When it opens next month, Madison’s first purpose-built men’s homeless shelter will be unlike anything the city and county have attempted before.
People are also reading…
Linette Rhodes, manager of Madison's Community Development Division, shows off the main lobby of the city's new men's homeless shelter at 1904 Bartillon Drive, due to open Sept. 1. An open house is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday.
The Bartillon Drive shelter has been in the works for five years. It is designed to house 250 single men.
Rooms at the new men’s shelter on Bartillon Drive are divided into sections aimed at reducing noise and providing some privacy. Lockers next to each bed give guests a safe place to store their belongings when they leave the shelter each morning.
A worker cleans the sleeping area of the city’s current emergency shelter on Zeier Road. The shelter’s large capacity and lack of facilities limited the ability of staff to provide users with services, a problem the new shelter aims to fix.
Most of the beds in the new shelter are on the second floor, but the first floor includes some ADA-compliant beds. There are also four isolated rooms with showers and beds for people who may need to be quarantined due to bed bugs or health concerns.
Madison Community Development Director James O'Keefe Men's tours the private shower and restroom facilities at the city's new homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive.
The Bartillon Shelter has patio space on the first and second floors, allowing guests to access the outdoors without needing to check out. Furniture for the outdoor gathering space will eventually complete the patio area.
Staff and volunteers with The Beacon day drop-in shelter Downtown tour the soon-to-open men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive on Madison’s Far East Side.
A dining and commons area at the city's new men's homeless shelter is ready for the grand opening on Sept. 1.
A new commercial-grade kitchen will be partially staffed by Madison Area Technical College students, who will help cook and teach guests how to operate in a professional culinary setting.
The temporary men’s shelter on Zeier Road was deemed too far from needed services to convert it to a permanent shelter.
A worker for the homeless services provider Porchlight leaves the emergency shelter on Zeier Road. The facility will be replaced with a new facility about a mile away.
Although spacious with room for specialized services, the new shelter will not be large enough to accommodate all of the region’s homeless population, organizers say. Dane County is exploring opening an overflow site, possibly Downtown.
Storage lockers at Porchlight's Men's Emergency Shelter on Zeier Road hold belongings of the community's homeless population in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A sign outside the Porchlight Men’s Emergency Shelter for the homeless indicates the organization’s upcoming move of the facility on Zeier Road in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. Pictured is Karla Thennes, Porchlight’s executive director. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
The Bartillon Shelter will house 250 beds, most of which are located on the second floor. To maximize floor space, some of the twin-size beds were stacked in bunks.
A conference room at the new men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive offers a space for staff and members of the city's homeless community to connect in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. Viewing the space from left are Linette Rhodes, manager of Madison's Community Development Division, James O'Keefe, Madison Community Development Director, and Jaymes Langrehr, public information officer for the city of Madison. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A nurse's room and medical bed will be available at the men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive, though officials say it won’t be staffed full-time or ready upon opening.
Four individual bed and shower rooms will provide a temporary recovery space for homeless individuals returning from medical procedures at the new men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive.
400 tons of White Southern pine beams comprise a significant part of the structure of the new men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A bed bug furnace room offers sanitation option for the belongings of incoming residents of the new men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A walk-in fridge and freezer are expected to reduce the cost of food supplied to shelter residents by cutting down on the number of fresh and frozen food orders needed to stay supplied.
A new commercial-grade kitchen is readied for the opening of the new men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A restroom and shower area at the new men's homeless shelter on Bartillon Drive is readied for men of the city's homeless community in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Karla Thennes, executive director of Porchlight, Inc., views a storage locker room at the organization’s Men’s Emergency Shelter for the homeless on Zeier Road in Madison, Wis. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
