Homeless in Wisconsin

Way Forward Resources Food pantry is open from 4pm to 7pm today.



Other listed hours are available below 👇🏼

🚨🚨🚨Note the lack of a defense for persons who have no other place to "lodge, live in for a time, or to take habitation".

PUBLIC PROPERTY
Sec. 8.265
8 - 15 Rev. 12/15/04

8.265 LODGING IN PARKS PROHIBITED

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to lodge, to live in for a time, or to take habitation in any portion of a public park within the City of Madison. Evidence of lodging shall include but not be limited to bedrolls, mattresses, blankets, cooking utensils, clothing, and other personal belongings.

(2) Penalty. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a forfeiture of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200). Each and every day during which a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate violation.

(Sec. 8.265 Cr. by Ord. 10,849, 2-28-9

The Dane County Civil Rights Department, in partnership with the Dane County Food Council, is pleased to announce the annual Partners in Community (PI Community) Food Project Grant (formerly PIE Food Project Grants).

Follow this 👇🏼 and fill out the application.

PIE Food Project Grant | Office for Equity and Inclusion  Dane County Executive Melissa Agard announced that community-based organizations can now apply for the Partners in Community  Food Project Grant.

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📦🥫 Pack the Pantry on 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗧 is officially underway! 🥫📦

We kicked off yesterday with a wonderful first donation of 21 pounds of food from our supporters, Peggy and Ted—thank you! Let’s keep the momentum going and help stock The River's new warehouse with much-needed nonperishable items.

📍 Drop off donations at: 127 State Street

🕒 Donation collection times (Jan. 16 – Feb. 14):
Wednesdays & Thursdays: 11:00 am – 1:30 pm
Fridays: 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Saturdays: 12:00 – 7:00 pm

Every can, box, and bag makes a difference. Grab a few extra nonperishables on your next trip downtown and help us Pack the Pantry for our neighbors in need 💙

Learn more:

Pack the Pantry on Packers Ave | The River Food Pantry The River's new warehouse is empty — help us pack it with food.

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🎉We are in the process of moving to our brand new building at 3301 Packers Ave. The new building will be open in early February 2026! 🎉

🛑 Due to the transition, we are no longer accepting food donations at the 2201 Darwin Rd. location🛑

You can still donate food to The River Food Pantry donation bins at various locations around Madison. See here: www.riverfoodpantry.org/food-barrel-map/

🛒Starting Jan. 9, we will begin accepting food donations again at the new location, Monday through Friday from 10 am–2 pm in the large black bin near the loading docks🛒

🚗 There will also be a donation drop-off event at the new building on Monday, Jan. 26 from 10 am to 4 pm. Come with your donation to drop off and get a peek at our new indoor drive-thru! 🚗

Thank you so much for your patience and support during our move!

🎉We are in the process of moving to our brand new building at 3301 Packers Ave. The new building will be open in early February 2026! 🎉

🛑 Due to the transition, we are no longer accepting food donations at the 2201 Darwin Rd. location🛑

You can still donate food to The River Food Pantry donation bins at various locations around Madison. See here: www.riverfoodpantry.org/food-barrel-map/

🛒Starting Jan. 9, we will begin accepting food donations again at the new location, Monday through Friday from 10 am–2 pm in the large black bin near the loading docks🛒

🚗 There will also be a donation drop-off event at the new building on Monday, Jan. 26 from 10 am to 4 pm. Come with your donation to drop off and get a peek at our new indoor drive-thru! 🚗

Thank you so much for your patience and support during our move!

(The Element on Main Street in Sun Prairie,Wi)

Hi everyone,

Ethan here from the Sun Prairie Star. You are receiving this email because you have reached out to me about your experience living at the Element as a current or former tenant.

I've gone ahead and put you all in the same email chain simply because it will be much quicker for me to get this information to all of you this way. With that being said, if you have any follow up questions for me it's probably best to email me directly unless the question may benefit the entire group. It's possible that putting you in contact with each other may help you organize going forward as well.

Before I get to some of the resources I've been forwarded, and steps you folks can take, I want to touch on what the paper will be doing going forward. Some of you have reached out in recent days about going on the record for another story. At this point, our role in this as a newspaper is coming to somewhat of an end. We have reported on the ongoing lawsuit and shared some of the property's main problems with folks in the community who may not have been familiar before. As much as I value your efforts, we can't run a new story every week and the subjects we have to cover are always changing.

