"Unfortunately, we had a house fire, so we all had to find somewhere to stay and live for the time being. Urban Triage helped us out. They are really just great people; they take you under their wing and say ‘Okay, let’s get going!’ That’s what they did for us. The communication between them and their clients; I think that’s what’s special about them.”
-Unhoused Neighbor Initiative Client
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Happy New Year!
It was another crazy month for the Urban Triage squad. We showed up in New York City, spent tireless hours writing grants and tireless hours servicing the community we love, and overcame some obstacles. In addition to celebrating Juneteenth! And yes thats me on my V-Star 1100 in the Juneteenth parade.
As you know, we launched our youth programming and Unhoused Youth Initiative in March. In May, we opened the Urban Youth Center, a youth drop-in center, to provide support and services to unhoused youth aged 17 1/2 to 25. We have yet to be able to use the space due to logistics outside our control. Some logistics have been worked out with the City of Madison, and the others will be worked out in the next month. We also may loss a $200,000 grant for our shelter due to logistics outside our control. It's been rough. And quite frankly, at times, disheartening and disempowering. Nevertheless, as always, we'll keep our goal of serving the most vulnerable as our focus.
This month, we joined the Youth Action Board (YAB) for a homeless youth conference in New York. It was an amazing experience of networking, connecting with different youth-led groups, and learning new ways of serving youth in transformative ways.
We celebrated Juneteenth at Penn Park. It was a beautiful day celebrating Black freedom, liberation, and excellence. We were invited to raise the flag with Governor Evers at our state's capitol and participated in the Juneteenth parade. Our staff showed up and showed out.
Speaking of celebrating community - we will host our 3rd Annual Kickback on Saturday, July 22nd, at Penn Park, from 2:00 - 8:00 pm. This year's theme is field day. We'll have potato sac races, kickball competitions, and an obstacle course with cash prizes. There will also be a cash prize for the best field day outfit, aka sports gear/athletic wear. Celebrate community with us and with family and friends. Everything is free - food, games, events, giveaways, and SO MUCH MORE! See below for more information.
Ways you can support Urban Triage (UT) this month and ongoing: volunteer (for our kickback, event committees, grant writing, and agriculture), donate, sponsor an event or a housing program(s), and share the newsletter with your network.
Oh, and as an FYI, we're expanding our Unhoused Neighbors Initiative to include families doubled up through a Dane County Human Services grant. More information will be coming soon. We'll also provide move-in costs and security deposits starting August 1, 2023, for Dane County. Oh, and our Hemp Initiative will also launch in August. Keep a look out for program updates!
If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at bgrayson@urbantriage.org. Please click the view message button at the bottom of this email to see the entire email.
Thanks again for your love and support.
PS--Send me positive vibes--it's been a rough couple of months. Love and light to all who read our newsletter.
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URBAN TRIAGE TAKES NEW YORK! |
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Urban Triage Arrives in New York With the Dane County Youth Action Board to attend 7th National Symposium on Solutions to End Youth Homeless |
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Our two-day in-person gathering offered a space for attendees from across the country to connect with providers, youth advocates, activists, policymakers, funders, and more who are committed to ending the national youth homelessness crisis and placing power and resources in the hands of our young people. The 7th National Symposium on Solutions to End Youth Homeless was hosted by Point Source Youth. |
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On June 14th, Urban Triage was invited to raise the Juneteenth flag at the State Capitol with Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus. Below is Fred Foster, Outreach Specialist, and Jennifer Pryor, Outreach Coordinator, with Governor Evers. |
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Below: On June 17th, we marched in the Juneteenth parade, part of the annual Juneteenth in the Park parade and celebration hosted by the Kujichagulia Madison Center for Self-Determination. The parade started at Fountain of Life Church on Badger Road and ended at Penn Park on Madison's South Side. Our staff marched proudly and enjoyed community connections at the park.
