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April 8th Assembly: Fair Play campaign briefing | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Common Ground
April 11, 2014
At the Assembly we will be welcoming new member organizations and electing new leaders for the Common Ground Strategy Team. We will also give updates on the Friends of Common Ground campaign; the Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative; Milwaukee Rising and our Suburban Organizing.
The Assembly will strengthen our Fair Play campaign. We will have 500 Delegates who will send a message to the powerful business leaders pushing a New Bucks Arena (NBA). We will be taking commitments to bring 1,000 people to a Fair Play Assembly on Sunday afternoon, October 19th.
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Here are the “politics” of this campaign. Tim Sheehy, President of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) is leading a bi-partisan effort to possibly increase taxes in order to fund the construction of a New Bucks Arena (NBA). Even though Herb Kohl is expected to make a significant gift for the new Arena, he will not pay for the entire project expected to cost $400 – $500 million. It is significant to note that Herb Kohl purchased the Bucks in 1985 for $18 million and the team is now estimated to be worth $500 million.
It is clear to Common Ground Fair Play leaders that the Cultural and Entertainment Capital Needs Task Force on which we serve is not the “power table” where decisions will be made on the financing mechanism for a New Bucks Arena (NBA). The task force sees itself as a “pace car”. It is also clear that there will be an effort to include facilities beyond the New Bucks Arena (NBA) as beneficiaries of a potential non-partisan tax increase. We want Fair Play to be one of those entities.
In order to move Common Ground closer to the “power table” we need to show our commitment to leveraging $150-250 million dollars for MKE county children to the people who will make the decision about what projects will be included in the potential non-partisan tax increase. Research from Common Ground’s Fair Play Campaign demonstrates that $150- 250 million is needed to bring outdoor recreational facilities in Milwaukee County up to excellent facility standards.
On April 8th we will be asking 500 Delegates to take our position a step further by voting on this motion being presented by the Fair Play Team and the Strategy Team:
MOTION
COMMON GROUND WILL SUPPORT PUBLIC FUNDING FOR A NEW BUCKS ARENA IF THERE IS A $150 – $250 MILLION INVESTMENT IN FAIR PLAY.
COMMON GROUND WILL OPPOSE PUBLIC FUNDING FOR A NEW BUCKS ARENA IF A $150 – $250 MILLION INVESTMENT IN FAIR PLAY IS NOT INCLUDED.
A representative from each member delegation will be asked in a roll call to tell us how many folks they brought tonight, their delegations Yes or No vote on the motion, and whether they will work to double their number of delegates for the October 19th Assembly. WE WILL ALSO ASK AT LEAST 50 DELEGATES TO ATTEND THE APRIL 16TH BUCKS GAME TO SHOW OUR COMMITMENT TO FAIR PLAY.

