Helpers: This is the first in a series about people pitching in for their neighbors, friends and community in ways big and small.
As the effects of the ice storm began to wane for most housed folks in early February, emergency shelters that popped up to deal with the results of power outages began booting out unhoused people who were also taking shelter in those spaces. At the Madison Park Community Center, the site remained open for folks who did not have power at their homes, but after days in operation, unhoused people were asked to leave the space.
On a Wednesday evening in early February, it was warmer than it had been during the ice storm that left the area in shambles in late January, but still in the frigid low 20s. At All Sorts Lobby in the Madison Community Co-op, the numbers of folks coming in for warmth and a meal were ticking back up as a result — 74 people came in over a less than three hour period the evening of Feb. 4. During the greatest effects of the storm, the organization’s numbers dipped, which is what Sarah Champion, who leads the All Sorts Lobby, said should have happened.
“We’re now seeing all of those people come back here,” Champion said.
The All Sorts Lobby started in Champion’s head after observing folks in Madison and seeing again and again what their needs were and seeing the gap in evening warming spaces. In the winter of 2024, she worked with The Beat in Madison on their efforts to provide spaces and resources for people living on the streets. With others, she helped run a warming shelter for 70 of the coldest days of that winter. They also worked to transport folks to overnight shelters. As it morphed into the All Sorts Lobby, they moved into the space at 725 Madison Square this year. But before that, Champion and her guests got in where they fit in. Folks would gather in the Madison Church of Christ Benevolence Center and then at Amqui Station, all the while trying to plan for something more sustainable and stable long term.
Building something together as they went along brought volunteers together with people living on the streets to form the type of community that helps everyone with no strings attached. Unhoused people help with set up and tear down in the space, clean up as dinner winds down and generally have pride in the space as much as the volunteers, but nobody is explicitly asked to do any of that. Champion says volunteers rarely have to clean up much after dinner because guests often take all of that on their own. It’s a space and time where everyone checks in everyone.
In the winter months this season, the All Sorts Lobby welcomed 4,012 guests in the space for dinner and opened the space for them to warm up in the evenings. The most they’ve had to show up on any one evening is 99 people, but every night some number of people show up. Folks do not have to be unhoused to come to the warming shelter, and they don’t keep a roster of people who utilize it.
Consistency means a lot to Champion and her volunteers. They all talked about how important it was to just show up whether you had to be late or imperfect. Each and every evening, All Sorts Lobby opens for dinner and community. At 5 p.m. volunteers are there getting things set up. Donations start to arrive at around the same time.
On Feb. 4, local food relief organization Mercy Chef provided tacos and guests had cake and banana bread, hot coffee and fruit punch or lemonade. Dinner is always donated in one way or another, potluck style, and everyone pitches in however they can that evening. An all-volunteer crew serves dinner buffet-line style at 6 p.m. And then they close up shop at 7:30 p.m. on nights when temperatures are above 50 degrees and until 8:30 p.m. when it’s below 40 after a shuttle comes to transport folks who want to go to the overnight shelter. Champions and volunteers often linger until they know everyone is on their way somewhere that makes sense for them. Even the bus driver providing the rides to the overnight shelter adds this onto his already long day as a volunteer effort for his community.
Volunteer Nicki Pope has been helping out since Champion’s early efforts in Madison, and now shows up almost every night to help out. Her first time volunteering at Amqui Station, her friend pitched her on the idea of helping. Initially she thought the experience would be showing up for a while to hang out and maybe help with a few tasks. On the way over, they called and asked if she could canvas on her way for folks who might need to come in from the cold since not many had shown up to get warm and grab some snacks.
“To be honest at first I was kind of like, ‘Hmm I don’t know if I really do want to do that,’” Pope said, laughing.
One of the first people she approached was a woman sitting under a blanket by herself, and Pope was unsure how the woman might react to her just approaching. While she didn’t take Pope up on a ride to the warming shelter, she did show up the next night before the shelter opened up. Pope’s experience has been rooted in just showing up and letting folks know people are available consistently, and in realizing she could help in a way she didn’t think she could before.
“People often say they’re too busy to do anything,” Pope said. “Almost everyone who volunteers here has a full-time job before coming in the evening. It is doable.”
Champion insists that people do not have to commit at Pope’s level to volunteer. They welcome one person who wants to help for one evening or someone who wants to plug in and come multiple nights on a regular schedule. Everyone finds a role in the space that makes sense for their level of commitment and availability.
A volunteer named Lin was zipping around with a guest check notepad, diligently taking down notes for needs folks may have that could possibly be filled with items on hand at the community coop. As items are donated and come in, the group makes an inventory and then attempts to distribute things on an as-needed basis in order to keep up with their supplies. Nicki Pope was serving food, answering questions for other volunteers and guests. Other volunteers served drinks, cleaned up the kitchen, manned the back door for security and just generally milled around chatting with folks.
On most evenings, Champion spends the evening bouncing from logistical tasks like jumping in to make coffee and find more cutlery to hearing guests out who might need help resolving conflicts and discerning their own needs. Sometimes Champion is just listening for long periods of time, not offering solutions, but an ear for people who just need another human being to see them in that moment. She doesn’t like there to be a separation between folks serving food and guests there to use the space. People often ask if they can walk behind to get to the restroom, and expect there to be rules around who goes where, but the space itself is for everyone who enters. She acknowledges the imperfection in spaces — like in many shelters there can be conflict and incidents that need to be addressed — but wants to encourage others to not be afraid to engage in community building that addresses those needs or at least tries to.
That Wednesday evening, some guests watched basketball on a projected screen in a cozy corner of the room while others charged their phones, grabbed a cup of coffee and congregated at tables and in groups around the room. Some would come up to Champion to let them know others had needs or ask if she’d checked on a guest who may not have come up and let anyone know they had a need. Some would relay their high anxiety and tensions that came up around the recent bout of cold weather. Others were happily cutting up, telling jokes and working the room to find someone to share with.
“A lot of people look at doing something like this and think it could be dangerous, and incidents come up and things happen, and they do in these settings” Champion said. “But we approach this in a way and commit ourselves to being there every night and hope others come to experience it for themselves.”