Inspiring Hope. Creating Real Change.

MUM was formed by First Congregational UCC Servants on the Errands Committee, with other congregations signing on.

Project Home, as part of MUM, creats Over 55 Employment Service and spins off from MUM.

Eastside Community Health Center is developed-eventually merged with Mifflin St. Community Health Center.

MUM is officially designated a non-profit agency.

Beginning of MUM and Clergy informational and dialogue Meetings. MUM initiates a year of seminars on Understanding Prejudice and begins producing a newsletter about social action.

MUM Community Education Task Force is formed to block closing of inner-city schools and the Downtown Organizations and Volunteers for the Elderly (DOVE) is formed to provide free meals for seniors twice per year.

MUM forms a Task Force to conduct pilot and 3 conferences 1981 on Power, Poverty, and Politics.

Beginning of Task Force for Weford Ridge Project, which lead to the development of Wexford Ridge Community Center and Food Pantry.

Church Labor Task Force initiated to support labor unions in Dane County.

MUM begins to focus on homelessness- leads to development of the Drop in Shelter for the Homeless and Transitional Housing Inc, which later became Porchlight.

The Drop-In Shelter, in the works since 1984, spun off and became Transitional Housing Inc.

MUM is asked to facilitate the formation of a Housing Coalition to address access to affordable housing, develop a housing project model, and advocate for homeless individuals.

MUM and religious communities advocated against budget cuts to welfare benefits to the County Board Supervisors, and some proposed budget cuts were restored.

MUM begins a series of Assembly meetings on the underlying causes of violence. Topics include gun control, international conflict, economic violence, and violence in the home.

Allied area Clergy prayer group becomes Allied Partners, MUM’s first Congregational Cluster Group, which eventually supported Allied Neighborhood Association and associated programs.

Peace and Justice Group becomes MUM’s Justice Issue Task Force and MUM hosts Dialogue Series: Judgement, Guilt, and Forgiveness.

Call to Renewal Roundtable on racism forms as part of a nat’l. organization, Chuck Pfeifer retires as Director of MUM after 25 years, Rev. Mary Kay Baum begins as Director of MUM, and MUM is changed to Madison-Area Urban Ministry to reflect county-wide work.

MUM participates in Money, Education, and Prison and Howard Zehr Restorative Justice Conferences. MUM hosts Dialogue Series “The Peace Filled Community: What Does Justice Require of Us?”

Family Connections is created to provide monthly transportation for children to visit their mothers at Taycheedah Correctional Institute in Fond du Lac, which ran for 20 years.

Through a combination of private donors and congregations, MUM starts the Circles of Support program and advocates for more assistance for homeless people in our community, leading to the creation of the Warming House.

Howard Zehr, internationally known Restorative Justice prioneer, speaks at MUM’s conference with Returning Prisoner Simulation and in MUM’s video “Today’s Prisoner’s Tomorrow’s Neighbors.”

MUM recieves a federal grant to start Mentoring Connections, a program to provide children who have an incarcerated parent with a mentor, This program still operates today, 20 years later!

MUM is selected by the United Way of Dane County to provide reentry services to people returning from prison through their signature initiative The Journey Home. Family Conections spins off from MUM.

Mary Kay Baum retires as MUM’s Director after 7 years & Linda Ketcham is selected as MUM’s new director. MUM also works with the WI Council of Churches & the WI Network for Peace & Justice to oppose the reinstatement of the death penalty in Wisconsin.

MUM advocated for educating incarcerated individuals on their employment rights, changes to how jail service contracts are granted, opposition to budget cuts to human services, & to expand Circles of Support to other counties through congregations.

MUM & local faith communities host the Longest Night Homeless Person’s Memorial Service to remember our unhoused brothers and sisters who have died. This event is now honored annually as part of the National Homeless Person’s Longest Night Memorial.

MUM brings back Family Connections, merges it with Mentoring Connections, and launches Reading Connections–where volunteers record incarcerated moms reading books to their children who are too far away to visit in person. Voices Beyond Bars and Allied Wellness Center spin off from MUM.

MUM creates the Phoenix Initiative, a structured peer-led support group for formerly incarcerated individuals; begins work with the WI Dept. of Corrections through Windows to Work; and works with Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice coordinating four months of nightly vigils for a Just & Equitable Budget.