author: Common Ground


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 11, 2014

source: news-milwaukeenns

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Adam Carr


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Community opposition halts new liquor license for Harambee building | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
April 14, 2014
True Love Missionary Baptist Church is located across the street from the proposed tavern at 3478 N. 2nd St. in Harambee. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Community opposition tanked a liquor license for The Divas Zone, a proposed lounge at 3478 N. 2nd St. The City of Milwaukee Common Council License Committee denied the application.
The building, on the southeast corner of Keefe Avenue and 2nd Street, previously housed Club 2C and has been the site of a number of neighborhood disturbances, including altercations and weapons, as recently as September.
The license application by Parkers Hospitality LLC was opposed by residents and community organizations including Heartlove Place, Riverworks Development Corporation and the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative.
Chris Grandt, director of neighborhood development at Riverworks and a neighborhood resident, said his organization’s opposition isn’t new. “We’ve been battling this tavern, this location, for years.”
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Church attendees gather outside True Love Missionary Baptist, Sunday morning, across the street from 3478 N. 2nd. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
However, Grandt was quick to clarify that the issue wasn’t simply the nature of the establishment. “We’re not against bars,” he said. “We’ve never been against The Fox [Nite Club on Keefe] and we’ve supported Ret Lounge on Holton Street. Wisconsin has a long history of tavern culture and that’s OK.”
Ruth Wilson, who lives adjacent to the building, expressed skepticism before the hearing that anything would change with new ownership. “I’m quite sure it’s going to be the same thing, once the summer gets here,” she said.
At a March 17 community meeting, residents filled a second floor classroom at Hope Christian School: Fortis,to discuss the license application. Concerns included limited parking and the building’s close proximity to True Love Missionary Baptist Church and a neighborhood daycare center.
Parkers Hospitality LLC partners Kelly Parker and Deon Glore attended the hearing and offered assurances that The Divas Zone would provide a more acceptable atmosphere and clientele.
Parker said she understands the community’s apprehension. “The way the previous owner had it, you know, I understand the concerns… I’m willing to work with the community as much as possible to make sure everything is safe.”
Before the hearing, Parker said if she had known how strong the community response would be, the partners might not have pursued the 2nd Street location, which was attractive because of the affordable rent.  “I feel any establishment, no matter where the location, as long as it’s managed right, can be successful, she added.
Quinn McCullar, a member of True Love Baptist, said he believes that for a business to succeed at that location, it would take the right person as well as involvement and support from the community. “You can’t just put everything that happened with the other business owners on somebody else who’s coming in new; all you can do is just give them a chance.”
Grandt also didn’t dismiss the possibility of the location turning around but he said the community needs time. “All we know is there’s been a long history of nuisance activity… We need a break from it,” he said. “Maybe someone comes by in two years or something.”
What would it take for the location to be a positive influence in the community? David Bramlett, principal of the Hope School, said residents would need a concrete proposal. “It would take very detailed plans; very clear, detailed plans about how it can be a positive place. I think that’s what community members are looking for.”

author: Jabril Faraj


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 13, 2014


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Katie Sanders named Executive Director of Safe & Sound | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Safe & Sound
April 14, 2014
The Safe & Sound Board of Directors is pleased to announce Katie Sanders has been named Executive Director. Katie will lead the organization in its efforts to make Milwaukee’s neighborhoods safe places to live, work and raise families. She has been serving as Interim Executive Director since December 2013 and joined Safe & Sound in May 2013 as Development and Marketing Director
“Katie has demonstrated exceptional leadership since joining Safe & Sound and most recently in guiding the organization through a leadership transition. She’s talented, strategic and not afraid to ask the tough questions,” remarked Board Chair Kimberly Kane. “After an extensive search, we recognized Katie as the right candidate to lead Safe & Sound.”
Sanders replaces Barbara Notestein, who left in December after eleven years with the organization.
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“I am thrilled and honored to serve Safe & Sound in this capacity. Safe & Sound is doing incredible work to improve safety and quality of life in Milwaukee’s neighborhoods.” Sanders said. “This is an exciting time for us as we are engaged in a strategic planning process that will strengthen our ability to work with residents, youth and partners to build and sustain safe and vibrant communities in this wonderful city. I am delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to such an important mission.”
A Milwaukee native, Katie Sanders holds a master’s degree from the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also completed her bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations. Prior to joining Safe & Sound, Katie held positions with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, where she oversaw all institutional support, and most recently with Marquette University as director of corporate and foundation relations.
Founded in 1998, Safe & Sound is a nonprofit organization committed to the mission of reducing violent crime in Milwaukee communities and among youth by blending partnerships with law enforcement, community organizing, and youth development. Safe & Sound’s $2.1 million budget supports the Community Partners Program that bridges public and private stakeholders to bring solutions to neighborhood problems.  Safe & Sound also supports a Drug Free Community Coalition in Milwaukee’s 27 Street West Neighborhood. It is a strategic partner of the Wisconsin High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), the City of Milwaukee’s Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant in Washington Park, Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, and other efforts. The organization also supports a network of afterschool Safe Places throughout high crime, low-income neighborhoods in order to provide youth with positive development alternatives during the afterschool and summer hours when crime and violence are more likely to occur.