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OUTREACH YOUTH ENGAGEMENT |
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Kaziah Anderson asked us to come through on the last day of school to support "MOMs," a group of mothers who provide support and lunch to youth at East High School spearheaded by Kaziah Anderson. The program provides snacks and provides an alternative for youth. It has proven to be effective in decreasing negative encounters among students. We were honored to be a part of engaging these youth as the school year ended. |
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We want to give a big and warm welcome to our Boys & Girls Clubs interns! They support administration, agriculture, marketing, and rental support. BGC sent us their best of the best because these youth here--have been rocking and rolling. They're with us for eight weeks. We're hoping they join us again.
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OUR COHORT HAS STARTED
The work of transformation has begun!
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Our Supporting Healthy Black Families workgroup targets parents. While we provide life-changing programming for parents, we also provide creative arts for their children.
SHBF is a 12-week personal development workgroup that improves individuals' ability to heal and love themselves. SHBF aims to shift how people see themselves and understand their power—resulting in a new form of freedom and POWER—the freedom to recognize and accept their past and change their future. We enroll parents in the possibilities of healing and centering the needs of their children as they unpack generational trauma.
We focus on three areas of learning:
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Cognitive Learning: This refers to acquiring knowledge, understanding, and critical thinking about racism, brain structure, parenting, child development, and local issues.
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Social and Emotional Learning: Refers to trauma recovery, social connectedness, shared values and responsibilities, empathy, solidarity, respect for differences and diversity, and a sense of responsibility for your future.
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Behavioral Learning: Refers to learning from experiences and understanding what you want based on what you don't want. It also involves intentionally and deliberately creating experiences to develop new habits and a new reality.
Our workgroup is known for its life-changing impact, and our curriculum is like no other. If you commit to the work group, your life will improve.
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Click below to learn more about our Supporting Healthy Black Families Workgroup! |
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WE KEEP ON GROWING
A safe space for Black children and families to connect.
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Did you know that participants of our Supporting Healthy Black Agriculture workgroup also receive FREE garden beds, installed by our staff, to continue using the tools they learned in our workgroup? That's just one of the benefits of our SHBA program. Our Agriculture team has officially started doing Garden Bed installations! As you can see, we have garden beds for all residential types. Our participants are growing everything from tomatoes, peppers, parsnips, collards, cucumber, bok choi, shallots, kohlrabi, and much more! |
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Our Agriculture team got the high tunnel completed! The high tunnel helps extend the crop production time, which means more crops and more free CSA boxes will be provided to the community.
We also have some interns aiming high on our staff - please help us welcome Darius and Berry to the agriculture team.
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TAKING CARE OF THE LAND AND US |
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Our SHBA workgroup has been going hard this summer. Farming is hard on the body and the mind. So, in addition to taking care of our land, we had a special guest, Pilates by Jules, join us on the farm and help our participants unwind with a little pilates. |
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OUR HEMP INITIATIVE LAUNCHES IN AUGUST
PLEASE KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR MORE INFORMATION
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Meet our Agriculture Lead, Cooper Talbot. She has been part of our team since September 2022, starting as our Bilingual Outreach and Rental Support Specialist. Cooper is such a wonderful person to have on our agriculture squad.
Cooper has a major green thumb and is very educated in agriculture. She enjoys cooking and being a DJ, MC'ing events and has a radio show on WORT on Sundays. She's energetic and has a contagious laugh. We see and appreciate you, Coop, for all your hard work and dedication!
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3RD ANNUAL KICKBACK EVENT |
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Urban Triage is hosting our 3rd Annual Kickback on Saturday, July 22nd, from 2:00 - 8:00 pm at Penn Park! This year's theme is Field Day. Field competitions include an obstacle course, tug-of-war, basketball, kickball, and more. Cash prizes will range from $50 to $100.
Everything is FREE—free face painting, cotton candy, candy bags, popcorn-everything.
