Pathways Home: Background

What are we doing: The City of La Crosse and La Crosse County have developed a new coordinated homelessness action plan called Pathways Home. The goal is to achieve Functional Zero homelessness in La Crosse by 2029.

Why are we doing this: The city and county have identified a need for a sustainable, data-driven and coordinated response to homelessness. At present, homelessness response is often fragmented and lacks clear goals. This plan will pool resources, learn from what has worked elsewhere, and have accountable leadership.

What’s next: Pathways Home was presented to a joint meeting of La Crosse County Board and City of La Crosse Common Council on Monday, Jan. 8, and implementation of the plan has begun. 

What does functional zero mean: Functional Zero is a benchmark used by many other communities to effectively end homelessness by preventing homelessness whenever possible, and ensuring it’s rare brief and only happens one time if it does occur. For our community, it would mean the number of people experiencing homelessness never exceeds our capacity to move people into permanent housing.

What about the organizations already working on homelessness: Community agencies working on homelessness in our city and county will be an integral part of the plan. Input from those organizations has helped and will continue to inform this process. We believe everyone will benefit from the greater coordination offered by this new approach under the city and county’s leadership.

Learn more: Read the Pathways Home plan here.

How do I contact the team working on this project: You can email Brian Sampson, City of La Crosse Homeless Services Coordinator at [email protected] or Isaac Hoffman, La Crosse Area Family Collaborative Director at [email protected].

Monthly Pathways Updates

11/07/2024

• 24 people on the Pathways to Housing list were housed in October—thank you Pathways Conferencing participants and our community network! Our current focus is on people who have lower barriers to housing and people who have been experiencing homelessness for fewer than six months.
  

• The Pathways Home team reviewed and scored 9 Specialized Housing Proposals. Our funding recommendation was provided to the Economic and Community Development Commission and the La Crosse City Council for the final award decision.

• The 2025 budget for La Crosse County proposes adding 3 additional social workers and 3 peer support specialists to help people coming from homelessness find and maintain housing and support services.

• to the REACH Center for 3 years of community service! The REACH Center is a key entry point in our system to connect unsheltered individuals and families to case management, shelter or housing, and other resources tailored to their specific needs.