Group helping home the homeless on pace to shatter goal

In past, group has homed veterans and chronically homeless

A recently announced effort to house homeless families in La Crosse has already gotten halfway to its goal.

The La Crosse Collaborative to End Homelessness hoped to find places for 10 families by the end of January. It’s already gotten five in homes — five families who are now set up for success.

“All of the families that we’ve helped so far are connected to services that will follow them for at least a year and in many cases two years,” Julie McDermid, project manager for the collaborative, said.

The team isn’t even a third of the way to its 100-day plan to house those families and they’re not just putting them anywhere.

“We are definitely looking at trying to make the best match with housing units,” McDermid said, “as far as the number of bedrooms needed and neighborhoods that are needed to keep all these families connected to their already established natural support.”

It has taken a lot of effort on plenty of fronts to get there, she added.

“I think we have a good team in place and we’ve brought a lot of new players to the table from diff agencies in the community,” McDermid said.

And, at the pace they’re going, if they reach 10 families before the 100 days is up, they will continue to help others find homes, going beyond the set goal.

In the past year, the organization has also found places for homeless veterans and the chronically homeless — all of whom remain placed in homes on a sustainable basis, according to McDermid.