Hear from the moms, kids and one of our community partners

UW-Madison School of Social Work highlights Catalyst

We were honored to be featured in a short article on the UW Madison School of Social Work's website early in 2017. Anna Donahoe is a 2015 graduate of the MSW program. Click the link below to see what they had to say.
https://socwork.wisc.edu/communications/news/2017-02-27/catalyst-project-recent-grad-develops-creative-program-empower

Channel 57 Interview- "Talk of the Town"

 Learn about one of our partners, Sagashus Levingston, of Infamous Mothers


Sagashus Levingston serves as an empowerment mentor for Catalyst residents. Here's an excerpt of the Brava Magazine article highlighting her work and the founding of Infamous Mothers:

"Levingston launched Infamous Mothers last year, her innovative startup—a business and book with the fecund makings of a feminist movement—focused on lifting up black mothers who, like her, come from the fringes of society: sex workers, addicts, convicts, welfare queens, teen and single moms who live with the real fear or agony of losing their children to the system—and 'all the things polite society shuns,' as Levingston’s website puts it. 'The work I do challenges norms,' says Levingston, from the focus of her dissertation down to the for-profit structure of her social-mission business. She is, says business coach Amy Gannon of Doyenne Group, 'smashing paradigms.'
Levingston is emphatic: 'It’s about a national commitment to invest in and unharness our power and talent so that it is normal for more women like me to become doctors, CEOs, journalists and so on.' Levingston wants to disrupt oppressive practices taking place from the bedroom to the boardroom."

We are honored to work alongside her.

To read the full article, click the link below.
http://bravamagazine.com/sagashus-levingston/

Sagashus also spoke of her work with Catalyst in the opening speech she delivered at the Women's March on Madison on January 22, 2017:

"...I believe that one of the best measures of a society is how it treats those women and girls most marginalized—teen moms, women on drugs, sex workers, women and girls experiencing homelessness, impoverished women, single mothers, women in low-income housing, women on welfare, women of color, women with mental and physical health challenges, women experiencing domestic abuse...victims of rape.I believe that a healthy society is one in which those at the center screams in agony when those furthest away are cut. It hurts when they hurt. It cries when they cry. And it moves and acts on their behalves. Equally and more importantly, it is invested in making sure they have the tools and resources to act on their own behalves.  And I believe this because I understand that most things—if not all things—in life are only as strong as its most vulnerable parts...

So what do we do?...

I want to tell you to read. Read wide and read deep about the oppression that now directly impacts you and the ones that have been impacting me. But will you? I want to tell you to put your dollars--with no strings attached--behind programs already doing the work like the YWCA, DAIS, the Catalyst Project, the Doyenne Group. But will you? I want to tell you to sponsor black businesses so that we can build up our communities and increase our chances of protecting ourselves in these uncertain times. But will you? I offer you no take aways or no calls to action because I don't know enough about how far you will go when you are no longer in a sea of pussy hats. Instead, I leave you with a message as uncomfortable as the one I began with. More specifically, I leave you with a question: What exactly are YOU going to do after today?"
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To read the full speech, follow the link below.
https://infamousmothers-beta.squarespace.com/between-us/2017/1/22/your-privilege-will-not-protect-you

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​2016 Articles in the Isthmus

Madison's free alternative alternative weekly newspaper, The Isthmus, introduced the Catalyst Project to the Madison area in the article below. Click the link below to read the August 2016 article.

​http://isthmus.com/news/news/supportive-housing-program-empowers-single-moms/ 
After the unfortunate events of an August 22, 2016 dryer fire, Isthmus reporter Allison Geyer covered the story. See the article below for a more detailed account of what happened, as well as outstanding needs. Click the link below to read the article.
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http://isthmus.com/news/news/catalyst-project-house-damaged-by-fire/