Revitalize Milwaukee sees increase in home repair needs; Mayor Johnson discusses supporting programs

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Milwaukee's mayor is drawing attention to a program that is addressing low-income housing needs.

A one-on-one Tuesday highlighted housing resources in Milwaukee, and made it clear there's still work to be done.

The big takeaway from the event is that collaboration is key, and local groups need to work together, and with the city, to address housing needs.

"We want to build a city in which individuals who live in the neighborhoods, they are not transient," said Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

He joined a Q&A event with Revitalize Milwaukee, a nonprofit that provides free home repairs to low-income seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities.

"If we can build up and keep people in their homes safely, block by block, community by community, we'll become stronger," said Melanie Roach, CEO of Revitalize Milwaukee.

The conversation focused on the spectrum of housing needs in the city.

One of the mayor's goals is to grow Milwaukee's population to one million, and he says that isn't possible without housing resources.

"Growth is not simply just about attracting new people to your city. It's about programs like this, too and working to make sure people that presently call Milwaukee home can continue to do that," Johnson said.

Revitalize Milwaukee is seeing an increase in requests this winter due to heating issues in homes, but they're glad the phones are ringing.

"Call volume is really going up, but that's a positive, because it means our neighbors, people are really reaching out because they need help," Roach explained.

They hope by connecting with city leaders they can spread the word and encourage funding.

"When we stop doing a solo type of plan and work together, we'll see accomplishments much faster," Roach said.

"If we can get more resources to them, if some nonprofit partners or private partners can help them out, the more people in Milwaukee they can serve," Johnson said.

Revitalize Milwaukee is already planning for a Block Build project in August, when they'll be doing critical repairs on 10 houses in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood.