- Seeing is believing – Isthmus, Jan. 19, 2017
- Konkel described how joining Occupy Madison, and sleeping outside with 300 homeless people, changed her life.
- “The more I saw, the crazier it became,” she said. “The city was threatening to fine me for letting people sleep on my porch.” Konkel put lockers on her porch so people could store their belongings there, and began driving people to campgrounds where they could legally spend the night.
- Saving storage for the homeless in Madison – WKOW, Jan. 6, 2017
- Homeless in Madison-A City Challenged – Wis. State Journal, Sept. 24, 2016
- The way home: Without change, suffering will continue for thousands of homeless
- To bring change locally, “The Homeless Services Consortium needs to have people with power on their board,” said former Madison Ald. Brenda Konkel, an outspoken advocate for the homeless. “The City-County Homeless Issues Committee needs to have some power — it is merely advisory and ignored.”
- ‘We are failing’: Need overwhelms patchwork of homeless service providers
- The situation continues because “nobody owns the problem,” said former Ald. Brenda Konkel, an outspoken advocate for the homeless.
- Madison, Dane County move slowly on big responses to homelessness
- “We have to struggle to push services to reflect new thinking and change the 1980s attitudes and ways of doing things,” Konkel said. “The strategy of making shelters uncomfortable so people don’t want to stay won’t work if we don’t have housing for people to move to. Our failure to invest in community services is hurting us in our efforts as the demand far outpaces the need.”
- The way home: Without change, suffering will continue for thousands of homeless
- Laundry service for the homeless in jeopardy – Wis. State Journal, Oct. 7, 2016
- Madison tries ‘homeless court’ to help those who’ve mounted thousands in fines – Wis. State Journal, Feb. 7, 2016
- Former Ald. Brenda Konkel, an advocate for the homeless, has been compiling data on fines and warrants for presentation to the City-County Homeless Issues Committee. Her preliminary analysis shows 37 homeless people owing large sums of money were issued 378 warrants between February 2013 and August 2015. The majority of offenses, she said, were related to alcohol, trespassing, disorderly conduct and panhandling.
- The city attorney’s office then compiled data for 2015 and shared it with the City-County Homeless Issues Committee on Monday. It showed 16 men and two women owing the total $254,148, with four individuals owing more than $30,000 and six others owing between $10,000 and $20,000.
- Under pressure, Madison is backing off controversial panhandling ordinance – Wis. State Journal, Jan. 8, 2016
- Mayor Paul Soglin, City Council members want close look at city building for men’s homeless shelter – Wis. State Journal, Dec. 2, 2015
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Former Ald. Brenda Konkel, an advocate for the homeless, said the building would be “great” for a men’s shelter. But she said it should have a greater capacity to eliminate stay limits, space for a “wet shelter” for those who’ve been drinking, and be part of a mixed-use project that includes housing for people who work but can’t get landlords to rent to them.
“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right,” she said.
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- Idea of putting storage lockers for homeless in downtown parking ramps draws praise and criticism – WKOW, Oct. 20, 2015
- Ordinance forces homeless community to wander city streets, advocate says – Channel3000.com, Oct. 6, 2015
- Ordinance banning homeless from city building to be enforced – Badger Herald, Oct. 1, 2015
- Dane County to buy East Washington Avenue property for long-sought homeless day center – Wis. State Journal, Sept. 23, 2015
- City committee joins opposition to proposed timeline for benches, sidewalks – Daily Cardinal, Sept. 3, 2015
- Madison police say enforcement will start slow once CCB loitering law goes into effect – WKOW, Sept 1, 2015
- Downtown Madison businesses notice increase in loitering – Aug. 12, 2015
- Homeless advocates criticize mayor’s pitch to limit bench time – Channel3000.com July 31, 2015
- Madison closes storage area for homeless belongings – Wis. State Journal, July 22, 2015
- Homeless population become a protected class in Madison – WKOW June 15, 2015
- Motion to ban homeless from loitering around CCB after hours fails – Channel3000.com, June 1, 2015
- Soglin’s homeless crackdown sparks campout protest – Channel3000.com, May 2, 2015
- Homeless, advocates rally downtown for improved services – Wis. State Journal, Apr. 30, 2015
- Madison homeless services advocates plan rally, sleep-in – Cap Times April 29, 2015
- Public testimony on homelessness takes center stage at Board of Estimates – Daily Cardinal, April 27, 2015
- Answer “within the next month” on homeless bags in front of Madison CCB – WKOW, April 20, 2015
- Brenda Konkel could be fined for allowing homeless to sleep on her porch – Cap Times, Sept 18, 2014
- Advocate asks to keep lockers for homeless through the winter – WKOW, Dec. 8, 2014
- Homeless shelter to open Monday – Channel3000.com, Nov. 26, 2012
- Authorities move Madison homeless encampment after residents clash with campers – Wis. State Journal, Nov. 21, 2012
- With Occupy Madison moved again, where will Madison’s homeless go this winter? Cap Times, Nov. 21, 2012
- Towards Ending Homelessness – Channel3000.com, Nov 15, 2012
- Occupy Madison encampment relocates from East Washington to Lake View Hill County Park – Daily Cardinal, Nov. 11, 2012
- City asking campers to recently re-established ‘Occupy Madison” site to leave – Wis. State Journal, Nov. 9, 2012
- Occupy Madison sets up camp again on East Wash – Wis. State Journal, Oct. 30, 2012
- Grass Roots: Benches disappear from City-County Building amid distress over homeless – Cap Times, Feb. 10, 2012
- Grass Roots: Crackdown on homeless at City-County Building no cure – Cap Times, Jan. 29, 2012.