The Tenant Resource Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting positive relations between rental housing consumers and providers throughout Wisconsin. By providing information and referrals, education about rental rights and responsibilities, and access to conflict resolution, we empower communities to obtain and maintain quality affordable housing.

Description:
Housing Counseling - We offer information on Wisconsin rental housing laws and referrals. In Dane County, call (608) 257-0006; outside Dane County, call 1-877-238-RENT (7368). If you are in the area and would like to talk with a Housing Counselor in person, please come to our office! No appointment is needed. Though donations are requested for copies of laws and sample forms, Housing Counseling is a free service.

Housing Help Desk - We also have a small office at the Dane County Job Center, where our two main goals are helping people find housing and eviction prevention. Our staff in this office handles the Housing Crisis Fund, made up strictly from donations, to help as many families/individuals as they can from being evicted from their homes. Services provided are free.

Housing Mediation Service - Mediation is a voluntary process in which landlords and tenants meet with a trained, neutral mediator, who will listen to both sides and guide them to an agreement. Mediation at small claims court (for eviction cases) is free of charge. There is a minimal charge ($15 per party) for other mediation services between tenants, landlords, roommates or neighbors, or outside small claims court.

Publications, Seminars, and Resources - Each spring and fall we hold Housing Law Seminars in about 5-6 different cities and we've written a book titled Apartment Management in Wisconsin. Both of these are geared toward landlords, property managers, law enforcement, social workers, and others interested in rental housing laws. A book for tenants, titled Tenants' Rights in Wisconsin, is a project we are currently working on.

Our website, www.tenantresourcecenter.org, includes several of our brochures, different housing lists (for Dane County residents only), information about tenant organizing, and many links to local and statewide housing laws and other resources. Our brochures cover a wide range of issues, such as Preparing to Rent, Security Deposits, Repairs, and Ending your Lease. We may also be able to provide presentations in the community, upon request.

Volunteer Opportunities - Being a small, non-profit organization, we rely primarily on volunteers to help us with Housing Counseling and Office Assistance.
Volunteer Housing Counselors receive more than 10 hours of housing law training. Volunteer Office Assistants help with mailings, brochures, data entry, and more. If you're interested in becoming an appreciated Tenant Resource Center Volunteer, please contact us immediately! We ALWAYS need good help! The majority of our funding is from Dane County and the City of Madison. The remainder comes from book and seminar sales, private and corporate donations. Donations are tax-deductible, and can be made at any time of the year, for either our general operating costs or our eviction prevention program, the Housing Crisis Fund. (Please make checks payable to either Tenant Resource Center or Housing Crisis Fund.)

History:
Volunteers created the Tenant Resource Center in 1980. From Dayton Street, to the capitol square, to State Street, a staff of 1.25 provided free housing counseling to those in need. Eventually, Tenant Resource Center and three other non-profit agencies came together to form the Social Justice Center at 1202 Williamson Street, where we remain today. Other important facts: The Housing Mediation Service began in 1995, the Housing Help Desk in 1998, the Housing Crisis Fund (direct assistance for eviction prevention) in 2001, and the toll-free Statewide Housing Counseling line in 2004.

Contact people:

Brenda Konkel, Executive Director, (608) 257-0143, (email) Megin McDonell, Program Director, (608) 257-0143, (email)

Office fax number: 608-286-0804

Address:

1202 Williamson St, Suite A Madison, WI 53703 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.tenantresourcecenter.org

Directions:

Take bus 3 or 4 to Jenifer & Few St. Walk 1 block North to Williamson and cross the street. TRC is in the Social Justice Center. Driving: From East Washington Ave, turn south on Baldwin, go over railroad tracks,. . . (more)   Nearest Bus Stop: Jenifer & Few Streets, 1 minute walk

Miscellaneous Information

Will you be using VolunteerYourTime.org for Donation Match ONLY?
	No