Urban Triage will host an interactive display in Capitol Square on March 3 to help the community understand the pressures and realities of those who experience homelessness.
“Seen and Unseen” is a four-point walking tour to give an in-depth experience on the unrealized struggles of those impacted by homelessness. Urban Triage hopes to change the narrative of many looking away from the issues the unhoused face. The effort is part of The Big Share 2026, where currently 82 nonprofits ask communities across Wisconsin to donate to local causes.
“We’re hoping to take the community on a journey, an emotional, visual journey of what people who are homeless have to go through,” said Brandi Grayson, CEO of Urban Triage. “What we read on social media and the narratives on people who are vulnerable, regardless of the intersection they lie in, is often expressed very superficially.”
People are often taught to turn a blind eye to the reality of homelessness, Grayson said. Urban Triage hopes to fight what has been taught through “Seen and Unseen.”
“Seen and Unseen” will have four stops around Capitol Square. Each stop will be interactive and hone in on what unhoused people are struggling with.
The first is titled “The Fallout.” In the first stop, it will show how people often end up homeless. Urban Triage wants people to realize that homelessness is just one emergency away from not being able to pay their rent or mortgage. It will have a concrete bed with volunteers sleeping outside during the day for the installation.
The second is “The Maze.” It will showcase, via a maze, how systems are hard to navigate and the frustration it leaves many who are frequently bounced between organizations.
The third is called “The Criminal.” Its purpose is to show how the unhoused are often criminalized within our communities. Volunteers will be handcuffed to city benches with information on the percentage of both the people in the community and nationally who have been arrested for things like sleeping on benches or setting up encampments.
The final installation is “The Comeup.” This installation will show what possibilities are achievable when organizations — like Urban Triage — are able to help fill in the gaps for those experiencing homelessness.
“We really want to also talk about not just the fallout of how people become homeless, but the essential people in our community, our society that you interact with every day,” said Alex Lindenmeyer, development manager at Urban Triage. “It’s the server at your favorite restaurant, it’s the CNA in the hospital taking care of your mom, it’s the janitor at your kids’ school… It’s all these people that make our society go around.”
Grayson wants “Seen and Unseen” to be something you can’t look away from. She hopes that it will illuminate opportunities and privileges often taken for granted.
“I think it’s really easy for us to look away because we don’t have to exist in that space and we have the privilege not to exist in that space,” Grayson said. “Until it sits in front of you, it’s almost like it doesn’t exist.”
“Seen and Unseen” will also feature a round of speakers before the tour kicks off. Speakers planned are Porchlight’s men’s shelter manager Fares Fares, Madison alders Sabrina Madison and Carmella Glenn, Wisconsin State Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong and Grayson.
Urban Triage is looking for volunteers to help build for Seen and Unseen on Feb. 6 from 1-5 p.m. at its office, 2312 South Park St. Interested volunteers only need to show up; no registration is required.
Seen and Unseen will be held March 3, starting at noon near Graze Restaurant, 1 S. Pinckney St.
