A safe home and a supported path toward the future — since 1964

Leaving an inpatient hospital setting should mean returning to a safe home, with support to rebuild everyday life. For women living with serious and persistent mental illness, that path is not always available. Women in Transition began in 1964 with Dane County as a founding partner to address this gap: helping women move from hospitalization into community life rather than homelessness.

WIT's approach recognizes that housing and recovery belong together — and that women need care attentive to their particular experiences, including, for some, trauma and abuse. Its women-only setting offers a place to find safety, build trust, and work toward greater independence. Through the Halfway House, a Community-Based Residential Facility with 24-hour staffing, and Corner House supported apartments, WIT provides a continuum of care that bridges hospitalization and more independent housing.

Over more than six decades, WIT has helped hundreds of women establish routines, develop everyday skills, strengthen relationships, and find belonging in Madison and Dane County. Progress takes different forms for each woman. WIT provides stability and individualized support as residents prepare for their next home and the greatest independence possible.

Dane County's longstanding partnership has sustained this work, providing nearly all of WIT's operating support since at least the early 1990s. More recently, WIT has begun broadening its network of public and private support to carry this community commitment forward: ensuring that women with specialized mental health needs have a safe home and a supported path toward the future.