Mary’s Place is expanding their supportive transitional housing program to Wisconsin Rapids. This expansion has been made possible thanks to a generous grant from the Legacy Foundation of Central Wisconsin. With the funding, Mary’s Place has purchased a vacant apartment building at 520 8th Avenue South and Altmann Construction has started renovating the property. The goal is to open the facility and accept program participants in spring of 2023. Grant funds will also support operating expenses to ensure the programs long-term success.

To celebrate, the community is invited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony on December 15, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. held at 520 8th Avenue South, Wisconsin Rapids.

Mary's Place has been in operation for 17 years and is a non-profit organization providing short-term housing (6–12 months) to adult men and women with no-income or low-income. Due to the apartment style nature of the Wisconsin Rapids location, Mary’s Place will also be able to serve families. The building will have three levels with 11 separate apartment units, a shared laundry room and common area space, and office space for the onsite house manager. Case management, mentoring/life coaching, job service referral, financial guidance, and community referrals will be provided to program participants. Individuals wishing to participate in Mary’s Place programming pay a program fee of $80/week.

Transitional housing is intended to be a stepping stone for individuals to build their finances and access programs to support their next move to permanent long-term housing. South Wood County does not have a transitional housing program and local organizations report community residents are requesting immediate housing placement services as they are homeless, without long-term housing, or in unstable housing. Currently individuals in Wisconsin Rapids are referred 45 minutes away to Marshfield (Mary’s Place) or 30 minutes to Stevens Point (Salvation Army Warming Shelter), this poses a geographic barrier for transportation and lack of familiarity with local community resources. In 2021, Mary’s Place served 186 people, 90 of whom were South Wood County residents.

How can you help? Mary’s Place is requesting community support for in-kind and monetary donations for items to furnish and supply the basic necessities for each apartment unit in the new building and ongoing operations. A current donation request list, opportunities to volunteer and more information about Mary’s Place can be found by
visiting our INVEST tab!

On September 8th, 2022 the Wisconsin Rapids Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for the Mary's Place Program to take place at the Wisconsin Rapids location (520 8th Ave S., Wisconsin Rapids WI 54495).
To read more about the program and public commentary following the Planning Commission you can follow the link to the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. 

At a subsequent City Council meeting on September 20th, the council voted in favor to approve. 
Meeting minutes can be found by following this link (page 3 & 4). 

We thank everyone who came and spoke in favor of the project and we want to work collaboratively with our new neighbors and continue to address any concerns they may have. We hope to bring positivity to the neighborhood and be good stewards to the neighbors surrounding our new location. 

Mary's Place has recently been improving the building to increase safety and efficiency in the front of the building. Here are some pictures of our progress.