> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://foxwatershed.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Whitney Park Neighbors Press Green Bay for Quick Fixes as Shelter Space Stays Thin - URL: https://foxwatershed.com/whitney-park-homelessness-green-bay-neighbors/ - Published: 2026-10-16T02:22:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T03:24:44.000Z - Description: East Side residents asked for shorter park hours and overnight lights after a hard summer. Police say patrols are up, the county says it can't work in the park, and the shelter system still hasn't recovered from Newcap's collapse. - Author: Fox Watershed Staff - Tags: Green Bay, Brown County, Community Residents around Green Bay's Whitney Park asked city, county and nonprofit leaders Tuesday for quick relief after what they called the hardest summer in years at the East Side park, [NBC 26 reported](https://www.nbc26.com/greenbay/whitney-park-neighbors-push-for-urgent-solutions-to-homelessness?ref=foxwatershed.com). Their ideas ran from shorter park hours to leaving the lights on overnight. Police, county and nonprofit officials at the meeting each described limits on what they can do, and a police captain said enforcement does little about the root cause. The Whitney Park Neighborhood Association's quarterly meeting is the latest in a run of neighborhood sessions since Green Bay police stepped up enforcement at St. John's Park in September. Brown County's July 22 count found [206 people living outside](https://www.wbay.com/2026/08/13/brown-county-homeless-count-finds-556-people-without-stable-housing/?ref=foxwatershed.com) and 350 more in shelters. The county's shelter network still hasn't recovered from the spring collapse of Newcap, the antipoverty nonprofit that ran two year-round shelters in Green Bay. ## What neighbors asked for Association president Garritt Bader, who has lived near the park for 13 years, said residents dealt with people sleeping in the park, trash, theft and noise this summer. "I've never experienced it to this degree," he said. Neighbors also described vandalized playground equipment and people relieving themselves outdoors. Bader said the park is public and people have a right to use it, but "how you use it and how you leave it matters." Proposals at the meeting included cutting park hours and keeping park lights on overnight. Residents also asked the city to clean and maintain the park more often. ## More patrols, fewer bathrooms Capt. Tom Denney of the Green Bay Police Department's community services division said the department added an officer to the Whitney Park area last month and now spends at least 15 minutes in the park every day. Officers also go out with the Parks Department once a week to clean it up. Denney's figures show the shift. In August, officers made about three crime prevention calls in the area and responded to 11 disturbances and 17 ordinance violations. In September they made 65 crime prevention calls and responded to two disturbances and three law violation calls. Denney credited a consistent presence, but he told the group that cleanup and enforcement "does little to address the root cause of the issue." The push started at St. John's. In mid-September, police [increased enforcement at St. John's Park](https://fox11online.com/news/local/green-bay/story/green-bay-police-step-up-enforcement-action-to-address-homeless-issues-at-st-johns-park?ref=foxwatershed.com), adding a camera and leaning on the city ordinance against loitering in parks between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. FOX 11 reported that activity then moved to other spots, including Whitney Park, St. James Park and Jackson Square. Safe Haven Hope Center, which runs a downtown shelter, urged the city to pause enforcement until displaced people had stability plans. Two weeks later the city [temporarily closed the restrooms](https://fox11online.com/news/local/green-bay/green-bays-closure-of-downtown-park-bathrooms-leaves-homeless-with-fewer-options?ref=foxwatershed.com) at Whitney, St. John's and St. James parks. Parks Director Dan Ditscheit cited misuse and the safety of park users and staff, and said the department would decide with police when to reopen them. Daytime restrooms remain at the Micah Center and Wellspring, both of which require sign-in, according to St. John's Ministries executive director Jesse Brunette. ## Who can't do more Brown County Supervisor Emily Jacobson said enforcement belongs to the city and the county's ability to help is limited. Much of the county's outreach is mental health care, which carries federal privacy rules, so county workers meet people at the Micah Center and St. John's instead. "We can't be in the park," she said, adding that the county wants to work with the city. Brunette said St. John's takes no state or federal money and is "simply a ministry trying to respond to the community needs." Its men's and women's shelters run on a winter schedule. [Last year they opened in early November](https://www.wbay.com/2025/11/02/st-johns-ministries-opens-its-mens-womens-shelters-winter-season/?ref=foxwatershed.com) for a season that runs through the end of April. The ministry said it served 646 people and provided more than 25,000 nights of shelter the year before. [Alyssa Proffitt Runs for Green Bay Mayor Against SchmittCouncil President Alyssa Proffitt joins former Mayor Jim Schmitt in the race to replace Eric Genrich. The election is April 6, 2027.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ed/b4/edb4fd27-66fb-4967-8c7f-ec1cf54dfb05/content/images/size/w256h256/2026/06/transparent-5.png)Fox Watershedhttps://www.facebook.com/emrouse02![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ed/b4/edb4fd27-66fb-4967-8c7f-ec1cf54dfb05/content/images/2026/10/city-hall-portrait.png)](https://foxwatershed.com/green-bay-mayor-race-proffitt-schmitt/) ## The hole Newcap left Before it closed, Newcap was a 10-county antipoverty agency that administered federal housing grants supporting 134 households, 84 of them in Brown County, [Wisconsin Watch reported](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/03/northeast-wisconsin-housing-newcap-nonprofit-closure-homelessness/?ref=foxwatershed.com) in March. It was shutting three year-round shelters, two in Green Bay, and the chair of the Brown County Homeless and Housing Coalition, Tara Prahl, said every homeless service provider in the county was already at capacity. Newcap [closed abruptly March 31](https://www.wpr.org/news/northeast-wisconsin-nonprofits-housing-void-newcap-closure?ref=foxwatershed.com). The Wisconsin Balance of State Continuum of Care warned in April that about $2.7 million in HUD money could be lost for good if the grants weren't moved to other providers, and Wisconsin Watch put Brown County's share at more than $1.6 million. HUD wasn't processing transfers at the time. Safe Haven Hope Center has covered part of the gap. The Common Council [voted 10-2 in May](https://www.nbc26.com/greenbay/green-bay-approves-conditional-use-permit-for-safe-haven-hope-center?ref=foxwatershed.com) to let it run a shelter at 315 S. Jefferson St., capped at 19 residents and required to report back to the council after six months. Alders Jennifer Grant and Bill Morgan voted no. ## What comes next A broader community meeting Sept. 30 at Union Congregational United Church of Christ, organized by Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D-Green Bay) with city and county officials, [drew nearly 200 people](https://www.nbc26.com/greenbay/packed-event-brings-people-together-to-find-solutions-for-unhoused-community?ref=foxwatershed.com). Ideas there included public restrooms or portable toilets in parks and designated overnight parking for people living in their cars. Organizers said they'd compile the proposals and bring them to a second meeting before the end of the year, and city neighborhood development specialist Will Peters [told FOX 11](https://fox11online.com/news/local/green-bay/green-bay-hosting-meeting-on-homelessness-as-concerns-voiced-in-new-locations?ref=foxwatershed.com) more gatherings would follow. Residents can report park maintenance problems through the [city's request for service form](https://rfs.greenbaywi.gov/RequestForService/RequestSubmission.aspx?ref=foxwatershed.com) or call the police non-emergency line at 920-448-3208, ext. 8.