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On Monday, March 30, around 90 temporary beds opened at Clare Hall (3470 S. Illinois Ave., St. Francis) for residents facing housing instability who are symptomatic and face the greatest risk from COVID-19. To fill these emergency beds, partners within all 19 municipalities of Milwaukee County are working to identify individuals in need.
Temporary shelter at Clare Hall was formalized in an agreement between the City of Milwaukee and the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in partnership with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The City of Milwaukee provides furnishing and necessary supplies, and the Milwaukee Health Department coordinates referrals to the facility. Health Department staff along with members of the Wisconsin National Guard, Milwaukee County housing division and the City of Milwaukee Department of Administration provide service at Clare Hall.
“The Church always stands in the defense of life,” says Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. “This is simply the right thing to do. The Church in Milwaukee is a good community citizen, and this request also aligns with our call to ‘love one another.’ Clare Hall is located on the grounds of our Seminary, which has been preparing men for the priesthood since the mid -nineteenth century. What better example for those studying for the priesthood than for us to reach out to the most vulnerable?”
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The United Emergency Operations Center (UEOC) is made up of elected officials from the municipalities comprising the jurisdictional boundaries of Milwaukee County, as well as local emergency managers and eleven public health officials to monitor and support the response to COVID-19.
Generous donations to support the temporary shelter have been provided by the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, the Plaza Hotel in Milwaukee, Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee, Hampton Inn on College Avenue in Milwaukee and Homewood Suites Milwaukee Downtown.
