like that.
So I think it's kind of awareness of being like, that could be your neighbor or your teacher.
I've had a very
Different people from all walks of life, you know the older population as well I've seen a very much more influx of the older population needing more support as well So yeah, I think there's a lot of unfair stereotypes You know talking to people and talking to community members I feel like it is a lot of education and just being like you know that person could be you or you could be that person and
We all kind of need a hand up when we're down.
So just trying to take it from that approach of this could be someone I know and that's kind of how I always look at it.
That could be my grandma on the phone that's needing help or that could be my cousin that needs help or friends.
So just kind of taking it from that standpoint.
And you know, a lot of people, I feel like with the homeless population thinks it's all substance abuse or mental health.
And I think it's really hard when
to address some of those issues when you don't have a stable place to call home and lay your head at night.
It's really hard to address the addiction issues when you're constantly worried about, where am I going to sleep tonight?
How am I going to get food?
So I think just kind of putting that into perspective as well.
Housing is such a, in my opinion, it's a basic human need.
You can't really figure anything out if you don't have housing or secure stable housing or anybody to help with that.
And some people don't even have any type of support to kind of help them up.
So I think for us that do have that support, being grateful that we have that support.
also being ready for when a community member we know needs that support and being able to help them with that.
Somebody mentioned financial guidance as well.
I mean, I think that's a good point to bring up to somebody is that you can let this go or that go.
You can even let a phone go if you have to, but that roof over your head is the most important.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And then if you think about someone who's on, you know, fixed income, they're going to have an even harder time trying to afford housing and
other expenses that come into play as well.
And that's not even counting a bad situation popping up of a car breaking down and needing a repair and how is that person going to afford their housing and that when those are both very essential things, housing and transportation.
So yeah, it's very, very difficult for people, but just trying to connect them with programs that might be able to help address some of those income.
issues they might be facing, whether that's barriers they personally have or just trying to get in connection to that.
So using our partnerships that we have with like workforce development, W2 programs, stuff like that to try and help individuals and families, you know, increase that income because that will ultimately help them, if we can help them for a transitional period to help them get back on their feet and be able to secure housing and stability of going forward.
Mark, Sam, did you have something to add to that?
Wow, she said a lot.
So she really covered it really well.
I think she's exactly right when you think about if you don't have a place to lay your head, how can you even, you don't get the rest to be able to address things.
The other thing that we are seeing here in Richland County is we have some individuals who are homeless that are applying for disability.
And I think that has to be addressed as well is that the federal level, people applying for disability, it's taking well over a year.
And so those individuals have no income.
They're disabled.
sick.
So they, if you think about how are we going to house individuals, how are they going to pay for that housing, especially with when many times they don't have any supports, they don't have individuals that will allow them to stay with them for one reason or another.
And so if you don't even have an income, how do you meet your basic need?
And if there's not places for people to go for that transitional period, and even if they are able to go for a transitional period, most transitional housing is
for up to 90 days, and if it's taking well over a year for people to get disability that need it, then what?
So people don't even have that option of how do I even pay for anything because they have no money.
Jay, during your time, have you witnessed individuals that you've seen get back on their feet and kind of turn things around?
There is success stories.
And one lady that I helped, she ended up
In an abusive situation, she ended up with a partners that she's with now and so was her child.
They left the shelter with nothing on their backs.
And so we all pulled together and got her goody baskets and taxi cars to get her back and forth to work.
And one day I was at a local bank and this lady was doing business.
And she says, you don't remember me, do you?
And I said, I go through so many faces.
She says, you help me.
And she said, and I actually got her a nice coat.
It was during the winter because she left with nothing.
And I got her very, very nice coat at which thrift shop just gave to us and stuff.
And I said, I remember the coat and I said, whatever happened then she goes, I still have it.
And one time we gave a coat to a child that was at a local motel.
And because some of the children don't know what normal is,
because they're at food pantries, they're in motels and stuff.
And so I asked this lady, I said, what do you need most?
She said, well, my boy doesn't have a coat.
So I got him a coat.
When he put that on, you think he just gave him a million bucks.
Wow.
very rewarding.
I know you do this through your church as well.
This is one of the many things that we can make a difference in our community.
A difference in the community and one thing that's nice about it is the St.
Barnabas, I report to them every month and a yearly and they don't want to know any of the names.
