Nation’s First Residence Single-Parent Students Opens
Like many undergraduates at UW–Madison, Melanie Ray is already thinking about how she can bond with her new roommates.
But unlike most of her peers, Ray is not planning how to arrange the furniture or what textbooks they can share. She is contemplating such things as sharing baby-sitting duties.
Ray, along with her roommates, Brandi Grayson and Christine Kelly, are the first residents of the Nancy Denney House, a residence for single-parent undergraduates at UW–Madison and their children.
Organizers say the residence is the first of its kind in the United States.
“I just thought living together with other single parents with the same problems like getting to class and finding time to study would be helpful,” says Ray, 21, a junior majoring in child and family studies and the mother of a 19-month-old daughter, Cailyn. “We can come up with solutions together.”
This cooperative residence and resource center was the dream of Nancy Denney, a former psychology professor who died of breast cancer two years ago. Denney, who was a single parent, wanted to help ease the struggle for undergraduates trying to get through college and raise a child at the same time.
For many single parents, the undergraduate college experience is one of isolation.
“The idea of the house is to help single-parent undergraduate students make the transition to college, get the resources they need and then leave and become independent,” says Robin Douthitt, professor of consumer science and chair of the Friends of Nancy Denney Committee.
After Denney’s death, Douthitt and other friends and acquaintances of Denney set out to fulfill her dream. Once a scholarship in Denney’s name was established, the group focused on setting up the house. A $40,000 contribution from UW–Madison through the Evjue Foundation gave the effort a boost, as did donations from Zonta Club of Madison and Sub-Zero Freezer, which donated a refrigerator and freezer.
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The Denney House Committee The Friends of the Nancy Denney Committee is comprised of several UW–Madison faculty and staff. Members are Arlene Davenport, senior student services coordinator, Department of Psychology; Robin Douthitt, professor of consumer science and committee chair; Betsy Draine, associate vice chancellor, administration; Catherine Middlecamp, chemistry lecturer; Patricia Mullins, psychology lecturer; Lisa Munro, senior counselor, Division of Continuing Studies; Jane Voichick, professor of nutritional sciences; and Ann Zanzig, senior administrative program specialist, Office of Quality Improvement. |
Ray and her roommates officially moved into the house at 303 Lathrop St. on Aug. 15. The brown and white three-story structure is owned by the neighboring First Congregational United Church of Christ and is just a short walk from campus.
The church is renting the 80-year-old, four-bedroom house to the group’s organizers and is paying for renovations. Scores of volunteers, including members of the church and many from the Junior League of Madison, have cleaned and painted the inside of the home.
Residents pay $175-$275 in rent per month depending on the size of their bedroom. They share the home’s two bathrooms, kitchen, dining and living rooms. An on-site resident manager will facilitate the cooperative living experience and serve as a liaison to the Friends of the Nancy Denney Committee.
Residents can live in the home for a maximum of two years. They must follow house rules — such as no smoking and no overnight guests — and must establish their own expanded set of working rules, says project manager Kathy Loncarich.
Organizers emphasize that the Nancy Denney House is more than just a place to live. It will include a resource center with support materials such as information on financial aid and other programs for single parents.
And it may be the first of several similar residences, they add.
“I am sure my mother would say, ‘OK, this is great! Now what more can we do?” says daughter Erin Denney, who is earning her Ph.D. in English at UW–Madison and lives in Berkeley, Calif. “She would undoubtedly be pleased at our successes and would be plotting the next phase of our work.”
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