MILWAUKEE — The winter months are busy for St. Ben’s Community Meal. In the evenings, you’ll find their kitchen filled with volunteers getting ready to feed hundreds of people as just one part of their daily operations.
They also offer showers in the mornings and in the afternoons, a laundry service, and a warming center in the winter.
As soon as they’re finished serving meals, the dining room gets converted into that warming center where over 80 people each night go for shelter. It’s a demand that site manager Kenneth Howard says their building can’t always keep up with.
“The reality is, I’m at capacity,” said Howard. “I can’t imagine who is still out in the cold nights like tonight because I don’t have enough beds.”
He says the need to help homeless individuals with mental illnesses or substance abuse problems also amplifies when the temperatures drop.
For example, drinking alcohol opens blood vessels below the skin, allowing more blood and heat inside them. This makes the person feel warmer than they are while taking both blood and heat away from the core of the body, making them, in reality, get colder quicker.
“It’s almost like you’re gambling with yourself to provide for your addiction more than your needs,” Howard explained.
He says he sees the dangers of substance abuse in the cold daily.
“We had one lady that was here last night, she had no choice but to finally come because she was out there so long she had frostbite all over her fingers.”
Howard emphasized while providing a place to stay is vital, offering long-term resources is also necessary to fight the city’s chronic housing issue: “When our guests are sober or lucid we need to be able to provide substantive support for people and connect them.”
As for long-term solutions, Eric Collins-Dyke, the Assistant Administrator of Milwaukee County’s Supportive Housing and Homeless Services, says significant increases in affordable housing as well as in services to maintain housing are necessary steps to combat the rising issue of homelessness.
Anyone who sees somebody living outside in these dangerous temperatures can send an email with the location and general description of the person to the Milwaukee County Homeless Outreach Team at outreach@milwaukeecountywi.gov.
