Save the date! We’re having our first live plant sale since the pandemic. Stop by on Saturday May 6th from 10am – 2pm, peruse the plants, enjoy music by Sunshine Daydrink (noon – 2) and partake in some light refreshments.
If you can’t make the plant sale, you can order pre-sale online starting Monday April 17th or you can stop by the store Tuesday and Thursday 6pm – 8pm or on the Saturday 10 – 4. We hope to announce additional hours soon.
On We
dnesday, December 28th we purchased a new property to build our tiny houses and to create a third tiny house village! Our first village will be 100% done in the spring, adding the final (9th) house. Also this spring we will finish the landscaping and exterior work at 1901 Aberg for our second village.
Meanwhile, starting in January we are going to be working on starting the process of building our larger tiny houses to replace the conestoga huts. We will build the components in the basement at our new property while we apply to rezone the property.
Conestoga Huts to the left, “larger tiny houses” below.
Read more about it:
If you missed our holiday sale last weekend, we’re sorry to miss you! However, we do have some last hours before the holidays where you can stop by and purchase items for loved ones AND help raise funds for Occupy Madison.
Our Store Hours are as follows:
There are lots of items made by residents and supporters to choose from including:
We also have t-shirts and postcards and much more!
You can also drop off gifts for Santa’s Without Chimneys!
These beautiful bouquets of flowers that you can pre-order here https://checkout.square.site/
Grown with the help of Moonflower and our very treasured Chavva Isreal of Occupy Madison
Pick up at either of the following locations August 4 – October
Pre-ordered $15.00 bouquets will be available for pick up starting August 4th thorough October.
Flowers (if not sold out) can be bought or picked up at our store at 304 North Third Street. Our hours of operation of our store is the following. Keep in mind we only have flowers available on Saturday as to guarantee freshness.
Occupy Madison is currently taking applications for currently homeless individuals to join our two villages!
Occupy Madison is taking applications for the fall. We currently have 8 – 10 openings at our properties located at 1901 Aberg Ave. and are hopeful that we may be able to obtain another property within the next year. We are inviting people who are experiencing primarily unsheltered homelessness to apply to be a member and start earning sweat equity towards living in one of our current villages or a potential 3rd village.
About Occupy Madison
Living in our villages is a commitment! Community living is not for everyone, it requires agreeing to our community agreement, participating in weekly meetings and contributing to the village you live in by doing chores and tasks. Occupy Madison is a 100% volunteer run organization where the people who live in our villages run the villages, are board and committee members doing all functions of the organization.
Living at Occupy Madison has always been free to the people living there. However, people have to become members, become active members by earning “sweat equity” towards their homes and remain active participants in the governance and decision making in the organization. Membership is obtained by attending orientation, attending two General Membership Meetings and being voted in by the current membership. Sweat equity is earned by participating in meetings, helping build items we sell in our store, participating in work days and helping us get our coffee cart up and running. Our goal is for residents to earn enough money through village sales and fundraising to create sustainable villages.
Since 2014 Occupy Madison has housed 42 individuals. We are happy to report that while we consider this a permanent housing option for folks, we have also had 11 people who have stayed with us get into housing. 4 people have gotten into treatment or are in the criminal justice system. While we have asked some people to leave, to the best of our knowledge only 2 people are currently experiencing homelessness. And sadly, two of our community members have passed away.
Current waiting list folks need to re-apply so we know they are still interested, but will be prioritized.
Currently, we have about 180 people on our waiting list! However since October 2020 when we started the waiting list, we know that some people have gotten into housing, some people have moved out of town and sadly some people have passed away. Additionally, we are experiencing difficulties reaching the people on the waiting list due to phone numbers that have changed and emails that are no longer read. In order to ensure we are reaching those who currently want to live in a tiny home in our cooperative villages, we are inviting people currently experiencing homelessness to re-apply for current openings at both 1901 Aberg and 304 N 3rd St. People who have expressed interest in the past will be prioritized in the order that they were on our original waiting list.
How do I apply?
Our preferred way is to indicate interest by filling out this google form. We understand not everyone has access to a computer or phone that can fill out the form, so you can also call or text 608-305-4707 and leave your name, best way to contact you (phone or email preferred but other ways accepted and you may use the phone or email of someone who can get a message to you quickly), your current living situation (street/tent, vehicle, shelter, staying with friends or family, expecting to be homeless soon, etc) and if you have previously expressed interest by emailing or leaving a voicemail.
304 N 3rd St Occupy Village
1901 Aberg Occupy Village
If you are interested in the 3202 Dairy Drive City run campground run by MACH OneHealth/Kabba Recovery Services, speak to an outreach worker, Beacon or shelter staff to take the VISPDAT as they use Coordinated Entry to accept residents.
