On the one hand, the city is using the chronic nuisance ordinance and giving Heartland $165,000 to increase security, but on the other hand . . . the one you should be watching and will make the real difference, they are doing this! Where’s the press release and news articles about this good work?
Sent at 10:06PM last night . . .
Hello HSC Members-
This week the City of Madison introduced a resolution to amend the 2019 budget to increase funding for support services at Tree Lane Apartments. City staff and Heartland Housing officials recognize that a safe and secure living environment and access to effective case management, mental health supports and youth-oriented services are integral to the long-term success of families for whom the Tree Lane Apartments property is designed to serve, and that those supportive services cannot be delivered with the resources currently available. The City of Madison is working in collaboration with other funders, such as Dane County and United Way of Dane County, to ensure support services are adequately funded.
City Community Development Division staff have worked with representatives from Heartland Housing and YWCA of Madison to identify the supportive services deemed to be of highest priority to families at Tree Lane Apartments, and have reached out to organizations with recognized experience serving disadvantaged or homeless populations, or that work in the vicinity of Tree Lane Apartments, to determine their interest in and capacity to serve Tree Lane Apartment families, with the goal of ensuring that adequate, accessible services will be available upon YWCA of Madison’s departure.
In response to these efforts, several organizations have indicated their willingness to be part of a collaborative effort to serve Tree Lane families and their children on an interim basis until such time as the Community Development Division can complete a request for proposals process to secure longer-term arrangements. The Road Home has responded to a request from the City of Madison to deploy staff to provide case management and supportive services at Tree Lane Apartments for up to six months or until the City identifies a longer-term vendor. Lussier Community Education Center and Wisconsin Youth Company-Elver Park Neighborhood Center will also increase capacity to provide youth programming on an interim basis until such time that a competitive process can be conducted.
Community Development Division plans to release a request for proposals for a long term partner to provide support services at Tree Lane Apartments once funding is secured. The Request for Proposals will be sent to the Homeless Services Consortium listserv when available. We appreciate HSC’s support as we continue to make homelessness for all rare, brief and nonrecurring. If you have questions at this time please reach out to Linette Rhodes, Interim Community Development Grants Supervisor at lrhodes@cityofmadison.com or Jim O’Keefe Community Development Director at jokeefe@cityofmadison.com
Our community needs to find a way to support these good, quiet efforts that are going on. But first, we’d need to know about them. Think the press will write about this?
