Supportive Housing

Housing is critical to the health and wellness of individuals. By connecting affordable housing with supportive services, WHEDA and CSH aim to create lasting benefits for Native communities statewide. According to the CSH supportive housing needs assessment, Wisconsin needs 13,429 more supportive housing units to meet the needs of communities across the State. Data also shows that Native Americans in Wisconsin are 4.5 times more likely to experience chronic homelessness and 6.6 times more likely to experience family homelessness compared to all other groups.

WHEDA, CSH join forces in a first-of-its-kind effort to promote housing for Wisconsin’s most vulnerable residents

WHEDA, in partnership with CSH, a national leader in supportive housing, connects developers and community service providers with training, tools, and financing to expand the supply of much-needed supportive housing in Wisconsin.

In February 2022, WHEDA and CSH launched a first-of-its-kind Wisconsin Supportive Housing Institute, which provides development teams with over 80 hours of targeted training and technical assistance. The goal of the Institute is to reduce the timeline for supportive housing by improving the planning and development processes. 

Supportive Housing Institute Finale

The 2022 Institute ended with a finale in Madison, where each team presented their project plans to potential funders, stakeholders and community leaders. Each team is made up of a developer, a supportive service provider and a property management partner. 

The developer project leads for the seven teams include:  

• Catapult Wellness, LLC, Milwaukee
• KG Development Group, Wauwatosa
• Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, West Allis
• Movin’ Out, Inc., Madison
• Newcap, Inc., Green Bay
• PORCH, Inc., Eau Claire
• T. Spell Development Group, Milwaukee.

View the 2022 Supportive Housing Institute finale presentation here.

We are not currently seeking applications for the Supportive Housing Institute.  If you are interested in applying for the next Institute or have any question, please contact: jon.searles@wheda.com

Governor Tony Evers congratulates the 2022 Supportive Housing Institute development teams

Statewide survey

WHEDA and CSH conducted a statewide survey to better understand the areas of greatest need for supportive housing and the biggest challenges in meeting those needs. Wisconsin’s housing professionals and community stakeholders were encouraged to complete the online supportive housing survey to help inform the next steps in the initiative. More than 260 of Wisconsin’s housing professionals and community stakeholders responded. 

Key findings include:

• 75% see a need for more supportive housing;
• 37% are planning to develop, or are in the process of developing supportive housing;
• 77% see supportive housing as part of their organizational mission; and
• 63% are not planning to develop supportive housing or do not have a supportive housing development in process.

Survey respondents also cited a number of challenges related to supportive housing, such as a lack of case managers and other service providers, a shortage of available homes, and the need to assist new residents as they transition to coexisting with others under the same roof. Respondents also called for additional funding sources to help meet the special needs of supportive housing developments.

To help close the gap between the number of organizations who identify supportive housing as part of their mission but do not currently have a development in process, CSH and WHEDA launched the Wisconsin Supportive Housing Institute.