For 24 years, Sister MacCanon Brown (Sisters for Christian Community) has been dedicated to providing services, hope and dignity to Milwaukee’s homeless population. After a dispute with Repairers of the Breach, an organization she founded as well as directed for 20 years, she parted ways and created a new daytime sanctuary and multi-resource center for homeless and at-risk homeless people called the MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary (MBHS).
The nonprofit’s services have been temporarily run out of the Hephatha Lutheran Church (18th and Locust streets) since February 2015. The Sanctuary currently offers chess, dominoes and crafts; a weekly 12 Step AA program; free Friday suppers; a weekly multi-agency resource fair featuring the shared staff presence of 15 social service agencies; and ResCare Workforce assistance. This past winter, its weekly Sunday Clothing Drive gave out more than 50 coats and 60 blankets per week. MBHS currently averages 100 “touches” per week and serves about 91 meals at each free Friday supper. To date, more than 240 volunteers have been actively engaged, 34% of the volunteers being people in economic hardship.
MBHS seeks to purchase the warehouse building located at 2461 W. Center St. “We choose to establish our outreach efforts in the 53206 ZIP code area with its abysmal poverty rate of 48% and highest incarceration rate in America. This is one of eight places in the U.S., including Flint, Mich., with the worst concentrations of poverty,” says Brown. She noted that out of more than 5,000 social service and charitable organizations in our four-county area, MBHS is one of just seven nonprofit agencies working in the 53206 area and Amani neighborhood. The MBHS board will make an announcement in the near future regarding the purchasing status of the building.
Volunteer opportunities and a donation wish list are available at the organization’s website. Tax-deductible donations can be sent to MBHS, P.O. Box 80165, Milwaukee, WI 53208 or via Paypal. Please indicate whether your donation is directed toward outreach services for homeless; at-risk homeless and doubled-up homeless people; or the building fund. For more information, visit mbsanctuary.org or contact Brown at 414-305-8997 or maccanon.brown@att.net.
