By Lane Thompson
Kennedy Heights Community Center
This quarter has been one of meaningful progress at Kennedy Heights Community Center.
We are excited to share that we have secured enough funding to purchase a new accessible van. This vehicle will support seniors, adults with disabilities, and residents who need mobility assistance. Reliable transportation is not a luxury — it is access to medical appointments, community programming, food resources and connection.
We hope that, when the van is not in use, we will be able to share it with other service providers to strengthen collaboration across our neighborhood.
At the same time, we continue working toward another important transportation goal.
Our youth programs rely on nearly 20-year-old vans to transport participants to Dane County parks, state parks, swimming lessons, enrichment activities and educational experiences across Madison. These opportunities expand horizons and build confidence, but they depend on safe, reliable vehicles.
As summer camp approaches — one of our busiest and most joyful seasons — our vans are used daily to ensure youth can explore nature, build life skills and experience opportunities beyond their immediate surroundings. Safe, dependable transportation makes those experiences possible.
We recently participated in The Big Share through Community Shares of Wisconsin campaign with a goal of raising $60,000 to purchase newer vans for our youth programs. While we may not reach that goal immediately, the community support we have received so far is deeply encouraging. Every contribution moves us closer to ensuring that transportation is never a barrier to opportunity or safety.
If you would like to support our transportation campaign, learn more about summer programming, or explore ways to get involved, we welcome you to connect with us at khcommunitycenter.org.
We are grateful for the neighbors, partners and supporters who continue to invest in Kennedy Heights. Progress does not always happen all at once; sometimes it happens step by step, together.
