Wilson Park seniors speak out against plans for warming room for homeless

The dozens of vehicles in the parking lot of the Wilson Park Senior Center Monday hinted at the scores of people inside.   

Corridors buzzed with the slow-moving foot traffic of attendees, many using canes and walkers. Other seniors socialized around card tables in gathering spaces, shot pool or worked out in a fitness room.

Several dozen moved in unison during a line dancing class in a multi-purpose room that could soon be used as an overnight warming room for the homeless — while in an auditorium down the hall about 100 more grilled housing officials and homeless advocates about the plan.

Many of the seniors don't like it.

"You're gonna' turn our beautiful senior center into a homeless encampment like 6th and Clybourn," shouted one man who refused to give his name to a reporter, referring to the former encampment near downtown Milwaukee known as "Tent City."

The plan surfaced Friday after Milwaukee County offered the senior center for use as a warming room to the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County Continuum of Care, a coalition of agencies and organizations whose goal is to end homelessness in Milwaukee.

It would be open as a warming room from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with a capacity of 40 to 50 single men and women, said Rafael Acevedo, the City of Milwaukee's grant compliance manager.

The room would address the rising number of people who are homeless on Milwaukee's south side, which Acevedo estimated to be about 150 who live outdoors. 

The center is normally open from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Housing workers and advocates for the homeless will drive overnight guests to the senior center and provide transportation and bus tickets to them in the morning.

"I'm really scratching my head to understand what the opposition to it is," said Jerry Schulz, whose wife attends line dancing classes at the center.

"I believe that if you continue to come to the center during normal hours you'd be oblivious to the fact that this was even going on."

But meeting attendees had other concerns: bringing drug users and people from other areas of the city who will roam their neighborhood during the day; germs and diseases that would pose a risk to seniors with already weakened immune systems; bedbugs center members could end up bringing into their homes.

Cindy Krahenbuhl, executive director of Guest House of Milwaukee, said many of those who would sleep at the center are already living homeless in the area — some near the park — and that the warming room would be sanitized before the center opens.

Eric Collins-Dyke, outreach services manager for the Milwaukee County Housing Division's Housing First/Street Outreach program, said a "bed bug machine" — a device that kills bedbugs with extreme heat — could be brought in if needed.

"These are just people, they are our neighbors," Collins Dyke told the audience.

"We already have a large homeless population in the south side area," he said.

"Nothing is going to change on that front."

But Patricia Klitgaard said another warming room is not the answer.

"Giving these people a place to sleep and warm up over and over again is not helping them," Klitgaard said.

Judy Roth, 64, said a resolution to the issue would only be found through continuing dialogue."

"I have no answers," Roth said.

"But I hope that somehow communication will continue… to resolve the wants of the one group who want to protect these people and the needs of another group to protect themselves."

Acevedo said before the warming room could be opened a memorandum of understanding must be signed by the Milwaukee County Department of Aging, the City of Milwaukee, Guest House of Milwaukee and Seniors Serving Older Adults, the agency operating senior programming for adults during the day.

Officials hope to have the warming room operational by January.

"If everything goes as planned, we'll do it this year, but this doesn't mean that we'll be back in the same spot and doing it again next year," Acevedo said.

"We want to get this done as soon as possible, knowing that it's getting cold outside."