By: Liz Hawley, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Since its inception in 1992, Willy Street Co-op’s Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) has contributed $673,500 to local nonprofits and cooperatives to support developmental and educational projects for our community. The fund is seeded when Owners who have become inactive and have not claimed their equity after three years either abandon or donate their Owner equity to our Co-op for charitable purposes.
Grants from the CRF may be awarded to innovative, educational, and/or entrepreneurial endeavors that impact a large group of people, reach out to underserved populations, create jobs or develop skills, foster social engagement, and offer opportunities for diversifying partnerships and collaboration. Areas of funding include food justice or access, sustainable agriculture, health and well-being, and social change. This fiscal year, the Board allocated $65,000 for this competitive grant fund, and we received 39 total applications requesting $212,769 in funding.
We also piloted a new grant fund this year—Rooted In Our Community. This fund is for larger capital purchases and investments that support our local, sustainable food system. The Board allocated $20,000 for the 2025 grant cycle, and we received four applications totaling $35,284.
The grant review committee is pleased to share the 20 projects receiving funding this year (17 funded through CRF, and 3 funded through RIOC).
Community Reinvestment Fund Award Recipients
Bikes for Kids Wisconsin: Empowering People with Bicycles, $6,750
Bikes for Kids Wisconsin “transforms lives by making bicycle-based transportation accessible to those facing economic and transportation barriers.” Their focus is on bikes as essential transportation rather than simply recreational. Their new Bike to Work program addresses transportation barriers that prevent individuals from accessing and maintaining employment, and their goal is to provide “50 fully refurbished geared bicycles to working-age individuals, including older teens, adults seeking employment, and newly arrived immigrants and refugees in Dane County.” Not only does this initiative increase job access, it also improves physical and mental health while reducing environmental impact through sustainable transportation.
CRF funding is for bike repair and refurbishment.
Courageous Journeys Backpacking: Inaugural Backpacking Trip, $2,800
Upon retiring from the Air Force in 2018, Courageous Journeys Backpacking’s founder discovered a lack of female veteran-focused support groups. Recognizing this gap, she decided to establish her organization, and thus, Courageous Journeys Backpacking was born in 2024. They note that “the Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges that female veterans are twice as likely as their male counterparts to have PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder]. This is partially due to the additional traumas, such as sexual assault, that female veterans are more likely to experience.” Nature-based therapy has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of PTSD, and Courageous Journeys Backpacking plans to embark on their first guided backpacking trip to foster a sense of belonging and community as well as focus on healing through nature-based activities.
CRF funding is for lodging before and after the trip.
The Creator’s Cottage: Memory Collectors Storytelling, $2,000
The Creator’s Cottage is a maker space in Madison serving the educational and career development needs of women artists. Their mission is to “transform the lives of women, children, and families of color through social action theater, literary, and creative arts. [They] believe that true transformation happens first at the intersection of art and activism, second, when artists of color can make a living from their art and provide for their families, and thirdly when culturally specific gathering spaces are fostered and funded.” Their “Memory Collectors Storytelling Project: Fighting Alzheimer’s with Art” utilizes art to fight the rapidly increasing development of cognitive related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. According to The Creator’s Cottage, “Studies have shown that cognition is vastly improved when diet is improved, stress management techniques are employed, and the brain is regularly stimulated by learning new skills such as those acquired in the creative arts.” MCSP aims to reduce stress, improve heart health with plant-based foods, and prevent cognitive decline in women of color in safe, culturally competent community space where the women can engage in the creative arts and learn the skills of quilting and writing.
CRF funding is for tech support.
DANEnet, Inc: Digital Equity Project, $2,800
DANEnet’s mission is to make technology accessible and affordable through education and services for nonprofits and individuals facing barriers. Additionally, they offer digital skills classes, refurbished laptops, and resources on affordable broadband access to community members through their Digital Equity Project. This year they plan to send a Digital Educator to the Calming Computer Jitters class at Mt. Zion Baptist Church to provide basic digital skills training to 15–25 black elders each month. The Digital Educator tailors lessons to the interests and skill levels of the attendees at each session. Topics requested by participants include smartphones, cybersecurity, how to spot a scam, MyChart, photo storage, and video calling to keep in touch with family and friends.
