JustDialogue Winter 2024 by JustDane1

a reflective journal about social action from JustDane

in their neighborhood. The Wilmar Neighborhood Association began meeting at the church and was active in the community. In 1973 the church building was deeded to the Friends of Wilmar, Inc, creating the Wilmar Neighborhood Center, which is still in operation today.

Dear Friends, A little over fifty years ago, the members of Pilgrim United Church of Christ Madison made the difficult decision to dissolve, as their membership waned. They offered their assets to First Congregational United Church of Christ, if a social justice ministry was created. This ministry would carry on Pilgrim’s work that focused on fair and affordable housing, poverty, economic justice, racial justice, and access to quality education for all. First Congregational UCC accepted the charge and formed the Servants on Errands Committee to begin a discernment process regarding the creation of a social justice ministry. Other congregations were invited to be part of the process and project, and Madison Urban Ministry, now JustDane, was founded. In 1973, Chuck Pfeifer was hired as the first Executive Director of MUM. Chuck was a visionary, a compassionate and passionate worker for justice and peace. During those early years, the members of Pilgrim UCC and the Servants on Errands Committee noted that there wasn’t a community center

The Servants on Errands committee saw the need for a place in Dane County where new ideas and initiatives could be incubated and nurtured, while they built capacity and grew. That became part of our agency’s mission: to incubate and support new initiatives and ideas. The first formal spin-off organization in 1973 was Project Home. For fifty years, MUM/JustDane has engaged in public policy advocacydemanding fair and affordable housing, access to quality education for all students, access to healthcare for all, worker and economic justice, and racial justice. Our goal is to build a community in which everyone has the opportunity to be healthy and thrive. We engage in advocacy because we know that, as important as our direct services and initiatives are, they are no substitute for justice. In the mid-to late 1990’s our Board and staff recognized that our state criminal legal system’s policies and practices were (and remain) discriminatory and overly punitive. We recognized that all of the issues we were focused on converged when we looked at our criminal legal system and who we incarcerated. In 1998, with the hiring of Rev. Mary Kay Baum as Executive Director, MUM formed its Justice Issues Task Force.

This focused on our prison and criminal legal system and the impact of incarceration on both the individual and their family. We engaged people with lived experience, learning what was needed to support them when they returned to the community. We created the Reentry Simulation as an educational tool to help people rethink public policy and to understand the need for a community that offers forgiveness and second chances. The first Reentry Simulation was held in January 1999. Since then, we have conducted hundreds of Reentry Simulations in WI and across the country.

Mary-Kay Baum, Sheila Spear, Alice Shacht, Chuck Pfeifer

Recognizing the lack of communitybased, holistic reentry services in our community, we launched our Circles of Support program in 2002. We also recognized the impact and challenges faced by children impacted by parental incarceration. Mentoring Connections was created to offer community-based mentoring for these children. In 2005, based on our work with Circles of Support, the United Way of Dane County invited us to apply for funds from their newest Signature Initiative- The Journey Home; an evidence-based reentry initiative focused on Residency, Employment, Support, Education and Treatment. Continued on page 2

Winter 2024

JustDialogue • a reflective journal about social action from JustDane In 2006 our staff and board unanimously voted to maintain our reentry and youth initiatives under our roof rather than spin them off. We realized that we were better informed, more passionate advocates for justice because of our proximity with people who were living the challenges day-to-day. That proximity led us to begin planning for and the eventual opening of Just Bakery in 2013, the expansion of our peer support work, youth initiatives and the creation of a bail fund. In the spring of 2012 the Dane County Board asked MUM to create a task force to study why an encampment for individuals experiencing homelessness had grown on the site of a former car dealership on E. Washington St. The task force was comprised of individuals living at the encampment, housing providers, advocates and faith community leaders. In July 2012, we presented our report and recommendations to the Dane County Board. Among the recommendations were the creation of a day shelter (The Beacon), and the creation of a recuperative medical respite for

people experiencing homelessness who are being discharged from hospitals. On July 9th, 2019, MUM opened Healing House, the first medical recuperative shelter for unhoused families in the United States. The impact and work of MUM/JustDane is visible everywhere in this community, if you know where to look. It's in budgets that focus on our safety net, in changes to local criminal justice policies and procedures, in organizations in our community nurtured and spun off and in new initiatives that came out of taskforces and study groups. We have deep roots in Dane County, we have helped plant seeds, we have nurtured seeds planted by other visionaries in our community. We’ve done a lot over fifty years, all of it with the help of our supporters. And so dear friends, with your help, we move into our next 50 years with new and exciting projects and initiatives on the horizon, and with a continued commitment to justice, equity, inclusion, forgiveness, courage and compassion.

BY LINDA KETCHAM

East Madison Community Health Center Transitional Housing, Inc which opened the men’s shelter at Grace Episcopal church in 1985 and in 2004 merged with another housing organization to become Porchlight Allied Wellness Center Family Enhancement Centro Hispano Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice (now Worker Justice WI) WI Faith Voices for Justice, and more!

Current JustDane Fiscal Agencies Bleed Shamelessly MOMs on a Mission Allied Drive Neighborhood Association Madison Performance Collective Allied Partners

Thank You!

We’re Going Digital! In an effort to protect the environment, JustDane will be moving towards digital JustDialogue Newsletters

Intitiatives Incubated by JustDane/MUM

To everyone who made the Mentoring Connections’ Holiday Party a success by donating time & support!

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JustDane • Changing Lives, Changing the Community

The Holiday party went wonderfully- guests made crafts, recieved gifts, and met Soul Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Just Bakery Holiday Specials

Valentine’s Goody Bag

Pi Day Galette

A great way to show your appreciation! Six Candy Heart Macarons, two Chocolate Covered Strawberry Brownies, and four Linzer Cookies. $25

Rustic pie with rich, chocolate crust and fresh cherry filling 10" | $15

Order at: justdane.org/shop

JustDane’s Impact in 2023 Healing House provided shelter to 20 families needing a nurturing place to recuperate. 69 guests were served, including 35 children.

Thank you to our generous supporters! You help us transform individual lives and social systems to create a just and equitable community.