OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Discussions surrounding homelessness are continuing in Oshkosh, with multiple city efforts underway to help. I spoke with businesses, shelters and city leaders about what they've seen and how they plan to address it.
Oshkosh Common Council member Paul Esslinger said he has asked city staff to draft an action plan to address vagrancy in the city.
"A lot of business people are having problems with poor behavior." Esslinger said, "We have two distinct realities. Number one is we do have a homeless problem, and then the other issue, the one that I'm more interested right now, is the issue of the vagrants that we have in in downtown."
Oshkosh has been working to house people dealing with homelessness. City leaders say they've applied for a $250,000 grant to research the root of the problem. They say they're also working to build affordable housing, with carve-outs specifically for those who are housing insecure.
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Kevin McHugh, the event manager for Venue 404 on Main Street, says his interactions with unhoused people have been polite and respectful. However, he says their presence is interfering with his photography.
"That's become a little bit of a challenge because there's a lot of people there and sometimes they're literally setting up sleeping bags and tents and things of that nature," McHugh said.
Homeless shelters in town say they're continuing their efforts to help.
Molly Yatso Butz, the executive director of the Day by Day Shelter in Oshkosh, emphasized the importance of spots like hers in helping those in need.
"I think shelters are such an important piece of communities." Yatso Butz said, "When they are in shelter, we really do promote moving onward and upward. Really hoping that they get out of this situation that they're in."
Any official action by the city to address this topic would require at least four Common Council votes.
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