Greater Green Bay Community Foundation launches fund to address critical needs in Brown, Kewaunee, Oconto counties

GREEN BAY- The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation has launched a new fund to address what it says are the critical, escalating and additional rural community needs facing Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties.

The One Community Fund is an effort to spur greater community investment and action to address the challenges, the Green Bay foundation said. The fund, established through donor contributions, totals nearly $275,000. It will be used where it can have "an immediate and meaningful impact on a larger scale," the foundation said in a news release.

“By bringing added attention to the most critical and emerging needs, we can rally the resources needed to effect substantial positive change across the board," said Amber Paluch, senior vice president of community impact for the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, in a news release.

What are the critical needs?

The foundation used community data, collected by national and local organizations, to determine the critical community needs . They are:

• Mental health care for residents: Of the calls to the 211 helpline in Brown and Oconto counties, calls for mental health and addiction resources ranked No. 2. In Kewaunee County, mental health was identified as a top priority for improvement following a 150% increase in suicide deaths from 2019 to 2021. Additionally, of the 28 suicide deaths recorded in Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties between 2017 and 2021, three-quarters of them were among white males, according to the Kewaunee County Community Health Improvement Plan 2022-2026 and the WISH Wisconsin Violent Deaths Reporting System.
• Affordable housing and shelter: The number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Brown County has nearly tripled in the last three years, according to the Brown County Point in Time Count. A 2020 Green Bay housing market study also found 310 apartments and 375 single-family homes would need to be built each year until 2040 to meet housing demands, and local advocates say Green Bay is not on track. Meanwhile, rent payments eat up 30% of household income for two out of every renters in Brown County.
• Child care: According to the Brown County LIFE Study, the percentage of adults who believe the community has affordable, quality child care options has dropped from 46.8% to 29% in the past decade. The U.S. Department of Labor reports the estimated median cost for one year of infant, center-based child care for a single child was $15,424 last year, or 17% of median household income. Oconto and Kewaunee counties have been identified as child care deserts.
• Financial stability for residents: 1 in 3 households in the area live at or below the ALICE threshold, meaning they earn less than what it costs to survive. Among Black, Hispanic, American Indian and bi-racial households, it increases to 1 in 2, according to the United for ALICE 2021 data for Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties.
• Diversity and equity: Non-white students make up about 60% of students in the Green Bay School District, a 14-point increase from 10 years ago, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Early grade reading proficiency scores reveal significant gaps between children of marginalized populations and their white, non-Hispanic peers, according to Achieve Brown County. A Wello survey found 43.2% of non-white respondents described themselves as thriving, compared with 65.7% for white, non-Hispanic respondents.

What are the escalating community needs?

The community foundation says the following needs are growing and will need to be addressed:

• Aging and disabilities
• Belonging and social connectedness
• Transportation

What are the additional rural community needs?

The foundation identified the following challenges facing our rural communities :

• Alcohol and other drug use
• Physical activity and obesity
• Transportation in rural areas.

In combination with existing grants and programs within the GGBCF, the One Community Fund will be used to address these needs, among others, providing relief for residents of Brown, Kewaunee and Oconto counties.

To give

To contribute to the One Community Fund, go to https://ggbcf.iphiview.com/ggbcf/Donors/GivingOpportunities .

Alyssa N. Salcedo is a reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. She can be reached at asalcedo@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Greater Green Bay Community Foundation launches fund to address critical needs in Brown, Kewaunee, Oconto counties