MENOMONIE, Wis. — On a hot summer afternoon between passing thunderstorms, a dozen community members gathered Wednesday outside the Menomonie Leisure Services and Senior Center to celebrate something years in the making: the first day the SHIELD housing ordinance officially took effect.

For over a year, residents led by members of GROWW (GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin) organized to make Menomonie rental homes safer for residents and families, helping draft and pass the SHIELD ordinance. The ordinance passed by the Menomonie City Council in February by a 9-1 vote.

SHIELD restores proactive rental inspections within a designated inspection district, establishes a rent abatement program for tenants living with serious health and safety hazards, and protects renters from retaliation when they report unsafe conditions.

“This victory belongs to the community,” said Menomonie City Council President and GROWW member Cody Gentz, who worked alongside other residents to develop the ordinance. “The residents who signed the petition. The GROWW leaders that organized the effort. The volunteers who knocked doors with us. The landlords who stood with us in supporting safe and healthy homes for all. And my fellow renters who stood up and shared their stories.”

For Menomonie resident Liza Cody, those stories were deeply personal. In 2025 and 2026, Cody testified in front of City Council multiple times in support of stronger renter protections, sharing how a two-inch lip at the entrance of her apartment has left her unable to safely enter or leave her home without assistance. As a disabled renter who uses both a wheelchair and a walker, she said she hopes the accountability created through SHIELD will help people like her remain safe, independent, and able to live with dignity in their own homes.

GROWW member Thom Flug also shared how dangerous housing conditions have had lasting consequences in his life.

“I feel proud today,” Flug said. “Years ago, I badly broke my ankle when my foot broke through a bad board at my apartment, and I still walk with a cane. I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through. These protections will help keep people safe.”

Mayor Matthew Crowe, who served on the City Council Housing Committee before being elected mayor this spring, said the ordinance represents a fundamentally different approach to protecting renters.

“This GROWW SHIELD ordinance breathed life into the Housing Committee,” Crowe said. “This is a unique ordinance that we’ve never seen before. It doesn’t focus on just code—it focuses on habitability violations. Making sure we have running water, heat. Making sure our tenants aren’t exposed to mold or mildew or lead or asbestos and any other health hazards.”

Crowe noted that after the Wisconsin Legislature restricted proactive rental inspections in 2017, Menomonie’s housing conditions steadily declined.

“We had to do something, and we had to do something different,” Crowe said. “It took not just the city staff and the Housing Committee and Council, but residents of Menomonie and GROWW members to help get this going. What a victory.”

The ordinance is already being put to work.

“The ordinance takes effect today, and we have our first inspection today that’s already been scheduled by a tenant, with four more already on the books in the coming weeks,” Crowe said.

While Wednesday marked a major milestone, organizers say it is also the beginning of the next phase of their work.

“Right now, Wisconsin law still prevents communities from fully protecting renters by limiting proactive inspections beyond designated areas,” Gentz said. “GROWW is pushing to repeal Act 317 so towns and cities across Wisconsin regain the authority to protect tenants wherever they live. This local win in Menomonie is a down payment on that larger fight.”

GROWW leaders say the organization will continue organizing alongside renters, homeowners, local officials, and community members to win statewide reforms that ensure every Wisconsinite has access to safe, healthy, and affordable housing.

“Menomonie residents helping to draft and pass SHIELD proves what’s possible when we organize,” said Reba Krueger, Senior Communications Manager for GROWW. “GROWW members take that same people-powered approach across communities dealing with the issues that matter most to us, whether it’s housing or data centers or family farming or healthcare. Most of the problems we’re facing across the state are rooted in the fact that regular people don’t have enough power. We can’t let our voices keep being drowned out by wealthy corporations and special interests, so we’re organize.”