Courage House is a two-floor residential house tucked between the freeway and a primary school in Walker’s Point. It looks like it’s a comfortable home for an average family, and that’s not too far from the truth: Courage House is Milwaukee’s first group home specifically for LGBTQ youth, but founders Brad and Nick Schlaikowski want it to be a place where the kids truly feel at home.
Courage House officially opened on Thursday, Feb. 28, and the first kids are expected to move in by Friday, April 26.
“The kids that will live here will be 12-17 years old. We have a contract with Child Protective Services (CPS), so we’ll get kids from any agencies that they have contracts with, [places] like Children’s Hospital. I know that there are two kids already waiting to come,” Brad explains.
In total, only five kids will be able to live in Courage House simultaneously. “They’re expecting us to be open for a week and already be full,” Brad jokes, but he is fully aware that one group home won’t solve much. “There’s an average of 500 kids on the streets of Milwaukee at night, 40% of whom identify as LGBTQ, and 26% of that 40% (or about 50 kids) are on the streets because of family rejection. We know that five beds won’t put a huge dent in it, but they will provide some help for five special kids.”
Along with his husband, Nick, Brad is an LGBTQ activist and co-founder of Courage MKE—a nonprofit aiming to raise awareness about the growing epidemic of homelessness among LGBTQ youth. Courage House is the next logical step in their activism. Although the ultimate goal of the home is to reunite the kids with their families (as is the case with any foster-care system), Courage House is a legal group home where kids can live until they come of age. For that reason, they went above and beyond to turn it into a cozy, homey place that radiates life and positivity.
Safe Spaces, Positive Activities
Far from a stereotypical shelter, Courage House has a modern kitchen, a well-furnished living room—complete with a TV, couches and tables—as well as three bedrooms upstairs (a single and two doubles). The walls are plastered with messages of acceptance and love, and the place is flooded with natural light, giving the whole building a warm ambiance.
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The furniture, most of which has been donated by Kohl’s Department Store, is modern, beautiful and practical. Additionally, Lowe’s made the flooring, the Kohler Company took care of toilets, sinks and hardware and Sherwin Williams donated all the paint. To top it off, there is a yard and a back house to offer resources to the residents.
“There are no bedrooms in the back house,” Brad explains. “There’ll be a little therapy room back there, as well as a computer lab, a wall full of games, a wall full of books, a piano and some string instruments.” An art studio will be installed in the back house’s kitchen. “We will also redo the backyard to make it private and functional, to give them a place to relax, meditate or zen out,” he continues. The house will also have gaming systems and regular activities. Brad and Nick Schlaikowski applied for a Cream City Foundation grant in order to purchase a 15-passenger van for outings at the park, the Milwaukee County Zoo or to local swimming pools, for instance.
Thanks to volunteers, other programs offered by Courage House include life skills coaching, tutoring and interview and job training. Most importantly, the point is to reintroduce the children living there to the concept of family—to give them a supportive environment in order to teach them what a real family should be like.
While an adult must always be at Courage House—especially during weekends, when the kids are home—Brad warns that it is hard to accept volunteers to work in the house unless they are willing to come regularly and reliably, as the kids need to form bonds with their caretakers.
“It’s not a zoo; this is their home. So we want to limit the number of volunteers that are in this house. If people want to help, financial support is great. They can also donate gift cards to grocery stores or to cultural or educational experiences like the museum, zoo or some of Milwaukee’s many ethnic festivals, because we need to give these kids the experiences that they normally would have in a family and that they unfortunately haven’t had so far.”
More Resources for Kids in Need
Courage House is not a shot in the dark, and Brad and Nick Schlaikowski intend to open more homes if the experience is successful. Prior to opening the group home, they had experience fostering children. In 2015, they fostered a baby girl, quickly followed by two LGBTQ teenage girls. Despite that, Brad and Nick still learned a great deal during the process of opening Courage House.
“We had this pie-in-the-sky dream that we would take a whole bunch of kids at one time and then, through licensing and state regulations, we learned that we can have five kids here,” Brad says, though he now recognizes that as a blessing in disguise. “I think that this house is going to prepare us for what to be ready for when we open the next one!” Now Brad knows the system better.
To kids who end up on the streets or in need of help, Brad advises them to call 414-220-SAFE (7233) or to simply call 211, which will connect them with a network of resources. Although children cannot be admitted to Courage House by simply walking up and knocking on its door, “they can always contact us, and we can direct them to the resources that can get them into this house,” Brad says. Though Milwaukee lacks a number of resources—in particular with regard to the specific needs of LGBTQ youth—it is the lack of knowledge about access to what resources do exist that Brad Schlaikowski most regrets.
“I bet you that most people don’t know about the 220-SAFE or 211 numbers. We hear about it from our foster-care community a lot,” he says. “When a child first gets out of the home, you have 72 hours to figure something out for them before they resort to sex to get food, a bed, a pillow, anything. Seventy-two hours is not a long time to jump in and figure something out. So there aren’t enough resources, but there are resources that we need to do a better job of teaching people about.”
For more information or to donate to Courage House, call 414-704-3856 or visit couragemke.org
