GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – “We can’t solve all these problems without collaboration and cooperation.”
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Newcap’s sudden closure on Tuesday leaves other housing assistance non-profits to pick up the pieces of helping the over 100 people in Newcap’s system avoid losing their homes, which the Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition is taking on full steam ahead.
“Any organization closing that was operating with a $13 million budget covering nine counties, that gap,” Josh Benti, Green Bay Blueprint to End Homelessness Project Director, said.
Now their goal is to make sure that those gaps get filled and serve everyone who is left behind.
“Hoping to see a transfer of funds through HUD to continue supporting families,” Benti said. “So 134 families who have experienced homelessness and are getting housing support could be at risk of losing that housing if those funds don’t get transferred.”
The closure leaves many without a job, and questioning how non-profits are handling their money.
Lawmakers are now working towards finding out how to avoid something like this from happening to anyone else.
“Going to require the state and nonprofits across the state as well to be looking much more closely at the management of their money, the oversight boards that are involved,” State Representative David Steffen (R-Howard) said. “Someone’s going to be minding the store much more than what we have seen in the past.”
State Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D-Green Bay) said the following in a statement:
“When public dollars are involved, transparency is not optional. It is essential. We need to make sure that warning signs are not missed and that accountability happens early, not after families are put at risk.”
State Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D-Green Bay)
State Representative Steffen says he wants answers for the families and workers who are now changed after this closure.
“Many other non-profits in the area and in the state are trying to find a way to cobble together some temporary solutions to address this situation,” Steffen said. “But the reality is that a lot of bad things are happening right now. And when they do, they impact a lot of people.”
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An investigation will have to go through lawmakers in Wisconsin to see what led to Newcap’s closure.
Local 5 will continue to bring more updates when they are made available.
