Milwaukee's 'Tent City' will be clear by deadline, local group says

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – The deadline to move the homeless out of “tent city” in Milwaukee is fast approaching.

The DOT is asking everyone to be out by October 31st so they can move forward with a planned green space there.

IMPACT is leading the city’s effort to move homeless out.   “It’s going well,” said Emily Kenney from IMPACT.

“Today we’ve helped about 40 individuals move from there, about a little over half of those folks are in emergency shelters, a smaller portion are housed and then some have reunited with friends and family,” said Kenney.

She says about 2/3 of the people living there have new living arrangements.

IMPACT wants to make sure before people leave, they have a place to go.  It’s not a quick or easy process.

They work with each individual person on a specific plan.

“We’ve got to figure out what brought you here and what do you want, where do you want to go, how can we help you, how can we help you achieve that,” said Kenney.

Kenney says while this move is a complicated process, the overall issue is not.

“The issue of homelessness is not complicated,” said Kenney, “it’s simply that we don’t have enough affordable housing and we don’t have the supportive services to help people keep their housing.”

But the process is moving forward.

“We have a spot for everyone to go, I believe that we will be able to meet the hopeful deadline of October 31st,” said Kenney.

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