Homeless Alleviation - Madison WI
Thanks for visiting this page! Please take a few minutes and read what we have to say, and if you feel so moved, please give what you can to our cause, you could be saving a life. Have a warm and happy holiday season- The Positive Activism Team
As 2014 comes to a close, the streets of Madison Wisconsin are bustling with shoppers and students, their bodies outfitted in systems of scarves, hats gloves, and coats, each more complex and puffy than the last. In the evenings while the sky darkens, people move in and out of shops on State Street while endless lines of cars crawl to Madison's numerous suburbs as commuters race to get home to a warm meal and a warm home. You can't blame them either, as average temperatures in Madison during the winter months hover right around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, with lows anywhere between 0 degrees and negative 50 degrees with windchill - now THAT is cold.
A man walks his dogs last winter down the middle of a deserted street in downtown Madison, Wis. (AP photo)
For most, winter in Madison is a time for holiday shopping, skiing/snowboarding, world record snowball fights, and crowded pubs and restaurants.
Unfortunately there are thousands of individuals in Madison and the surrounding areas that spend the entirety of winter doing one thing - trying to stay alive. Dane county has close to 29,000 people living below the poverty line, of which about four to five thousand are living without adequate housing. In 2013 alone over 3,300 people utilized Madison's limited shelter's while another 1,000 persons had to be turned away due to lack of room.(i)
These men and women, mothers, fathers, and children, grandparents, and veterans, will experience a hellish string of suffering this winter, if they don't receive the help they need - ranging from chronic fatigue and undernourishment to hypothermia and death from the frigid temperatures to come.
In 2013 alone over 3,300 people utilized Madison's limited shelters while another 1,000 persons had to be turned away due to lack of room.
This is the most terrible time of year for one of our nation's most vulnerable populations. While many of us will be enjoying the warmth of a cackling fireplace, serving up holiday hams, and enjoying the company of those we love in the comfort of our homes, thousands of human beings will be brushing off a spot on the sidewalk to sleep for the night, praying they wake up in the morning.
A homeless man tries to get some sleep during the warmer months on State Street - Madison WI
This is surely unacceptable, and we here at Positive Activism need your help to make a difference in the Madison community. Through a partnership with The Road Home and Porchlight, we are aiming to raise enough money to supply both shelters with the items they need most, such as diapers, toilet paper, blankets, and other toiletries. This will help make the nights that the homeless spend at the shelters more rejuvenating and comforting.
We will also be preparing as many care packages as possible so that when the shelters fill up, those who must be turned away will have food and blankets to make it until space becomes available.
Your donation will go directly toward the purchase of these materials, which will be delivered to the shelters on January 15.
For every 8 dollars donated Positive Activism will be able to give a survival pack to a person in need! Each dollar donated after that will go toward additional packs and wish-list items for our shelters!
These care packages will contain blankets, hats, gloves, heat packs, Ibuprofen, socks, and Honey Oat Granola Bars.
With your help we make Madison a more caring place by helping our fellow human beings survive another harsh winter. Please, click the donate button below and give whatever you can, even $5 will go a long way in changing someone's life.
As yourself, if not me, then who?
Thank you,
The Positive Activism Team
(i) http://www.cityofmadison.com/cdbg/documents/2013DaneCountyHomelessnessReport.pdf