They just make sure that we run our budget and stuff and we go for grants and we get grants and stuff but
it
It is very rewarding.
And the extreme weather, we talked about it last winter, but it's extreme weather going on.
It has been in July too.
It's just like winter was terrible, and then now summer with the heat and stuff, and there's places that they can't go and stuff.
Matter of fact, what happened is that when the rain starts coming in and the river comes up,
exclusive from underneath the bridges.
And so they go to a different area that's higher ground.
And then when the water, when the river goes down, then they go
back.
You know, we think about it, I would be scared, you know, but I mean, a lot of them are used to it, I guess, but they're used to it.
And some, there are very few, but there's some who choose this lifestyle.
And also too, we pay attention to campers.
that are plugged into homes.
We know that they're actually feeding off electricity and staying outside.
And we have one individual who has a camper and then he moves it all over the place and stuff.
Are you looking for volunteers for the Wednesday count, Roxanne?
We are always looking for volunteers for this.
So if anybody is individual or individual interested in volunteering, they can reach out to me at the ADRC at 608-647-4616.
So we're always looking for that.
And we're also, we have our Richland County homeless coalition that J and I are a part of and we're always interested in having
community members become a part of that as well to be able to hopefully become part of the solution for individuals who are experiencing homelessness.
The other thing I wanted to mention is you had brought up the churches.
And so in Richland County, we have a really strong group of churches through the Richland County Ministerial Association.
And then Lydia's house ministries is actually made up through a group of different churches coming together to address homelessness.
And so I think that's another strength that Richland County has above some of
our other surrounding counties.
And so we've worked really hard as a community to address homelessness over the last 15 years, but we definitely just have a lot further to go.
It's good to meet you, Haley.
Anything else you'd like to add
today?
It's nice to meet you as well.
Thank you for having me.
The only last thing I would like to add is if anybody does want to volunteer maybe outside of Richland County as well to kind of either join our Southwest Coalition or possibly volunteer for the point in time count, that will be held the same time in the other surrounding counties.
They can reach out to me as well at 608-732-7310.
Wonderful.
Anything else, Roxanne, this morning?
No, I think that's it.
Good.
Jay, thanks for what you do as well.
Okay, thank you.
You bet.
JV Muller joining us.
Roxanne Klubertons Gerber and Haley Elam.
Again, Southwest Homeless Coalition is going on with the National Appoint in Time Count.
That's coming up Wednesday into Thursday, July 22nd and 23rd.
This weekend, Boaz Fun Days.
It's always a hot time in the old town of Boaz.
Joining me is Jean Nix.
Jean, are you ready?
I sure am.
It's going to be bigger and better than ever.
It sounds like you've got a full slate of weekend activities, don't you?
Oh, we do.
And you know, we change things up a little bit this year that
We do have a poll Friday night started, and that's our American mini-polars, but we also have a newcomer singer.
And I can't wait to hear him.
It's Mark Zelenskic.
I don't know how I'm doing his name wrong, but he's actually, I talked to him and he does a great job.
He brings a little of the soft rock music and country.
That's going to be entertainment starting at nine o'clock Friday night.
So it should be really good to hear him.
Lots of people think of Boaz in the softball tournament, which you've had for years and years.
That goes all weekend, doesn't it?
Oh, it does.
And my husband actually can next head that up.
We call him senior because we have junior also, but, um, what we're so proud of now that we have a group of young people.
starting to help out with the softball tournament.
So they went out there and they've worked, they rolled the grounds, they actually on their hands and knees were pulling weeds and to make it look good.
And so, and they've been raising money so we can get new bases and everything next year.
So I have to give coodles out to those softball teams that they're coming together and really working hard.
Friday night, we also have the Friday night fish fry.
Lots of good food all weekend.
Oh, yes.
Well, yes.
Of course I'm cooking too.
And when this morning, of course I brought my dog back in, we've been packaging up 200 pounds of cheese curds for the weekend.
Oh my goodness.
So what do you do?
Sell those?
Oh yeah.
Down at the food stand at the polling track, then I have a new storage area there too that we actually put in that I have a thousand hamburgers I'm going to be doing.
200 broths, 200 hot dogs, 200 pounds of cheese curds, lots of beverages of all sorts.
So come down and see me.
I'll be there all weekend.
