Freshly-Minted Grants: At its January 17th meeting, the WCF Board of Directors put the finishing touches on the Fund's 35th Funding Cycle by giving final approval to 13 grants totaling $37,700. The successful applicants represent a variety of compelling issue areas, from an anti-racism initiative in Milwaukee to an environmental justice campaign in Southwestern Wisconsin, and from LGBT rights activism in Madison to prison reform work in the western part of the State. As expected, 2011 was a very competitive year, with some 44 grantseekers submitting proposals. Thanks to all the groups who applied and submitted their important frontline work for the consideration of our activist grantmakers. For future grant funding initiatives, please see the Funding Opportunities and Grant Guidelines sections of this site for more detailed information.
Year in Review: June 30th marked the end of Wisconsin Community Fund's 2011 fiscal year. With the support of hundreds of activist donors, the Fund facilitated a total of $83,401 in grant funding to further social change in Wisconsin, and beyond! Thank you to all who were a part of this effort through their gifts of time, expertise, or charitable contributions.
Demystifying Grantmaking: One form of grantmaking that Wisconsin Community Fund is pioneering has been called community grantmaking. To learn more about this innovative and participatory form of allocating grant monies, see our Spring 2011 Newsletter.
Grantee Spotlight: Operation Welcome Home
Housing injustice within the City of Madison remains a significant issue. This research makes plain the reality that certain populations, such as those formerly incarcerated, youth, and the LGBTQ, Latino, disabled and African American communities, continue to be disproportionately affected. Fortunately, several area groups are striving to address this admittedly daunting problem. Among the organizations actively working to combat housing injustice locally is Operation Welcome Home (OWH).
Operation Welcome Home comprises a community of homeless and formerly homeless people and their allies who have organized to fight the root causes of homelessness. At the programmatic level, the group offers assistance obtaining affordable housing and jobs for those experiencing homelessness. At the policy level, it seeks an end to what it considers the criminalization of poverty. OWH believes that poor people and people of color are particularly targeted by over-policing, racial profiling, police harassment and disproportionate rates of incarceration. The group’s own words make its position clear: “We believe our community needs self-determination, not just services!”
Operation Welcome Home includes homeless, formerly homeless, low-income and no-income community members, and both incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. This broad amalgam of citizens works in collaboration with community allies in Madison to hold agencies and institutions accountable for addressing the root causes of homelessness, not merely its symptoms.
In the past, OWH has conducted a “housing first” leadership development program, recognizing that without housing, it is nearly impossible to obtain employment or achieve enough stability to find successful rehabilitation and other essential services. OWH currently holds weekly meetings to work to develop members’ leadership and organizing skills, and to further attendees’ political education.
On December 6, 2011, OWH’s efforts came to fruition when the Madison Common Council voted to pass a Housing is a Human Right Resolution, declaring housing a right for all Madisonians. Among other aspects, the resolution included recommendations for a comprehensive housing plan, and the hiring of a staff person to improve the housing situation for low-income renters, homeowners, and homeless people. Money for this staff person has already been included in the 2012 budget, despite the City’s current budgetary challenges.
One of the keys to its success is OWH’s approach of working in coalition with other organizations in its efforts to combat discrepancies in housing and other social injustices in the community. For example, the December 6 resolution, which was introduced by City Alder Shiva Bidar-Silaf, was written and initiated by Operation Welcome Home in conjunction with Take Back the Land-Madison, Peoples Vision for Affordable Housing, Freedom, Inc., and Affordable Housing Action Alliance.
“Recognizing housing as a right for all Madisonians is a big step in the right direction for Madison and for the national housing movement,” said Heidi Wegleitner of Affordable Housing Action Alliance, one of the co-authors of the resolution. “The low rental vacancy rates and rent spikes, combined with our high child poverty rate, make a compelling case for swift and full implementation of the right.”
In 2010, Operation Welcome Home received two grants from Wisconsin Community Fund, one for $1,723 as part of the 1st Community Grant making event in Madison and another for $4,000 through the 34th Funding Cycle. The group’s funding proposal as part of the 35th Funding Cycle earned it another grant in the amount of $1,500 to continue its work in addressing this persistent and systemic injustice in Dane County.
To learn more about the Operation Welcome Home, visit OWH's blog: operationwelcomehome.wordpress.com.
- Thank you to communications intern Carlie Forsythe for researching and writing this article.