author: Safe & Sound


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College Possible students reflect on challenging freshman year | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
April 15, 2014
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee freshman Peter Khanthavong (left) studies with friend Kong Xiong in the Student Support Services offices. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Peter Khanthavong feels like so much has changed since this time last year. Then, he was excited about college but nervous about dorm life.
“I was worried about not meeting any people and staying secluded in my room, but that hasn’t happened at all,” Khanthavong said recently.
Khanthavong, Pa Nou Xiong, Darneisha Virginia and Nury Plascencia participated in College Possible’s two-year program during their high school years. They received coaching and support to get into college and continue to stay in touch with a College Possible coach.
There are not many things Khanthavong would change about his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, but if he had to do it over, he would opt to live in a double, rather than the single he signed up for at the end of last summer. He sees now that he would have preferred the companionship of a roommate.
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Nevertheless, Khanthavong has made friends through the university’s federally funded Student Support Services (SSS) program for low-income, first-generation and disabled students. The program’s staff, study space and social opportunities have given him a home base.
This semester, Khanthavong, whose mother is a devout Christian, also connected with the Inter-Varsity Christian fellowship group through friends who “dragged him” to one of the organization’s small group Bible study meetings. “After that, I continued going (weekly) because I enjoyed it,” he said. Now he’s participating in Inter-Varsity activities twice a week.
For Khanthavong, “meeting all these new people has been the best. It expanded my thoughts about things and really opened up my connections to different groups on campus.”
There have been challenges, though. The foremost of those is time management for both Khanthavong and Xiong, they said.
Pa Nou Xiong stands near the Haggerty Museum of Art on the Marquette University campus. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
“High school is a lot simpler,” said Xiong. “You do homework every night because it’s due the next day. You go through the same daily cycle and the pressure is constant.” But in college, “you have something due next week and then you have a big project due at the end of the semester and that’s it,” she explained. “You have to manage all that unstructured time and discipline yourself to work throughout the term.”
Xiong said her transition to college at Marquette University has been difficult. “I thought I would be living on campus. I’m not. I thought I would be on top of my studies. I’m not really. I’m actually falling behind more than I thought I would be. It’s been a lot harder than I thought it would be.”
Her decision to commute from home and save money for summer school has hurt her social life, she said. Living at home was one in a series of choices she made to position herself to enter Marquette’s physician assistant program in her senior year.
She would have preferred to enter the program as a junior and finish a year earlier. But without health insurance, she was not able to afford the medical tests and immunizations needed to apply for Certified Nurse Assistant training. She needs that to get a job that will allow her to meet the 200 hours of patient contact that the program requires. She has applied for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and is waiting to hear whether she is eligible for BadgerCare or a subsidy that will make her health insurance affordable.
Because Xiong will need a car to get to a CNA job, she plans to buy one instead of moving to campus next term. In addition to taking two semesters of biology this summer, she plans to take CNA training at Milwaukee Area Technical College as well as driving lessons.
Despite these issues, Xiong is optimistic about the future. “It’s definitely been different from my expectations but I don’t regret anything. I think it’s too early to tell but I think I will really love it here. It’s a great school with great opportunities. I just need to learn how to find all of the resources and use them.”
Like Khanthavong, Mount Mary University freshman Darneisha Virginia also lives on campus. “It’s homey here,” she said. “And I have a set group of friends who take mostly the same classes I do.” They provide a lot of academic and social support, she added. Many, but not all of Virginia’s friends are fellow Grace Scholars. And she and her roommate plan to continue to room together next year.
For Virginia, the biggest challenge has been juggling three jobs while taking a full course load. But, she said, “I think working so much is helping me balance my time. With a weekly average of 23 hours spent working, at nursing home, student recruiting and IT help desk jobs, she knew she had to focus on studying whenever possible.
Darneisha Virginia studies in a comfortable corner of the library at Mount Mary University. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Though it has been difficult, Virginia said, the juggling has gotten easier this semester. “I still need to work really hard to support myself financially and I also need to work hard to support myself in the classroom,” Virginia said. Since she worked two jobs and played some sports in high school, she wasn’t entirely unprepared for the challenge, she added.
Virginia said she is doing well in her courses and is especially enjoying American Sign Language and writing a research paper on dementia in a composition class. The project has helped her understand and communicate with some of her nursing home patients, she said.
Although the students’ summer plans are not finalized, Khanthavong and Virginia said they plan to live at home. They would like to get jobs, save money and take a break from academics.
Khanthavong plans to commute to UWM from home in the fall so he can cover the cost of his books and help his aging mother, who cares for a developmentally disabled older brother.
The challenges these students are facing are common for College Possible students, said Kelly Schaer, program manager at College Possible Milwaukee.
How difficult it is depends both on the student and on the school they chose. “There are certain schools that are embracing a more diverse student body,” Schaer said.
“It’s no wonder that the national rate for low-income students to graduate with a bachelor’s degree is only 11 percent because the kind of persistence that a student has to have at a fairly young age is so high,” she added.
Schaer noted that students who ask a lot of questions and are good self-advocates are the most likely to overcome obstacles. College Possible coaches help them figure out how to do this for themselves, she said.
If a student can find a faculty member who will advocate for him or her, it “makes a world of difference,” she said.
Xiong’s message to this year’s College Possible graduates is that the struggle is worth it because “college is where you get to become the person that you want to be,” she said.
And she added, “My freshman year is already almost gone. They weren’t kidding when they said college goes a lot faster than high school.”

