City Life

City Life

Vaccine rollout for kids underway

By Ben Baker | December 14, 2021

Schools and businesses throughout Dane County are providing COVID-19 shots for children over 5 years old. Over the past month, Dane County schools and businesses launched a series of inoculation efforts following the approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children over the age of five. Dane County is among the most heavily vaccinated areas in the United States, with 86% of adults receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 shot, and community members are hopeful similar trends will be sustained in vaccinating children. Clinics thus far were held at a variety of locations, including Prairie Elementary School, Arboretum Elementary School, Badger Ridge Middle School and the Madison Children’s Museum. One parent who brought their son to the Madison Children’s Museum clinic said they were eager to vaccinate their child amid concerns of a potential winter surge in cases or

the emergence of a new, more contagious variant.

City Life

First United Methodist church delivers hope downtown

By Nicole Herzog | November 29, 2021

Volunteers feed unhoused Madison residents one care package at a time. Volunteering at a church before 8 AM is not how most college students spend their mornings. But for members of the UW-Madison Social Justice Hub, volunteers say it’s how they help deliver hope to the community. “It’s just a really great effort to be able to give back and do something good with my week,” said  Hunter Weber, a student volunteer. 

Volunteers gathered at First United Methodist Church on Tuesday morning to package over 120 emergency food packages plus 75 hygiene kits for the homeless. 

Each food bag contains three meals, snacks, towelettes, and two bottles of water. The hygiene packages hold various sanitary items, including dental care, feminine hygiene products, trash bags and toilet paper. 

“When you’re an individual suffering loss of home, these are lifelines,” said Karen Andro, director of outreach ministry. 

The bags are then distributed to different outreach groups in the area who deliver materials across the city. 

Andro says the initiative is not just about putting the bags together, it’s about building trust with the homeless community to bring them what they need to survive. 

“So the trust piece is really vital,” she said.

City Life

Madison Police report shows racial disparities

By Meredith Opie | November 29, 2021

Black residents subjected to higher rates of use of force

Racism and policing are deeply intertwined in the United States… and Madison, Wisconsin is no exception. Shon Barnes joined the Madison Police Department in February 2021 as Chief of Police. Chief Barnes said racism and biases exist within their police department because they exist within society. “Systemic racism isn't just in police departments. We recruit from the human race.