But the Lions then, what really helps us out on Saturday morning, they put on a pancake breakfast.
So that starts out on Saturday morning.
And then we start, then after that, we go to the antique tractor pull.
And that's, to me how I say pull it off the field and pull it on the track.
So that's basically what that's going to be.
And then this year we have, um, Mickey Randall is actually putting on a cornhole tournament.
So bring a partner and come there.
Um, sign up is at noon on Saturday and one o'clock starts the tournament.
So that should be pretty exciting.
If you're not down there playing ball, come up enjoying the tournament up there, right behind the community building.
Yeah, you can do both if you want to.
Oh yeah.
Southwest pullers are there again this year, aren't they?
Oh yeah, they're a great group of people that come in.
I can't say enough with them, even when I'm setting up food net, those guys actually come over and they go, need help?
So they're a great group.
And I also have, this year we're gonna raffle off, it's a barn or quilt.
Even though, I hear this a lot, because my husband and I go back and forth.
I'm international, he's John Deere, but if it's John Deere,
farm or quilt that will be raffling off this year.
So that's why you're getting rid of it, right?
Cause you're international and
yeah.
Okay.
And what about, uh, you're going to have fireworks this weekend and Boaz.
Yes.
And we actually got a company out of the, um, Oh, it's at up by Appleton that's coming down to put on our fireworks for us.
Um, we want everybody to be safe.
So these people, um,
their license to do this, but we'll still put on the great show that we always do for Boaz Fundays.
I mean, it's phenomenal.
And so we're going to be doing that about 10 o'clock.
We'll shut down the lights so everybody can enjoy watching the fireworks go off.
So it's kind of like 250 years of celebration for our country.
And how many years for Boaz Fundays?
Do you know?
This is 52 years this year.
52.
Wow.
Congratulations on that.
That's
awesome.
And we're going to have t-shirts out there too.
This year I'm going to have red and there's going to be blue and light gray celebration of our country and Boas Fundays out there.
Um, and then we have music Saturday night too.
So Donnie Rasek, he's, he's one of our homeboys here and he will be performing on Saturday night also.
And I tell you, he's great to listen to.
And your chicken barbecue always draws a crowd on Sunday, Jean.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
And, uh, I'm going to be picking that chicken up today and they get it seasoned, ready to be, um, barbecued.
And I made my pasta salad, which I sell all of that every year on that too.
So
yes.
Oh, it does keep you busy.
It does keep you busy.
Doesn't
it?
Yeah.
You know, it, it.
I don't think people really understand what goes all behind the scenes of this, but we want to have people have a good time out here.
And then Grace actually, and I'll give a punch out there to Grace, they're going to be out selling raffle tickets this weekend.
And just to let you know, I'm a cancer survivor.
This is six months cancer-free yet.
I had breast cancer last year during FOAS fund days.
but I wouldn't miss it and give it up for anything.
And so Grace is coming out this year to sell some of their tickets.
So I hope people support our Grace also.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Cancer hits pretty close to home, doesn't it?
Yes.
And just to let people know, Kevin Jasper is also a cancer survivor right now.
He just had a good checkup too.
That's awesome.
Good to hear that you and Kevin are both doing well and on the upswing.
And, uh, I don't think either one of you would want to miss, but as fun days, would you?
Oh, no, no.
Last year people came and they looked at you.
You're still here.
And I go, yes, I am.
Yes.
For the long haul.
Yes.
Yes.
Anything else you want to add about the weekend, Jean?
Well, we have, um, Nancy.
She does face painting.
She will be in the park doing face painting.
And it's just not for kids.
It's also for adults.
You should see the wonderful work she does.
We also purchase a bounce house for the kids to play on.
So I got to keep those kids entertained too while they're in Boaz Funday.
Well, it's all about the whole family, isn't it?
Oh, it is.
And then I hope people will recognize the new playground equipment we put in the park and the money that we
got from Boaz Fundays last year.
We put new playground equipment in, we planted some new trees.
So the money that we make for Boaz Fundays, we put right back into our park, which I love our park out here.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It just gets bigger and better.
We appreciate taking time to talk to us, Gene.
Good luck and happy Boaz Fundays this weekend.
All right.
Hope to see you out there.
Gene, Nick's joining us on this portion of the morning show.
Music.
Our morning show today from wrco.
