This week, the Green Bay Common Council will hear a proposal that would expand the women’s shelter on Walnut Street from 58 beds to 70 beds and allow the facility to operate year around (story HERE).

They should approve it.

This is because the homeless situation for women in Green Bay is much more different than what the men go through.

The women are targeted by people who want to use them for their own selfish gain. They want them to start abusing drugs, even though many of the women are in recovery. They want them to become dependent on them and to do as they say.

It is the crudest and most local example of human trafficking.

The despicable crime doesn’t have to be a mobile offense. In the case of these women, they have someone who is stronger than them forcing them against their will, and forcing them to stay in their illegal custody.

These women need the separation away from these aggressors to get better. The shelter has done that.

Their footprint is also small. Many people I’ve spoken to in the urban core don’t even realize there is a women’s shelter there. GBPD also does a fine job keeping the area clear from the individuals I spoke about earlier.

Ideally, we wouldn’t need any shelters in Green Bay. And the big hearts and broad opportunities in this area give me faith that one day we might not need them.

But for now, if we have the ability to keep some of the most vulnerable unhoused residents safe, then we should take it.