Wisconsin Life

Nestled in the streets of Madison along the Capital Bike Trail is a thriving neighborhood hub, the Goodman Community Center. To learn about the wide range of programs offered here and their impact, I met with Letesha Nelson, CEO and Executive Director. So, our mission for the Goodman Center is to change lives and secure futures, and how we do that is with an array of programs, from our littlest ones starting at three years old all the way up to our oldest adults which we have some older adults that are 80 and 90 who come here and spend time at our center. Can you expand a little bit more on the programs you offer and, like, how they kind of span the lifespans? Yes. So, we have our early childhood program, which we have three, fours, and fives that are in. We also have after-school programming that's happening every single day during the school year where the kids come, and they do lots of activities and go on field trips and things like that. Then, you get over to this building which houses all of our teenagers. Then, you get to our older adults. Mm-hmm. And our older adults are doing anything from yoga to health awareness, diabetes classes, things like that. We also have a gym, and then, they also have, which we've just started back is a senior lunch period where they come in and they get to mingle with each other and see each other. They love on each other, too. It is an amazing thing to see. So, that's a lot of the programming that we do here. Very nice, and I understand that all of these beautiful programs that you've described are supported in part by your volunteer base. Oh, yes. Can you tell us about your volunteers? We have a lot of volunteers that come to work from our food pantry into this space over here with our youth. We have 'em reading to children, and they do different little handy things around the building with us. Programming here is expansive, especially for young adults with goals to set them up for a successful future. So, my name is Alejandra, and I'm the assistant director of youth programs here at Goodman's and our middle school program, and all of our programs in the teen center are focused around four themes, which is health and wellness, community engagement, STEM, and culture and identity, and we take all of these themes with an SEL and trauma-informed care approach. So, SEL is social-emotional learning and really, the goals for all of our youth is so that they have a broader vision for their future. We really just want to expand those opportunities while they're in middle and high school. = Wow, I love that. That kind of, like, 360 sort of level of impact that you all see is happening as a result of the programs that you offer up positive impact that extends to anyone who walks through the doors here. My favorite thing about Goodman is being a place where it's a one-stop shop for a family that is in need and it doesn't matter what that family looks like. So it really is about community in the truest sense. Yes, yes, very much about community. Very much about being in a space where everybody gets their needs met. If we don't have what they need, then we go out and find it, or we know someone who knows where to get it, and so, Goodman is super reciprocal in giving the love and getting it back and giving the love and getting it back.