Rural Central Wisconsin is in the midst of a growing affordable housing crisis. In counties like Waupaca, Waushara, and Green Lake, residents face long waitlists for subsidized housing, limited rental stock, and rising costs that far outpace local wages. The lack of supportive and recovery-oriented housing further compounds these challenges, especially for individuals experiencing mental health issues or substance use disorders. Rural infrastructure is often fragmented, with few developers incentivized to build new units and limited access to housing vouchers or behavioral health supports. As a result, rural residents—particularly low-income families, women in recovery, and people recently released from incarceration—are left with few options and even fewer pathways toward stability and self-sufficiency.

Statewide, Wisconsin reflects national trends: demand for affordable housing is outstripping supply, particularly for households earning the lowest incomes. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Wisconsin has a severe shortage of affordable rental homes available to extremely low-income renters. Nationally, the crisis has reached unprecedented levels, with millions of Americans struggling to afford a safe place to live. Rising rents, stagnant wages, and a legacy of underinvestment in public housing have left vulnerable populations—especially in rural communities—without access to the housing they need. Without targeted, collaborative efforts to address these issues, the housing crisis will continue to widen disparities, limit recovery outcomes, and strain already overstretched local systems.

Case for Support: Mission of Hope Rural Housing & Recovery Coalition

In rural central Wisconsin, the affordable housing crisis is not just a matter of rising rents—it is a crisis that intersects with untreated mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and a lack of coordinated care. In counties like Waupaca, Waushara, and Green Lake, individuals facing homelessness or recovery often find themselves navigating a patchwork of disconnected services. Recovery residences are scarce, shelters are full, landlords are hesitant, and the systems designed to help are often too far removed to respond in time. The result is a cycle of instability that perpetuates poverty and leaves some of our most vulnerable neighbors without the opportunity to heal, rebuild, and thrive.

Mission of Hope is proposing a bold and collaborative response: a regional coalition that brings together housing providers, voucher administrators, landlords, behavioral health agencies, recovery homes, municipalities, and people with lived experience to build a more connected and responsive housing system. This coalition will not only identify and fill gaps in care but will fundamentally shift the way these counties work together to solve shared challenges. Instead of relying on slow, top-down systems like the Balance of State Continuum of Care, this initiative puts decision-making power in the hands of the people who live and work in these communities every day.

At the heart of this project is the belief that housing is recovery—that individuals cannot stabilize their mental health or sustain recovery from substance use disorders without a safe, supportive place to live. By uniting service providers, policymakers, and community members, we can build the infrastructure to ensure no one in crisis is left without options. This means developing shared referral systems, establishing clear communication pathways between agencies, and creating housing solutions that are flexible, inclusive, and rooted in local realities. Landlords will be engaged as partners, recovery homes will be better resourced, and peer support will be integrated into every layer of the system.

This work will not only meet urgent needs—it will build long-term sustainability. Through Medicaid’s 1915(i) benefit and the reinstated Opiate Use Disorder (OUD) voucher program, we have real opportunities to support this infrastructure with ongoing, sustainable funding. But those programs only work when communities are ready and coordinated. This coalition is how we get there. Grant funding will support staffing, travel, meeting facilitation, leadership development, landlord engagement, and technical assistance—all essential investments in a more unified, responsive, and effective rural housing system.

The people most impacted by these issues—low-income women in recovery, individuals reentering society after incarceration, and people living with untreated behavioral health needs—will be at the center of the coalition. Mission of Hope already models this approach in its own recovery residence, and through this initiative, we will elevate lived experience into leadership roles across the coalition. We are not just designing services for people—we are building them with the people who know the stakes best. This is equity in action, and it’s the only way real transformation happens.

We believe that rural communities like ours deserve systems that are as responsive and resilient as the people they serve. This coalition will ensure that when someone in crisis reaches out for help in Waupaca, Waushara, or Green Lake County, they are met with a coordinated, compassionate, and effective response. With your support, we can break down silos, overcome barriers, and create lasting pathways to recovery, stability, and hope.