Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center
A Bold Step Toward Removing Barriers, Enhancing Access, and Fostering Equity in Our Community.
No Wrong Door
The Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) is committed to a ‘No Wrong Door’ model of customer service, meaning that when an individual connects to DHHS, they have access to holistic care and services, and resources offered by community partners.
The new Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center is a trusted location to access health and human services, as it has been for more than 50 years, in the King Park neighborhood with the inherent benefits of walkability and public transportation.
Four-story, 60,000 square foot office building.
The first floor is intended for provision of information and services to the public & to house the NourishMKE food pantry.
The upper three floors are administrative space for DHHS staff.
Services
- Aging and Disability Resource Center
- MKE Mobile Crisis 24/7
- Crisis Response
- Housing Services
- Child Support Services
- Disabilities Services
- Children's Services
- Family Services
- Older Adult Services
- Veterans' Services
- Behavioral Health Services
- Youth Justice
- Wraparound Milwaukee
- Management Services
- Transportation Services
- NourishMKE Food Pantry
A Community Need
For the first time, Milwaukee County has a building designed specifically to deliver health and human services.
- Eliminate physical barriers.
- A warm, welcoming, accessible building designed to deliver health and human services with dignity.
- Improving access for families and individuals to resources and services that address social determinants of health.
Local Impact
The Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center location is served by public transportation and is adjacent to the freeway, ensuring ready access for those in need of services. Its proximity to the Mental Health Emergency Center is intentional and intended to promote a human services campus.
Designed to help Milwaukee County achieve the goals of its Climate Action 2050 plan, namely, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The building design was recently approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to receive Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR® recognition.
"By achieving racial equity, Milwaukee will be the healthiest county in the state."
- Location: Adjacent to the Mental Health Emergency Center.
- Community Investment: Additional investment in the building of more than 100 homes to improve BIPOC ownership in the King Park neighborhood.
- Economic Development: Upgrades to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center is unprecedented economic development and a catalyst f or change in the neighborhood just blocks from the Fiserv Forum.
A photo of Marcia P. Coggs at the groundbreaking ceremony on October 2nd, 2023. Photo by Lee Matz
The Marcia P. Coggs Legacy
With more than six decades of collective experience in government, the Coggs family has had a huge impact in Milwaukee. Marcia P. Coggs is the matriarch of that political legacy. Known as the “Conscience of the State of Wisconsin,” she was small in stature but a giant in state politics. Coggs was the first black woman elected to the Wisconsin state legislature in 1976 and the first black member to serve on the Joint Finance Committee in 1987. Coggs served until 1992, when her nephew, Leon Young, won the seat. Coggs’ husband, Isaac, was one of the first African Americans elected to the state legislature and also served on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
Prior to serving in public office, Coggs worked 13 years for the former Milwaukee County Children’s Home, an institution that had the role of caring for Milwaukee County’s dependent children in the late 19th and 20th centuries. According to her daughter, Elizabeth Coggs-Jones, her mom would often bring children home who didn’t have family on weekends or holidays. The home for children closed in 1982, and children were transferred to smaller capacity, privately-owned, shelter-care facilities. Now the building serves the Milwaukee County Parks Administration and is on the National Register of Historic Places. When serving as state representative to the primarily black district, Coggs championed legislation in education, school desegregation, equal housing, health and racial equity. Coggs was prolific with respect to bill authorship. During her first week in office, she authored 45 of the 89 bills introduced in the Assembly that year. Three were signed into law.
Early in her career, Coggs said, “My mission is to work for social change. Period. When I say social change, that is self-explanatory: human needs.” Milwaukee County’s Human Services building at 1220 W. Vliet St. was renamed in her honor in late 2003 after Coggs passed away at the age of 75.
Photos of the Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center
Milwaukee celebrates new Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center
by: Bria Jones and the FOX 6 News Digital Team
Milwaukee County officials celebrated on Friday, June 13, the official opening of the new Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center (1230 W. Cherry Street) in Milwaukee's King Park neighborhood. The building is named after the first Black woman elected to the Wisconsin Legislature.
What you need to know about the new Health & Human Services building
by: PrincessSafiya Byers, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
The new Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center is officially open.
“This facility reflects our commitment to advancing equity, accessibility, and upstream investment in community well-being,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in a news release.
On June 13th, Milwaukee County Leaders Celebrated the Grand Opening of the New $32M Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center
by: Kim Robinson, Milwaukee Courier
Grand Opening Held For New Coggs Building
by: Graham Kilmer, Urban Milwaukee
A grand opening and celebration were held Friday for the new $42 million Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center.
The new four-story, 60,000-square-foot building, 1230 W. Cherry St., replaces the former Coggs building located just a block south.
New $32M health and human services center opens in Milwaukee
by: Ethan Duran, BridgeTower Media
Hundreds of people gathered for the grand opening of the Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center in Milwaukee. JP Cullen, Engberg Anderson Architects and Concord Group partnered with Milwaukee County for the project, which received $32 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding.
'It's a lifeline': Milwaukee County unveils new $32M Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center
by: Vanessa Swales, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee County unveiled its new $32 million Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center in the near north side's King Park neighborhood June 13, creating a hub for essential services and upgrading access for residents across the county.
Progress report: New Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center
by:Bobby Tanzilo, On Milwaukee
With a scheduled opening about eight months away, Milwaukee County hosted a tour of the new Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center currently under construction at 1230 W. Cherry St. in the King Park neighborhood on Friday.
Politicians Get Close Look at Coggs Center Construction
by: Jeramey Jannene, Urban Milwaukee
A group of city, state and federal politicians put Milwaukee County’s “No Wrong Door” policy to a physical test Friday afternoon. Led by County Executive David Crowley, officials got a hard hat tour of the new Coggs Center, which is being designed from the ground up to embody the county’s No Wrong Door strategy of linking residents with the services they need.
Marcia P. Coggs Center: Milwaukee County Breaks Ground on New Home for Health and Human Services
by: Lee Matz, Milwaukee Independent
County Executive David Crowley, local and state leaders, the Coggs family, and members of the public gathered on October 2 at a construction site in the King Park neighborhood to help Milwaukee County break ground on the new Marcia P. Coggs Health and Human Services Center.
County Seeks Contractors for New Human Services Buildings
by: Graham Kilmer, Urban Milwaukee
Milwaukee County is looking for contractors to build its new $42 million human services building in the King Park neighborhood.
Milwaukee County Board Approves Coggs Building Funding
Photo by Jeramey Jannene, Urban Milwaukee
The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved approximately $32.3 million in funds for a new county building to replace the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center.