DANE COUNTY, Wis. (WKOW) — United Way of Dane County is preparing for its annual community fundraising campaign, the Day of Caring, and the public is invited to participate.
Renee Moe, president and CEO of United Way of Dane County, appeared on 27 News at 5 on Thursday to talk about the event.
The Day of Caring is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Breese Stevens Field in Madison. This year’s campaign goal is $17.5 million.
Hundreds of local volunteers are expected to assemble thousands of essential care kits called ImPacks and backpacks for students and families in the community.
The event will also feature a food drive and opportunities to learn about challenges facing Dane County. Participants will receive a free United Way volunteer T-shirt, enjoy snacks and work together to make a difference locally.
Madison adult students get construction basic training for free
By Ellie Bourdo
Special to the Cap Times
Aug 7, 2025
Jersson Isidoro signed up this year for a new pre-apprenticeship program in Madison, hoping it would help guide the next steps of his career in the skilled trades.
He learned construction basics like scaffolding and concrete work. He practiced safety measures and math. And now, he has a job in insulation.
“(The program is) really important,” Isidoro said. “It helps people that are not sure what to do after high school or just if they are interested in the construction area.”
The program, run by the Latino Academy of Workforce Development, was available to more than a dozen students free of charge, and students were paid for their work while training. A $300,000 Lowe’s Foundation grant funded the program and will fund its continued development over the next two years.
Isidoro said he applied after learning about the program through a career fair. Adults authorized to work in the United States with at least an intermediate level of English were eligible to participate. To complete the two-week course, students had to pass testing requirements, an interview and a variety of construction trainings.
“I applied those skills where I work now, like the safety stuff,” Isidoro said. “I’d be more careful, because safety is the most important part when you’re in the field.”
The Lowe’s Foundation awarded 15 of the grants this year to nonprofits, all focused on workforce training in the skilled trades. The Latino Academy’s grant was the only award to a Wisconsin nonprofit.
Nydia Martinez, the Latino Academy’s executive director, said the grant is providing more than money to launch and operate the training course.
“Not only (did the foundation) give us this funding, but they also helped us to establish a partnership with the Lowe’s stores,” Martinez said. “They provided additional tools and support for our students.”
Other partners in the pre-apprenticeship program include the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin and United Way of Dane County.
“They supported the program by helping us to address some access barriers,” Martinez said. “For example, providing resources like … gas gift cards to support individuals to be able to travel to the training areas.”
OUR VIEW: Federal cuts to social services make United Way’s mission more pressing
August 10, 2025: Wisconsin State Journal Editorial
Coldplay’s sold-out show July 19 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison filled the field and most of the bowl with 58,000 people.
Picture that ginormous crowd in your head for a moment. That’s the same number of people in Dane County who are living in poverty, according to the United Way.
Here’s another troubling statistic: The number of third graders in Dane County who don’t read at grade level — about 2,300 — could fill 33 school buses. As much as our community is thriving with low unemployment, rapid growth and a booming technology economy, many people in and around Madison still struggle to get by. Just last month, the United Way of Dane County’s 211 help line received 578 calls for food, 378 for help paying rent and 144 for assistance with utility bills.
The local United Way has rallied our community for more than a century to help the less fortunate. The nonprofit targets donations and volunteers to the greatest need, using data and partnerships in the public and private sectors to improve lives and opportunity.
So please give to the United Way if you can this year. The organization is launching its annual fundraiser at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at Breese Stevens Field in Madison. About 700 people have registered to attend the event, which includes fun activities for families, a food drive and volunteer opportunities. You can register, donate or volunteer at unitedwaydanecounty.org.
Federal cuts to social services — including food assistance and health care for the poor — heighten the need for local giving. The United Way of Dane County is still building back from the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote work hindered donations through employers.
