University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Fall Farewell Issue 2015
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FALL FAREWELL
ISSUE 2015
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE DAILY CARDINAL PHOTO STAFF
Transgender inmate describes challenges in county jail
Cold presents challenges for city homeless By Julia Gilban-Cohen THE DAILY CARDINAL
In August 2011, Tami Fleming was volunteering in the St. Mary’s Hospital emergency room when she encountered and comforted an elderly woman who was homeless, physically ill and struggling with a psychotic episode. “She broke my heart and I couldn’t believe that a person that vulnerable could be left outside alone to fend for herself [in Madison],” Fleming said. “I knew then that Madison was a city with real city problems.” That night inspired Fleming to involve herself in making rapid and effective change in the homeless community, eventually founding Friends of the State Street Family, an organization which provides basic care and resources for the more than 400 homeless citizens of Madison. Each winter, she encounters homeless individuals spending nights outside in subzero and below-freezing temperatures. “We end up seeing trench foot and missing toes from frostbite,” Fleming said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Despite individual difficulties, Fleming explained many homeless individuals in Madison function as a family, bound together by the need to survive.
By Phoebe Kiekhofer THE DAILY CARDINAL
weather conditions. O’Brien said Madison is working to increase the availability of housing year-round by implementing the “housingfirst” model and purchasing the Messner Inc. building, which will provide additional housing and services to homeless individuals. The housing-first approach func-
Lisa Mitchell, an inmate at the Dane County Jail, shared stories about the numerous challenges the criminal justice system has imposed on her due to her status as a transgender woman. Mitchell has been in and out of jail for years, her most recent sentence beginning in May due to what she described as “prostitution gone wrong.” According to Mitchell’s lawyer, Charles Ver Hoeve, Mitchell was homeless at the time, having been turned down from women’s shelters. She said she fears men’s shelters due to the harassment and bullying she has encountered there. In May, Mitchell was visiting her sister at a residence on the south side of Madison when a man approached her on the street and “propositioned her for sexual acts,” according to Mitchell and Ver Hoeve. According to Ver Hoeve, when Mitchell complied, the man began to beat her with his belt. When the police arrived, the man reported
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“The people who are out there are treated like human garbage, and they are people who are down on their luck.” Tami Fleming founder Friends of the State Street Family COURTESY OF KARI VILLA-RIVERA
“I have seen people give their last dollar to someone else who they thought needed it more. There is something to be said for the generosity of that gesture,” she said. According to Tyler O’Brien, a Madison Central Library outreach worker, the city of Madison is increasingly recognizing the importance and size of the community, as well as the lack of affordable and public housing. As of now, the men’s shelter
The holiday season presents unique challenges for the Madison homeless population, from isolation to frostbite. in Madison houses around 160 to 180 men in the winter season, whereas the woman’s facility has a capacity of 30 single women and a family capacity of 18, both of which have a 90-night limit for drop-in shelter use per person, according to O’Brien. An exemption goes into effect on nights with wind chill of 20 degrees or colder, as well as in cases of other extreme
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”