The Tomah Health Community Foundation is helping families who are homeless. The foundation presented a $2,500 donation to Family Promise of the Great Rivers April 30 to help families get back on their feet and into stable housing. “These donations from the community are always important,” said Family Promise of the Great Rivers executive director Jesse Todd. “Even now it’s more important with so many cuts and spending and budgets and everything else that’s going on, this is the kind of donation that’s going to keep us afloat and keep us able to do what we’re still doing.”
Todd said that Family Promise recently took ownership of a facility in Sparta to help support its mission. “Recently we purchased the old Torkelson home next to Sparta City Hall and we have moved our offices there. We have gotten about halfway through our renovation to begin housing three families there, so that will be our new static shelter. Ultimately, our goal is to house five families in that location.”
Family Promise provides homeless shelter for families with children under the age of 18. “We also provide eviction prevention for families facing eviction, action shelter diversion for families that may be doubled up and of course long-term case management,” explained Todd.
He said homelessness in Monroe County has been on the rise since COVID. “It’s been that way across the state, we see double digit increases 13 to even in the 20 percent’s annually, depending on the year, but it’s certainly not going away.”
Todd cited economic strain as a reason for the increase in homelessness. “We see a decrease in property value when there’s homelessness. We see higher police contact, which we know that impacts our economy and one of the biggest things is the impact on health care with a lot more trips to the ER.”
The organization’s long-term goal is to duplicate efforts in Jackson County. “It’s not just about shelter and not just about housing that they’re getting, its everything they need to restabilize and to support their kids, so that they get the time to actually focus on their families again,” added Todd.