WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) — The annual count of homeless individuals living in Wausau unsheltered is three, down from ten at this time last year.
Wausau Warming Center Coordinator, Barbara Sugden, tells Newsline 9 that that number could be deceiving.
“They don’t want to be found. It is a pride thing, they’re not going to come out waving a flag that says ‘here I am, count me, I’m homeless’,” said Sugden. “That’s an embarrassing thing even for a homeless person.”
Pam Anderson, Co-Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Coalition for the United Way of Marathon County, told Newsline 9 that some improvements are being made when it comes the Wausau’s homeless population.
“We’re actually coming up with solutions and solutions that work. There have been people that were critically homeless that are housed and they’re happy,” she said.
During the cold winter months, some shelters have had to turn people away. Community activists say trying to help homeless individuals find affordable housing and jobs continue to be their main goals.