CRF funding is for Digital Educator instruction and handouts.
Eastmorland Community Center: Mobile Pantry Farm-Share, $6,000
Eastmorland Community Center (ECC) notes, “In many ways Madison is two separate cities with many residents unable to participate in the local food economy due to location/lack of transportation and income. While standard food pantry fare is available […], the focus is on low cost and shelf-stability, not necessarily on the nutritional quality or variety of offerings.” To address this issue, the community center plans to expand their food pantry program to include farm shares and snackable vegetables from Lansing Street Veggies. ECC works directly with school staff at Schenk Elementary School and Whitehorse Middle School to survey families regarding food preferences, delivery methods, culturally appropriate foods, and accessibility to kitchen equipment to evaluate the program and plan for program changes.
CRF funding is for farm shares from Lansing Street Veggies.
Elver Park Neighborhood Center: Summer Meals for Youth in Southwest Madison, $5,400
Elver Park Neighborhood Center has served Madison’s southwest side since 2003. In 2023, 90% of the students served qualified as low-income and relied on free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch from their schools during the academic year. Elver Park Neighborhood Center is looking to fill the nutritional gap for the children during the summer months. Last year, in response to requests from youth in the center’s summer camp for more nutritious and appetizing meals, staff served 1,500 freshly prepared lunches throughout the summer. Staff take meal preferences from children and families into account when planning menus, and they aim to introduce children to new, nutritious foods while learning about where the food comes from.
CRF funding is for ingredients for summer lunches.
Eyes of Hope Stoughton: Hope Grows, $4,095
Eyes of Hope Stoughton’s mission is to connect Stoughton’s youth with opportunities that advance their academic, social, and emotional development. They aim “to empower young individuals to become lifelong contributors to the community and the world.” This year, the Hope Grows initiative will engage youth in hands-on gardening at the Lowell Park Community Garden. Their goal is to teach young people where their food comes from, promote healthy eating habits, and instill values of responsibility, teamwork, and leadership.
CRF funding is for program supervision and instruction.
Focused Interruption, Inc: 2025 Community Development Events, $3,600
Focused Interruption, Inc. (FI) is Madison’s only nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing gun violence and fostering community resilience. FI provides “trauma-informed care, mentorship, and resources that promote recovery, growth, and empowerment for underserved populations disproportionately impacted by violence.” This year they plan to launch a comprehensive community engagement initiative in the Harmony and Meadowlands Apartment Communities. The monthly events will include a community cleanup day, a gratitude dinner, and a science exploration day.
CRF funding is for food and refreshments.
Friends of Schumacher Farm: Expanded Heirloom Garden, $3,300
The Friends of Schumacher Farm provide the programming and events at Schumacher Farm, a Dane County Park in Waunakee, to connect the community with the land and rural history of the area. They provide a free nature exploration program for Vera Court Neighborhood Center, free family passes for events through their partnerships with local food pantries and neighborhood centers, and free field trips for school groups in underserved areas. This year they plan to expand their heirloom garden five-fold, allowing them to grow more produce for the local food pantry, showcase Indigenous planting methods, and expand educational programs in the garden. They anticipate 1,000 children will participate in garden-related activities, and they plan to donate 4,000 pounds of produce grown in the heirloom garden to the Waunakee Food Pantry.
CRF funding is for a new garden fence, rain barrels, kids’ gardening tools, and interpretive signage.
Kennedy Heights Community Center: Food Equity, $1,600
Kennedy Heights Community Center (KHCC) is situated on the north side of Madison. Many residents rely on the community center’s weekly food pantry, and recently, funding cuts have forced KHCC to reallocate funding from other programs to continue providing staple food items at the pantry. Community Center staff is investigating other options to sustain and expand the pantry.
CRF funding is for milk and eggs for the Kennedy Heights Food Pantry.
LOV, Inc: Mind & Body Wellness for Adults with Disabilities, $2,500
Living Our Visions, or LOV Inc., was founded in 2008 by a group of parents of adults with disabilities as a way to combat isolation and find a way to build an adult life for their children. Their mission is to “unite people with developmental disabilities to engage and build their best lives.” LOV Inc. indicates that individuals with disabilities face barriers that “negatively impact their health and well-being, such as challenges in accessing healthcare and disability benefits, and opportunities for participation in community life.” To address these issues, they plan to launch a series of hands-on classes that will provide participants with monthly classes on topics that will include adaptive fitness, mindfulness, adaptive cooking, accessible nature immersion, and art exploration.
