Committee sets quarterly outreach reports; Bridge Street Mission reports shelter overflow worked

The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee voted to receive quarterly reports from Bridge Street Mission and outreach coordinator Tracy beginning in September to allow broader updates tied to budgeting and operations.

Alders discussed whether quarterly reports would help the committee monitor obstacles to getting people from transitional to permanent housing; Alder Solonski asked that reports include obstacles and proposed assistance. Alder Trueblood moved for quarterly reports beginning in September and Alder Watson seconded; the motion passed unanimously.

Craig, a community outreach representative, told the committee the shelter has served 143 unique guests to date, about 35% of whom were women, and that the shelter has experimented with overflow during extreme conditions by raising capacity from 60 to 72 nights per extreme-weather period. “We've been running at a capacity of 60, and so the thought was in times of severe cold, we can maybe get up to 72, per night... we opened up our capacity to 72,” he said.

Tracy highlighted a recent collaborative success in which staff helped a man secure a bus ticket and return to an address in Arizona. She said Bridge Street Mission’s outreach center also opened during heavy smoke to provide shelter and assistance.

The committee asked staff to submit formal reports for committee packets going forward and agreed to invite Tracy to present a fuller update at the next meeting in September.