Support UP Initiative: Secure Homes for All

Help the members of the Madison County Tenants Union raise $850 by June 29, 2025 for our neighbors at the UP Initiative of Madison County.

If we exceed our goal, we will stretch ourselves to expand our funding commitment to UP to help with graveling the parking lot, continue our maintenance on the building, and support ongoing programming.

The Madison County Tenants Union is taking on the rich and powerful in Kentucky. We know that all tenants in the state, deserve better. We've shown up and shown out to win homes for all.

The UP Initiative of Madison County has quickly gown to be one of the most vital organizations in our county supporting all of us who do not have a place to stay indoors at night. Have you ever wondered where you are going to sleep at night?

The UP Initiative of Madison County shows up every day for each of us who have stressed over this question.

Now, let's have their back!

By god, with breadbaskets and bullhorns we got to raise this money.

Help build the bench of organizers, mutual aid services (which is just a fancy way of saying neighbors supporting neighbors), and direct service providers who are fighting for what's right in small town Kentucky!

Support a stronger movement by contributing any amount so that UP Initiative can fund their growing programs. In October 2024, they moved to a new building because they have outgrown their first facility. They have achieved this important milestone while running an all-volunteer organization and supporting the movement to win emergency shelter & tenant power with our neighbors. We're rising together. Will you chip in?

Organizing is never easy. It's that much harder when the roof over your head is on the lines. Madison County Tenants Union (MCTU) leaders are taking action to raise grassroots dollars to support the UP Initiative of Madison County. Grassroots fundraising is only one piece of our work.

We knock on doors. We call our neighbors. We attend public meetings. We hold marches and rallies. We collect petition signatures. We support our neighbors in eviction court. We help anchor emergency shelter services and mutual aid organizing. Above all else, we get our neighbors to join in!

We're building something powerful. Tenants having each others back is often the only thing we can count on. It's our future to shape.

Won't you be our neighbor?

WILL YOU HAVE THE BACK OF MCTU'S AWARD-WINNING ALLY OF THE YEAR ORGANIZATION THAT IS BUILDING A STRONG MOVEMENT WITH ALL OF OUR NEIGHBORS?

The UP Initiative of Madison County has emerged as a critical leader in Kentucky's movement to win homes for all.

The UP Initiative distributes emergency food bags to our neighbors who need meals to go. Each month, they give away around $3000.00 worth of to-go food bags and hygiene supplies. They also consistently serve hot meals each week for our neighbors without a place to stay indoors.

They've managed a clothing closet and frequently make sure that we are able to ensure that everyone has clothing and shoes that meet our needs. Not only does the organization manage and distributes clothing donations, but they also provide free laundry services for our neighbors who are unable to access the laundromat. Importantly, they provide a private shower so those of us without a place to wash can have a dignified place to clean up. We all deserve place to wash up and use the facilities in comfort and peace.

Gas cards, emergency funding, connecting to over night shelter, health care services and connections.

THERE ARE SO MANY SERVICES THAT EXIST FOR OUR HOMELESS NEIGHBORS BECAUSE THIS VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATION PUTS IN THE WORK EACH DAY.

We know housing is a human right. Nobody should lose their home or the electric because they don't have enough cash on hand to pay it right away. In fact, nobody should lose their home or their electric, period. Nobody should ever have to ask, "where am I going to sleep at night?" Nobody should ever be harassed for sleeping outdoors.

The struggle to end the eviction and shelter crisis has many venues. Since the UP Initiative of Madison County has founded, the housing and shelter crisis we face in our county, and our state, has deepened. They help build our power to end the eviction & shelter crisis by bringing in new neighbors, providing services, encampment outreach, washing clothes, feeding those of us who need a meal, and so much more.

