A staffer helps a woman with laundry at the Benedict Center’s North Avenue drop-in center. The drop-in centers had more than 4,000 visitors in 2024. (NNS File Photo)
By Edgar Mendez
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Jeanne Geraci knows that many Milwaukee residents are frustrated by the rise in street prostitution that they see each summer.
But she said a major misconception is that nothing is being done about it.
“Many things are happening to try to help, and many people are at the table trying to find solutions,” said Geraci, the executive director of the Benedict Center, an interfaith nonprofit that helps women who have been impacted by the criminal justice system.
In 2024, the Benedict Center’s Sisters Program, which helps women involved in sex work, reached over 620 women and made over 4,300 contacts during street outreach.
“We start broadly, try to connect, and as we continue to engage, the women make advances towards their own progress,” Geraci said. “We meet them where they are and encourage them to stay connected.”
During street outreach, the Benedict Center offers food and hygiene supplies, crisis support, mobile case management, housing advocacy and an invitation to one of the organization’s two drop-in centers.
One drop-in center is on West Orchard Street on the South Side and the other on North Avenue on the North Side, focus areas for the Benedict Center.
Last year, the drop-in centers had more than 4,000 visitors, according to an impact report from the Benedict Center.
There, the women can receive additional support such as individual and group counseling, participate in workshops or simply have a place to take a warm shower and eat a hot meal.
A main focus of the street outreach and the drop-in center is to prevent more harm to the women. Many, Geraci said, are survivors of sexual abuse and assault, domestic violence or human trafficking.
Most also are struggling with opioid or other substance addictions and are constantly at risk for violence. “A lot of these are things that we have to address first before we say, ‘oh, they have to get off the streets,’ ” Geraci said. .
Housing a major issue
One of the main challenges of helping women involved in the sex trade change their lives is housing instability. Geraci said most women involved in the sex trade in Milwaukee are homeless.
“Our drop-in center is more like a homeless shelter,” Geraci said. “Housing is actually one of the key solutions that would address this issue.”
The Benedict Center has served as one of the leads of Milwaukee Providing Opportunities for Wellness, Empowerment and Recovery, or MPOWER.
Begun as a pilot project in 2019, MPOWER is a collaborative project that also involves the Milwaukee County Housing Division, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Police Department and multiple community-based organizations.
Through MPOWER, a pre-arrest diversion policy for women who use opioids or other drugs was created.
Essentially what happens is that officers offer women the opportunity to avoid arrest and instead be referred to housing and other prevention and empowerment services.
According to Madeline Miranda Navarro, MPOWER community coordinator, 22 women received housing vouchers that got them off the streets through the project.
“That made a big difference for them,” she said.
Having a home keeps them safe from violence and makes them more likely to seek and stay engaged in additional services, she added.
“No loitering” signs were distributed to businesses along West Lincoln Avenue to help deter prostitution and other issues in the area. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Resident frustration
Public drug use, drug dealing, solicitation of prostitutes and violence remain a huge problem for residents, Geraci said.
Business owners, residents and others on West Lincoln Avenue, another hub for prostitution, grew so frustrated with the issue that they organized to do something about it.
Colleen Cheney-Trawinski, a board member for the Lincoln Village Business Association and executive director of Cream City South Community Development Corp., has met with stakeholders to create a plan to reduce drug trafficking and prostitution along West Lincoln Avenue.
One solution was to push the Police Department to employ more patrols and increase visibility in the area and get the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to more closely monitor issues at Kosciuszko Park, 2201 S. 7th St.
Data from MPD shows that there were 12 arrests for prostitution or human trafficking from Jan. 1 to May 28 in District 2, which includes Lincoln Village and West Greenfield Avenue. Last year, there were 12 arrests in total for those offenses in District 2.
There were 20 arrests in total in the city through May 28 for prostitution and human trafficking this year. Last year, there were 38 arrests in total for those offenses in the city.
Geraci said she believes that the pace of arrests in District 2 is increasing this year specifically because of the police presence on West Lincoln Avenue.
“Keep the pressure on,” Cheney-Trawinski said, discussing the impact of more police in the area.
Still, she said, the main solution was to get business owners and residents to speak up.
She said her organization advises residents to call the police and not to “get discouraged when they don’t respond,” she said. “Speak up and ask people to move on and stop loitering.”
Cream City supported those efforts by providing “No loitering” signs to businesses along West Lincoln Avenue.
Things have gotten better since then, Cheney-Trawinski said, the result of everyone working together toward a common goal.
Funding challenges
The help individuals in the street-based sex trade need might be even harder to find in the future. Access to drug treatment, housing and other services is limited, Geraci said.
“Sometimes it feels like the sun, moon and stars have to line up for someone to access services when they are ready to find help,” she said. “Even if there’s a 24-hour gap in transition, we can lose a person — literally.”
Funding also is a pressing challenge. A federal reduction in grants for programs that provide victim services is a huge concern for the Benedict Center. The center employed a staff of 28 and had 10 student interns with a budget of $2 million in 2024.
Two-thirds of the budget for the Sisters Program is federally sourced, Geraci said.
“We are bracing ourselves,” she said, adding that many of their community partners already have laid off staff due to the potential loss of federal funds.
NNS reported in March that the Hmong American Women’s Association cut its staff from 11 to four due to budget uncertainty, while others had reallocated funds to cover contracts that were on hold.
As it monitors the situation, the center plans to try to raise funds through private donations to help offset any potential federal cuts.
Geraci said her team remains focused on helping their clients.
“If they need to go to urgent care, we’ll go there. We’ll take them to detox,” she said. “It’s just a safe place to be to get off the streets. You have to start somewhere,” Geraci said.