Most people know that Dane County is facing a housing shortage. Middleton is facing the same problem. The Regional Housing Plan (RHP), created by a group of local leaders from different fields across the county, says Middleton needs to build 318 new housing units each year through 2040 to keep up with demand. About 26% of these new housing units should be affordable. This means the rent is based on a person’s income and is for households earning no more than 60% of the area’s median income. While Middleton is keeping pace with overall new units, it has not built enough affordable housing. The city needs more affordable housing–and the city will also need support for that affordable housing to help people remain stable and succeed in our community.

Having enough affordable housing is critical to our community’s infrastructure and economy. The employees at our favorite restaurants, the teachers in local schools, the medical staff at hospitals, and retail workers at shops all need somewhere to live. When housing costs push workers out of the neighborhood, businesses can’t find employees, services decline, and communities lose diversity and vibrancy.

Residents who qualify for affordable housing live on very tight budgets and sometimes need additional support to stay in their housing, including support services such as food assistance, case management, and emergency rental and move-in cost assistance. Studies have consistently shown that people in affordable housing who engage in case management stay in their homes longer and have better health outcomes. Evidence demonstrates that eviction prevention is a good investment–keeping people housed costs our community far less than re-housing them.

Research also shows that the most cost-effective way to provide supportive services is to customize the level of services to the needs of individual program participants. Our two-track housing approach does this by matching families to either short-term intervention support or intensive long-term case management based on their specific situation, ensuring resources are deployed where they’ll have the greatest impact.

Most affordable housing is created using Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and through this program, developers are required to partner with nonprofits to provide these services. WayForward Resources currently provides supportive services to residents at 15 different LIHTC developments across West Madison, Middleton, and Cross Plains, 6 of which are in the City of Middleton. Developer funding never fully covers our actual costs–creating a gap that restricts our capacity to serve the families who need support to maintain stable housing.

Last year, WayForward provided housing support for 294 households with a Middleton zip code, in addition to supporting households in other areas. We are constantly bumping against capacity. Last October, we had our highest number of requests for housing assistance ever in one month. Although our housing stability support budget has increased 161% in the past five years, we struggle to keep up with the need for services.

Housing sits at the intersection of nearly every other social challenge. You can’t address food security, healthcare, education, or economic mobility without addressing housing. Stable housing is necessary for success in these other areas. At WayForward, we often see people faced with impossible choices caused by the rising rent in our community: pay their elevated rent or purchase medicine for their child, stay in an apartment they can no longer afford and risk eviction or move out and bounce between the apartments of friends, family or even acquaintances. Our programs enable families in Middleton to avoid having to make a choice like this. It enables them to cover their basic needs, to face the future with less fear and uncertainty, and to avoid eviction and the trauma that comes with it. We know our programs make a difference. On the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix (a nationally recognized 90-point scale measuring household stability) our program participants improve by 7 to 15 points. Supportive services are an important piece of the successful affordable housing puzzle. Investing in them helps build a strong community.

Currently, the City of Middleton has a unique opportunity. On April 15, 2025, the Middleton Common Council adopted a resolution to extend the life of Tax Increment District (TID) #3 to use the final year of increment to establish an Affordable Housing Fund. Over the past year, the Community Development Authority and the Workforce Housing Committee developed a plan for how the fund could be used to improve housing affordability in Middleton. Included in the Draft Housing Action Plan are provisions for affordable housing and for funding supportive services, like those available through WayForward, to help people in affordable housing be successful. Whether these inclusions will remain in the final plan approved by the Middleton Common Council is far from certain.

We believe your voice is important. City alders need to hear from members of the community who support using some of these funds for supportive services. If you agree that increasing units available to moderate and low-income individuals and funding the support services needed to ensure affordable housing’s success in our community is important, and you live or work in Middleton or visit frequently, take a moment to fill out the City’s short ten-question survey to share your thoughts. The deadline is February 28.

If you are a City of Middleton resident, we also encourage you to reach out to your alder directly. You can find their districts and contact information here.