That being said, if there are serious developments in the lawsuit I may reach out to follow up. Anyone else you know is also always welcome to contact me, even if it doesn't make it into an article.

With that bit out of the way, I have included some of the information the city attorney has shared with me. It is important to note that this isn't legal advice from Kathleen, nor can she, herself, represent you.

---------

Some existing community organizations that deal with renter's rights:

Community Justice, Inc.
https://www.communityjusticeinc.org/
(608) 204-9642

State Bar of Wisconsin has a lawyer referral service
https://www.wisbar.org/forPublic/INeedaLawyer/Pages/i-need-a-lawyer.aspx ($30 fee if completed online)
(800) 362-9082 (free)

Neighborhood Law Clinic at UW Law School
https://law.wisc.edu/eji/nlc
608-890-0678

Tenant Resource Center of Dane County
https://www.tenantresourcecenter.org/get_help
(608) 708-6008 (Sun Prairie office)

Some steps you should consider taking, if you haven't been doing so already:

1) Keep a log of all contacts with management

2) Keep proof of rent paid (cancelled checks, receipts, online statements)

3) Document all issues with your unit by photo or video.

4) Consider recording any phone calls you have with management. Wisconsin is a one-party consent state, meaning you can legally record any conversation as long as you know you are doing it.

5) Tenants Work together. Let your neighbors know what steps you're taking and tell them how they can do the same. I'm no lawyer, but maybe its possible your experiences could be used together in some way in the future (?)

I want to thank you all again for taking the time and courage to reach out to me to share your stories, you folks are what make reporting on stories like this possible. I wish I could be more help but I will share any other news/resources that come my way.

Best,
--
Ethan Ferrell
Municipal Reporter, The Star, The Tribune, The Leader Independent
Adams MultiMedia

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — A new housing project designed to combat homelessness in La Crosse County has welcomed its first few residents, marking a significant milestone in the community's ongoing effort to provide stable housing solutions.

New housing project combats homelessness in La Crosse County - NewsBreak LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — A new housing project designed to combat homelessness in La Crosse County has welcomed its first few residents, marking a signific

Funny how this page has people blocked from making comments.... 🙄

The men's emergency shelter is asking for donations of coffee. A hot cup of coffee helps the men prepare for the long day ahead.
Coffee can be dropped off directly at the men’s shelter any day of the week 4 to 8 PM 2002 Zeier Road. Thank you so much.
You can purchase coffee on our Amazon wishlist at https://a.co/c3Rksq4

This is so cool to see all the assistance they have given to this community. ❤️🫶🏼

SHARED CONTENT 🚨🚨🚨👇🏼

🎉We are in the process of moving to our brand new building at 3301 Packers Ave. The new building will be open in early February 2026! 🎉

🛑 Due to the transition, we are no longer accepting food donations at the 2201 Darwin Rd. location🛑

You can still donate food to The River Food Pantry donation bins at various locations around Madison. See here: www.riverfoodpantry.org/food-barrel-map/

🛒Starting Jan. 9, we will begin accepting food donations again at the new location, Monday through Friday from 10 am–2 pm in the large black bin near the loading docks🛒

🚗 There will also be a donation drop-off event at the new building on Monday, Jan. 26 from 10 am to 4 pm. Come with your donation to drop off and get a peek at our new indoor drive-thru! 🚗

Thank you so much for your patience and support during our move! 🙏

🎉We are in the process of moving to our brand new building at 3301 Packers Ave. The new building will be open in early February 2026! 🎉

🛑 Due to the transition, we are no longer accepting food donations at the 2201 Darwin Rd. location🛑

You can still donate food to The River Food Pantry donation bins at various locations around Madison. See here: www.riverfoodpantry.org/food-barrel-map/

🛒Starting Jan. 9, we will begin accepting food donations again at the new location, Monday through Friday from 10 am–2 pm in the large black bin near the loading docks🛒

🚗 There will also be a donation drop-off event at the new building on Monday, Jan. 26 from 10 am to 4 pm. Come with your donation to drop off and get a peek at our new indoor drive-thru! 🚗

Thank you so much for your patience and support during our move! 🙏