1004 N. 10th St., Milwaukee Project RETURN, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit organization that helps individuals who have been incarcerated return to the community after serving their sentences, will for the first time in its 45-year history directly provide housing for men exiting incarceration. The organization will manage 12 independent-living apartments on the
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1004 N. 10th St., Milwaukee[/caption]
Project RETURN, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit organization that helps individuals who have been incarcerated return to the community after serving their sentences, will for the first time in its 45-year history directly provide housing for men exiting incarceration.
The organization will manage 12 independent-living apartments on the second floor of the Historic Tenth Street Residences building at 1004 N. 10th St. in downtown Milwaukee. The site is across the street from the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility. Built in 1931, the building was formerly known as Saint Anthony Hospital.
Project RETURN will also move its offices from the Welford Sanders Enterprise Center at 2821 Vel R. Phillips Ave. to the Historic Tenth Street Residences building, and will be located on the same floor as the apartments that it is managing.
The other floors in the six-story building, which is owned and operated by developer Zuwena Cotton, will soon become available for low-income housing.
Project RETURN said it anticipates the typical length of stay at its apartments to be around six months as the men reacclimate to living in the community, secure employment, save money, and continue working toward stability and self-sufficiency. The organization will provide employment services, support groups, AODA intervention, community advocacy, and case management at the site. Health care services are to be provided through an Ascension Wisconsin clinic already operating on the first floor of the building.
“At Project RETURN, we believe in action. We know that housing is the pre-eminent need in Milwaukee, especially for our formerly incarcerated brothers and sisters. That’s why Project RETURN is taking on this initiative: because we know it will make a difference for our community and the people we serve,” said Wendel Hruska, Project RETURN executive director. “Above all, these men will be able to live with dignity in a community where they are understood, accepted and supported.”
According to Project RETURN, 2,500 men and women exit prisons and return to Milwaukee County annually. Formerly incarcerated individuals are at least three times more likely to face homelessness than the general population, the organization said.
“By providing housing explicitly for this at-risk population, Project RETURN is helping prevent homelessness in Milwaukee County,” said Rob Schreiber, board president. “This new program is making Milwaukee safer while creating hope.”
Project RETURN 