Someone You  Should Know:  Suzanne Alexander

By Diana Henry

It’s a Tuesday morning at 8:30. Suzanne Alexander sits down in her chair at Bethel Lutheran Church in downtown Madison, book in hand, and gets the discussion started by naming everyone who’s joined her.

Seated in a circle, many faces are familiar to her while some are new to the group. Alexander then asks who would like to start, and the group’s book club—made up of homeless residents of Madison—begins its weekly meeting. It’s a room of strangers, each with their own stories of how they got here, bonded by the simple act of reading a book.

The idea began when Alexander wanted to reach out to Madison’s homeless. While she couldn’t give them a home, she could give them a community—and when pastors at Bethel Lutheran pointed Alexander to other homeless book clubs around the country, she recognized an opportunity to create a different kind of change locally.

“It’s much harder to approach someone on the street you don’t know,” says Alexander. “But you come into this setting and you have a book in common.”

The group of about 20, mostly men, reads a different book every five weeks. Their current tome is “Tiger Force,” a book based on true events during the Vietnam War. Donations pay for the books, new or used, and the members spread the word about the book club around area shelters.

The book club members are all homeless for varying reasons. Some are well educated, like a gentleman named Jeremy, who  Alexander says is a veteran with a genius-range IQ.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” says Tom Hennelly, echoing that sentiment. Hennelly moved to Madison last fall looking for a new start after he lost his job in Chicago.

“I’m a high school graduate,” says Hennelly. “I spent three years in college.” Hennelly says he sees a future in Madison, and looks forward to Tuesday mornings.

“You can speak out and say whatever is on your mind,” says Hennelly. “Sometimes it’s about the book, sometimes we talk about society, sometimes we talk about politics.”

The group even video conferences with authors when they have the chance.

“Our first one was with Garth Stein, the author of ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain,’” says Alexander. “Which was really popular with our group.”

Other authors who have met with the club via Skype include the acclaimed Wisconsinite Michael Perry and one of the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of the club’s current book, Michael Sallah.

Hennelly says the book club wouldn’t be the same without Alexander leading the way.

“She’s the main force behind this thing,” said Hennelly. “She has a big heart.”

“I think they really enjoy being treated with the dignity and  respect we aim to show them,” says Alexander.

That’s just what the club is about. Not to solve the bigger issues, but to provide a place to gather and share, even if for just a short time each Tuesday. The roster of attendees changes week to week, but that’s the nature of the community she serves.

“People have been stabilizing their lives slowly, moving into housing, finding some regularity and a pattern and a community to connect with,” Alexander adds. “I love being a part of that and I’d love to see that continue to grow.”

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Diana Henry is news anchor for WKOW-27. Join her April 14 at  10 p.m. for “Someone You Should Know” featuring Alexander.

For more information, visit streetsofmadison.blogspot.com.

Photos by Brittney Scharine