“As I look back on the past year, I am struck by how profoundly the dramatic increase in need in our community has shaped our organization. These changes go beyond numbers — we see it in every aspect of our everyday work. Our programs served more than 13,000 people in our community, almost twice as many as the year before.”
Read MoreBy the end of the fiscal year, we offered in-person shopping five days a week, while providing deliveries and mobile food pantries two times a month for people unable to come to the pantry. We also continued to offer access to food for holiday meals and through our emergency food bags. Our free Clothing Center operated four days a week.
-Wayforward client email
Our housing stabilization programs focus on keeping people in their homes so they can avoid eviction and the trauma of homelessness. Case managers work with individuals and families to provide financial assistance, connections to resources, and other support.
In June 2022, WayForward launched the Connections Program to focus on people who are living doubled up without housing of their own. Since then, 21 families have graduated from the program and no longer need financial assistance from WayForward. Now, with help from a new pilot program grant from the Dane County Department of Human Services, Connections is expanding to help more double-up households find stability. “I wanted to let you know that I have already moved with my son to our new apartment and everything is going well, thank God,” a mother of a young child wrote in an update to her case manager. “We have work, health and stability. We are very grateful for all the support you have given us since the first day we met you.”
We envision a strong community where race-based barriers to opportunity do not exit, and race no longer predicts someone’s stability. Everyone’s dignity is recognized and all have the necessary resources to reach their self-defined goals.
Community partners make our work possible, including businesses, community centers, faith communities, foundations, grocery stores, government, individual donors and volunteers, school districts, Second Harvest Food Bank, United Way, and other nonprofits. For 10 years, Middleton-based NET (Network Engineering Technologies) has supported WayForward’s Winter Wishes program and more recently organized a food drive in its office fueled by a competition among teams to complete 1,000-piece puzzles. The result? More than a ton of food for the pantry.
