When Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway visited Kennedy Heights Community Center this summer, Sedrick, age 7, joyfully attending summer classes there, told her he was going to be a mayor someday.
So we can add “encouraging big dreams” to the list of essential services Neighborhood Centers provide.
Neighborhood Centers throughout Madison operate in the heart, and as the heart, of some of the city’s most challenged neighborhoods. We have come together as a coalition to heighten awareness of the effectiveness of our services, speak with a unified voice about the challenges we face, and advocate for more investment in, and support for, the work we do.
Our centers offer afterschool activities and classes in both the summer and during the school year, healthy meals, English as a second language instruction, gathering and meeting spaces, assistance in accessing other resources and much more to thousands of children, adults and families every single day.
Dedicated city staff in the Community Development Division know firsthand how critically important neighborhood centers are for stabilizing and strengthening neighborhoods. That’s why the division requested the mayor include in her operating budget a 10% cost of living adjustment (COLA) for children and youth program funding at the centers along with an additional $105,000 to support new and expanded programming recommended by the Community Services Committee.
We are hopeful that the increased investment — about $400,000 total, which includes COLAs and additions for other organizations and programs as well — will make it into Rhodes-Conway’s budget and will ultimately be approved by the Madison City Council.
Afterschool activities and sports, enrichment classes, music and art lessons, help with homework, regular meals: These are the norm for many children in Madison. For others, neighborhood centers fill gaps so that more children have access to more opportunities to grow and thrive. Neighborhood centers are anchors that help ground neighborhoods and create healthy environments that contribute to the well-being of our entire city.
Studies show the effectiveness of neighborhood centers and all we do in helping improve graduation rates and academic achievement. Currently, the city invests about $1.6 million in children and youth programs. For that investment, Madison residents receive more than $5 million in effective and impactful services. Centers have not had the opportunity to apply for more city funding for children and youth programs in over a decade.
We are extremely appreciative — and fortunate — that Rhodes-Conway and the council have a deep understanding of how our work advances critical city priorities. We also understand tough budgets. We know both the mayor and council will have hard decisions to make during the budget process.
We are optimistic that the work we do, the difference we make and the future we help build will receive the additional funding that Madison kids so desperately need.
Alexis London or the Bayview Foundation is the chair of the Neighborhood Center Coalition. Rebecca Carlin of the Wisconsin Youth Company and Elsa Caetano of the Kennedy Heights Neighborhood Center are members of the coalition. The coalition also includes Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County, Bridge/Lake Point/Waunona Neighborhood Center, East Madison Community Center, Goodman Community Center, Lussier Community Education Center, Meadowood Neighborhood Center, Neighborhood House Community Center, Badger Rock/Rooted, Vera Court Neighborhood Center and WilMar Neighborhood Center.