We're talking about the national point in time, the account for homelessness in our area and across the country in the studio with us today.
Roxanne Klubertons Gerber, manager with aging and disability resource center of Eagle country.
We also have JB Muller, who's in to talk a little bit about what he does and also about Lydia's house and Bridge of Hope and some other opportunities.
And we'll introduce you to Haley Elam, who is the coordinated entry specialist for our area.
We'll talk about what she does and what that means as well.
So Roxanne, here we go again.
We did this a year ago, I believe.
We do.
Yeah.
We do this actually a couple of times a year.
And you do it in the summer, as opposed to right in the heart of winter time too, don't you?
We do.
So it's always the fourth Wednesday, sorry about that, of January and the fourth Wednesday of July.
Do
you notice numbers different?
for homelessness in the winter and in the summer?
Generally we find more in the summer, but this year was one of those years that there were a lot of individuals that we found in January, which was unusual for us.
And we had that cold snap in January too, which was really scary, wasn't it?
It was very scary.
We had a couple of people that were really in critical condition, needing a warm place to stay.
So luckily we had a local church that opened up a shelter for a few days to be able to house those individuals.
individuals, but it was definitely a scary time this year.
Explain why this is an important thing for not only our area, but all the way across the country, isn't
it?
Yeah.
So, um, Richland County is part of the Southwest Coalition, um, for homelessness.
And so we do these point in time counts twice a year and we want to be out there and we want to find out how many people do we have in our communities that are struggling with homelessness from that, um, when we
pull all that together for Richland County.
We have a team of individuals that go out through the overnight and look for individuals who are homeless.
Once we get all that information, we send it on to our Southwest Coalition lead.
They put all of the information together from the five Southwest counties and then they send it to the state.
From there, it does go to the federal government and then that really does help to dictate funding that may come back to our area to be able to help provide supports to individuals
who are homeless in our area.
That's what makes it so important.
It's not just account, just to find the numbers, is it?
Right.
You know, we don't get a lot of funding in our fives, our five counties, but we are seeing more and more homelessness throughout those counties.
So that's where it's more important than ever for us to make sure that we have those numbers and we are able to then also through this, hopefully connect people to some services or at least some resources to see if they qualify for different types of services.
How many times have you
done this personally if you count winter and summer.
Goodness.
I think I am on my 25th, 24th
or
25th point in time count.
Wow.
So I've been doing it since I started at the ADRC back in 2013.
Has anything surprised you during that time?
I think this year.
This year surprised me the most in January is just to see how desperate people were and see how many people that we had that were luckily in shelter.
But then there were some that were still in their vehicles and people trying to be intense.
I think this year has been the worst year that I've seen it through all the point in time counts that I've done.
Okay.
We'll introduce you as well to Haley Elam today.
Haley, tell us a little about what you do.
I work at Family Advocates, which houses my position.
So my full position is I'm the SSO for the Southwest Homeless Coalition.
So what I do is I manage our coordinated entry.
database.
And so what I do is I'm kind of the entrance into it, although you can be connected to it from other agencies as well.
But what I do is I do an assessment with individuals who are experiencing homelessness, maybe at risk of becoming homeless or fleeing type, any type of abusive situation to get them connected to those resources within their communities.
So my assessment doesn't take too long.
Just ask for basic information on what that person's situation is
like and then from there kind of doing some case management with the individual or family to see what supports we can get them connected to.
Typically how receptive are people when you ask them for information?
A lot of people are kind of already connected with some type of community.
Agency or organization.
So I think that that kind of warm handoff to me of You know, they give kind of the background knowledge of who I am and what I do So I think people are very receptive A lot of people really do just want help and kind of a listening ear because they've been turned away at places or Different things like that.
So I get a lot of good reactions from people that are just trying to Talk about their situation and get any support they can from it.
It's all kinds of different situations
because some might even choose to be homeless, right?
Yeah, that can be someone's choice.
And we just try to meet people where they are at and we're not trying to force any support or get them to do things that is not best for them.
So a lot of my conversations with clients and individuals is giving them all the information they can they need so they can make an informed decision for themselves and what's best for their situation.
So if the group that's counting the homelessness and then maybe if somebody hasn't been contacted, is that where you step in then after Wednesday?
Yeah, so after Wednesday, if they haven't been contacted with, they can still be included in that point in time count up until a week after if they disclose that they experienced homelessness Wednesday night.
