SECURE SAFE HOUSING

Emergency Shelter

For emergency services or case management, please call 211 or from cell phones, call 414.773.0211.

As part of a community wide effort to end homelessness, the Cathedral Center offers emergency shelter for up to 28 individual women and 8 families with children each night, as well as additional overflow beds during extreme weather or unusual need.

Our services offer a clean, welcoming environment and provides compassionate care to those experiencing immediate homelessness and unsafe housing. Cathedral Center’s emergency shelter program envisions a community in which no woman or family with children is ever forced to sleep outside or live in fear when faced with a housing crisis. Utilizing strength and efficacy based models of service delivery, our emergency shelter program strives to ensure that the basic needs of women and families with children are provided for, while engaging with guests to establish and achieve plans to address immediate barriers to safe housing and health.

A Typical Day at the Cathedral Center Emergency Shelter
Wake Up
Morning
Wake Up

Guests can start their day with breakfast. Then they are able to receive a bagged lunch or visit the Open Door Cafe for a hot meal, offered by the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist parish.

Mid-Morning
Planning

Guests create their Individualized Plan for Independence (IPI), focusing on goals like securing safe housing, increasing income, and improving health & well-being. Case managers assist in identifying and overcoming barriers.

Midday
Meetings

Guests will meet with their case manager at least once a week to work on individual goals. There are additional opportunities to attend workshops for employment, education, or other activities. We encourage open communication of needs to case managers to ensure proper resources are accessed.

Afternoon
Shelter

We are a 30-day emergency shelter with opportunities to extend stays up to 90 days. Guests must adhere to check-in policy when staying at our shelter, which is returning by 7 p.m. unless working.

Evening
Routine

Evening meals are served by Hospitality Volunteers, Community Partners, or Guest Support Staff each night. After dinner, guests assist with chores (e.g., cleaning, laundry), get children ready for bed, take showers, or enjoy quiet time before lights out.

Night
Lights Out

Guests rest knowing they are in a safe environment and prepare for another day of their healing journey.

The Cathedral Center’s Emergency Shelter Outcomes

208 Unaccompanied Women
Were Provided Emergency Shelter
in 2023

60 Families Comprised of 7
8 Adults & 160 Children Also
Received Emergency Shelter

64% of Women & 76% of Families
Who Stayed Longer Than 7 Days
Exited to Safe Placements

Day Services Include:

  • Case Management Support
  • Activities that Empower Guests to Gain & Build Life Skills Needed for Independence
IN COLLABORATION WITH

The Cathedral Center

845 N. Van Buren Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414.831.0394

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The Cathedral Center
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