SOAR Madison

As Su***de Prevention Month concludes, we’re excited to share that Solstice House Peer Respite has been awarded a multi-year grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to support our Peer Services division!

This funding will help sustain and strengthen Solstice House through 2031, supporting our mission to remain a regional and community hub for non-carceral, community-based crisis alternatives.

Because having more options matters.

Peer-run respite offers people in crisis a supportive place to go when life feels overwhelming, one grounded in choice, autonomy, connection, and shared lived experience.

We’re grateful to Wisconsin DHS for continuing to invest in Madison’s only peer-run respite and helping make this work possible.

Want to support Solstice House? Donations help us provide the everyday things that make the house welcoming and accessible to guests, like supplies, furnishings, and activities to engage with.

Support Solstice House: https://soarmadison.org/support-us/

Thank you for supporting peer-led, community-based alternatives for people in crisis.

People need community, not just crisis intervention.

At SOAR, we cultivate a community of care in how we approach our work.

Our peer services create opportunities for connection, shared lived experience, and support that centers each person’s voice, choices, and autonomy.

At Solstice House, that might look like talking one-on-one with a peer, making art, playing a game, riding bikes, gathering around a bonfire, attending a peer-led group, or simply having a place to be with people who understand.

Connection. Conversation. Community.

These things may seem simple. But having people around you, having somewhere to go, and having opportunities to do things that bring meaning or connection can matter, especially during difficult times.

Community care means supporting people before, during, and after a crisis.

It means building relationships and spaces where people don't have to navigate life alone.

That's part of su***de prevention, too.

***dePrevention

What if su***de prevention meant building a culture of care—not just responding to crisis?

Modern peer support has roots in grassroots movements of ex-consumers/ex-patients and psychiatric survivors, alongside broader traditions of mutual aid, self-help, disability rights, and community organizing.

These trailblazers challenged systems that responded to emotional and mental distress with isolation, institutionalization, and coercion, and built alternatives rooted in connection, choice, and lived experience.

They showed us something important:

People need community before they reach a crisis point, not just intervention once they do.

That means making space to talk about difficult experiences, like having suicidal thoughts, without immediately pathologizing them.

Because having suicidal thoughts and being in a crisis aren’t always the same thing.

Community care creates more opportunities for:

• Connection
• Being seen and heard without judgment
• Support rooted in lived experience
• Voice, choice & autonomy
• Non-carceral, community-based crisis alternatives

At SOAR, we believe community care is su***de prevention.

And when crisis happens, people deserve options that honor their dignity and autonomy.

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Join us at SOAR for a fall community resource fair focused on health, support, and connection.

Stop by to learn about:
• Free health and safety resources
• Peer support and non-carceral crisis alternatives
• Local community resources and services
• Support available through SOAR and our community partners

Event details:
Friday, October 2
10-1 PM
SOAR Main Office, 4513 Milwaukee St., Madison

No registration required. Stop by and connect with us.

Know someone who could benefit from these resources? Share this post with them!

If people deserve options when in crisis, they also deserve to know what those options involve.

988 has become a major part of the crisis response system, but questions remain about whether its implementation was truly trauma-informed and grounded in informed choice.

In their thought-provoking op-ed for Medium, mental health advocate, activist, and Intentional Peer Support trainer Vic Welle asks us to consider:

What does safety look like when people don’t know what might happen after they reach out?

Trauma-informed crisis support means:
- Informed consent
- Voice & choice
- Collaboration
- Lived experience
- Meaningful alternatives

Calling 988 is an option. But informed choice means knowing there are others, too.

Peer support. Warmlines. Peer respite. Community-based crisis alternatives. Trusted people who uphold the value of connection over isolation.
People with lived experience who believe in support that centers YOU.

This Su***de Prevention Month, let’s keep expanding the conversation about what safe, voluntary, person-centered crisis support can look like.

Read Vic Welle’s perspective on 988: https://medium.com//why-i-wont-yet-recommend-988-as-a-crisis-and-su***de-prevention-resource-e6de74f30421

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Why I Won’t (Yet) Recommend 988 as a Crisis and Su***de Prevention Resource A lot of people might be surprised to hear that I am not recommending 988, the newly implemented “mental health 911” number, as a resource…

When you’re experiencing a crisis, 988 is an option. But it’s not the only one.

This Su***de Prevention Month, know the crisis supports available in your community and share them with others.

Our warmline at Solstice House Peer Respite offers peer support, connection, and a space to talk things through.

Remember: crisis support without police is possible.
More options mean more ways to find support that centers YOU.

***dePreventionMonth

SOAR continues to grow, and we're hiring for TWO positions on our Community-Based Services team! 💜

Explore both opportunities + apply at soarmadison.org/employment.

Not job searching? Share this post or send it to someone who should see it.

Some information regarding tonight’s candlelight vigil and community gathering for Corey Ruiz ✊🏻🕯️