Fitchburg Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative Grant Presentations and Committee Actions - March 11, 2026

On March 11, 2026, the Fitchburg Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative grant review committee met to hear presentations from 17 organizations applying for 2026 grant funding. Each applicant had 3.5 to 4 minutes to present, followed by committee questions. The meeting included routine approvals, grant applicant presentations, a department report, and announcements; it adjourned at 8:23 p.m.

Consent Calendar / Routine Approvals

• Approved the previous meeting minutes by voice vote, with no nays heard.

Public Comments & Testimony

• There were no public appearances for non-agenda items; all attendees were scheduled grant applicants.

Grant Applicant Presentations

• Allied Food Pantry (Janice Ferguson): Presented the Allied Community Commons project 'food as the front door to wellness', combining food distribution with health, housing, and resource connections. The volunteer-run pantry serves the Allied/Dunsmarsh neighborhood, has 40 to 50 volunteers, anticipates serving over 5,000 unique people in 2026, spends 96% of its budget on food, and buys Wisconsin-grown produce. It proposed two farmers markets at the new Fitchburg hub and partnerships including an aquaponic farm for winter produce.
• Active Youth Wisconsin (Amanda Merrick): Requested $21,150 for Training Teams and Minds in Motion plus Hosta Hochi Family Movement Nights. Programs serve priority neighborhoods with after-school movement, mindfulness, triathlon/5K training, and family events. About 600 youth participate annually in training-team programs, with roughly 150 from priority neighborhoods.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters (Bethany Ordez): Requested $25,000 to continue one-to-one mentoring in Fitchburg, serving at least 35 youth through 25 existing matches and 10 new matches. Of the youth served in Fitchburg priority neighborhoods, 96% come from low-income households (compared with 76% agency-wide), 81% live in single- or no-parent households, 95% identify as youth of color, and 16% have an incarcerated parent. A new pop-up mentoring series will engage youth on the wait list.
• Bikes for Kids Wisconsin (Christy Goforth): Requested $25,000 for Neighborhoods in Motion: 100 bikes and helmets, e-cargo bike grocery delivery for 29 households (72 individuals) from June through October in North Fish Hatchery/Southdale, and guided bike rides mentoring 180 youth. The organization has distributed over 15,000 bicycles, and 92 to 96% of people served are people of color.
• Boys & Girls Club (Jake Brown): Requested $15,000 for after-school mentoring, education, and food security. Since July, the club has been open 1,142 service hours; it plans to serve over 300 children, including 80 from priority neighborhoods, served 277 members last year, and is adding nightly meals for teens.
• Badger Prairie Needs Network (Jane Prouse): Requested $25,000 for its Farm to Pantry program. In 2025, BPN distributed 2.4 million pounds of food, equivalent to 2 million meals; 35% of people served are Fitchburg residents, and 80% of those come from priority neighborhoods. The grant would purchase locally grown produce after two federal farmer programs were unexpectedly eliminated, causing the loss of 32 tons of fresh produce annually. BPN is 100% volunteer-run.
• Catholic Multicultural Center / Catholic Charities (Ashlyn Melhoff): Requested $15,000 for its food pantry and free meal program. In 2025, the pantry had 3,800 visits, distributed more than 140,000 pounds of food, served 14,250 free meals, and saw 700 unduplicated households, including 70 from Verona Road West and North Fish Hatchery Road. The 2026 goal is 100 households from those neighborhoods.
• First Tee South Central Wisconsin (Al Steinhauer): Requested transportation support to bring Fitchburg students to the John Flesh Golf and Academic Center. The free after-school program combines golf and academics; transport costs $1,600 per group for a 10-week session, and the proposed project would serve 52 unduplicated students from Leopold and Loriman Carrie schools.
• Latino Academy Workforce Development: Requested support for Spanish GED and commercial driver's license programs, employment services, workshops at Hosta Hochi, and a large career fair at Hosta Hochi. Speakers noted CDL training costs about $7,000 per graduate and said grant funds would cover support services not paid by federal funding.
• Leopold Parent Faculty Organization (Justin Purcell): Requested $14,000 for community events and theater/arts programming to reduce access barriers for Leopold families and the North Fish Hatchery Road neighborhood. Funds would support annual community events and reusable theater supplies such as microphones, scripts, and props.
• Madison Reading Project (Deirdre): Presented free book fairs serving 4,000 to 6,000 students through nine schools in four target neighborhoods. The organization buys new books at an average of about $5 per book. Staff later noted that Madison Reading Project increased its request to $25,000 with an updated budget.
• Meadowood Health Partnership (Sheree Wallace): Presented wraparound community health services, including more than 500 direct clients over two years and 40 participants in a blood pressure monitoring program. The group proposed expanding community suppers, table talks, backpacks, and resource distribution into Fitchburg priority neighborhoods, including through the Fitchburg Senior Center.
• Rooted (Sarah Carlson): Requested $25,000 for food security, urban agriculture education, and community engagement at Badger Rock and Hosta Hochi. Plans include distributing at least 2,500 pounds of produce from Badger Rock Urban Farm, serving 400 youth, hosting at least 19 community events, and paying a food vendor at Hosta Hochi to provide free meals while supporting the vendor's income.
• Reach Dane (Asia Shoemate): Presented a farm-to-Head Start pilot at the Red Arrow site in partnership with Tilly's Farm, including 42 chickens laying eggs weekly and CSA-style produce boxes for enrolled families. The program would also bring children to the farm and purchase starter plants and seeds from Fitchburg Farms. Speakers noted Fitchburg had been identified as a food desert until Luna's grocery store opened nearby. The request was for continued funding for the 2027 growing season.
• River Food Pantry (Helen Osborne-Sanantus): Requested the maximum $25,000 to continue Munch mobile meal stops in Fitchburg, which provided almost 16,000 meals across five neighborhoods in 2025 (about 90,000 meals program-wide). Funds would also support the existing Southdale Resource Fair and two new Hosta Hochi events: a back-to-school clothing and supplies event in August and a chef-led meal kit event in October.
• Wisconsin EcoLatinos (Dama): Requested $15,000 for Healthy Homes, a community approach to indoor air quality and safe drinking water, providing water filters, air filters, and radon tests, plus nine workshops. The proposal aimed to reach about 100 households or 400 individuals and included an Earth Day event April 18 at Hosta Hochi. Speakers cited an F air-quality grade for the Madison/Rock County area and said Latino and Black communities are three times more likely to suffer from these pollutants.
• Unidos (Ireri Andrea Muñiz Ortega): Requested $25,000 for Espacios de Sanación Comunitaria (Community Healing Spaces). The organization described itself as the only Dane County organization specifically focused on linguistically and culturally responsive services for Latine and immigrant survivors of violence. The project includes Spanish-language support groups, workshops, cooking classes, and wellness activities in four priority neighborhoods from April through December 2026. It aims to serve at least 200 residents, increase Latina access to Unidos services by 60%, have at least 75% of participants report improved mental health, coping skills, or family relationships, and have 80% report a stronger sense of belonging.