CRF funding is for program costs including trainer fees, travel expenses, refreshments, room reservation, and accessibility needs.
Lussier Community Education Center: Senior Brunch, $5,460
Lussier Community Education Center (LCEC) was the product of a group of Wexford Ridge Apartment residents on the far west side of Madison coming together in the 1970s to create a neighborhood center in a vacant apartment. They have long since outgrown that original space, and LCEC now operates out of a facility that provides a variety of services mainly focused on helping restricted-income individuals. Last spring LCEC launched senior programming to fill the unmet need for seniors on the west side of Madison. With no meal sites in the area and seniors self-identified as food-insecure, they plan to launch a weekly senior brunch at the center to address the need for community space and to help seniors combat social isolation.
CRF funding is for lunch ingredients and supplies as well as expertise from local resource providers.
MadWorC: Expanding Language Justice, $2,845
Madison Workers Cooperative (MadWorC) was started in 2009 by worker-owners from several local worker cooperatives who recognized the importance of building relationships and support systems for worker cooperatives in Madison. They recently developed several training programs focused on cooperative governance, finance, conflict, onboarding, and democracy, and now they plan to translate their written materials as well as offer simultaneous interpretation of trainings to support worker-owners most comfortable communicating in Spanish. “This benefits their cooperatives as worker-owners learn more about how to navigate operating a business together. These are also some of the newest cooperatives in Madison, and worker cooperatives, like all small businesses, struggle in their early years. We want to do everything we can to help these cooperatives thrive,” notes MadWorC.
CRF funding is for program administration, translation and interpretation services, and printing.
Midwest Linen Revival: Field to Frock Festival, $3,850
Midwest Linen Revival (MLR) was founded in 2022 to provide access to locally and sustainably grown flax and processed linen. MLR’s work has “resulted in flax’s inclusion in the UW Emerging Crop program, with test plots around the county, and newly approved resolution by the Wisconsin Farmers Union to support ‘developing regional and regenerative natural fiber textile systems on behalf of producers invested in our bioregional economy.’” Flax is a quickly maturing cop, making it a good candidate to include in rotation following intensive rotational grazing. According to MLR, herbicides are not generally needed and flax needs little water, making it an ideal crop to remediate fields following intensive grazing. MLR is planning their inaugural Field to Frock Festival June 20-22 to grow the excitement for and build community in the emerging flax fiber movement.
CRF funding is for the speakers’ honoraria, promotional posters, signage, stickers, nametags, venue rental, and design services.
OPEN Foundation: OPEN Career Readiness and Workforce Development Initiative, $2,000
The OPEN Foundation was established in 2022 to champion career readiness, wellness, and equity for LGBTQ+ individuals. Their initiative to support LGBTQ+ professionals by hosting a career fair and summit to connect LGBTQ+ job seekers with affirming employers to foster meaningful employment opportunities. This will also combat systemic workplace barriers and foster career growth. They are also planning a “Transform Cohort” to equip participants with leadership and career development skills. Additionally, workshops and mentorship programs will cover topics like resume building, salary negotiation, and workplace inclusion.
CRF funding is for the career fair venue rental.
REAP Food Group: A Bowl of Soul, $5,000
REAP Food Group “has been working for 25 years to build a vibrant, just, and sustainable food system.” Their Farm2Families program launched in 2020 as an emergency food program for Latinx/Indigenous families in Dane County. The focus has evolved over the past few years to support Latinx/Indigenous families in their postnatal journeys with nutritious foods and ingredients supplied from BIPOC and women-owned local farmers and suppliers. This year, REAP Food Group is building on this program in partnership with Qwantese Winters, a Community Doula and founder of Oasis Maternal Care, to support single Black mothers in their postpartum period. REAP notes, “For Black people in Dane County, the infant mortality rate is leagues above, and the average life expectancy is leagues lower than rates for every other racial demographic. Nutrition is a modifiable risk factor that must be addressed as part of infant mortality efforts and life expectancy.” REAP and Qwantese have formed a partnership to bring to life their new program called a Bowl of Soul to provide nutritious, culturally relevant meals that promote healing and recovery after birth.
