Sheboygan County housing coalition tells Plymouth committee homelessness and rent unaffordability are rising

At a Committee of the Whole meeting of the Plymouth Joint School District, Lyric Lynn, chair of the Sheboygan County Housing Coalition and supportive housing program director for Lakeshore CAP, and Susan Kenter, secretary of the coalition and a staff member at Pathways to a Better Life, presented county homelessness and housing-affordability data and urged cross-jurisdiction coordination.

The presenters said point-in-time counts and shelter usage in January show sharp increases and that many households seeking help report very low incomes. Lynn said the coalition received 554 deduplicated supportive-housing applications in 2024 and that the average reported household income for applicants was $12,657. "We received 554 applications in 2024. These are deduplicated," Lynn said.

Why it matters: the presenters said vacancy rates and rental costs make housing unaffordable for many long-term residents and that, despite housing vouchers and grant-funded programs, local capacity and access barriers are preventing people from moving into permanent housing. Kenter asked committee members to see people affected by the statistics and to consider volunteering at local…