The organization hopes to raise $17.5 million in the coming year, an increase from $17.3 million last year. The year before the pandemic, it collected $18.5 million. Most of the United Way’s donations come from individuals. This year, Dan and Patti Rashke of Total Administrative Services Corporation (TASC) are generously covering all administrative expenses for individual donations. That means every dollar you give will go to vital local services, not to overhead.
The Rashkes’ pledge is “an amazing gift and lift,” said Kim Sponem, CEO and president of Summit Credit Union, who is chairing the United Way fundraiser.
“They want to inspire more giving,” said Renee Moe, president and CEO of the local United Way. The United Way of Dane County supported more than 82,000 people last year. This included helping families find and keep affordable housing and health insurance. It included, through a partnership with Americorps, tutoring thousands of area students in reading and math.
The United Way has long strived to better understand and narrow disparities in health, education and employment for people of color. Black people in Dane County are 5% of the population but more than 40% of those who are homeless, according to the organization’s data. Black people in Dane County are twice as likely as white people to be living in poverty. Their average life expectancy of 71 years is more than a decade shorter than for white, Asian and Latino people in the county.
Yet progress is being made, thanks to the United Way, its 13,000 donors, 600 volunteers and 500 community partners. Poverty is down by more than 3,000 people from five years ago — even though Dane County’s population is rising.
More students are completing high school, including an increase of 10 percentage points for Black students since 2020. During a meeting with the State Journal editorial board last week, Moe cited a reduction in homelessness for children and fewer disruptive moves from school to school. She said the tutoring program, which incorporates phonics, has learned that struggling students need more sessions to maximize improvement.
The United Way deserves your trust and donation in helping to make our region a better place for all.
Wisconsin State Journal editorial board
The views expressed in the editorials are shaped by the board, independent of news coverage decisions elsewhere in the newspaper.
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The next time you use the 211 information app, there are now resources available in Spanish.
United Way of Dane County launched the Spanish version this week. The app gives 24/7 live local resources to help residents in Dane and six other counites in Southern Wisconsin.
“When you look 5% factor to this, there are over 4,000 people in the Madison area that are Spanish speaking that want to be able to access resources and we want to make sure we can serve them,” Ed Wall, the director of 211 for United Way of Dane County.
The Spanish version of the app was developed with the help of Centro Hispano and a grant from PHMDC.
“Central Hispano right here in Madison contacted us and said a lot of people who want to use the app but only speak Spanish. We took that as something that we wanted to get done. We wanted to create a Spanish version,” Wall said.
The app was originally launched in October 2021. The 211 Wisconsin app was developed to broaden awareness of and access to community resources.
It connects people to resources like food pantries, housing, education, crisis lines and legal help.
If people do not have their own devices, there are 60 kiosks throughout southern Wisconsin for people to use. They can be found in schools, homeless shelters, food pantries and libraries.
MADISON (WKOW) — United Way of Dane County has launched a Spanish version of the 211 Wisconsin App.
The move aims to enhance access to health and human services for Spanish-speaking individuals and families in the Badger State.
The app, originally launched in October 2021, has over 5,200 users statewide. Its Spanish version was developed with Centro, a local nonprofit, ensuring cultural and language needs are met.
“At Centro, we believe that access to information is a cornerstone of equity,” Karen Menéndez Coller, executive director of Centro Dane County, said. “This is how we build a stronger, more connected community for all.”
Renee Moe, president and CEO of United Way of Dane County, emphasized the significance of the new app.
“Expanding access to essential services for Spanish-speaking residents brings us closer to the vision of a Dane County where everyone can thrive,” Moe said.
United Way of Dane County and Centro Hispano have partnered to create a Spanish-language version of its community resource app, 211 Wisconsin app.
The app was launched in October 2021 by United Way to increase awareness and access to community resources. It has grown tremendously in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, with now over 5,200 users across the state. 211 provides direct access to resources in various areas including bill assistance, housing, food, transportation, and more, for those in need.
As the realization of 211’s need grows, United Way now looks to expand its ability to serve communities through a partnership with Centro Hispano.
