The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County Invite You to Support the 13th Annual Holiday Drive

The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County continue their holiday tradition of helping those in need. Over the past years, employees, community partners, businesses and residents have collected thousands of toiletries and necessities for various local veterans’ organizations. This year’s drive will support Milwaukee-area individuals and families at both Hope House of Milwaukee and The Guest House of Milwaukee in need of housing and support services.

Hope House of Milwaukee

Hope House is a non-profit emergency homeless shelter, rapid rehousing facility and true community center located in the near South side of Milwaukee. Since 1987, Hope House has provided a safe, temporary refuge for people needing a place to sleep. Over the years, Hope House has evolved into a complete provider of services for homeless and low-income individuals.

Hope House of Milwaukee has combined its two most successful housing programs to meet the needs of homeless families and work toward its goal of ending homelessness. One of these programs is the Family Bonds Housing Program, which helps immediately move families from off the streets and into shelter while working to place them in an apartment of their own. Up to ten families are housed at the shelter at one time, and Hope House has subsidized the rent of hundreds of families in the City of Milwaukee.

The other program is Surgeon’s Quarters Single Room Occupancy, a joint project with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Friends of Housing. The project consists of 13 bedrooms and provides permanent housing and case management support to adult men and women with inadequate resources to secure housing, many of whom are veterans.

The Guest House of Milwaukee

Guest House is the largest publicly funded homeless shelter in the city and has been leading the community in ending the cycle of poverty in clients' lives for nearly 40 years.

The Guest House of Milwaukee provides shelter to 86 men experiencing homelessness each night of the year. These men are veterans, emergency shelter guests and participants of the intensive recovery program who are working through issues with substance abuse or mental health. The Guest House initially works to address guests’ basic needs, then matches them to a qualified case manager to develop a plan for independence. 

The Guest House also provides a Prevention, Rapid Re-Housing, and Permanent Supported Housing program that helps more than 450 men, women and families secure permanent, affordable places to live. The Guest House Counseling Clinic offers quality outpatient mental health and substance abuse counseling services to clients and the community at large.