I know this sounds familiar, the county is once again cutting the Tenant Resource Center. $95,000. 1/3 of our budget. And this time, they may have figured out how to make it stick. Please contact Joe Parisi (parisi@countyofdane.com) and tell him this is unacceptable, and to add us back to his budget. And read below for other ways you can help! (i.e. volunteer, sponsor fundraiser, etc.)
Do you have a few minutes to help the Tenant Resource Center?
As you may have already heard, Dane County Human Services is recommending that County Executive Joe Parisi cut all county funding to the Tenant Resource Center. This would be a 1/3 cut to our budget! We would only be able to serve clients inside the City of Madison, UW-Madison students, and people outside of Dane County.
For everyone else, this would mean: no access to the Security Deposit Loan Fund, no mediation services, no Housing Crisis Fund grants for eviction prevention, no access to our 45 hours/week of immediate walk-in services, and no access to our one-on-one expertise in tenant/landlord law. With a cut that big, all of our remaining clients will be impacted. Staff will lose jobs, we’ll have to reduce hours, clients will wait longer for help, and we’ll struggle to maintain bi-lingual services in Spanish and Hmoob.
For more information on these funding cuts, take a look at this recent article in the Isthmus.
Interested in helping save services to our clients in Dane County? Here’s how you can help:
1. Email Joe Parisi and ask him to restore critical funding for tenants in Dane County: Parisi@CountyofDane.com
2. Register in Support of the Tenant Resource Center on Wednesday at 6pm at the Human Services Budget Hearing at the Alliant Energy Center
3. Speak in Support of the Tenant Resource Center on Wednesday at 6pm at the Human Services Budget Hearing at the Alliant Energy Center
4. Like us on Facebook and sign up to attend our event.We appreciate your ongoing support of the Tenant Resource Center over the years and your work in Dane County!
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!
Best,
Tenant Resource Center Staff:
Brenda Konkel, Executive Director
Cristina Lor, Housing Resource Specialist
Anne Brethauer, Housing Resource Specialist
Shenise Morgan, Housing Resource Specialist
Maddie Guenther, Housing Resource Specialist
Matt Koz, Office Manager
Anders Zanichkowsky, Housing Counselor
Keith Sayles, Housing Counselor
Robyn Sheets, Housing Counselor
…and all of our Volunteers!P.S. Looking for more ways to help? Take a look at the full list of 13 ways to help the Tenant Resource Center below!
ADVOCATE
#1. Contact Joe Parisi. He can restore the TRC funding in the budget. He will propose his budget to the county board the first week in October. Please send him an email (parisi@countyofdane.com) or call his office (266-4114) asking him not to cut services to Dane County residents and fund the Tenant Resource Center!
#2. Show up on Wednesday, September 16th and register! The County Executive and the County Board are having a hearing on the Human Services budget. The meeting is at the Alliant Energy Center at 6:00. Please stop by to register your support for the Tenant Resource Center. Please stay and fill the room to show the large amount of support we have.
#3. Show up on Wednesday, September 16th and speak! If you feel brave . . . please sign up to speak on our behalf. Most persuasive will be personal testimonies of us helping people, particularly people we have helped outside City of Madison but in Dane County or people we helped in services that will be cut.
DONATE
The Tenant Resource Center has always worked on a shoe-string budget. We need your donations — of time, goods, and money! Here are ways to donate:
#4. Volunteer for Housing Counseling! Work directly with clients and help them solve their housing problems! This is engaging and highly rewarding work, with a minimum commitment of only 3 hours/week for a year, and we provide extensive training and support. We are holding our fall training October 17 & 18. For more information and to get involved, click here.
For housing professionals, check out our Housing Law Seminar in Madison on October 29 and 30! More details TBA here, so stay tuned!
#5.Donate skills for office work! Looking for a more casual role than housing counseling? We need help with administrative tasks to keep our doors open! E-mail Matt Kozlowski, our Office Manager: koz@tenantresourcecenter.org.
#6. Donate time to our gigantic mailing! Help us get the invites out for our November 13th fundraiser! We are having a mailing party Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27 from 10am – 4pm at the Social Justice Center. Lunch will be provided. Contact Anders: anders@tenantresourcecenter.
#7. Donate to our Housing Crisis Fund! These grants help people keep their housing when facing eviction, and get into housing when they can’t afford security deposits. We do this with smaller, very effective grants that pay off the final balance someone owes to a landlord. Donate here, make sure to say it’s for the “Housing Crisis Fund”
#8. Become a sustainer! Any donor can do this with a monthly contribution. It’s easy, convenient, and it helps us maintain smooth funding throughout the year. Set up yours today on our Sustainers page!
#9. Just DONATE! Watch as we stretch your money farther than you thought was possible! No amount is too great or too small. A donation of $25 can help four to six different people work one-on-one with a counselor to avoid eviction, get their landlord to make repairs, or apply for an apartment. A donation of $500 can provide one month of bilingual services to our Spanish and Hmoob-speaking community members.
CELEBRATE 35 years with us!
>We will be celebrating our 35th anniversary on Friday, November 13th from 5 – 7pm at The Brink Lounge. We will have our annual Silent Auction and a truly fantastic party. Here are ways to join the fun:
#10. Sponsor the event! We will add your name/organization to our invitation reaching thousands of fellow TRC supporters. The deadline is NOON on Monday, September 21. Contact Brenda if you would like to be listed as a sponsor: bkonkel@tenantresourcecenter.
#11. Donate an item to the silent auction! Are you an artist or craftsperson? A local business? Can you teach piano, or bake a dozen cookies? Our silent auction brings in the most creative prizes and local gifts in town — let us know what you can contribute! E-mail Anders: anders@tenantresourcecenter.
#12. Donate food or a gift card from your favorite restaurant! To help with our menu for the event, contact Anders: anders@tenantresourcecenter.
Lucky #13. Mark your calendar to join us on Friday, November 13th! R.S.V.P. on Facebook or our website, and don’t forget to spread the word!
