2025 YEAR IN REVIEW
- Joe Nettesheim
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
YEAR IN REVIEW:
Building Stability, Hope, and Community
Before we move fully into 2026, it’s important to pause and reflect on what 2025 meant for families experiencing homelessness in Waukesha County. This past year was marked by growth, generosity, and significant progress—made possible by a community that continues to step forward when families need it most.
Below are 10 meaningful moments from 2025 (in no particular order) at Family Promise of Waukesha County. This year in review highlights the impact your support makes in the lives of families experiencing homelessness.
$24,000 Jackpot to Support Families Experiencing Homelessness
The Heart of Canal Street is a community giving event hosted by Potawatomi Bingo Hall & Casino, where 100 organizations serving children are invited based on their grant request—and 30 are selected at random for awards. How are the winners chosen? Through a slot machine.
When our logo came up three times in a row, Family Promise of Waukesha County received $24,000 to support families experiencing homelessness. It was a joyful reminder that community generosity can take many forms—and can make an immediate difference.
Local Golf Champions Raise $40,000 for Housing Stability
Tony Wendorf and Mark Allen were victorious in the First Business Bank Charitable Golf Outing. They chose to play in support of Family Promise of Waukesha County.
Their win resulted in a $40,000 award designated to Family Promise of Waukesha County to help families move toward stable housing. Tony and Mark, thank you for choosing our mission and for being incredible champions for families!
Leadership Transitions Strengthen Our Board and Mission
In 2025, we said goodbye to board members Lynn Marsh, Coleen Valley, and Jamie Zussman as they completed their terms of service. We are deeply grateful for their leadership and commitment to families experiencing homelessness.
L-R Lynn Marsh, Coleen Valley and Jamie Zussman
We also welcomed six new members to the Board of Trustees: Razi Hecht, Cori Prahl, Melissa Smith, Jen Stemm, Sarah Stumme, and Jen Veum. Their experience and passion strengthen our governance and position us well for the future.
New board members
Top L-R: Razi Hecht, Cori Prahl, Melissa Smith
Row 2: L-R: Jen Stemm, Pastor Sarah Stumme and Jen Veum
Transitional Housing Creates Time, Stability and Opportunity
This year marked an important milestone as the first family entered our Transitional Living House. Kalei, Austin, and Colton moved from the Apartment Shelter Program into transitional housing, where they have the time and support needed to stabilize.
During their two-year stay, the family will pay 30% of their income as rent, establish rental history, and work to improve their credit—key steps toward long-term housing stability.
Already during her stay Kalei has been able to address a common and often overlooked barrier to housing stability- Transportation.
When 800 Charity Cars contacted us with the opportunity to donate a vehicle, we immediately knew the potential impact. Thanks to the Midas Spark Program, NAPA, and Mike Mueller of Midas in Janesville, Kalei received a reliable car—opening doors to employment, childcare, and stability.
Watch Kalei’s story and learn more about the impact of this generous gift:
Community Generosity Drives Golf Outing Success
Our annual golf outing exceeded all expectations in 2025, raising $150,000 to support families experiencing homelessness. Grateful to the leadership of Patti Ewald, Julie Bice, the entire Golf Outing Committee, golf outing sponsors and event participants.
A significant aspect of this achievement was also made possible by generous donors who provided matching gifts, doubling the impact of every contribution. Thank you to Chris, Trish, Jen, Mike, and all who participated—your generosity helped turn a great event into an extraordinary one.
Advocacy for Families Experiencing Homelessness
Too often there is a stigma directed at families experiencing homelessness. Homelessness is often viewed as an issue that results due to low character, lack of work ethic or financial planning. Yet it is difficult to budget one's way out of poverty when there is a small amount to budget. The biggest issue we see that leads to housing instability is the lack of affordable housing. Increases in wages over the past few years are woefully short of the increases in rent and child care. Therefore Family Promise of Waukesha County has made it a priority to bring attention to the challenges facing families experiencing homelessness and advocating for strategies to develop more affordable housing either through vouchers, wage increases or new subsidized housing.
This summer Joe Nettesheim was a guest on Milwaukee's Philanthropic Community radio program along with Bob Glowacki and Jodie LaChappelle from St. Vincent DePaul. Listen to the program below:
Expanding Shelter Access Through School-Based Referrals
After extensive outreach in 2024, we secured an apartment in Oconomowoc to expand our Apartment Shelter Program.
What makes this location unique is that all referrals come through the Oconomowoc School District, strengthening early intervention for families.
Thanks to Fresh Start Furnishings for fully furnishing the unit. In 2025, four families were served through this apartment shelter.
New Staff Bring Compassion and Professionalism
In 2025, we welcomed six new staff members: Tasha Berillo, Julie Bice, Jayden Erie, Cassidy Glover, Celestina Hertz, and Kaitlin Kelly.
Top L-R: Tasha Berillo, Julie Bice and Jayden Erie
Row 2: Cassidy Glover, Celestina Hertz and Kaitlin Kelly
Staff transitions are never easy, but this team quickly demonstrated professionalism, compassion, and care. Their commitment has strengthened our programs and improved outcomes for the families we serve.
Record-Setting Year Reflects Growing Need—and Generosity
In 2025, Family Promise of Waukesha County reached important milestones in families served and revenue received. Unofficially we enrolled 169 unduplicated families into any of our programs. This would be a 22% increase in families served. A new data point we tracked in 2025, we provided service of any kind to 686 families who did not enroll in a program. New programs (prevention, diversion and stabilization) expanded staff and additional financial resources, due to your generosity has allowed us to pivot and grow our impact.
Octavia, a participant in the Apartment Shelter Program, shares her story.
While serving more families is a significant accomplishment, it also reflects that more families in Waukesha County have housing instability. With this growth we still did not reach our full potential. Staffing shortages early in the year limited capacity, meaning the number of families requesting assistance exceeded those to whom we provided service.
None of this would be possible without the generosity of individuals, businesses, foundations, congregations and civic group who supported us. For the first time in our history, revenue surpassed $1 million—a testament to a generous community responding to urgent need.
New Property Creates Hope for the Future
The most significant development of 2025 occurred when a supporter purchased a property on Maple Avenue in Waukesha and transferred ownership to Family Promise of Waukesha County.
Plans are in place to transform this property into a extraordinary response to family homelessness. The door is open to a bold new chapter serving low income families and families experiencing homelessness rooted in stability, community, dignity, and hope.
Stay tuned—something exciting is coming that will empower our community to respond to family homelessness in 2026. We will be building hope and strengthening our community.
Thank you for being part of this work in 2025. Your support—whether through time, advocacy, or financial generosity—helps families move from crisis to stability. If you’d like to stay connected or be part of what’s next, we invite you to follow along as we step into 2026 together.