Free Wisconsin nonprofit’s reentry housing plan meets resistance

ASHLAND, Wis.– In Ashland, one resident has been making a difference in his community by giving back to released incarcerated individuals through his nonprofit.

And now, he’s looking to expand his services.

“We’re a newer nonprofit that actually works with criminal justice impacted people. We try and support them and meet them where they’re at. So, we focus on a lot of direct impact work,” said Tony Justich, Executive Director, ‘Free Wisconsin’.

His nonprofit, ‘Free Wisconsin’, launched in 2023, and is currently helping 20 people.

The inspiration to begin this journey stems from his past.

“I’ve only been out a couple years, but if I wouldn’t have had that immediate help, I wouldn’t be standing here today, you know, leading a nonprofit trying to help others,” said Justich.

The process of opening the housing has been challenging, as transitional and sober living facilities shut down in the area.

This has driven the team to try and open temporary housing.

However, ‘Free Wisconsin’ has recently run into a new roadblock.

Justich had a meeting with the Ashland mayor, where he expressed concern over public backlash.

“We got to remember that we’re a community, right, where we’re all in this together, right? Our success for them is to go and live basically the life that everybody else goes and takes for granted,” said Justich.

Fox 21 reached out to the Mayor of Ashland for a statement but didn’t get a response.

And for now, things are at a pause for the housing project.

But that hasn’t stopped the passion Justich is feeling for helping others adjust to life after incarceration.

“I mean, these are people who, unfortunately, you know, made some bad decisions, you know, in the community, right? But they’re still citizens of this community. They’re still members of this community. So, it’s important that we go and we help them go and get right back on the right path,” said Justich.