Sharing one room with his three children wasn’t something Malcolm Platt could have imagined, but after losing his job, he moved his family into the HALO shelter in Racine.
“I suffered some health issues, went almost blind in my right eye,” Platt explained. “The work I was doing, quality insurance, required me to be able to visually inspect the parts that we make.”
Before securing a spot at HALO in July, Platt depleted his savings on motel stays when struggling to find placement for his family. Platt said though he’s thankful to have a place to sleep, the transition has been tough.
“There have been times where I’ve felt like, I’ve been treated as if though I’m a criminal or less than human,” Platt said with a sigh. "It’s like I know I didn’t do anything to hurt anyone.”
It’s an experience mom Laytia Brown understands well. This July marked Brown’s second time at the shelter, her first was in 2008.
“I promised my kids that we would never be in this situation again,” Brown said through tears. “Ever since the prices went up. It’s like everything, everything got harder.”
She said even with two jobs she found it hard to keep up with the cost of living.
“I mean it was nights I didn’t sleep I didn’t eat to try and provide for them but at the end, it’s like I just couldn't—I just couldn’t keep up,” she said shakily. “Everything just collapsed.”
Brown and Platt are just two of roughly 120 people at the shelter trying to get their lives back on track. It’s a task Brown said is made more difficult by limited resources.
She said because the shelter is short on food and things like detergent, people are spending their own money to fill the gaps. That means it’ll take them longer to save up for their own place.
Interim Executive Director Joan Roehre said this is because the shelter is running low on funds and community support isn’t what it once was.
She said before the Covid pandemic, organizations would come in several times a week to provide meals at HALO but now they have only a few for the entire month.
Roehre also said competition for funds from large donors or foundations in Racine is steep and the money there is limited. She also said while they have staff actively looking for grant funding she's hoping people in the community can step in.
“The fact is it’s swimming uphill right now,” Roehre said. “Every person in this community has an opportunity to support us somehow.”
She said when it comes to donations a little goes a long way whether it be ten dollars or a pile of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Watch: Families at Racine homeless shelter struggle with limited resources
Still, as shelter leaders work to address the shortfalls, their residents are having to fill in the gaps.
Brown for example said that in between job searching and schoolwork, she’s helped provide others with transportation, meals, and help navigating community resources.
“I came in with a mission to revive hope here. We need to be a beacon of hope here,” Roehre said. “We need every person walking through the doorway to feel a sense of hope. I’ll be very transparent in saying I did not feel that.”
Roehre said her top goals are to hire a kitchen manager, address plumbing issues in the bathrooms, and increase the availability of mental health resources.
She said the shelter will move to reduce its capacity to 100 clients until October 31st. She said the temporary move is meant to help them regroup and revise shelter policies.
Roehre is hopeful with community support, families at the shelter can concentrate on rebuilding their lives.
“I want to be out of here as fast as possible,” Brown said, “So that if it’s any other family in need they can you know get a hold of these benefits.”
In addition to cash donations, and volunteer support, HALO leadership said the shelter needs the following:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Butter
- Peanut Butter & Jelly
- Toilet paper and paper towels
- Powdered laundry detergent
HALO is located at 2000 De Koven Ave, Racine, WI 53403
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