“I knew Darlene ‘Big Momma’ Horner really well. She was tough on me, to be honest,” laughs Johnny Winston Jr. “I have nothing but fond memories of Darlene, but she was really tough. I think the reason why she was so tough was that she really cared deeply and passionately about the residents of Vera Court and she didn’t, as they say, take any mess. She wanted good things to happen for the children in the neighborhood. She wanted programs for adults and for seniors and for kids. She wanted good people on the staff that cared about the community. She was an amazing woman.”
Horner passed away last night at Agrace Center for Hospice, but her legacy and memory live on not only on Madison’s north side, but throughout the city of Madison.
“She truly led by example. The only thing she ever asked was that others do more to get involved their neighborhood,” says Mayor Paul Soglin in a statement today. “Her spirit was with us last week as we broke ground for the expansion of the Vera Court Neighborhood Center, and will remain with the neighborhood as others dedicate themselves to the work she inspired.”
“As someone who grew up on the north side and worked at the Vera Court Community Center, Darlene was the mother to everyone, especially the children,” remembers Madison365 CEO and Publisher Henry Sanders Jr. “If we needed food, she fed us. If we needed guidance, she would give it. If we just needed love, she would provide it freely. She will be missed … a true Madison treasure.”
Before Johnny Winston Jr. became a well-known firefighter, lieutenant, school board member, and community activist, he was the Director of the Vera Court Neighborhood Center for about two and half years from 1994-1996.
“Vera Court, at one time, was one of Madison’s worst neighborhoods. It had a lot of challenges, a lot of crime, a lot of drugs. Even some murder,” Winston remembers. “What happened is that the future of Madison – a group of CEOs and investors went in and bought up the majority of housing in the neighborhood … but before they could do all that, they had to talk to one person … and that was Darlene ‘Big Momma’ Horner.”
(Picture by Northside News)
After the completion of the Northport-Warner Park-Sherman Neighborhood Plan in 1992, Vera Court residents worked with the City of Madison and other stakeholders in the acquisition and management of the multifamily area comprising Vera Court. A neighborhood center focusing on education, job training and recreation programming was started that helped pull the tight-knit community together.
“Darlene Horner was the driving force. The police department, the Future Madison housing, the Veridian Housing, the neighborhood center – they all helped clean up the neighborhood,” Winston adds, “but Big Momma was the glue that made all those things happen.”
Winston says that Horner was very instrumental in not only his own growth but of the Vera Court neighborhood center. “She was very much a big part of the neighborhood and always helping people and helping families whether it be food needs or shelter needs, emotional support,” he says. “She was the center before the center got built.”
For many years, Horner was the president of the Vera Court Neighborhood Association. “She was the president, the emperor, the queen… she was all of that,” Winston laughs. “She added some credibility to the needs of the neighborhood. Whether it was the police department, Dane County Human Services, or the MMSD, they knew the way to do positive work in Vera Court was through Darlene Horner.
“If there was social media and Facebook in the early ‘90s, she would have been all over it doing all of the good things that she is doing,” Winston adds. “She was [Boys and Girls Club CEO] Michael Johnson before Michael Johnson. In terms of somebody doing some really dynamic things and making positive things happen in a neighborhood, she would be on the Madison Mount Rushmore, for sure.”
