Inspiring Hope. Creating Real Change.

Life’s circumstances or missteps can lead to incarceration or other life challenges that can be difficult to overcome.  It’s better for everyone in our community when we can ensure a person has the chance to put the pieces of their lives back together; creating a community where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. 

JustDane accomplishes this through field-tested initiatives that have transformed lives for over 15 years:

  • Our 2 year recidivism rate ranges from 9-15% compared to the state average of 67%
  • Our Just Bakery students are job ready to pursue their careers.
  • Our workshops provide eye-opening experiences.
  • Our guests in recuperative care through the Healing House return to the community healed and renewed.

Years Helping our Community

Our Initiatives

Just Bakery

Just Bakery is an educational and vocational training program. The program works with individuals who are experiencing significant barriers to employment (homelessness, criminal conviction history, lack of education, and/or a lack of work history or skills) and are learning.

Just Connections

Our Youth Programs including: Mentoring Connections, Family Connections and Reading Connections

Journey Home

Journey Home works to reduce recidivism (return to prison) by creating a stronger safer community for those returning. It focuses on the areas of residency, employment, support and treatment—as well as transportation and education.

Peer Support

Our Peer Support Initiative provides a solution that helps formerly incarcerated individuals find success in life while making our community safer for all.

Circles of Support

Circles of Support is a reentry program that provides individuals leaving prison with a support system.

Healing House

Healing House is a recuperative care shelter for families experiencing homelessness; offering a safe, nurturing place for these families to heal when an immediate family member needs to heal prior to or following a medical procedure or hospitalization.

 

Discover our delicious bakery goods

Our History

Look through 50 years of social action, restorative justice, and community inclusion

  • 1970

    Madison Urban Ministry

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

  • 1971

    Project home

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

  • 1972

    Eastside community health center

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

  • 1973

    Non-Profit Status

    MUM is officially designated a non-profit agency.

  • 1974-75

    Dialogue

    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.

  • 1977

    Task Force & Initiatives

    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.

  • 1979

    Conferences

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

  • 1980

    Wexford Ridge Project

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

  • 1982

    1982-Labor Unions

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

  • 1984

    Focus on Homelessness

    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.

  • 1989

    Drop in Shelter

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

  • 1990

    Housing Coalition

    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.

  • 1992

    Budget Cut restoration

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

  • 1993

    Understanding Violence

    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.

  • 1995

    Allied Partners

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

  • 1997

    Justice Issue task force & Dialogue series

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

  • 1998

    Call to Renewal Roundtable & MUM Director Changeover

    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.

  • 1999

    Restorative justice conferences

    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?”

  • 2000

    Family Connections

    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.

  • 2001

    Circles of support & Warming house

    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.

  • 2003

    Howard Zehr

    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.”

  • 2004

    Mentoring Connections

    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!

  • 2005

    The Journey Home

    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.

  • 2006

    MUM director changeover

    Mary Kay Baum retires as MUM’s Director after XX 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.

Thank you to our Generous Sponsors