Beth Skogen
When The Beacon opened a year ago, staff anticipated serving 125 to 140 people per day. But as word about Madison’s homeless day resource center got out, that number grew rapidly. For the last four months, the facility has averaged about 225 guests per day, about 80 percent more than the original target.
“That looks like the new normal,” says Jackson Fonder, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, the organization that runs the center. “The sheer numbers are causing us to think differently.”
The Beacon has also served far more families than originally anticipated. About 40 to 50 use the facility, many with small children. There’s a dedicated family space, but it’s proving to be too small. “We never expected that many to come,” Fonder says, adding that The Beacon has adjusted staffing levels and carved out more room for families in the facility. “I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to do with the family area in the future, but it’s getting a lot of discussion. Do we create more space, more family programming? Right now everything is on the table.”
The facility, at 615 E. Washington Ave., is unique in Madison and is believed to be the first of its kind in Wisconsin. Advocates have long stressed the need for a daytime resource center to provide shelter and centralized access to support services for Madison’s estimated 3,500 homeless people, but the project took years to come to fruition. Dane County officials considered locations on Martin Street and the former Messner building on East Washington Avenue but faced challenges and opposition from neighbors.
Fonder acknowledges there have been “bumps and bruises” during The Beacon’s first year. Within the first six months in operation, there were about 270 police calls to the center, according to the Madison Police Department. In January alone there were 73 calls for service — the most for any address in the city that month. After seeing similar numbers in February and amid concerns from police and neighbors, The Beacon implemented a code of conduct policy Feb. 27. Fonder says the new policy resulted in “huge” behavior changes.
“When you sit down and talk with somebody about what they should expect from us and what we expect from them and you hold them accountable, magic happens,” he says.
p08-09news-beacon-madweek-4342.indd
“It’s a delicate balance — what you’re doing is trying to build relationships one at a time,” Fonder adds. “But if you build a deeper relationship of respect and dignity, you’re much more apt to reach people on a deeper level. Now we can help them with more than just a shower or laundry or lunch — now we can talk about benefits and housing and job training and preventative medicine.”
MPD’s Central District Police Capt. Jason Freedman says that after the code of conduct was instituted, the volume of calls decreased. And he’s had positive feedback from his officers in the area. “That being said, [The Beacon] is still a generator of calls that was not there before it opened,” he says. “There are inherent challenges [working] with vulnerable populations. As good a job as I think The Beacon is doing now, when you have multiple service providers in a small area, it’s going to attract the people you want, and also the people you don’t want.”
Nici Hawkins, receptionist coordinator at The Beacon, is the first face guests see in the morning when they check into the shelter. On a recent weekday afternoon, she juggles phone calls, answers questions for guests and helps direct a volunteer who’s there to register voters. “The front desk started off very chaotic,” she says. “This past year has been a learning experience for staff as far as what to expect.”
But Hawkins agrees that things have “mellowed out” — she credits the code of conduct and efforts by staff to build relationships with guests and businesses in the area. “We’ve been building this network over the last year, and I feel like it’s all coming together,” she says. “And I feel like our neighbors don’t hate us anymore.”
Homelessness is a complex issue — and notoriously difficult to solve — but Joel Girard, lead guest services coordinator, has seen guests at The Beacon achieve meaningful progress in the last year. “One woman, who I’ve known for seven years and never knew her to be sober, has now been clean for seven weeks,” he says. “Another woman, who I used to see drunk every day, we just got her into sober living — she’s clean and has a job.”
After a year of triage, Fonder hopes the next phase at The Beacon will bring services that might be “softer in nature” — things like art therapy, pet therapy, faith and spirituality groups. He points to The Beacon’s coed softball team and the “ripple effect” it had through the community.
Despite the challenges of the past year, Fonder says the project has been a success.
“There was such a calling out there for the community to get something done, and this has already had a deep and significant impact on this community,” he says. “I love it — it’s the best thing we’ve ever done at Catholic Charities.”
