Housing
Closing the book on my mother’s eviction: ‘A sad thing that happened’
Last week my sister, Diane, and I met with two officials from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, at their invitation, to discuss the state’s decision to dismiss two citations it had issued against a Milwaukee-area senior care facility that last fall evicted our then-97-year-old mother, Elaine Benz. It was the first time that anyone […]
Evictions are surging in Milwaukee County
“Eviction filings are on the rise again in Milwaukee County after tapering off for a few months,” the Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union (MATU) warns in a statement to Wisconsin Examiner. During the first week of August, 327 evictions were filed, about 72% above average. Numbers like those haven’t been seen in Milwaukee County since last […]
Record rent increases, low wages are driving an eviction crisis, U.S. Senate panel told
WASHINGTON — Witnesses in a Tuesday hearing detailed to a U.S. Senate committee how investors and stagnant wages are driving an eviction and housing crisis across the U.S. The chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, said that families are being priced out of buying homes, and rising […]
Milwaukee woman evicted from home left dilapidated by landlord
“Right now, I’m still frustrated, I’m scared ‘cause I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Patricia Williams tells Wisconsin Examiner as she sits on the front porch of the place she called home for nearly a decade. “I don’t know where I’m going to go.” Like many others across Milwaukee County, the 62-year-old mother […]
Starting with housing to reduce racial disparities in Milwaukee
Historic racism, state-level meddling and decade-long trends have combined to severely harm the state of affordable housing in Milwaukee. To solve it, a citywide and long-term plan is required, according to Teig Whaley-Smith, the chief alliance officer at the Community Development Alliance and a former Milwaukee County official. Whaley-Smith spoke Tuesday at a meeting of […]
Health risks for families in military private housing probed by U.S. Senate panel
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel on Tuesday grilled officials running private housing for service members about reports of deplorable living conditions from military families. The hearing, led by Chairman Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, and top GOP member Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, followed a joint release of a […]
Report: Black and Hispanic renters are struggling in Wisconsin
Large numbers of Black and Hispanic people in Wisconsin are behind on their rent, according to a new report. The report by HelpAdvisor, an online resource that compiles information largely about federal and state benefits, shows that nearly half of African American renters in Wisconsin are behind on rent. Wisconsin has the highest rate of rent […]
‘Sitting on a time bomb’: Mobile home residents at risk in red-hot housing market
WASHINGTON — Jon Zang walks his dog several times a day in his mobile home community in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania. It’s quiet, as most of his neighbors are at work. But he often wonders how many more walks he and his bulldog mix, Ladybug, will have down the streets of the place he’s called […]
Researcher urges Congress to redress decades of housing discrimination
The federal government should take concrete steps to help bolster housing in Black and other nonwhite communities in order to rectify racist practices that for decades cleaved them from white communities that benefited exclusively from support and investment, a professor who has studied the history of segregation in Milwaukee told a Congressional committee Tuesday. “We […]
New bus puts Street Angels homeless outreach back on the road
Members of the Street Angels, a Milwaukee-based outreach group for unhoused people, appeared ecstatic to unveil their newly minted outreach bus Wednesday morning. Filled with food and supplies, the bus will help the Street Angels re-engage the group’s work, filling a void left after its predecessor was burned in January. Eva Welch, co-executive director for […]
Evictions, housing insecurity in Wisconsin become a ‘slow boil’ of crises ahead of winter
This summer, as the CDC’s moratorium on evictions was set to end, housing advocates across Wisconsin warned of a coming “eviction apocalypse,” as one of the few protections for people struggling to pay rent in an economy turned upside down by a pandemic went away and aid groups struggled to get millions of dollars in […]
Report: despite improvements poverty is worsening for some in Wisconsin
Poverty was under the microscope at a press conference in the Capitol on Thursday. Framed around a recent study tracking the effects of COVID-19 on the economy, food and housing, the gathering of elected officials and advocates highlighted the worsening struggles of low-income residents of the Badger State Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) was joined by […]