Housing is Health Program Fund Fills Gap, Increases Housing Placements
It is well established that housing is one of the most significant social determinants of health. Safe, affordable, and stable housing is also the most complex and expensive social resource to navigate and secure for patients. In the 2024 Milwaukee County Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), housing was again named as a top health factor by the community.
In response to this significant and persistent need, the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership (MHCP), in collaboration with Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Housing Services and IMPACT Coordinated Entry, founded the Housing is Health Program in 2019. Housing is Health works to screen and connect homeless and vulnerably housed emergency department and hospital inpatients served at Milwaukee health systems to housing support. This includes helping patients access temporary housing, providing case management, and assisting in their ultimate transition to stable permanent housing.
“The community continues to tell us we need to do better at creating pathways to sustainable housing and supportive services,” said Justin Rivas, Director of Community Health Initiatives, MHCP. “Health care has an important role to play, particularly in the screening of patients and in creating these linkages.”
The Housing is Health Program was initially designed to serve hospital patients with the goal of improving health outcomes post-discharge, reducing lengths of stay, and preventing inpatient and ER readmissions. It has since expanded to serve patients and families at primary care clinics in low-income, underserved neighborhoods. This includes Children’s Wisconsin Midtown Clinic, Bread of Healing Clinic, and all five federally qualified health centers in Milwaukee.
A significant gap in getting and keeping people housed who are not eligible for city or county programs, particularly families who are precariously housed, is the availability of funds for the first month’s rent and/or eviction backpay. In 2025, the health systems’ MHCP Shared Community Investment Fund (SCIF) funded the return of the Housing is Health: Flexible Housing Support Fund to close that gap for patients screened through the program.
“We know the flexible housing support fund is the most critical success factor in achieving stable placements and increasing the placement rates. It allows us to design more effective methods for connecting individuals who are frequently using crisis systems, such as emergency rooms, to permanent supportive housing,” said Eric Collins-Dyke, Deputy Administrator, Milwaukee County DHHS Housing Services. “It also reduces the length of wait time for program participants by allowing greater flexibility in unit identification and placement.”
In 2024, the Housing is Health Program secured permanent housing for 154 individuals and families from health care settings.
MHCP members are also tracking other community-wide efforts underway to increase safe, secure, and affordable housing stock for low-income individuals and families. MHCP is working with Milwaukee County DHHS Housing Services to understand gaps in medical respite housing and ensure clinically appropriate and timely discharges, especially for patients with mental health or substance use disorders.
Learn more about Housing in Milwaukee in the Housing Profile produced as part of the 2024 Milwaukee County CHNA.
Find additional information about the Housing is Health Program on the MHCP website or in the 2025 Housing is Health Program Brief.