The Chaos is the Point
Resources for Helping You When the Federal Government Won't
I think we can safely say it’s been a wild start to the year. I will remind you all of a refrain I’ve been hearing a lot lately: The chaos is the point. Our President wants you to feel overwhelmed and helpless. But you aren’t. We have a solid community of support here in Dane County. We are lucky that we are better off than most, although we still have a lot of work to do.
I want to highlight a few things that demonstrate that support.
Extended Hands Food Pantry
Extended Hands Pantry on Schroeder Road shares a parking lot with Lighthouse School. The Pantry was started by Jenny and Andy Czerkas, the founders of River Food Pantry, during the Pandemic. It is one of the very few ethnic and culturally sensitive food pantries in Dane County. As a result, much of its inventory does not come from the publicly supported sources that support many of the food pantries throughout the county. It has been growing quickly and the Czerkas’ reached out asking if the county could help support that rapid growth.
We found $425,000 in COVID America Rescue Plan Act funds in 2024. During 2025 that money was spent.
As of January 2025, we are now serving between 590 - 620 families each week. This is a 103% increase from a year ago. The number of people coming is not tapering off either. … We don't think we would be able to keep up right now had we not been able to bulk up our capacity over the last year. Thanks to you, we now have pallet racking, a pallet stacker, a walk-in cooler and freezer, and a/c in our warehouse space. We also installed more efficient LED lighting. … we spent [almost $150,000] on cultural foods. Latinx families continue to be our largest demographic, but we also have many families from Northern Africa, Middle East, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Ukraine, Turkey, etc. We've been to provide a wide variety of foods for many different cultures, most of whom are accustomed to cooking from scratch every day. … Lastly, we were able to purchase a new refrigerated truck! … Andy and I, along with our entire board and team wish to express our deepest gratitude … for all your assistance in getting this funding. Jenny Czerkas, Extended Hands Pantry.
Know Your Rights
As you have probably heard, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) recently lost its director for failing to deport enough immigrants. To quote the Wall Street Journal: “Officials have been frustrated with the pace of deportations.” Well, I’ve been frustrated with the pace of deportations, too! But probably not for the same reasons.
In light of the change of directors, we are likely to see even more desperate attempts to root out and deport people who dared to find a better life for themselves. There are resources you should know about:
The ACLU of Wisconsin has a lot of materials about YOUR rights when confronted by ICE. You can print the graphic below or order a Red Card from the Immigrant Legal Resource Clinic.
VOCES de la Frontera
VOCES de la Frontera is Wisconsin’s leading immigrant rights organization with a chapter in Madison. They are a Latinx support organization with resources for immigration and citizenship, employment, youth, and arts. “We strive to create a world where all people live free of poverty and discrimination, have access to safe, dignified work, quality education, and health care; where immigrants can cross borders with dignity; and human rights and workers’ rights are respected; where government is truly ‘of the people,’ and all families thrive.”
Southwest Madison Employment Center
Here in District 8 is the Urban League Southwest Madison Employment Center. You can find the Employment Center in the former Griff’s Restaurant across from Elver Park. The Center helps with traditional job and employment services including job readiness classes, job leads, application assistance, and a computer lab. Moreover, in partnership with Dane County, the Center offers access to an Economic Support Specialist who can help with applying for benefits such as Food Share and BadgerCare and updating applications including childcare assistance applications, amongst numerous other services.