The Dane County Board asks MUM to convene an interim committee to look at alternative sites for the Occupy Madison encampment, which leads to recommendations for a permanent Day Shelter and a Medical Shelter. MUM begins offering Rent Smart and Ready to Rent curriculum in the Dane County Jail.

MUM convenes a Medical Shelter Task Force to start developing a 24/7 medical shelter for people who are homeless and begins development of Just Bakery, in collaboration with Madison College.

Just Bakery’s first cohort graduates and, thanks to the students’ hard work and training, their first line of products becomes available for purchase. Staff from MUM are appointed to serve on the Diversion & Racial Disparity workgroups throughout Dane County.

MUM is among the organizations represented on the MPD Policy & Procedure Ad Hoc Committee, a successful 4-year effort to reform and create more civilian oversight of MPD policies & procedures.

MUM starts Capital Campaigns for a commercial kitchen for Just Bakery and to build Healing House as a medical respite center for families struggling with homelessness and medical recovery. MUM relocates from Villager Mall to 2115 S. Park Street.

Just Bakery establishes their own location at 1708 Thierer Road, equipped with a new commercial kitchen and classroom space!

MUM is awarded a contract with the City of Madison to provide Reentry Peer Support and Case Management, initiating our Peer Support Program.

Just Bakery completes their first Youth Cohort and opens a storefront for their products, while renovations begin on Healing House. MUM is also awarded a contract for Reentry Peer Support and Case Management with Dane County, expanding our existing program

Healing House opens in July as the country’s first medical recuperative shelter for unhoused families in need of a place to recover from a medical procedure or surrounding a high-risk pregnancy.

MUM changes their name to JustDane to reflect the agency’s county-wide range of services. The COVID-19 pandemic changes delivery of services, but everything stays open in one way or another! Through private donations and a SEED grant, Just Bakery even begins baking 200+ loaves of bread per week for local pantries–which JustDane continues funding through 2022.

JustDane takes on a Rapid Rehousing program during the pandemic, offering up to two years of rental assistance for unhoused individuals with criminal justice involvement–the ONLY Rapid Rehousing program in Dane County with this unique focus.

JustDane partners with Operation Fresh Start to create Drive to Succeed, a program that offers mentoring, educational support, and Driver License attainment to youth with justice system involvement. A private donation of $50,000 is provided for eviction prevention outside of the City of Madison.

The WI Council of Churches asks JustDane to create a Health Navigator position to share accurate health information about COVID-19, Dane County provides a grant to assist participants with laptops for virtual learning in various programs at JustDane, and Reentry Simulations come back after 18 months, thanks to UW Madison resuming in-person classes!

JustDane becomes the fiscal agent for Bleed Shamelessly, started by local youth. Linda Ketcham’s input towards the Dane County Public Protection & Judiciary Sub-Committee on Fines & Fees about decriminalizing poverty helps eliminate several fines and fees that disproportionately affect families and youth with justice involvement.

Healing House is given a grant from the CDC and the National Institute for Medical Respite Centers to incorporate behavioral health and support staff into existing shelter services. JustDane becomes the fiscal agent for Moms on a Mission (MOMs), a local group that addresses food insecurity and youth violence at East High School.

JustDane partners with Employ Milwaukee Inc. to provide regular Reentry 2024-50 Years Simulations and lunch & learns, as well as the Just Workplace initiative.

JustDane and Centro Hispano partner to start The Caminos Bilingual Certified Peer Specialist trainings, providing Peer Support trainings unique to the Latinx community of Dane County.

JustDane is appointed to the Ad Hoc Committee to create a Community Court for Dane County

JustDane expands our Peer Support program in conjunction with Centro Hispano and relocates our main offices to 128 E. Olin Ave., allowing for more space to grow and serve more of the community.

JustDane celebrates 50 years of impact and social justice in Dane County. Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries, the largest reentry program in the world, speaks at JustDane’s anniversary event about how their work corresponds with JustDane’s mission, vision and values.

Thanks for a pre-planning grant from Madison Community Foundation, JustDane continues to build collaboration with two respected non-profit organizations to work towards a better future for all of those we serve. Something big is coming, so stay tuned for more information over the next few years.