1/22/06 Urban Ministry Loses Its 'genius' To Retirement

The proudest moment in Mary Kay Baum's eight-year tenure as executive director of Madison-area Urban Ministry came just this past week, she said.

Baum, who is retiring from the leadership position due to health problems, learned Wednesday that Dane County will get nearly $100,000 in new federal money to help former prisoners find jobs.

Some of the money will pay for an employment counselor for offenders -- Baum's longtime goal. The nonprofit organization, known by its acronym, MUM, led the initiative to get the federal money, and, under Baum's leadership, has made the rehabilitation of parolees a defining focus.

"It was definitely Mary Kay's initiative to serve this group in Madison, and she has gone about it in a genius way," said Sheila Spear, president of MUM's board of directors.

Baum, a longtime community activist and former elected official, will be honored this afternoon during an open house at the organization's headquarters in Villager Mall. She will retain the title of executive director through February but has been on sick leave since early January. The board hopes to have her successor on board by March 1.

Baum said she was diagnosed in 2001 with vascular disease, a blood vessel disorder that hampers the flow of oxygen to the brain and can lead to dementia. Both her mother and aunt suffered from vascular disease and, later, dementia.

Baum noticed a mild inability to find certain words that has increased over time, and she said she occasionally loses her train of thought. She has been dealing with fatigue and depression, both of which could be side effects of medication to prevent seizures or strokes, she said. The symptoms make it difficult to work full time at a demanding, stressful job, she said.

"I don't feel I can be as good of a manager as I was eight years ago, or even a few years ago."

By taking medication, including anti-inflammatory herbs, and focusing on nutrition, rest and exercise, Baum thinks she has halted or at least significantly slowed the disease's progression. "With these measures, I will be myself much longer," she said.

She is hopeful that life holds many more new experiences for her. When she became MUM's executive director in 1998, she expected to stay just three to five years, then take a ministerial position at a church. (She is an ordained Lutheran minister.) A part-time pastoral position still appeals to her down the road, she said.

She also plans to keep volunteering for some of the programs she helped develop at MUM, such as a mentoring program for children with incarcerated parents and a simulation program in which community members walk in the shoes of new parolees.

MUM is an interfaith social action organization supported by roughly 50 local congregations. It has five full-time and three part-time employees and a budget of about $350,000. MUM has spun off other service organizations over 30-plus years, including Transitional Housing Inc. (now Porchlight) and the Madison Community Health Center.

Spear credits Baum with successfully continuing the anti-poverty and anti-racism programs of her predecessor, Chuck Pfeifer, while expanding into new areas such as prisoner rehabilitation.

"She engages with people with a wonderful spiritual sense, yet at the same time she has a good, clear vision of what needs to be done," Spear said.

Baum said she concluded many years ago that communities were no safer by ignoring people released from prison. She said she has been surprised and heartened by people's willingness to learn about the needs of offenders and to help them start anew.

"The work has been much more emotional and vital than I ever expected," she said.

The Rev. Gregory Armstrong, pastor of SS Morris African Methodist Episcopal Church, 3511 Milwaukee St., said Baum has an amazing passion for helping people on society's margins and a wonderful ability to see beyond the labels such as "homeless" or "ex-prisoner."

"Her departure is going to be a great loss," he said.

Mary Kay Baum

Position: Retiring executive director of Madison-area Urban Ministry (Sept. 1998-Feb. 2006).

Age: 58.

Personal: Husband, George Swamp, social worker at Madison's Lincoln Elementary School; two children, Dawn, 29, and Jake, 17.

Education: Bachelor's degree and law degree, UW-Madison; master's of divinity degree, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.

Background: Former nun; served two terms on the Dane County Board of Supervisors (1970-74) and two terms on the Madison School Board (1985-91); won 1987 mayoral primary and became first female to make it to the general election, then lost to incumbent Joseph Sensenbrenner; court commissioner for Wisconsin District 7 (1979-92).

If you go

What: Open house for Mary Kay Baum, retiring executive director of Madison-area Urban Ministry.

When: 2 to 5 p.m. today, with remarks at 3:30 p.m.

Where: Villager Mall atrium, 2300 S. Park St.