The residents of Occupy Madison’s Aberg Ave Village would like to invite you to an open house/block party on Saturday, June 5th, from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
There will be music, games, tours will be given, and art will be for sale as well as items made by Occupy Madison’s members and volunteers. This event is child and pet friendly, so feel free to bring the whole family and get to know your neighbors!
The day is finally coming. 304 N 3rd Street, the original Occupy Madison Tiny House Village, will finally be getting a community room, laundry and . . . wait for it . . . a real kitchen!!!! And when the renovations are done, the population at the village will go from 5 to 9 residents.
A lot has to happen between then (mid April) and now. We are awaiting CSM approval from the city and our architect (Ed Kuharski, Green Design Studio) and contractor (Bachmann Construction) are working out the final details from the Planned Development we got approved in 2015. We finally have the funds ($200,000) to finish phase 2.
Plus, we’ll be doing our annual plant sale as well the first weekend in May! Tomatoes, peppers, kale and all your garden favorites. The sale will be on-line again this year – watch for details soon.
Here’s the latest drafts of the plans! Er, I did say draft, some of the details may change, but this is the basic gist of it!
304_N3rdStPh2_A1_ExFloorPlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_T1_Index_ProjectScope_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A2_PrFloorPlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A3_Ftg-FdnPlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A4_PrRoofPlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A5_RoofFramePlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A6_ExElevations_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A7_PrElevations_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A7a_PrElev’s-Porch_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A8_LatSection_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A9_Section_Details_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A10_ElectricalPlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_S1_ExSitePlan_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_A11_Cabinetry_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_S3_PrSitePlanPh2_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_S6_SiteDetails_02_26_21 304_N3rdStPh2_S6a_PavingDetails_02_26_21
This week we are putting the final touches on phase one (temporary) of the new tiny house village at 1901 Aberg Ave. We are very excited to be reaching the conclusion of interior construction! We finished our last house in early January, about 2 months after purchasing the 1901 property. We ended up building 34 houses.
At this point, honestly, we have to turn our attention to raising the money. Our next plans include:
We also know that many people want to continue to volunteer with us. At the moment, we are looking for the following help:
If you are interested in volunteering, email occupymadisoninc@gmail.com.
Upcoming things to watch for:
At this point, honestly, we have to turn our attention to raising the money to finish the two villages. The renovations and houses are proceeding as quickly as possible. The northsiders have generously donated most of the items that people need to move in. Volunteers have been able to nearly complete 15 houses and can produce 4 houses a week. We hope to have 28 people off the streets by the end of the year, just 3 months after we put in the offer to purchase the property. People keep asking how they can help – these are our preferred methods.We can use help with the following things.
Upcoming things to watch for:
We have been very busy with construction and getting 28 people off the streets by the end of the year. We’ve had over 400 people volunteer to build tinier homes and over 400 people donate to Occupy Madison during this time. All told, there have been about 1,000 people who are making this project happen. This award goes to them!
Here’s a video of us getting the award presented to us at the village.
Here is the video from the Snowball where it was presented during the Snowball – the presentation is about a half hour into the video
Here is the introduction Dane County Board Supervisor Heidi Wegleitner did for the presentation of the award.
“Since 2011, Occupy Madison has been challenging local elected officials to end the criminalization of homelessness, address the unmet needs of people experiencing homelessness, and facilitate their creative and cooperative tiny housing solution. OM is truly a housing policy innovator– it’s 3rd Street Village is the first tiny house village of formerly homeless people integrated into a residential neighborhood. In addition to the tiny houses, the village includes a greenhouse, raised bed gardens, a woodworking shop, and a store where OM goods are sold to support operations of the village.
Now, at a time when we are witnessing severe economic inequality, housing injustice, and a pandemic ravage our community, OM is harnessing volunteer power and member sweat equity to build more homes. OM stepped up to respond to the urgent needs of people living outside by creating a 2nd tiny house village at the former site of Wiggie’s Bar on the northside of Madison. It will be the home to 28 tinier houses as part of a temporary emergency housing program to keep people safe in the coming months. In an incredibly short period of time in the last two months, OM launched this project, obtained temporary zoning, purchased the Wiggie’s site, obtained county support, and built 11 conestoga style tinier homes.
Cooperation is the culture of Occupy Madison. Whether they’re crafting their vision, adopting rules, building houses, growing food, making goods, or operating the store, or lobbying elected officials, OM is committed to working together to get things done. OM members are housed and unhoused. They are activists, organizers, developers, gardeners, and builders. They’ve changed laws, they’ve changed minds, and they’ve changed neighborhoods (including mine)… for the better. Thank you, OM for challenging us and leading us. You’ve inspired us and given us hope. You’ve shown us how we can take care of one another even in the most difficult times.”
We very much appreciate Supervisor Wegleitner’s kind words and are proud to have her a neighbor and our representative on the County Board!
