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About Urban Triage

Welcome to Urban Triage

Empowering Black communities through education, advocacy, and transformative support for lasting change.

Sign on a brick building reading 'Urban Triage' with a colorful bird logo, partially obscured by green leaves.

Transforming Lives Through Community Support

At Urban Triage, we focus on uplifting Black families and vulnerable populations through comprehensive programs. Our initiatives are designed to foster resilience, trust, and social capital within the community. We believe in meeting individuals where they are, ensuring equitable access to resources and support.

Mission

Urban Triage transforms culture, institutions, and communities to ensure a humane future.

Vision

A world where everyone has the freedom, resources, and support to heal and self-actualize.

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We have saved so many families from being evicted or being on the streets or just provide things that they need for their kids. My heart is in this job, my heart is with Urban Triage.

KIMI WALLER

Program Administrator

Our Pillars

Core Values That Drive Our Mission

At Urban Triage, our values shape our approach to community empowerment. We believe in the strength of collaboration, education, and advocacy to create lasting change.

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Centering Blackness

For Us. By Us. We employ the people we serve and are dedicated to meeting people where they are with kindness and non-judgment to strengthen and heal Black and other vulnerable people.

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Integrity

We are committed to being our word and honoring our word. We are unapologetic in naming and addressing issues that impact Black and other vulnerable people.

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Transformational Education

We provide educational programming to facilitate trauma recovery and self-actualization.

Mother with dreadlocks playfully touching her toddler daughter's nose, who wears a colorful headband and blue dress.Two women in aprons serving food at an outdoor buffet, one smiling while holding a bottle and the other focused on a plate.Close-up of a woman with braided hair wearing large glasses, hoop earrings, and a striped top under a white jacket.Two men sitting closely and engaged in a serious conversation, one wearing a black and beige plaid jacket and a cap, the other in a light denim jacket with glasses.Four women wearing matching red shirts and ID badges stand together outdoors, smiling at the camera.
Two women in aprons serving food at an outdoor buffet, one smiling while holding a bottle and the other focused on a plate.

Community Collaboration

We center cooperation and build relationships to meet the needs of Black and other vulnerable people and demonstrate respect for clients, community, and partners.

Two men sitting closely and engaged in a serious conversation, one wearing a black and beige plaid jacket and a cap, the other in a light denim jacket with glasses.

Responsiveness

We shift and adjust as necessary to center the needs of Black people.

From Protest to Power

Urban Triage: A Revolutionary Legacy

Urban Triage was born from the streets. Its roots trace back to 2014 when Madison rose in protest after the killing of Mike Brown. Co-founder Brandi Grayson helped lead the Young, Gifted & Black Coalition, a movement that forced Wisconsin to confront systemic racism head-on.

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Historic Firsts

Urban Triage is the first Black-led organization in Wisconsin’s history to secure multi-million-dollar government contracts, breaking open doors long shut to Black leadership.

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Radical Commitment. Real Change

Out of this fire, in 2019, Urban Triage, Inc. emerged, not as a service provider alone, but as a radical, Black-led institution committed to liberation, healing, and transformation.

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Connecting Housing, Wellness, and Opportunity in One Program

It is also the first organization in the Midwest to design and deliver a truly holistic wrap-around model, connecting housing, agriculture, entrepreneurship, business resources, mental wellness, and personal and professional development into a single continuum of care.

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Radical Innovation in Action

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Housing Justice

Since 2020, Urban Triage has administered over $30 million in rental and utility assistance, stabilized thousands of families, and reshaped Dane County’s housing landscape. They became the County’s partner for Housing Navigation, ensuring the most vulnerable find not just shelter, but pathways to permanence.

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Youth Liberation

previously through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, and currently via the Youth Homeless System Improvement Initiative, and the Emerging Adults Transitional Home, Urban Triage reimagines what it means for young people to exit foster care or homelessness, centering healing, leadership, and self-determination.

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Black Agriculture & Entrepreneurship

With Supporting Healthy Black Agriculture, hemp specialty crops, and entrepreneurship workgroups, Urban Triage heals historical wounds while building new Black futures—where farming, business ownership, and innovation are tools of liberation.

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Transformational Education

The organization’s psycho-educational workgroups (SHBF, SHY, SHBA) provide parents, youth, and families with the skills, confidence, and resources to break cycles of poverty, trauma, and systemic oppression.

Revolutionary Impact

Urban Triage is not charity, it is revolution. It stands as a beacon of what’s possible when Black leadership is trusted, resourced, and unleashed. Its approach is trauma-informed, Afrocentric, and unapologetically bold:

Transforming government systems through accountability and innovation.

Cultivating self-sufficiency while dismantling barriers.

Proving that radical love and radical policy can coexist.

The Future of Liberation in Wisconsin

From 2014’s grassroots protests to 2025’s groundbreaking housing, agriculture, and youth programs, Urban Triage is reshaping the Midwest’s nonprofit landscape. It is a reminder that Black survival is innovation, that Black leadership is revolutionary, and that the future of justice is already being written, right here, in Madison, Wisconsin.

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Join Us in Making Change

Your support empowers vulnerable families in our community.

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