Goodman Community Center

We strengthen lives and secure futures – with your help!

“In these trying times, we really appreciate all the help our community is getting from Goodman. Y'all have always been there!”

The Goodman Center has been here for our community for nearly 70 years, and with you in our corner, we'll be around for another 70 (and then some!). We serve people ages 3 to 103 with our children and youth programs, older adult activities and meals, food pantry, fitness center, event spaces and more. Take a look around and see what we're all about, and then get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.

Letesha Nelson smiles with a group of Goodman Center preschool students.

ilana natasha photography

Be the Good, Madison

We need goodness now more than ever. Join us as we spread kindness throughout our community. #BeTheGoodMSN

Learn More & Share Your Story

Older Adults

Check out what's happening with our Older Adult Program.

Food Pantry

Our pantry is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Children & Teens

Learn more about summer at the Goodman Center for kids ages 3-19.

Eastside News Cover Story

Preschool students smile for the camera. In front of them are plates of delicious food prepared by the Goodman Center program kitchen.

Be the Good: Goodman is an Oasis of Kindness

Incivility is a choice. At Goodman, we'll always choose to be an oasis of kindness in the community.

Can we agree it’s a little rough out there? I know it’s not just my imagination. I think we’re seeing our national culture become numb to acts of rudeness and some people seem to be embracing incivility.

Weeks ago, when we had those warm sunny days, I went for a walk and listened to a Hidden Brain podcast. The topic? How rudeness affects us.

And I gotta tell you — they dished up some sobering facts. Shankar Vedantam, the velvet-voiced host of Hidden Brain, interviewed Christine Porath, a behavioral scientist who researches how incivility impacts us.

It does a number on us.

Incivility can hijack your emotions. When someone is rude, your brain becomes flooded with emotions and that makes it hard to process things. Porath refers to it as “the storm inside your brain.” I’ve felt that. Who hasn’t?