In 2024, sleeping outdoors and being homeless was made a crime across the state of Kentucky. Our lawmakers in Frankfort passed the so-called "Safer Kentucky Act," also known as House Bill 5. All 4 state representatives who were elected in Madison County, as well as our only state senator, voted YES to this bill, despite massive public outcry. See this local news coverage of MCTU leading a protest against this bill. The UP Initiative has stood by us, shoulder-to-shoulder, every. single. step. of. the. way.

This new law in the Commonwealth was over 70-pages long. It wasn't actually a housing bill at all. It was a broad criminal justice bill that did many terrible things to our neighbors. Among the provisions that the Madison County Tenants Union raised the alarm on include:

How does this impact all of us who are sleeping outside?

Let's be clear as day about this. JAIL IS NOT A SOLUTION TO HOMELESSNESS. A home is the solution to homelessness. This law says that if we don't have a place to stay at night, then where we need to be is behind bars. THIS IS CRUEL. THIS IS UNUSUAL. THIS IS AN UNBELIEVABLY STUPID POLICY. Everybody should have the right to sleep under the stars. Why is it that "camping" is only illegal if we are homeless?

Amid all of this adversity, the UP Initiative of Madison County has fought for what we all know is right. As MCTU leader Jayde, a Big Hill native, can often be heard saying at MCTU meetings: "What's right is right, and what's wrong is wrong."

It is wrong to have to make a living any way you can while trying to find a place to sleep at night. It is especially wrong to force our neighbors who live with disabilities to get by this way in the richest country in the world. It is wrong to slash and destroy our tents. It's wrong to treat any of our neighbors (whether we have enlisted, have been discharged, or have never served in the military) this way. What's wrong is wrong.

But what is right is the way UP has never let adversity deter them from speaking up and speaking out. We should all follow their example to end this housing & shelter crisis.

What's at stake?

Rent and utilities are just plain unaffordable. Everywhere. Madison County is no exception. Keeping the lights and water turned on can break the bank. One bill from a car mechanic can crash a whole house of cards and plunge us into instability. Evictions are one of the top drivers of this shelter crisis. If you get evicted and can't afford another place to rent, we end up in hotels we can't afford, couch surfing, our cars, or in encampments.

Our laws, policies and government fail to protect regular tenants and all of us who don't have a place to call home. We and all of our neighbors who do not have a place to stay indoors get the short end of the stick. It doesn't have to be this way. We know there is a housing crisis happening. There's no longer a debate.

As our neighbor Wendy put it: "I feel it's not a crime to be poor, and it's unfair to put people in jail because they are in a worse situation than you. I care because it's cruel and unusual punishment to put people in jail for being homeless and not having a place to sleep."

UP Initiative of Madison County serves our neighborhoods and pushes back against homelessness. That's what must happen in all 120 Kentucky counties. This kind of fighting spirit is what MCTU and UP bring to Madison County.

These are big issues. Our lives, our homes and our livelihoods are at stake. We know that making a difference means winning power among local residents. That way we have enough power to take on the greedy and win a safe and stable home to come to at night when we lay down to rest.

It can feel like a tall order. In a way it is. But neighbors like we have at the UP Initiative are leading the way. There isn't really a secret to this. Our future depends on neighbors banding together and fighting for what's right. They stand up exactly for that.

Standing up for what's right when you face challenges making ends meet is difficult. Doing that kind of work when you need transportation is difficult. And needing transportation to town from out in the county is double difficult. When you are supporting neighbors who are in the same boat as you, you unleash your power. But all the guests and volunteers at UP do this work together.

The rich and powerful aren't very happy when we start to push back. This is hard, often thankless work. And if we fail to meet this moment, what's the point of even paying lip-service to our state motto: "United we stand, divided we fall." If we fail to meet this opportunity to invest in our neighbors, what's the point of saying "won't you be my neighbor."

We know that trips to the grocery store, and the doctor, are too often out of reach when we don't have a place to stay or transportation. Too many of our neighbors struggle with that. Too many of our neighbors wonder where they are going to sleep at night. Too many of our neighbors have no means to get where we need to go to be securely housed and sheltered.