CRF funding is for ingredients, totes, packaging, and labor.
Sunshine Place: Expanding Access to Community, $5,000
Sunshine Place is a resource hub in Sun Prairie providing a central location for community members with limited means to access services for housing, food, and other barriers to household stability. They have seen a steady increase in service requests and a 260% increase in visits to their food pantry since 2020. They also recognize that the pantry is not accessible to many folks for a variety of reasons, and in response, they developed initiatives, including a home delivery program, a summer food program for kids, and in-school food pantries, that have allowed Sunshine Place to meet people where they are. The most recent program involves “Hotel Boxes” which “aims to get food to families and individuals who are homeless, living in a hotel, or have no access to traditional cooking appliances.” These families are also connected with other school and community resources.
CRF funding is for easy to prepare and ready to eat meal and snack items.
Rooted In Our Community Award Recipients
Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens: Greenhouse Construction, $6,800
The Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens (MAFPG) has been growing and gleaning surplus produce from local farms since 2001. In 2023, they purchased the 15-acre Pope Farm Homestead that is now the home of Forward Garden. Each year they grow 60-80,000 pounds of produce on their network of nine gardens, and they glean another 30-40,000 pounds of surplus produce from neighboring farms, all donated to pantries and emergency food programs. This year they plan to build a greenhouse at Forward Garden that will be an ADA-compliant space that will empower community members of all ages and abilities to volunteer with the organization. The space will allow for four seasons of produce production, increasing their annual yields. They plan to propagate more than 14,000 fruit and vegetable seedlings in the greenhouse for their network of food pantry gardens.
RIOC funding is for poly plastic siding, transplant tables, transplant flats, watering wand, hoses, hose reels, vegetable seeds, and transplants.
Madison Northside Planning Council: FEED Kitchens Upgrades, $9,400
In 2013, Madison Northside Planning Council (NPC) opened FEED Kitchens as a shared kitchen food business incubator. From FEED Kitchens, NPC also operates the FEED Bakery Training Program and Healthy Food for All, a food recovery program. This year, NPC is planning some much needed upgrades to the shared kitchen space. They plan to replace the old cabinets and shelving with rack storage shelves, creating better organization and freeing up other shelf space for the entrepreneurs. They also plan to install six security enclosures to keep cleaning supplies, chemicals, and ingredients that need to be kept separated. They also plan to add three additional stock pot burners, a popular commodity among the entrepreneurs at FEED. They will also add four new utility carts essential for the entrepreneurs to move their ingredients and finished products around the facility.
RIOC funding is for rack storage, security enclosures, stock pat ranges, and utility carts.
Rooted: Rooted in the Northside, $3,800
Rooted was formed in 2020 by the merger of the Center for Resilient Cities and Community GroundWorks, bringing together their shared expertise in land stewardship, urban agriculture, and community engagement. Rooted supports local farmers, offers inclusive and engaging community events, and provides educational events to connect people with the land, their food, and the farmers who grow it. The Troy Farm Collaborative (TFC) started in 2020 by a couple of farms that wanted to grow on the extra space available at Troy Farm. Over the years they secured funding to invest in farm infrastructure, provide technical assistance, and hire staff to work directly with each farm operation to help them build their capacity. Troy Farm has a shared greenhouse space that the farmers use to grow seedlings for transplant in the spring. One missed watering or forgetting to open the ventilation system could lead to the demise of many of these young plants. For this reason, Rooted plans to install automated ventilation and watering systems in the greenhouse.
RIOC funding is for electricity.
Congratulations and Thank You!
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s grants and thank you to all organizations that applied—you’re all doing important work in our communities! Thank you to this year’s grant review committee; Board members Tatiana Dennis, Anthony Hernandez, and Isabel Spooner-Harvey, Owners-At-Large Carol Cohen, Jack Longert, and Glen Reichelderfer; Customer Experience Manager, Kristina Kuhaupt; and Education and Outreach Coordinator Liz Hawley.
And of course, a special thank you goes out to all of our Owners past and present who make this funding possible.
