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Mayor, police chief report shelter usage and invite council to volunteer for Wausau emergency shelter
Summary
City officials reported the Wausau-managed shelter had served roughly 90 unduplicated individuals with nightly occupancy ranging from 40 to 58; the police chief invited council members to volunteer on June 23 to observe operations and inform future policy decisions.
The mayor and Police Chief Barnes updated the Wausau Common Council on May 20 about the city’s role in operating the WMC emergency shelter and the work of the joint county–city homeless task force.
Chief Barnes said May 20 marked the 27th night the city had been responsible for running the shelter. He provided usage figures: a low-night census of 40 and a high-night census of 58, and said the shelter had served roughly "the nineties of unduplicated individuals" since it opened. He said approximately one-third of nightly residents are female and about 20 individuals who used the shelter were employed full time.
The chief said those statistics demonstrate that shelter use is sometimes driven by economic circumstances—people working full time who still cannot afford independent housing—and not solely by behavioral-health or addiction causes. He described attending shifts and speaking with shelter residents, saying the conversations had changed his perspective on potential municipal responses.
The mayor and chief invited council members to participate in a team-building volunteer night to run the shelter on Monday, June 23, the night before a council meeting, saying that the experience would give members direct exposure to operations and could inform future policy decisions. The mayor noted it takes about eight to 12 volunteers per night to operate the shelter and asked interested alderpersons to email him so staff could coordinate and post any necessary meeting notice to avoid a walking quorum.
Council members did not take action during the update; staff said further policy proposals or requests for council action could follow after members had the opportunity to observe shelter operations.
