Beth Skogen
Armani spends a day at Dane County’s new day shelter, The Beacon, where her grandmother Gail Garnett (right) works. Both are formerly homeless.
The family room in The Beacon is an oasis of calm at the bustling homeless day resource center. A young boy is napping on his mother’s lap. Another family is comforting an infant. Gail Garnett is trying to get her 2-year-old granddaughter Armani to eat a few spoonfuls of beef stew. The tyke smiles in between bites.
“I’m raising a baby and I’m 55. Her mom’s fiancé drove himself into a truck and was decapitated. That was in May. Her mom has been losing it ever since,” Garnett says. “We were homeless but Nov. 1 we finally moved into an apartment. [Armani] has been homeless her whole life. But she’s having fun and is happy now.”
Armani is usually in daycare but she’s spending today with grandma. Garnett works at The Beacon part-time helping care for children. She loves the job, which she got through the Wisconsin Senior Employment Program.
“It’s hard to see families struggle. I know what that’s like,” Garnett says. “Sometimes, I let families stay with me, just for a night, so they can bathe and do what they need to do. I try to help.”
The Beacon, 625 E. Washington Ave., opened on Oct. 16 with 185 people waiting outside. The long-awaited day resource center, which is open 365 days of the year from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., is funded by Dane County, city of Madison, United Way of Dane County and Catholic Charities Madison, which operates the new facility. Jackson Fonder, the CEO and president of Catholic Charities, says the need is greater than anticipated.
“The showers are in demand. The computers. The search for jobs and housing on the second floor,” Fonder says. “I think it’s going pretty well. We make adjustments everyday.”
Outside the tranquility of the family room, the center is humming with activity. A barber is cutting hair. Washers and dryers churn with load after load of laundry. In front of the kitchen, people are jockeying for position to pick through a pile of newly donated coats.
Rudy is sitting near the front desk waiting to check-in. The 66-year-old, who did not wish to give his last name, heard about The Beacon from a friend.
“I just got here and don’t know nothing about this place,” says Rudy. “But I can’t be living and sleeping on the street no more. No way, no how. Too old for that shit.”
A man who goes by the name T is taking in the scene at a nearby table. He’s a disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran who recently moved to Madison in search of housing. He says he’s playing the waiting game now .
“For low-income housing there is like a three-year waiting list. Who has three years to wait for housing?” T asks. “I’ve been sleeping in my car. It stays hot for at least three hours if I don’t open the door or windows. It’s got good heat. But I am grateful for this place. I’d be walking the street all day otherwise.”
A young man named Quadrell sits stolid at one of the round tables in the main common area. He has a few small tattoos on his face including a cross next to his right eye. He’s hesitant to talk and asks “Will this article get me housing? I bet it won’t.”
Quadrell eventually says he’s been unable to find a place to live because of his criminal record. He also believes he’s being punished for the color of his skin.
“If all it took was hard work and that bootstraps bullshit, I’d have housing. But nobody will rent to me,” Quadrell says. “People don’t want to give me a chance. Society isn’t as forgiving as a lot of people try to make it seem.”
Quadrell speaks softly and thinks awhile before revealing more. After a long pause, he says he comes to The Beacon out of “circumstance, not choice.”
“To sum it up and put some periods on it, if I had a house to wash my clothes or a place to brush my teeth other than Lake Mendota, I wouldn’t come here,” Quadrell says. “So I guess this place is better than the alternative. It’s not the best. Not the worst. But it’s something.”
Anticipated number of individuals The Beacon would serve daily: 150
Number it has served daily (in first two months): 200 +
Catholic Charities proposed annual operating budget for the shelter: $688,123
Funding sources for 2018:
City of Madison: $150,000
Dane County: $172,000
Catholic Charities Madison: $172,000
United Way: $172,000 (contingent on fundraising)
Total: $660,000
Overheard conversation between two private security officers at The Beacon: “The people here are real people who are easy to talk to. You can reason with them if there’s a problem. Not like those drunk idiots partying downtown.”