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Dane County Homeless Justice Initiative

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Dane County Homeless Justice Initiative

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wellbeing, respect, and dignity for all, with an equitable focus on our most vulnerable

10/14/2026

Housing everyone…is for everyone.

10/05/2026

Fall Fundraiser update as of 10/4! Thank you for all of your support so far❤️. Let’s keep working toward our $5,000 goal 🤝

Donations can be sent to @ DCHJI on Venmo

For other ways to support, check our pinned post for drop off locations for physical donations, and/or DM us to get directly involved in our work!

10/01/2026

Madison is about to face a humanitarian crisis this winter.

We do not have enough shelter beds for the number of people who will be homeless.

We need to take action to keep our neighbors safe.

In the face of continuously rising housing costs, both for renters and prospective home owners, we as a city have failed to meet our neighbors’ basic needs. Instead of addressing root causes, the City of Madison has instead swept encampments, dismantled Dairy Drive right before last winter, and now opened a new men’s homeless shelter with 150 fewer beds than the old one. By failing to make any true plan for providing adequate space during severe weather events, City and County officials are indicating that they don’t actually care about the wellbeing of our most vulnerable residents. Instead they criminalize those who literally have nowhere left to go.

The people who may be forced to sleep outside this winter are our neighbors, our family, and a part of our community that deserves basic respect and have the right to live without being constantly harassed for the crime of not having a home. When the city and county prioritize the comfort of those with homes making complaints, instead of responding to what is clearly a humanitarian crisis, they are making a clear statement: they care about money and saving face more than saving lives.

Dane County has appropriated funds for an “overflow shelter” that would accommodate men who cannot fit into the new men’s shelter during cold weather. Madison Street Medicine has been chosen to run the shelter, but no overflow shelter location has been approved by the City and County. A backup plan has been proposed to operate 50 hotel rooms as a makeshift shelter. However, the wait list for the men’s shelter has already been over 50 people long and it’s not even that cold out yet. If this plan goes through, there will still be people sleeping outside. We need to put pressure on our elected officials to approve an overflow shelter site before it’s too late.

Action items:
-Tell the Mayor, County Executive, and your City Alder and County Supervisors to:
- open an overflow shelter before the end of October and
- decrimi

09/22/2026

We are back with another fundraiser!

Our goal is $5,000! Funds raised will be used to purchase hygiene supplies, colder weather clothing, tents, tarps, and sleeping bags. Please consider supporting our work as the colder weather comes in. Many of our unhoused neighbors are exposed to the elements as a result of the new men’s shelter.

08/19/2026

We have officially reached our summer fundraiser goal!

Your donations directly funded 50 sleeping bags, 50 large tents, 90 small tents, 50 reusable water bottles, 100 tarps, and 2 major clothing restocks at Dig N Save, all which were given out over the course of 15+ distributions this summer!

We are so grateful to have such an active and caring community committed to supporting our unhoused neighbors. We could not do this work without your meaningful support. Thank you!

While the summer fundraiser has ended, our work has not. Check out our pinned post to find donation locations, or DM us to get directly involved at any time.

Keep an eye out on our social media for our next fundraiser!

08/17/2026

We are SO close to meeting our Summer Fundraising goal! Consider helping us with one last final push before August ends!

Venmo: @ DCHJI

07/30/2026

As we grieve the murder of one of our neighbors, Corey Ruiz, the Madison Police Department has continued to sweep encampments across the city, inflicting deep trauma upon our unhoused neighbors.

This state violence must end.

We need to take care of each other.

So, what can you do?

Contact your alder and the mayor’s office and demand that the city stop sweeping encampments and arresting people for simply not having a home.

Find your alder: https://www.cityofmadison.com/council/council-members/find-my-alder

Contact the mayor: https://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor

We will continue to post tangible action items you can take to support our community.

07/25/2026

The Dane County Homeless Justice Initiative joins our community in mourning the sudden and tragic loss of Corey Ruiz. Like many members of our community, Corey experienced homelessness. He struggled to find stable housing and to access the support and resources that so many people need to survive and recover, including addiction treatment and mental health care. His story is not unique.

We know firsthand the hostility that unhoused people often face. We have seen the tension between wealthy homeowners and people seeking shelter or services in neighborhoods like Tenney-Lapham. We have watched neighbors and city leaders oppose shelters, encampments, and supportive housing. Madison spends $98.3 million each year on policing while more than 700 people remain unhoused. At the same time, Dane County found the money to build a new jail with 825 cells.

We cannot police our way out of a housing crisis. The solution to homelessness is housing.

Corey’s death must be a wake-up call for our entire community. We cannot continue responding to homelessness through criminalization and policing while failing to provide the basic resources that keep people alive. Real public safety means ensuring that everyone has access to housing, food, health care, addiction treatment, mental health services, and supportive communities.

If we truly want to prevent future tragedies, we have to invest in what saves lives: permanent affordable housing, low-barrier shelters, addiction treatment, mental health care, food security, and community-based support.

DCHJI encourages our community members to join the encampment at W***y and Baldwin in solidarity.

Only we’ve got us.

07/20/2026

You donate, we distribute! Every dollar you donate goes to tents, blankets, clothing, and health and hygiene supplies for our most vulnerable neighbors. We’re a little over halfway to our $5,000 summer fundraising goal, so send a dollar or a few if you’ve got ‘em to spare (venmo: ). No funds to spare but want to get involved? DM us and we will get you plugged in! Spare items lying around the house? Feel free to donate at any of our donation drop sites (last graphic).

*photos from our latest St. Vinny's Dane County Thrift Stores Dig N Save haul 😌 + donation drop sites

07/14/2026

We are well on our way to reaching our summer fundraising goal!

Huge shout out to the community for supporting our efforts—with your help, we were able to do over 10 distributions all across town since the start of the fundraiser, and with another week of high temperatures, we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon!

Consider donating items from our wishlist in the graphic, or make a monetary donation via Venmo (Dchji Rodriguez).

Donation drop off locations in pinned post above.

DM to get involved in our work 🤝.

Address

1202 Williamson Street
Madison, WI
53703

Website

facebook.com

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