PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Homelessness appeared in new parts of Green Bay this summer and it happened as Green Bay Police stepped up enforcement where homeless individuals have been known to gather.
Now a community conversation is scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Union Congregational United Church of Christ to talk about concerns and hopefully work toward solutions.
Anthon Cowan plans to be there to share his perspective as someone who has been homeless since February.
“Until you actually experience it, you really don’t understand it,” said Cowan.
Cowan says he’s up 24 hours a day, especially after police started issuing ordinance violations at St. John’s Park, moving himself and others to other city parks – where police have eventually shown up at as well.
“Whitney Park, they basically have shut that down,” said Cowan. “Navarino, they shut that one down. St. James, that one has been shut down. St John’s, these are the only two that are actually open. They’re raiding St. John’s all the time. Then they come over here (Jackson Square) and do the same thing.”
Police have said concerns about drug use and human trafficking led to their increased efforts this summer.
“When you’re getting approached by individuals who are homeless that don’t feel comfortable going to that park, that’s a problem,” said Will Peters, a neighborhood development specialist for the City of Green Bay.
The city, along with elected officials, and homeless service providers are hosting the community conversation.
“We have to have these conversations in order to come to a solution,” said Peters. “Everybody has to know what the city is doing, what St. John’s, what New Community, what House of Hope, what all these other organizations are doing in order to really understand where we need to be putting our resources.”
The meeting comes after an initial one with neighbors of St. James and Astor Parks where they voiced safety concerns.
“I think it’s time where we want action,” said Eric Drzewiecki of the Astor Park Neighborhood Association. “As stuff keeps happening, we’ve had more reports about stuff happening now at Jackson Square, at Astor Park, so it isn’t just St. John’s area now, it’s been spilling over.”
Drzewiecki says incidents have included a woman who wasn’t properly clothed at the shelter at St. James Park where Popcorn in the Park with the Green Bay City Band is held on Wednesday evenings.
First United Methodist Church of Green Bay is apparently coming up with its own solutions to deal with problems it says it’s been experiencing related to homelessness. Someone who identifies themselves as a friend of the church recently sent letters to members detailing investments that are being made.
The letters state the church plans to install $16,000 worth of camera equipment to monitor the perimeter during overnight hours. The monitoring will carry a $9,500 a year price as part of a three-year contract. About $10,000 worth of fencing is also being installed around the church’s air conditioning unit, as there’s evidence someone has been relieving themselves there.
“Can’t police all these other grown people out here and tell them not to do it,” said Cowan. “We’re not bad people. Yeah, we’ve got a few that are bad and give us all a bad name, but for the most part I would say a good 90-95% of us, we’re all just trying to survive.”
Cowan says he’s been trying to work with church officials to come up with solutions. He’s hoping the community meeting can provide progress as well.
Peters says the plan is to continue holding similar gatherings to talk about homelessness issues in the future.
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