So we can still connect them with resources, count them.
So from there, I'd be trying to find different supports for them.
So yeah, a lot of law enforcement will reach out to me, agencies like ADRC trying to get supports for their clients.
So yeah, a lot of different community connections will reach out to me after the count, if anybody wasn't connected with.
And passages, another great resource in our community as well.
Yeah,
absolutely.
Passages covers this area and then family advocates is also another one in connection with our Southwest Homeless Coalition.
And then we also have Greenhaven family advocates in Green County.
Do you find this work rewarding?
Yeah.
I very much so love the work that I do.
Like I said, a lot of people just kind of need someone to listen to what they're going through.
And I try to understand their situation and connect them with resources.
But being a support system is for somebody to me is a really, really rewarding thing to do.
And just knowing that I was able to listen to somebody who maybe doesn't always get listened to.
Well said.
JB Muller is in the studio with us as well.
This is one of the organizations you're involved in, one of the many.
Why do you do it?
I'm with Lydia's
House and also with Bridget Hope, a charity that I started to St.
Barnabas Church and also on the Richardson County Homeless Coalition Board.
And so what I do is that I have
14 different or 15 different agencies that I can contact or give them to contact so that way when I do what I call intake on them I ask them a series of questions and that way I can direct them to the ADRC or other agencies where they can best fit their needs of what situation you're in.
My demographics and I try to get these all to the state because that's important for funding and stuff.
My demographics last year were three months to 80 years old.
Wow and There's a lot of children out there, and that's what we take care of a lot, you know children and stuff Then we find out that if they're on certain type of the programs and if they're if they're using them and sometimes we'll offer financial Counseling so that they can make their checks last and probably a lot some people say that people come to rich and common because of our benefits here We found that about 85 if not more
percent of the people that come for help usually have family in this area and that's why they come here because but then what happens nobody ever grows up saying I want to be homeless and nobody ever grows up and say I want to be addicted.
It's certain circumstances beyond their control that they need to be directed back to where they belong and if we find situations where we can't handle that we can also refer them to
charities in La Crosse and also to Madison where there's more of a variety like the Catholic Diocese.
Salvation Army has a larger broad base and stuff, but a lot of it is just trying to, for one thing, make the people who are calling in
comfortable because they're not, they're not used to asking for help sometimes.
And if I can get them to laugh on the phone, I've accomplished some of my, some of my mission and stuff.
But the, um, the thing about it is, is that a lot of these people, uh, I go to runs at enrichment center three times a day.
I go exactly where they're at.
because I know all of their locations so I go to every place where they're holed up at and our best information we get about homeless people is from the homeless people themselves.
They're pretty well, there's kind of a connection with all in there.
And if you see, and we recognize which ones are homeless by how they're living, how their car looks and stuff.
So we try to keep gas in their car, especially during the summer to keep the air conditioner rolling and then during the winter to keep the heat rolling so that they don't, first thing I like to check is make sure the car is safe.
So there's no chance of carbon monoxide poisoning and stuff.
And then
A lot of this stuff and another one we broke her through to our broker, I hate to say broker, but partnership with is a Richland thrift shop.
There are a source for getting clothing to people that need it.
Choose the most requested item that homeless are looking for is socks.
That
is because by keeping their feet dry and warm, that's part of the battle there.
And we did have a couple of last time that got what was called trench foot where they had to be hospitalized because their feet weren't dry cause you were living in tents.
So you gotta be conscious of that and stuff.
And a lot of them too, if I know just exactly how they move and stuff, like if they are
out in the elements and they have backpacks.
We supply them with what's called emergency food and that is snacks that are that are don't have a parish date on them vitamins Sometimes we give them hats during the winter gloves Nutritious snacks vitamins and stuff stuff that that really is important and another thing we do too is supply them with the RD a ARDC supplies them was we call I call them goodie basket
And that is on some of these programs, some of the programs that the government has is pretty hard to navigate them, which ADRC does an excellent job because they're kind of scary.
And so also what Bridge of Hope supplies is soaps and commodities.
That means for your personal hygiene, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorants.
Uh, paper towels, toilet, you know, all that kind of stuff where you can't purchase off a share card.
I call them share cards and stuff.