“This partnership with Centro shows the power of user experience design and collaboration to drive meaningful change,” said Renee Moe, president & CEO of United Way, in a press release. “After launching the 211 Wisconsin App, the most consistent feedback from nonprofit partners was the need for a Spanish version. Thanks to a grant from Public Health Madison & Dane County, that’s now a reality. Expanding access to essential services for Spanish-speaking residents brings us closer to the vision of a Dane County where everyone can thrive.”
MADISON (WKOW) — More people now have access to essential community resources.
The United Way of Dane County announced a new feature in its 211 app that will allow a Spanish option to find health and human services.
The app launched in October of 2021 to help broaden awareness and access to community resources in the Badger State. It has helped thousands of users find essential services in their communities.
Ed Wall is United Way’s Director of 211 and says it took nearly a year to put the project together.
He says the public demand to add the language to the app was what drove the expansion of services.
“We love the app, but we need a Spanish version of it, because some of people coming in here do not speak English, and they want to be able to utilize the resources within 211,” Wall said.
A few weeks ago, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay junior Jasmine Puls was at her AmeriCorps job at the Girl Scout Reaching Out program, preparing for a trip to a local elementary school, when she got an email marked “URGENT.”
“Out of nowhere, we just got an email that we were being shut down, and that they tried to appeal it but that it was non-appealable, and that there was nothing they could do,” Puls said. “We were literally given no warning.”
Seven staff members lost their jobs “within 10 minutes,” including Puls. They weren’t alone: Statewide, about 430 AmeriCorps workers found themselves out of work after the federal Department of Government Efficiency made cuts to their programs.
Reaching Out focused on connecting students in underserved communities — often due to financial or language barriers — with outdoor education and life skills, according to assistant program and inclusion director Brittany Pyatt. Many other AmeriCorps programs offered similar services, providing students in need with tutoring and engagement services.
Sudden termination of AmeriCorps funding in Wisconsin has left hundreds of young service workers jobless and disrupted vital services across schools, nonprofits, and community health programs. The cuts eliminated the jobs of 430 active AmeriCorps members in Wisconsin, including 69 in Dane County, and halted programming at more than 300 sites statewide.
The AmeriCorps members worked in schools, clinics, homeless shelters and other direct service agencies.
Serve Wisconsin, the state agency that oversees AmeriCorps programs in Wisconsin, learned at about 6:20 pm Friday that all funding for AmeriCorps programs was terminated effective immediately because the programs no longer “aligned with agency priorities.”
The AmeriCorps website lists the agency’s priorities as disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and supporting veterans and military families.
Serve Wisconsin executive director Jeanne Duffy said the cut will also affect about 680 service workers scheduled to work in summer programs.
Letter | AmeriCorps cuts affect thousands in Wisconsin
Bob Shogren
Wisconsin National & Community Service Board
Dear Editor: At 6:20 p.m. Friday, April 25, we received notice that federal grants for the 25 active AmeriCorps programs in our state board’s portfolio were being terminated immediately, as well as planning grants for five organizations to develop programs through the Volunteer Generation Fund.
Closing these programs would halt service at more than 300 sites across Wisconsin, including schools, medical clinics and nonprofit organizations, as well as harming the hundreds of AmeriCorps members currently serving.
If these grant terminations take effect, thousands of students will suddenly lose tutoring and support programming. Hundreds of people with substance abuse disorders will lose their recovery coaches and thousands of people will lose programming at health clinics and organizations throughout Wisconsin.
Services provided to homeless youth and individuals with disabilities will be greatly reduced and hundreds of nonprofits will lose support in serving their communities. Planned conservation projects and summer programming for children that families depend on will no longer take place.
In the Madison area, this will eliminate service through nine AmeriCorps programs, including United Way of Dane County’s Schools of Hope and Achievement Connections, Partners for After School Success, Easterseals Wisconsin, DPI Farm to School, and several more organizations.
Contact your members of Congress to let them know these grants need to be reinstated. To find their contact information, click here.