Discussion Items

• Committee members asked applicants about volunteer capacity, language access, matching processes, new versus expanded programs, data and evaluation methods, and how funds would be used.
• The committee requested a follow-up from Meadowood Health Partnership to provide its spreadsheet of intended expansion locations.
• Staff clarified the grant amount: after an earlier email error, organizations were told they could request up to $25,000. Wisconsin EcoLatinos chose to keep its request at $15,000; Madison Reading Project increased its request to $25,000.

Department Report

• City staff reported that the microgrants program is postponed due to current workload; no timeline was announced.

Announcements and Updates

• Urban League of Greater Madison is hosting a Women's History Month event on March 12, 5 to 8 p.m., at the Black Business Hub on Fish Hatchery Road.
• Leopold Community School food pantry: April 7, 11 a.m. until supplies last.
• El Día de la Tierra Earth Day event at Hosta Hochi: April 18, noon to 4 p.m.
• Tito Fest community event at Leopold Elementary School: May 16, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Neighborhood Navigator position has closed with two applicants; an interview date is being arranged, but no one has been hired yet.

Key Outcomes

• No grant awards were made at this meeting; the session was for presentations and committee discussion.
• Meadowood Health Partnership will provide its expansion-location spreadsheet as a follow-up.
• Confirmed grant-request flexibility: applicants may request up to $25,000, and staff will accept updated requests and budgets.
• Microgrants were postponed.
• The committee adjourned at 8:23 p.m.