Santas Without Chimneys works with schools and social service agencies to serve children and teens in the Madison, WI area who are experiencing homelessness:

  • living in a car, park, campground, abandoned building, or similar accommodation.
  • temporarily living in a motel/hotel or temporarily "doubled-up" due to loss of housing or similar reasons.

Although we recognize that many other forms of hardship exist, we are unfortunately unable to enroll families who have had housing during the entirety of the current school year.

Please note: those who do not celebrate Christmas and/or do not have a "Santa" tradition are still welcome. We will work with you to make your experience a good one!

In addition to families, we also serve minors living alone not in the physical care of a parent or guardian ("unaccompanied youth"), including LGBTQIA+ youth. We realize these youth may not be interested in toys or a visit from Santa (or maybe also yes!), and encourage them to make whatever requests will most improve their lives.

Familes and unaccompanied youth attending public school in Madison, Sun Prairie, Monona-Grove, Middleton-Cross Plains, Verona, or Cambridge districts should contact their school social worker regarding eligibility. Those outside of these districts or otherwise not attending school should e-mail us at swc@santaswithoutchimneys.org with a brief statement of eligibility and we will follow up.

Our service area corresponds approximately to the school districts serving Dane County, Wisconsin.

Map showing Dane County school districts; visible district names include Sauk Prairie, Lodi, Columbus, Wisconsin Heights, Middleton-Cross Plains Area, Waunakee, DeForest, Sun Prairie Area, Marshall, Mount Horeb, Verona Area, Madison Metropolitan, McFarland, Monona Grove, Deerfield Community, Belleville, Oregon, Stoughton Area, Cambridge, and Edgerton

If you are a social services provider interested in making referrals, please contact swc@santaswithoutchimneys.org.