Jim Liedtke first heard about Community Advocates when he was experiencing homelessness.
“My pastor at the time gave me a note that said, ‘Go Downtown to the Community Advocates breakfast gathering, have breakfast, look for a man with a blue car,” Liedtke remembers now. “So I did all that. Sure enough, I met a guy with a blue car by the name of Moses – and he took me to the ‘promised land.’”
Don Moses was part of Community Advocates’ Project Bridge permanent supportive housing program. He signed Liedtke up for permanent supportive housing and helped him move into a fully furnished apartment that was ready to become a home. When Liedtke walked in, two Aldi gift cards were waiting on the table, and Moses told him he’d be back the next day to take him grocery shopping to help stock his fridge.
“I didn’t quite believe it,” Liedtke says. “I didn’t think this was real because I didn’t think this even existed in the world. Being homeless, you don’t think you’re part of anything in the world. You’re just out there kind of helpless.”
Liedtke says Community Advocates helped restore his dignity and made him feel like a whole person again. Now, he’s been a Community Advocates board member for more than 12 years, helping others out of situations similar to his so many years ago.
Community Advocates was founded in 1976 by Ramon Wagner to serve low-income families and individuals. Today, 50 years later and 21 years after Wagner passed away, the organization has grown far beyond its humble beginnings. With more than 40 programs, Community Advocates helps those in need, its primary focus being housing. Every year, the team serves more than 60,000 people.
“The organization has grown, but what hasn’t changed is our core mission to address people’s most important needs,” says Andi Elliott, CEO of Community Advocates.
Community Advocates helps those in need through their rental housing and energy assistance programs, the Milwaukee Women’s Center’s services for domestic violence survivors, employment training, behavioral health services and more.
After 50 years, Community Advocates is now looking ahead to the next half-century of helping people find housing and financial stability. “I’m glad that organizations like Community Advocates exist,” Liedtke says. “But in the future, I hope we go out of business because hopefully, we will no longer be needed.”
Community Advocates
728 N. James Lovell St.
414-449-4777
communityadvocates.net
