One Day at a Time

Bishop Donald Hying visits 5 Door Recovery, where the work of restoring lives happens in the quietest possible posture.

When Bishop Donald Hying arrived at 5 Door Recovery, the clients were in the middle of an exercise therapy class. The class paused to visit with him, and the Bishop sat down on the floor with them to talk.

When visiting the programs of Catholic Charities of Madison, the Bishop comes to listen, to meet the people doing the work, and to sit with the people being served. At 5 Door Recovery, that meant a conversation that started on the floor of an exercise class and continued through the rest of the visit.

5 Door Recovery is a 20-bed residential treatment facility in Madison for adults working through severe substance use disorders. Each client typically stays about 30 days, working through one of the hardest seasons of their lives. This year, 45 clients have successfully completed the program through the end of April. 5 Door is one of the few recovery programs in Wisconsin that accepts BadgerCare/Medicaid, which, for many clients, is the difference between getting treatment and going without.

What the Bishop encountered that day was a program that takes the dignity of every client as the starting point for our work. Staff who treat clients with respect. Clients who are present to one another. A culture built around the conviction that the person walking through the door matters.

5 Door Recovery is part of the Restoring Lives work of Catholic Charities of Madison, alongside The Beacon Day Resource Center in downtown Madison. Together, these two programs served 3,031 people in 2025. Across more than a dozen programs in 11 counties, Catholic Charities of Madison served 18,003 people in 2025.

The work at 5 Door happens one conversation at a time. Bishop Hying’s visit was an opportunity to see that work up close.

Something to Think About

When was the last time you set aside what you came to do and joined someone where they were?