The homeless are not invisible. Walk down State street or around Capitol Square any day or time. Look for carts of clothes and blankets chained up to bike racks. People are nestled into corners, asking for change or sitting in public places to warm up. Homelessness is part of Madison.

The cold is not uncommon in Madison, Wisconsin, where winter day dip below freezing. These months can be uncomfortable and unsafe for everyone, but the homeless are especially vulnerable to the elements. Madison’s homeless are reliant on nonprofits and faith-based organizations for temporary shelter and immediate resources to get through winter.

No one is surprised by the cold.  Chris Archuleta, the outreach director of the student organization BundleUp, did not think anyone is surprised by the winters, but rather what level of preparedness to have.

“Homeless people may be assuming they can get into a certain place and then not have access to it. You know like if a shelter is passed capacity, so maybe shortcomings with respect to the execution of it,” Archuleta said.

Those experiencing homelessness, like Miguel Taylor, may not be too keen on going to the shelter, even knowing as the cold months approach.

“The shelters is not really a good place to be. Why? Because people steal from you, you have a curfew, and the bottom line is that I’m trying to make ends meet in the best possible way I know how,” Taylor said. 

Taylor currently stays in a tent, pitched near John Nolan and takes it “one day at a time.”

When the temperature drops below 20 degrees, it is considered a “weather night” for temporary shelters. This means that the shelters expand their capacity because being unsheltered in extreme coldness could lead to hypothermia or death. No one can be left outside. Shelters like Porchlight and Salvation Army give clients a 90-night limit that resets every year. This means that a person cannot spend more than 90 nights in one of the shelters. Porchlight does not deny shelter to anyone on weather nights even if they have exceeded their limit, are drunk or have been previously suspended.

With policies such as this one and a general increase in need for resources, shelters and nonprofits are strained in the winter. Porchlight Director of Services, Kim Sutter, explained that the shelter may be serving around 40 to 60 people in the summer months, but for coldest days, that number can exceed 150. Porchlight operates three temporary overnight shelters that are housed in churches: Shelter One, Shelter Two and Shelter Three. Shelter One and Shelter Two are up and running the entire year, but Shelter Three is only available during the winter months due to increased demands. This expansion into a third shelter location is challenging because of a lack of funding that keeps staffing low. There may be just one staff member with 60 male clients at a shelter.

Freezing nights can lead to hypothermia or frostbite for anyone, but this risk is increased when alcohol is involved. According to poverty expert, Barbara Wolfe, alcohol can lead to irresponsible decisions, such as not taking the correct precautions to stay warm and safe. Shelters may be the safest choice for a homeless individual in regards to staying safe from the elements; however, that does not mean it is an ideal option. These shelters are usually in church basements with around 40 beds, open-air style.

“There aren’t very good ways for keeping people safe with the setup that we have because the setup is bad,” Sutter said. The open-air style lacks privacy, security and space, which can be especially challenging for people with mental health issues or behavioral issues who do are challenged by crowds.