Observations Part II: Coggs Human Services Center

Earlier today I visited the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center on Vliet Street. A major hub of managing the city’s assistance programs, I thought this would be the ideal place to start looking for what nutritional information may be available to those living on a constrained food budget.

There are several Community Access Points throughout Milwaukee where people can sign up for BadgerCare, FoodShare, and other assistance programs. Ideally, I would visit or contact all of them, inquiring about their supply of healthy eating information. My own time and resource constraints, as well as the importance of making neighborhood grocery store observations, will probably limit me to the Coggs Center for the time being.

It was about 3pm when I arrived at the Coggs Center, making my way into the busy atrium of the building. I held the door open for a woman pushing a stroller with a little girl of maybe four years old who had her hand buried in a bag of Cheetos. Two ladies sat at the front counter, each with a line of seven or eight people standing before them. Flanking the left side of the front counter were three touch-screen computer kiosks. I watched one of the front desk ladies walk a younger man over to one of the computers and ask him if he would like to apply for FoodShare online, right now, and began helping him do so.

Several different waiting areas were visible from the main artery of the first floor: one was for continuing assistance and addressing a person’s problems with their current plans, another for processing new applications. Digital “Now Serving Number...” screens were used in the various service areas, and people waited in chairs watching TV for their number to be called.

Signs posted on all over the walls declared “Emergency Food Pantry in Basement.” The visceral sense I was getting is that this place is indeed no stranger to people in crisis and in need of immediate help. Basic needs kind of help. Not necessarily a recipe for quick dill carrots.

One of the emblems on the Coggs Center exterior.

Plastic document bins line the wall to the right of the new applications window. Although there are labeled slots for about 50 different documents, only a handful of the slots contained any papers. Handouts that are present are offered in English, Spanish, and Hmong.

None of the labels indicated that a currently empty slot usually holds information on shopping for and eating healthier foods. Not one slot is designated for nutritional guidance of any kind.

None of the available handouts had anything to do with cooking, meal planning, or general health information like the FoodGuide Pyramid.

The most readily available handout is a three-page document about using the QUEST card, explaining how to select and use a PIN number, how to check the remaining balance of the card, and what types of error messages can occur when trying to use a QUEST card such as “inactive card” or “insufficient balance.” Unauthorized item is not one of the error messages.

I returned to the front desk, hoping to ask an employee about what types of nutrition education materials they may facilitate at the center. But the lines facing the receptionists are longer than when I arrived. I stand back and watch the steady stream of people coming through the door. Two women walk in, bypassing the line, and go straight to a computer kiosk to conduct their business. As I turn to go, I overhear one of the receptionists directing a young man down to the food pantry, saying “They will help you out down there.”

A security guard circles the building, and watches me as I snap this picture back at my car.

I did not know the geography of Vliet Street, so I did not expect to be able to see the Marquette campus from the stoop of the Coggs Center. Standing in the shadow of the building, I could not help but think of how just an arm's reach away there is a different world altogether. Just across Highland Avenue and a chain link fence.