As we've said before, and we say again: We are in a housing crisis! There's no debate.

BY THE NUMBERS

667 evictions were filed in Madison County District Court in 2023. That was record number of evictions for our county. Evictions for 2024 came in just under the record.

This means an unprecedented number of households faced a critical housing emergency in the past few years. There's news that's even more challenging. We're not out of the woods and 2025 has seen many eviction filings as well. The eviction rate is a little lower than we have seen recently, so we take a little encouragement from that. Although we remain watchful.

If we don't push back, the years ahead will be difficult as well. We can head an eviction & homelessness off at the pass by investing in the UP Initiative.

The impact of the eviction crisis in Madison County is far greater. These numbers only reflect those evictions that are actually filed in Madison County District Courts. Tons of evictions do not make it that far in the process before tenants lose their homes.

We know that evictions are a significant driver of homelessness. Transportation issues and nonexistent public transit help drive housing instability. The challenges we face as tenants compound.

A Change is Gonna Come!

After you make a contribution for UP Initiative's sustained growth, get involved! We need all hands on deck to win the future tenants in Madison County deserve. Will you join us?

Sign up to take action here .

We have a plan for solving the housing crisis. The first line of defense against evictions and to prevent homelessness is neighbors coming together. Coming together to take action for what we all know is right. Everyone deserves, and can have, a secure home. That's true for every single one of Kentucky's 120 counties. We're building the movement we need right here in Madison County!

FIRST! Show your solidarity for our neighbors at the Up Initiative and contribute any amount you can. We MUST keep the local movement on the road! Up's work is a lifeline for our movement.

SECOND! Come to the Madison County Tenants Union monthly meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 6pm. We are building something powerful at MCTU. That's how we will win. We meet at 1315 Gabbardtown Rd. Berea, KY 40403.

And finally! Come to the Dishonor premier screening !

HOW DID HOMELESSNESS BECOME A CRIME IN KENTUCKY?

Will you join the Madison County Tenants Union (MCTU) on SUNDAY JUNE 29th? MCTU, with our friends at Punch Up, will PREMIERE the very first episode of the “Dishonor” show. This movie showcases what happened to make homelessness a crime across KY in 2024.

But how did we get here? Throughout 2024, we partnered with our friends and filmmakers at Punch Up. Together, we documented the impact this new law has had in Madison County. We also learned how it ended up in front of Frankfort legislators in the first place. Our organizing and documenting is now part of the very first episode of Punch Up’s new “Dishonor” show.

In this episode, viewers meet residents of Madison County who are fighting for affordable and dignified homes. And Joe Lonsdale, the billionaire from Austin TX, who thinks he knows what’s best for us – namely, tossing us in jail if we can’t pay the rent. We also show where these laws are coming from and why a billionaire with not a damn care in the world has made it his business to lock Kentuckians up.

When they say “Safer Kentucky Act,” we ask the question – “safer for who?”

Join us for the screening premiere in Berea on Sunday June 29 at the Event Space (599 Richmond Road N., Berea KY 40403).

Doors will open at 12:30 pm after church. We will serve a free meal starting at 1pm. Following the meal, there will be some brief remarks from those of us who have been working to secure homes for all, and the screening will start at 2:30. Following the 40-minute premiere episode of “Dishonor” there will be a Q&A session. We will close with ways that you can take action to join the movement to demand housing, not handcuffs!

Your contribution is not charity. You are investing in your neighbors. When you invest in your neighbors, you are investing in a stronger movement in Kentucky so that the shelter & eviction crisis receives the attention it deserves. A contribution of any size will help us reach the goal of raising $850.00 by June 29th! Together, we can meet this goal.

100% of the money raised (minus the fees that gofundme charges) go directly to the Up Initiative of Madison County.

Solidarity forever, dear neighbor