We'll be hosting a DJ battle with DJ Pain One, DJ Fusion (from 93.1 JAMZ), and DJ Shorty--in addition to our famous double-dutch contest and the best-dressed field day outfit, aka athletic wear/sportswear. We will award $150 in cash to the best field day outfit and $100 to the winner of the double-dutch. And as always, we're giving out gift cards via raffle tickets. Come shop with 30 Black vendors and learn more about community resources available through other agencies.
We'll have three food trucks, a tie-dye tent, two bouncy houses, a climbing wall, a petting zoo, and more. You can follow our Facebook event page for more details.
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We still need sponsors for our event as we're committed to providing a space for community by community and for FREE. As a result, things can get expensive quickly. We've raised $17,000 so far. We need to raise $10,000 more to cover the entire cost of the event.
Our biggest sponsor for our event to date is UnityPoint Health Meriter, who came in at $7,500. We appreciate you so much.
If you want to learn about our sponsorship levels and what they entail, please click below. For questions regarding vending, volunteering, or donating, please email info@urbantriage.org.
Our Annual Kickback is a huge community event. Last year we had more than 500 people in attendance. This year we expect that number to increase by at least 200. We aim to continue the legacy of providing exceptional community experiences for ALL to enjoy. Please donate or sponsor the event!
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SPECIAL THANK YOUS!
We are possible because of YOU! We appreciate y'all!
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CO-CONSPIRATOR GOLD SPONSOR |
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Our Annual Kickback has proven to be a HUGE event (and will be even bigger this year)! We are looking for sponsors. Many of the folks in attendance are probably clients you serve or people you know serve.
Sponsoring our event is a great way to get your brand out there and associated with the continuous support of the Black community here in Dane Count. Sponsorship dollars will cover event costs for the Kickback and support the wages of staff in attendance.
All sponsorship information is available in the attached PDF, but for quick reference, the levels are listed below:
Platinum: $10,000
Gold: $5,000
Advocate: $2,500
Supporter: $1,000
Friend: $500
Friend, if you aren't able to sponsor, please consider reaching out to the companies you work for, raise money with your co-workers, your friends, and/or other allies. For more information about sponsorship, please click below.
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CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
Start making a difference now and join our team of volunteers!
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Our Annual Kickback event, as stated before, is huge, and thus, we need volunteers. At least 15 more volunteers are needed. Please consider signing up. We have volunteer opportunities for all levels. Click below to sign up today. |
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WE'RE HIRING!
Be part of an amazing organization and join our team.
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Want to take your career to the next level? Want to be part of an organization making a difference every day in the lives of our most vulnerable? Want to join a team of amazing staff? Well, Urban Triage is where you want to be! We are hiring for the positions listed below. |
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If you're interested in any of these positions, please email us at info@urbantriage.org for full descriptions. Apply at Urban Triage.org.
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COMMUNITY CORNER
Here's what's happening in our community.
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Saturday, July 15th | BGCDC The White Party |
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Saturday, July 22nd | Urban League 9th Annual Unity Picnic |
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Apply Now! | Energy Efficiency Improvements |
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As your local community nonprofit, FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, we promote the latest business news, community-focused events, and Urban Triage updates! Urban Triage’s newsletter, “The Report,” is a bi-weekly email communication that allows its readers to keep up-to-date with what is happening with Urban Triage and in the community! These biweekly emails currently reach nearly 10,000 contacts and community leaders!
To be considered for our Community Corner and Events Calendar, submit your news and events to info@urbantriage.org.
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Additional volunteers needed. Are you ready to create change in our community? Apply to become one of our community advocates and make a difference today!
We are currently looking for immediate volunteers for the following:
- Agriculture
- Bilingual Support
- Organizing Office Space, Closets, and Storage
- Event Committees
- Events: Annual Summer Kick-off, Urban Harvest Festival, and Black Brilliance Gala
- Grant Writing
If you are interested in volunteering for the above needs or any other future needs of Urban Triage, please sign up to volunteer below!
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For the People, by the People. |
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