So that way there, there's cleansing this because I think the more a person who's homeless feels good about themselves, the more of their app to get.
You know take care of themselves stuff and some of us as well they can pull yourself up by their bootstraps or if you don't have a decent pair of boots to wear.
And it's just like with a food pantry some see people say well their cars are better than mine I said but that might be their home that might be where they're living and so you've got to look you got to walk in your shoes for a little bit and see just exactly what kind of life they're living and stuff.
So you say, you kind of know where the, where to find them.
But I mean, I'm guessing that you take tips as well, like from law enforcement.
Law enforcement, we're in contact with them.
And normally what they'll do is they'll give us a call because normally what happens is ADRC works five days a week, but I work the weekends and that's sometimes the calls come in there.
And what I do is I temporary take care of that until they can get to the services that they need.
We used to do.
vouchers, but that dried up and we no longer can, that no longer is feasible for that.
I do have one local that will take them, but it takes transportation.
Gas cards are a premium to keep gas in a card, and also two taxi cars through Trent, Rich and Trancid.
That way there they can get to their appointments, get to where they've got to go, and we always make sure they make their appointments, you know, that they're hitting their mark to make sure that they are trying their best to get
out of the situation that they're in.
When you do an interview, what are some of the types of questions that you asked me?
The first thing I
asked their name, and I have them spell it out to me, and the reason I do that is because I'm not very good at hearing.
I just asked my wife, but anyway.
And the reason I do is that, is that way I can get the name properly and stuff.
And sometimes I've found out when I'm doing intake, the story changes as I go along, which I mean, you know, that kind of a little bit of a red flag.
And I get their date of birth, I get how many children are in the family and their, their ages and their gender and, and sometimes they're raised too, so that we can give those demographics to the state of Wisconsin.
And I give them to ADRC and they,
stand them into the state.
I also ask them, I go into the specific of what they need, what their situation are, you know, like, do you need clothing?
Do you need food?
Do you need emergency food and stuff?
Do you need any of these things?
And what I do is that I can curtail that list to tell them exactly where to go and what agencies to get a hold of.
Like they'll say, I'll tell them where the food pantry, I tell them where the
what time they serve and how much food they serve, which is you have to make compensation because if they're in motel rooms, you're going to get too much food for you to put into that motel refrigerator.
So we tailor that to just
microwave they're not healthy but microwave dinners and stuff where if they do have a refrigerator and can fix food then we go into more like potatoes and where they can do food.
But I like with the food pantry I can just call them ahead and talk to their president and say we have a person coming who that's homeless and they take care of that.
Trudy at the thrift shops the same way I'll tell her a client's coming in and they get all the clothing that they need so that and she helps us out with that.
I'm not sure if original center is unique, but you surely have a lot of places locally that people can go down
there.
There's, we have a lot of places that they can go and, uh, uh, Rich in County has a lot of programs and stuff, but those programs are needed because of the, the demographics of our area and because, um, because of our, our poverty level and stuff like that.
You know, uh, so yeah, but yeah, we have
some very good services here for people.
Roxanne is Jay's talking, you know, we think about individuals that are homeless, but a child being homeless, that just breaks your heart, doesn't it?
It does.
And, you know, like Jay said, we have seen people from, you know, infants all the way up into their 80s.
And you think of those older individuals and you think of those young children and some of our most vulnerable people within our communities.
And I think that's why we're so passionate about it.
We want everybody to have a place to live.
We want everybody to have those opportunities.
And so I think that's what really drives us to make sure that we know really how many people are out there so we can bring as much funding to the community as possible.
to hopefully be able to get some individuals housed.
Can you talk a little bit about how this will work on Wednesday night, the national point in time, and what the hours are and everything?
Yeah, so it's an overnight count.
So we actually, Richland County has always had really robust groups of individuals that go out looking.
So we break it up into five different routes.
We go out to the Casanova area.
We have a route there, one that goes down through Lone Rock, Muscaday, out through Bear Valley even.
And you would think, oh, where are you going to look there?
But even just looking at the ball diamonds, looking under bridges, we also have one that goes out to Boaz and down to the Five Points area, one that goes out to Viola, and then right in the center of Richland Center as well.
So we have those routes.
We also have just a really wonderful partnership with our local law enforcement.
So police and the Sheriff's Department might give them packets as well.
