The University of Wisconsin-Madison emptied its dorms in March 2020, instructing students to hunker down at home.
Freshman Isaac Wells-Cage didn’t have a home to go to. His mom was in the hospital, his dad was out of the picture, so he shared an apartment with a friend.
While in some ways, his pandemic experience was similar to classmates — he listened to lectures from bed and had swabs stuck up his nose for required COVID testing — he weathered things differently because of all he had already been through.
“Those experiences, they’re definitely monumental and they matter,” Wells-Cage said. “But in comparison to what I’ve experienced in life, it’s just, like, another day.”
His mother struggled with schizophrenia, so he lived in a foster home from ages 4 to 8. When he moved back with his mom, their living situation was always temporary: sometimes an apartment, sometimes a group home or homeless shelter. Wells-Cage grew up in a slice of northwestern Milwaukee where 95% of residents are Black. It’s a place that’s been subjected to decades of redlining and systemic racism, where two-thirds of the children live in poverty and the reputation as one of the country’s most incarcerated ZIP codes has stuck for years.