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Stephen King, facilities services coordinator for the city of Madison Engineering Division, and Hannah Mohelnitzky, spokesperson for the agency, visit the interior of the new, temporary men’s homeless shelter on Zeier Road near East Towne Mall. Guests will spend their first night at the shelter on Thursday.
The city is taking a next big step in a broadening response to homelessness — just in time for cold weather.
In four months, the city has transformed a vacant, former big-box store near East Towne Mall into a bright and spacious temporary shelter for homeless men. The men will start moving in on Thursday, transferring from the current temporary facility on the East Side.
In October 2021, the city bought the former big-box store at 2002 Zeier Road for $2.6 million. Begun in June, the $1.1 million renovation includes mold remediation to make the building safe; adding a shower room and more restrooms; and building out walls to create space for office, medical, recovery, isolation and quarantine spaces.
Take an aerial tour of the completed homeless encampment at Dairy Drive in Madison in early November 2021, just prior to move-in.
The renovation also included redesigning electrical, lighting, mechanical, plumbing, fire alarm and sprinkler systems.
The structure features a large, airy space — a former sales floor — where the city will put more than 200 beds and create a living area. That will include chairs and tables, TV, and other tables with rows of outlets where guests can plug in cellphones and other electronic devices.
“The space will allow for better and smoother intake, better isolation/separation quarters, better space for staff, some storage space for guests, better bathroom facilities, private space for staff-guest interactions and dining space,” Community Development Director Jim O’Keefe said in an email.
Nonprofit Porchlight Inc. had run men’s shelters in Downtown church basements for 35 years. But once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the shelter moved to larger, city-sponsored, temporary spaces — first at the Warner Park Community Center on the North Side and then the current spot at the city’s former Fleet Services building, 200 N. First St., on the East Side.
The Fleet Services building, however, may become unavailable as soon as this fall if the city begins transforming it into a $20 million Madison Public Market. That long-envisioned market, though, faces a $5.2 million financing gap, and it’s now unclear if, how or when the project will move forward.
The city bought the former big-box store on Zeier Road, which has space for more than 200 beds, for $2.6 million and is completing $1.1 million in renovations.
In the meantime, the city has pushed forward on the temporary Zeier Road facility, with homeless men scheduled to spend their last night at 200 N. First St. Wednesday and move to Zeier Road on Thursday evening. Beds and other furniture will be moved during the day on Thursday.
The need is clear. On Sept. 28, 207 men slept at the temporary men’s shelter at 200 First St., the highest number of overnight guests that Porchlight Inc. has recorded since it opened the men’s shelter system.
The temporary shelter is another stopgap until a permanent shelter can be built. On March 9, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi proposed locating a new, permanent men’s shelter on a vacant, 2-acre, city-owned site at 1902 Bartillon Drive, just off Highway 51, roughly between East Towne Mall and Madison Area Technical College. They have included the $21 million cost in their proposed budgets with construction to start in 2024.
Although the 37,000-square-foot First Street facility is bigger than the 31,000-square-foot one on Zeier Road, the latter offers many advantages.
“At Zeier Road, we were able to do a bit more customization for the particular needs of a shelter,” said Stephen King, the city Engineering Division’s facilities services coordinator. “We started with a building that was designed for people, not for trucks. Lighting, insulation, HVAC, restrooms are all going to be a pretty major step forward.
“Also, First Street has two large bays, which divided the building into two large spaces,” he said. “That division is a challenge for a number of operational reasons. However, that is not the case at Zeier Road.”
Kim Sutter, director of services for Porchlight, said the building may be smaller but it came with more opportunity to tailor it for specific shelter needs. Porchlight, she said, worked closely with city staff on the design and renovation phases.
Both facilities have space for men to queue up out of the elements for intake, but unlike First Street, the new shelter also will offer substantial storage space, featuring 150 lockers with combination locks, Sutter said.
Another new feature is the isolation and quarantine rooms with beds, where guests with COVID or COVID symptoms can be diverted. The rooms are separate from the main room and have their own ventilation system and restrooms, she said.