So if they encounter people that are experiencing homelessness,
they will fill out that paperwork as well.
So we really do a really nice job of covering the entire county looking for individuals.
We also make sure that we have information about resources.
So we have quite a few ADRC staff that do it.
So they're very well
versed in resources and so they take those resources with them.
We also usually take a food bag with us.
We have household baskets and those household baskets have like laundry soap and personal care items, things like that.
In the winter we have some sleeping bags and things like that that we take with.
So we just take a lot of information with us and then we go out and talk with individuals.
I think it was last summer
We had quite a few people.
It might have been two summers ago now, but we had people that were camping in the park, which you can't do anymore.
And our staff spent about three hours out there, just with many of those individuals who were homeless.
And hearing their stories and families and single adults and disabled adults.
So hearing their stories, talking to them, making sure that they had information and resources.
So that way, at least at the end of the night, we knew that we were able to do something.
If someone is listening and they're worried that maybe this person's going to be missed or maybe you should check on this person, should they call ADRC?
They should really have the individual reach out to us.
So we're
not allowed to cold call anybody.
It really does need to be that individual reaching out to us.
But they should reach out to the ADRC.
We may not be able to house them, but hopefully we can at least get them in touch with different resources that may be able to help improve their situation.
Haley, is there sometimes maybe an unfair stereotype surrounding homeless that you can think
of?
Um, yeah, I do think there is.
Um, you know, I think everybody is, and I mean, if you look.
specifically at this area looking at our Alice reports and just kind of the income level of everybody and the community members.
I think kind of all of us are a little bit away from one crisis that could possibly send us into a situation where we're losing our housing or we're at risk of losing our housing.
And I think that
that is kind of hard for people when they see someone who may be, you know, homeless and attend or sleeping on the bench to kind of realize that, you know, that's not too far for a lot of people, especially a lot of people in this area.
You know, a lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck behind and rent or different things like that.
So I think it's kind of awareness of being like, that could be your neighbor or your teacher.
I've had a very
Different people from all walks of life, you know the older population as well I've seen a very much more influx of the older population needing more support as well So yeah, I think there's a lot of unfair stereotypes You know talking to people and talking to community members I feel like it is a lot of education and just being like you know that person could be you or you could be that person and
We all kind of need a hand up when we're down.
So just trying to take it from that approach of this could be someone I know and that's kind of how I always look at it.
That could be my grandma on the phone that's needing help or that could be my cousin that needs help or friends.
So just kind of taking it from that standpoint.
And you know, a lot of people, I feel like with the homeless population thinks it's all substance abuse or mental health.
And I think it's really hard when
to address some of those issues when you don't have a stable place to call home and lay your head at night.
It's really hard to address the addiction issues when you're constantly worried about, where am I going to sleep tonight?
How am I going to get food?
So I think just kind of putting that into perspective as well.
Housing is such a, in my opinion, it's a basic human need.
You can't really figure anything out if you don't have housing or secure stable housing or anybody to help with that.
And some people don't even have any type of support to kind of help them up.
So I think for us that do have that support, being grateful that we have that support.
also being ready for when a community member we know needs that support and being able to help them with that.
Somebody mentioned financial guidance as well.
I mean, I think that's a good point to bring up to somebody is that you can let this go or that go.
You can even let a phone go if you have to, but that roof over your head is the most important.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And then if you think about someone who's on, you know, fixed income, they're going to have an even harder time trying to afford housing and
other expenses that come into play as well.
And that's not even counting a bad situation popping up of a car breaking down and needing a repair and how is that person going to afford their housing and that when those are both very essential things, housing and transportation.
So yeah, it's very, very difficult for people, but just trying to connect them with programs that might be able to help address some of those income.
issues they might be facing, whether that's barriers they personally have or just trying to get in connection to that.
So using our partnerships that we have with like workforce development, W2 programs, stuff like that to try and help individuals and families, you know, increase that income because that will ultimately help them, if we can help them for a transitional period to help them get back on their feet and be able to secure housing and stability of going forward.
Mark, Sam, did you have something to add to that?
Wow, she said a lot.
So she really covered it really well.
I think she's exactly right when you think about if you don't have a place to lay your head, how can you even, you don't get the rest to be able to address things.
The other thing that we are seeing here in Richland County is we have some individuals who are homeless that are applying for disability.
