PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Wednesday’s meeting gave the Ashwaubenon Village Board an opportunity to learn new information about housing insecurity in Brown County.
In October, the board voted to deny a proposed ordinance that would have prohibited camping, lodging or taking habitation on village-owned property. Despite that vote, Village Trustee Gary Paul wants the ordinance to come back.
“Our staff has done a lot of work on this — a lot of work — and they do a good job in getting the resources they need in order to put this together,” said Paul.
Those opposed argued the ordinance would make the situation worse for the homeless community.
“We can all be on the same team and figure out how to do it together,” said House of Hope Executive Director Shannon Wienandt.
“The problem is, there’s not enough solutions, and there never will be enough solutions,” said Paul. “It’s a nation problem. It’s all over the world.”
Representatives from organizations within the Brown County Housing Coalition were on hand at the meeting Wednesday to engage in the discussion about housing insecurity and answer questions.
“Brown County actually has had the third highest rate of homelessness in the whole state of Wisconsin for over 10 years now,” said Wienandt.
For Josh Benti, director of the Greater Green Bay Blueprint to End and Prevent Homelessness, the solution stems from one thing. “How do we solve homelessness? We solve that with housing,” he said.
Fewer available options drive up cost.
“Often at House of Hope, we see that people coming into the shelter already are working and they just aren’t earning enough to actually afford housing in our community,” said Wienandt.
The coalition says a healthy housing market would have a 5% vacancy. Brown County is currently under 3%.
According to point-in-time count data from the Institute for Community Alliances, in 2024, Brown County had a homeless population of 624.
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