UW-Madison partners to help the homeless

As students make their way to class on a recent morning, few of them take note of the nondescript building in the shadows of Grainger Hall.

To many, the structure is probably just another university building. But the facility at 306 N. Brooks St. is actually the largest sole provider of single-room-occupancy housing for both men and women in Dane County — and it has strong ties to UW–Madison.

The connection of Community Housing and Services to the university dates back to 1863, when CHAS was founded as the University YMCA. The organization was located on campus between Memorial Union and the Red Gym until it moved to its current location in the 1940s. CHAS split off from the national YMCA in 1991 to focus on Madison’s growing need for affordable housing.

The organization’s connection to UW–Madison has remained strong through a number of formal and informal service learning and volunteer initiatives with students and faculty.

“In effect, we really have one neighbor, and that neighbor is the university,” says Brian Miller, CHAS’ executive director. “From the top down, we have received significant support from the university, and that support has been crucial for us.”

Each semester, UW–Madison students take part in field placements and internships at CHAS, in subjects such as social work and psychology. Entire classes have worked with CHAS, including Urban and Regional Planning Department students who have run focus groups and conducted surveys.

Students also work on individual projects through CHAS. In fact, Miller says a business student recently completed a risk management analysis of the organization for a class project.

Such assistance is vital for non-profit organizations that typically don’t have deep financial pockets.

“That’s helpful for us — we use it,” Miller says of the risk analysis and other projects.

Miller stresses that the partnerships with UW–Madison benefit not only the organization but also its 102 residents, many of whom would be homeless without CHAS.

Each month, first- and second-year UW–Madison medical students run an in-house clinic at CHAS. Using grant funding and under the supervision of faculty, the medical students provide medical supplies, give out flu shots and make referrals.

The clinic is named for Michele Tracy, a UW–Madison medical student killed in a bus-train accident in southern Africa last year. Tracy was scheduled to work as one of the clinic’s student coordinators. Physical therapy students also work regularly with CHAS residents.

“A lot of our residents are intimidated by the medical system,” Miller says. “The clinic helps them and is a good training ground for the medical students to work with people who can have complicated health histories.”

Through a Wisconsin Food System Partnership grant last year, two UW–Madison students set up a computer lab at CHAS. The students purchased two computers with grant funds and trained residents in basic computing skills.

The university’s fraternities and sororities, meanwhile, volunteer regularly at CHAS, undertaking such projects as painting and serving meals.

Mary Rouse, director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service, has worked with CHAS for years. She and other top university administrators helped raise funds for the organization’s 1997 capital campaign, which added 45 rooms to the facility and renovated another 57.

“All too often in our society we are separated when it comes to socio-economic levels,” Rouse says. “Yet here’s a organization right in the shadows of the university where students can experience what it means to come from very different socio-economic levels.”

“When students who spend time here walk by now, they realize this is not just another university building,” adds Miller. “They now have a real-world connection with folks who are low-income, with folks who are often anonymous in society.”