La Crosse officials outline Pathways Home roles and midterm progress

Tamara Dickinson, council president, opened a joint City–County briefing and introduced the Pathways Home update presented by Brian Sampson, the city’s homeless services coordinator, and Jim Drees, La Crosse County’s homelessness response system project manager. "Pathways Home is a 5 year plan to end homelessness in La Crosse," Sampson told the meeting.

Sampson said the program splits responsibilities: the City focuses on adding housing stock at multiple income levels while the County leads supportive services. He described Pathways conferencing—weekly meetings of about a dozen agencies that review roughly 30 household cases—to coordinate referrals and reduce duplication. Officials said the system now records more housing placements than new entries into homelessness (a so-called negative inflow) but acknowledged progress is slower than the plan’s target pace.

Presenters stressed that Pathways Home relies on many nonprofit and private partners, not just city or county staff; Sampson noted private fundraising efforts such as the Homes for 100 campaign. The presentation listed completed and in-progress projects (collective on 4th, Park Lane Studios, Pathways-held leases) and highlighted a county specialized unit team and Medicaid supportive-housing enrollment as emerging tools.

Officials said next steps include pursuing additional funding, piloting intensive-support placement models, tracking outcomes for treatment-to-housing packages and continuing outreach. Dickinson closed by asking for private contributions to Homes for 100 and adjourning the meeting.