And I think that has to be addressed as well is that the federal level, people applying for disability, it's taking well over a year.
And so those individuals have no income.
They're disabled.
sick.
So they, if you think about how are we going to house individuals, how are they going to pay for that housing, especially with when many times they don't have any supports, they don't have individuals that will allow them to stay with them for one reason or another.
And so if you don't even have an income, how do you meet your basic need?
And if there's not places for people to go for that transitional period, and even if they are able to go for a transitional period, most transitional housing is
for up to 90 days, and if it's taking well over a year for people to get disability that need it, then what?
So people don't even have that option of how do I even pay for anything because they have no money.
Jay, during your time, have you witnessed individuals that you've seen get back on their feet and kind of turn things around?
There is success stories.
And one lady that I helped, she ended up
In an abusive situation, she ended up with a partners that she's with now and so was her child.
They left the shelter with nothing on their backs.
And so we all pulled together and got her goody baskets and taxi cars to get her back and forth to work.
And one day I was at a local bank and this lady was doing business.
And she says, you don't remember me, do you?
And I said, I go through so many faces.
She says, you help me.
And she said, and I actually got her a nice coat.
It was during the winter because she left with nothing.
And I got her very, very nice coat at which thrift shop just gave to us and stuff.
And I said, I remember the coat and I said, whatever happened then she goes, I still have it.
And one time we gave a coat to a child that was at a local motel.
And because some of the children don't know what normal is,
because they're at food pantries, they're in motels and stuff.
And so I asked this lady, I said, what do you need most?
She said, well, my boy doesn't have a coat.
So I got him a coat.
When he put that on, you think he just gave him a million bucks.
Wow.
very rewarding.
I know you do this through your church as well.
This is one of the many things that we can make a difference in our community.
A difference in the community and one thing that's nice about it is the St.
Barnabas, I report to them every month and a yearly and they don't want to know any of the names.
They just make sure that we run our budget and stuff and we go for grants and we get grants and stuff but
it
It is very rewarding.
And the extreme weather, we talked about it last winter, but it's extreme weather going on.
It has been in July too.
It's just like winter was terrible, and then now summer with the heat and stuff, and there's places that they can't go and stuff.
Matter of fact, what happened is that when the rain starts coming in and the river comes up,
exclusive from underneath the bridges.
And so they go to a different area that's higher ground.
And then when the water, when the river goes down, then they go
back.
You know, we think about it, I would be scared, you know, but I mean, a lot of them are used to it, I guess, but they're used to it.
And some, there are very few, but there's some who choose this lifestyle.
And also too, we pay attention to campers.
that are plugged into homes.
We know that they're actually feeding off electricity and staying outside.
And we have one individual who has a camper and then he moves it all over the place and stuff.
Are you looking for volunteers for the Wednesday count, Roxanne?
We are always looking for volunteers for this.
So if anybody is individual or individual interested in volunteering, they can reach out to me at the ADRC at 608-647-4616.
So we're always looking for that.
And we're also, we have our Richland County homeless coalition that J and I are a part of and we're always interested in having
community members become a part of that as well to be able to hopefully become part of the solution for individuals who are experiencing homelessness.
The other thing I wanted to mention is you had brought up the churches.
And so in Richland County, we have a really strong group of churches through the Richland County Ministerial Association.
And then Lydia's house ministries is actually made up through a group of different churches coming together to address homelessness.
And so I think that's another strength that Richland County has above some of
our other surrounding counties.
And so we've worked really hard as a community to address homelessness over the last 15 years, but we definitely just have a lot further to go.
It's good to meet you, Haley.
Anything else you'd like to add
today?
It's nice to meet you as well.
Thank you for having me.
The only last thing I would like to add is if anybody does want to volunteer maybe outside of Richland County as well to kind of either join our Southwest Coalition or possibly volunteer for the point in time count, that will be held the same time in the other surrounding counties.
They can reach out to me as well at 608-732-7310.
Wonderful.
Anything else, Roxanne, this morning?
No, I think that's it.
Good.
Jay, thanks for what you do as well.
Okay, thank you.
You bet.
JV Muller joining us.
Roxanne Klubertons Gerber and Haley Elam.
Again, Southwest Homeless Coalition is going on with the National Appoint in Time Count.
That's coming up Wednesday into Thursday, July 22nd and 23rd.