Apr 29, 2023 | Housing and Safety
Tom Schumacher and Fr. Paul Demuth, Envision Board members and Housing & Safety Signals Team
“I didn’t want to have, like, any emotion, so I thought, like, the best way to, like, put it down would be to do more and more and more drugs.”
So begins the opening convocation in a “recovery high school” in Denver, as one student faces his peers and begins the morning’s dialogue. This is one of 43 such institutions, part of a national nonprofit called Association of Recovery Schools, seeking to empower hope and success in students facing substance addiction, to “live a substance-free life while receiving an education.”
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Apr 29, 2023 | Housing and Safety
Fr. Paul Demuth, Envision Board member and Housing & Safety Signals Team
January’s “Point in Time” count of homeless persons in Green Bay discovered 41 unsheltered persons living on the streets — the highest winter number counted in three years! People who are chronically homeless often deal with long term mental health and addictive behaviors, and the traditional shelter models do not address the needs of this population. Recent research has pointed to a possible solution: peer-run housing. It works like this: a small group of apartments is staffed by formerly homeless persons certified as “peer specialists.” Unlike the traditional “case management” model, peers work with these residents at their own pace to develop the confidence and skills needed to become healthy and, eventually, live independently. The Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition have approved this model as a concept and are looking for a sponsor to implement it for the Green Bay area.
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Aug 26, 2022 | Housing and Safety
Tom Schumacher, Envision Board
The supply of affordable housing has not kept pace with the needs of homeowners and renters. Zoning and permitting are factors that limit and delay new construction. Two recent signals point to future improvements in the supply of affordable housing.
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