The main room is well lit with sunlight splashing in from the building’s former main entrance. The city is delivering about 210 metal beds, but has capacity to add cots on crowded nights, King said. There is also a “recovery room,” where men who have been drinking can be separated from others.
The main office has windows to allow views into the main room and other adjacent halls and spaces, which improves safety, officials said.
At First Street, the city has bathrooms in trailers, but Zeier Road will have enough bathrooms and showers to meet needs and also offer several individual accessible restrooms, Sutter said.
New bathroom facilities at the temporary men’s homeless shelter.
Meanwhile, Porchlight has been connecting with other service providers and community members about expanding on-site services. The new facility will have two rooms for other agencies to meet with guests, Sutter said. “We also hope to increase case-management hours on-site, if possible,” she said.
But financing such an operation has a cost. Before the pandemic, the city contributed less than $50,000 to Porchlight’s $600,000 annual shelter budget, O’Keefe said. Now, the city is diverting $2.1 million in federal money to Porchlight’s $2.4 million budget for 2022, with similar expenses next year.
As at Warner Park and First Street, Porchlight will continue to contract for food service, with a hot evening meal and breakfast each day.
As the transition nears, a main concern is accessibility because the Zeier Road facility is farther from the central city than the First Street shelter, Sutter said.
Porchlight will continue to provide shuttle transportation between the shelter and The Beacon homeless day resource center, 615 E. Washington Ave., she said.
“A large number of guests currently access the shuttle,” she said. “We anticipate they will continue to do so, and that ridership may increase since the shelter will be less accessible by bike and by foot.”
Guests may also use Metro Transit, and those with cars can park on-site, she said.
Jay Gonstead prepares to pack up his belongings at Reindahl Park, including the small tent he had been staying in, for the move to the city's new homeless shelter encampment on the Southeast Side. Roughly 75 people have been living at the Reindahl encampment.
Jay Gonstead begins to pack up his things at Reindahl Park in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. Gonstead is one of the first few people to move to the city-sanctioned homeless encampment along Dairy Drive. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
MACH OneHealth outreach staff members Alexa Weber, left, and Adam Kleman help Jay Gonstead pack his belongings at Reindahl Park for a move to the city's first shelter encampment on the Southeast Side. Gonstead would be among the first to move to the site, which features 30 heated tiny shelters.
Jay Gonstead hugs a friend as he prepares to leave Reindahl Park to move to the city-sanctioned homeless encampment along Dairy Drive in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Tim Jones, facilities leader for MACH OneHealth, gives Jay Gonstead a tour of the city-sanctioned homeless encampment along Dairy Drive in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Tim Jones, left, facilities leader for MACH OneHealth, hands Jay Gonstead keys to his cabin at the new encampment.
Jay Gonstead smiles at the prospect of a hot shower, something he hasn't had in a few weeks, as he tours the city-sanctioned homeless encampment along Dairy Drive in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Jay Gonstead holds the door to his shelter as Maria Tran, of MACH OneHealth, helps him move in.
In his new shelter, Jay Gonstead weighs the events of the day, which began with him waking up to news that he would be moving to the encampment along Dairy Drive.
Jay Gonstead opens the door to his cabin, which he has begun to settle into at the city-sanctioned homeless encampment along Dairy Drive in Madison, Wis., Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
A camp chair is set in front of a cabin at the city's homeless shelter encampment. The operators are encouraging the users to personalize their spaces.
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Dean Mosiman covers Madison city government for the Wisconsin State Journal.
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Stephen King, facilities services coordinator for the city of Madison Engineering Division, and Hannah Mohelnitzky, spokesperson for the agency, visit the interior of the new, temporary men’s homeless shelter on Zeier Road near East Towne Mall. Guests will spend their first night at the shelter on Thursday.
The city bought the former big-box store on Zeier Road, which has space for more than 200 beds, for $2.6 million and is completing $1.1 million in renovations.
New bathroom facilities at the temporary men’s homeless shelter.
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