The Mad City Dream Homes team has had multiple loved ones affected by blood cancers, which is why we’re particularly proud to support the next generation of leaders advocating for a cure, like Sophie Bell. 

Sophie is a 2024 Student Visionary of the Year candidate for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Over the past seven weeks, she has embarked on a fundraising campaign along with 13 other student teams to raise $300,000. And that money will be well spent: LLS is a leader in blood cancer research, patient access, and policy - in fact, treatments discovered through LLS research are being applied to clinical trials for other cancers, too. 

It’s not too late to support this important cause like Sophie has, which is working towards a cancer-free

As we prepare for the year ahead, Mad City Dream Homes would like to highlight a vital community organization that is preparing - and equipping - young adults for success in Dane County. Operation Fresh Start (OFS) helps emerging adults carve out new pathways to success by overcoming barriers.

In tandem with personalized mentorship, OFS helps participants finish their high school diplomas, obtain drivers licenses, build trade industry skills via apprenticeships, and network in preparation for their professional lives, (among other initiatives). As Gregory Markle, OFS’s Executive Director put it, “For our young people, we build opportunities to let them know that we care. We focus on the moment when we encourage them to make a leap of faith

Madison consistently ranks among the top cities in the nation to live. For what reasons? And for whom? Those answers vary depending on who you ask.

“As a lifelong Madisonian, I’ve noticed that this is a wonderful community but it's more wonderful for a certain group of people than it is for others,” said the Rev. Dr. Alex Gee, who serves as the lead pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church (Fountain of Life), founder and president of the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development (Nehemiah), and host of the podcast Black Like Me. He is also the founder and CEO of The Center for Black Excellence and Culture (The Center), a new nonprofit which is in the final stages of its fundraising campaign to create a welcoming and inspirational space for the

We'd like to offer a public thank you to Samantha Haas, who has spent the last 6 plus years sharing her ideas, talents and values with our team. Thanks to Sam's influence, our team has evolved to view everything we do through the lens of community.

In addition to coordinating our marketing efforts and team events, Sam has invested a significant amount of her time into supporting and promoting local non-profits.

Now, Sam's focus on community is taking a new form, as she heads up her own initiative, Playful Acorns, which she's created to encourage connections between kids, caregivers, nature, and the larger community. 

We wish you all the best, Sam, as you write your next chapter. Although we can't possibly replace you, we can continue with the

The Mad City Dream Homes team enjoys finding creative ways to support local businesses and nonprofits through client appreciation events and giveaways, articles on our blog, social media, and newsletters, in-kind marketing support, sponsorships, donations, and volunteer efforts. In 2023, we built upon the relationships formed over the years and made some new connections, too. 

As we reflect on another year of investing in the communities we serve, we wanted to highlight some of these organizations doing neat things in the Dane County area – from making memorable chocolates and art to creating safe, brave, and welcoming spaces for local citizens to thrive. 

We are proud members of the Monroe Street Merchants Association and love to frequent many of

We'd like to offer a special thank you to Just Bakery, which recently baked 200 Thanksgiving pies for our clients and friends. Mad City Dream Homes purchased the pies from Just Bakery as part of our annual "thank you" event. 

As many of you know, Just Bakery is a local initiative that helps people who are experiencing significant barriers to employment with opportunities to gain vocational skills and valuable work experience. All bakery proceeds are reinvested back into the program, which allows Just Bakery to invest in more training and employment opportunities for more people. 

We'd also like to say thank you to all of you who support our team and give us the opportunity to pursue meaningful work each day. We sincerely love what we do, and for

Fall is here and snowy weather is right around the corner. If you're a skier or snowboarder, you are likely already thinking about snow! For skiers and snowboarders alike, this is the time of year when you start blowing the dust off your gear and figuring out where and when you're going to hit the slopes. In the Madison area there are four ski areas: Tyrol Basin, Cascade, Devil’s Head, and Blackhawk, which is a private ski club. Typically, the ski areas in southern Wisconsin are open by Thanksgiving. 

Did you know that nearly every ski area in the United States has a ski patrol? If you have ever skied at one of our local ski areas, you likely saw them wearing red coats with white crosses. My name is Alan Feder, and I have been a ski patroller for

Did you know that September is both National Healthy Aging Month and National Fall Prevention Awareness Month? A local nonprofit that we’ve featured in the past, Sharing Active Independent Lives (SAIL), does a tremendous job of educating and empowering older adults as well as equipping them with resources on how to age well, prevent falls, and much more. 

For example, Dr. Alexis Eastman, a faculty member in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology in the Department of Medicine at University of Wisconsin-Madison, often presents a SAILing Into The Future workshop on Aging 101: 10 Things to Know About Aging. Here are a few key takeaways as a clinical geriatrician that she would like people to remember about aging:

Exercise 

"I want everybody to

There are plenty of initiatives in the world that need our financial contributions in order to move the cause forward. So donating our money is one important way that we can support positive change in the world around us. 

But there is another type of contribution that is equally important, if not more, and that is our in-kind contribution. By in-kind contribution, we mean donating our time, skills, and unique gifts to an initiative that's making a positive impact in the community. 

Here are just a few examples. 

• donating our physical labor toward conservation projects at a beloved park
• giving our time and attention to youth as part of a mentoring program like Big Brothers/Big Sisters 
• offering our artistic, marketing or social media

We love the ways in which we hear about local nonprofits doing great work in our community. This month’s spotlight is on WayForward Resources, formerly Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM), which provides access to nutritious food for people throughout Dane County and support that helps people stay in their homes in Middleton, Cross Plains, and west Madison.

We first learned about this organization last fall from Shelley Lazzareschi’s client Taylor Rozman, who is the organization’s Housing Stability Director. She informed us that MOM (which was established in 1980 by members of local Middleton churches and transitioned to a community-based nonprofit organization in 2007) would be rebranding as WayForward Resources in 2023. We agreed that it would be