welcome to justdane

JustDane inspires hope & creates real change 

Life’s circumstance 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.

At JustDane
we are about Changing Lives, Changing the Community

Our Initiatives

Just Bakery is a 12 week 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.

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

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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.

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

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

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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.

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check out our delicious bakery goods

Brownies & Bars

Blondies

$5.00

Breads & Rolls

Bagels

$8.00

8x8 cakes

Crumble Bars

$5.00$12.00

Breads & Rolls

Pizza Bread

$8.00

Breads & Rolls

Pesto Parmesan Rolls

$5.00

8x8 cakes

Cream Puffs

$3.00
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how you can help

JustDane’s many programs inspire hope for individuals returning to the Dane County community after incarceration by breaking down the barriers that can prevent them from fully participating in our community and the lives of their families. Just Dane also supports the families of those incarcerated through reading programs, family visit programs and mentoring programs. This helps bring wholeness and healing to individuals and their families.

High rates of incarceration in the United States create a significant cost to families and communities, as well as to taxpayers. More cost-effective approaches are available for non-violent offenders that results in more people living self-sufficient and independent lives. JustDane’s community-based solutions invest in residence, employment, support, transportation and education that reduce recidivism and reconnect returning prisoners with their families and neighborhoods.

Since 2006, the two-year recidivism rate (return to prison for either a new crime or a violation of supervision rules) for JustDane’s reentry services participants is between 5-14% as compared to the statewide recidivism rate of 67%. JustDane is the only Dane County provider of reentry services that track recidivism through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WI DOC).

OUR Partners for change

OUR FUNDING PARTNERS