“It’s funny. I work around Pokémon cards, Dungeons & Dragons, and a bunch of people decoding messages I still don’t fully understand.”
Most days, Katie spends her time leading teams, managing quotas, and keeping operations moving at the distribution company where she works. Around her are stacks of trading cards, toys, and collectibles. But what she notices most are the small moments that remind her why stability matters. Sometimes it’s bringing home leftover Barbies for her daughter, Mya. Other times, it’s advocating for extra toys at the end of the year to be donated to nonprofits supporting children and families.
For Katie, giving back has become personal.
Long before housing instability entered her life, Katie always had a plan. She was ambitious, career-focused, and determined to build a life she could be proud of.
Even after being incarcerated and working to rebuild her life afterward, Katie stayed focused on moving forward. Reconnecting with her husband and daughter became her priority. Together, they found work, rebuilt routines, and slowly started feeling hopeful again. For a while, it felt like life was finally settling into place.
But when Katie’s in-laws experienced serious injuries, everything shifted. Katie and her husband moved into her mother-in-law’s home to help care for her, leaving behind their apartment with unpaid rent they could no longer keep up with. The nonpayment balance followed them, making it nearly impossible to secure housing again.
For Katie, the experience was deeply frustrating because it was unfamiliar.
“I’ve always been someone who could figure things out,” she says. “Housing was the one thing I suddenly couldn’t fix, no matter how hard I worked.”
Application after application ended in denial. Despite both Katie and her husband working hard to rebuild their lives, the barriers kept stacking up. Eventually, they decided to leave for Madison in hopes of finding a fresh start somewhere new. But starting over came with risk, and after so many rejections, Katie admits she was beginning to lose hope.
Things became even more difficult when both she and her husband lost their jobs trying to balance getting Maya to school everyday, looking for resources and demanding jobs. With nowhere else to go, the family stayed in a hotel trying to stretch every remaining dollar while still making sure Mya got to school each day.
“We only had one more night left at the hotel,” Katie recalls. “At that point, we were just calling everyone we could think of, trying to find any kind of help.”
Desperate for resources, Katie got connected to shelter services and learned about a new housing program. At first, it seemed like history would repeat itself. Like the many apartment applications before, she thought the answer would again be no.
But this time, something changed. Katie was accepted into the program and connected to additional support through agencies that helped cover the nonpayment balance and security deposit needed to secure housing.
“Thirteen days after getting to Madison, we got an apartment,” Katie says.
Even after finally receiving housing, the stress did not disappear overnight. Rent was still overwhelming, transportation was difficult, and every day carried the pressure of trying to stay afloat while rebuilding from the ground up. Katie remembers feeling grateful and exhausted all at once.
“We were so happy. But we had signed a $1,600 lease while making $16 an hour.”
Through YWCA Madison’s Rapid Rehousing program and connections to The Road Home Dane County, Katie received rent assistance, case management, and help accessing resources for her family. Mya was connected to afterschool care, clothing support, and transportation assistance, helping create the stability Katie had been fighting for all along.
Today, Katie is back doing what she has always done best: leading, problem-solving, and building a future for her family. At the distribution company where she now works, she has found more than a steady job. She has found stability again; something that once felt out of reach.
And in the rhythm of warehouse days, conversations about games she still doesn’t fully understand, and setting aside extra toys for children who might need them, Katie reflects on how far she has come.
“What I can say is this program was able to give me my dignity back,” she says.
For Katie, that dignity wasn’t just about having a roof over her head; it was about being able to ask for help without shame, and rebuild without feeling judged.
“It allowed me to do something for myself and not be judged for saying, you know what, I can’t do it, I need help,” she adds.
And in that space, between starting over and standing steady, Katie found something she had been fighting for all along: the chance to rebuild her life on her own terms, for herself and for her family.