a day ago
'It's a lifeline': Milwaukee County unveils new $32M Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center
Milwaukee County unveiled its new $32 million Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center in the near north side's King Park neighborhood June 13, creating a hub for essential services and upgrading access for residents across the county.
Hundreds of members of Milwaukee's political elite, family members of the building's namesake and residents gathered to visit the new site at 1230 W. Cherry St.
The center is now home to the Department of Health and Human Services and provides behavioral health programming; housing and energy assistance resources; child, family and veteran services; an on-site food pantry; and wraparound services for youth with complex needs. The center is already open for walk-ins, referrals, and scheduled appointments.
'It's more than a building. It's a lifeline,' Shakita LaGrant-McClain, the county's health and human services executive director, told the crowd.
The 60,000-square-foot building, which is the first new county construction in or near Milwaukee's downtown since the Criminal Justice Facility in 1992, is a stone's throw from the county's Mental Health Emergency Center.
It figures as another step toward the county's overarching commitment to ensure a "No Wrong Door" policy when it comes to residents accessing behavioral health services, regardless of age, gender, race or socioeconomic status. After receiving county approval in 2022, the project was funded by $32 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
"This building represents the upstream investment in race and health equity for our entire community," Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said. "We will become the healthiest county in Wisconsin."
The building is named after Marcia P. Coggs, a trailblazing advocate for human needs who was the first African American woman elected to the Wisconsin state Assembly and the first Black person to sit on the state Legislature's Joint Finance Committee.
"(The center) embodies her belief that public service is not paperwork, it's personal, and because of her vision, every child with an empty stomach, every parent in crisis and every senior in need will be filled with compassion and resources that they deserve right here' said Milwaukee County Supervisor Priscilla Coggs-Jones, the granddaughter of Marcia P. Coggs.
In late 2022, the sudden closure of the original Coggs location at 6055 N. 64th St. by Karen Timberlake, then the secretary-designee of the state Department of Health Services, followed a monthslong tussle at the county to demolish and rebuild the center or relocate out of concerns for accessibility as well as lead and asbestos issues.
The former building was known to many as the place to access services related to FoodShare, Medicaid and GoPass.
The original building, which was a former department store built in the 1920s, was later tapped to be developed into 65 affordable apartments.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County unveils Marcia P. Coggs Health & Human Services Center
