As winter approaches and temperatures fall, Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan wants the former Ramada Hotel in downtown Milwaukee to become a temporary homeless shelter.
Donovan has called on leaders at Marquette University, which owns the 155-room hotel building at 633 W. Michigan St., to open the facility to homeless individuals this winter. The hotel, which closed recently, is located across the street from what has become a highly visible encampment for homeless individuals near the intersection of West Clybourn and North 6th streets downtown.
Donovan held a press conference Tuesday morning near the encampment, joined by homeless advocates and Milwaukee Ald. Mark Borkowski.
“I realize this is not an easily solved problem, but we as a community need to do better and we ought to do better,” Donovan said. “And if not put an end to homelessness in Milwaukee, we ought to be able to make one hell of a huge dent.”
The former Ramada building has been owned by a Marquette affiliate since mid-2015, when Marquette began assembling an 11.8-acre site east of campus for an athletic center. Marquette University recently filed plans with the city to demolish the 51-year-old building.
Donovan sent a letter to Marquette University president Michael Lovell on Monday with his proposal.
In a statement Tuesday, Marquette officials said the university is “simply not in position to use its facilities — vacant or otherwise — to house nonresidents and assume the significant, complex responsibilities that come with operating a shelter.”
“Through our Ignatian commitment to service and cura personalis – care for the whole person – Marquette is actively engaged in a variety of homeless outreach programs, including Project Homeless Connect, which provides housing, health care and employment resources, and Midnight Run, where students, faculty and staff have provided food, ministry and other resources to some of Milwaukee’s most vulnerable individuals for the past 30 years,” the university’s statement said.
The university said it is working with a coalition of other partners, as part of the city’s Homeless Outreach Team, toward finding a coordinated solution to meet the immediate needs of the city’s homeless and addressing the root causes underlying the problem.
Now three years into its Housing First initiative, Milwaukee County is on track to formally meet the requirement of a “functional-zero number for the chronically homeless” in the community, which is defined as having more housing units immediately available than demand, according to a recent report from county executive Chris Abele.
In July, Milwaukee County counted having 887 homeless individuals, down from 1,521 in 2015.
“A 40 percent drop in homelessness is incredible, but it’s not enough,” Abele said. “We will continue to invest time, money, ideas and partnerships into battling and preventing homelessness in Milwaukee County.”
Donovan said the increased visibility is of the encampments, including those under I-794 near the Intermodal Station and MacArthur Square, has brought the issue to the forefront.
“It has created somewhat of a stir,” Donovan said. “I can assure you that phones have been ringing down at City Hall regarding this homeless encampment.”
Donovan also announced that the city’s Public Safety and Health Committee will hold a special public hearing regarding Milwaukee’s homeless issue on Nov. 29 at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
“It is my hope to ascertain precisely where we’re at with this problem,” he said. “What are the obstacles standing in our way? What can we do short-term and long-term to address this ongoing problem?”