author: Andrea Waxman


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13734050935_2f6764a02c_b | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 14, 2014


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 14, 2014


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Applications due May 5 for three open positions | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diverse & Resilient
April 16, 2014
Because of program expansion and changes in staffing, Diverse and Resilient, Inc. seeks to hire three skilled, enthusiastic, and engaged team members for the agency. Two positions will coordinate important health promotion activities in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin. They will implement evidence-based prevention programs for partner violence or sexual health promotion. An administrative position will assist the agency President and CEO and two directors. All applicants must be eager and competent to work in a fast-paced, multi-cultural organization focused on the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. They must be highly organized, have outgoing personalities, and be willing to work evenings and some weekends. The work is exciting, engaging, varied, and challenging.
Program coordinators implement and monitor one or more health promotion and disease prevention activities for teens in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.  They routinely participate in projects by taking an active role and hold responsibility for remaining knowledgeable about LGBTQ youth prevention programs related to a health disparity.  This work includes project implementation, reporting, and evaluation.  Smooth operation of disease prevention and health promotion programs requires communication among community and program partners. A Bachelor’s degree is required; two years of progressively responsible program experience is also preferred.
The Executive Assistant to the President and CEO will manage the multiple aspects of the work day of a very busy executive including coordinating meetings, scheduling, managing his calendar, and organizing electronic and print files. Routine communications, daily bookkeeping, ordering materials, and entering donor data are part of the ongoing duties of this position. A Bachelor’s degree with three years of progressively responsible administrative work is required; four additional years of higher level administrative work may be substituted for some of the academic work.
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author: Diverse & Resilient


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Asthma and poverty in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Community Advocates
April 16, 2014
The Asthma and Poverty: A Panel Discussion event was co-hosed by Fight Asthma Milwaukee and the City of Milwaukee Tobacco-Free Alliance, held at Community Advocates on April 7th. There were approximately 50 attendees.
The event kicked off by showing clips from the Dateline special on asthma and poverty, focusing on two families that resided in NYC public housing. Home triggers such as mold, pests, and environmental tobacco smoke can have an adverse effect on people with asthma, especially children. There are a disproportionate number of people in low income communities who bear the burden of asthma. Action taken on reducing triggers can reduce harm associated with asthma and, in turn, healthcare dollars.
Milwaukee is no stranger to asthma, with some of the highest rates in the state. Addressing what we can do to fix these issues was a panel of speakers, comprised of Alderman Davis; Sally Nickerson of the Westlawn Resident Council; Charonda Farrington, who participated in the Healthy Homes Project; and Hashim Zaibak, a pharmacologist who does in-home patient visits and asthma assessments. The panel was moderated by LaShawndra Vernon of the United Way/Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families.
The speakers discussed their experience with either their own asthma or their children’s asthma and the increased education and advocacy that must take place in order to fix the issue of asthma in Milwaukee. Participants left inspired and ready to take on the problem of asthma with the network of public health professionals that will work alongside them!
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Link to photo: http://tinypic.com/r/5kejxy/8

author: Community Advocates


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Community members march across bridge to stop violence | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
April 16, 2014
Derrick Shoates, a 21-year-old mentor to children in the city of Milwaukee, started his career at the Holton Youth + Family Center several years ago.
Already, his first mentee is dead.
Shoates met Darius Simmons the first day he began his mentoring job. He said he worked with Simmons for two years before the 13-year-old was shot and killed by an elderly neighbor who accused him of stealing.
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“I took it hard,” said Shoates. Since then, he’s often wondered if there was something he could have done, “or we as a community could have done — that would have prevented the situation,” he added.
At Saturday’s “Bridge Project Milwaukee” kickoff event, Shoates, a member of Running Rebels Community Organization, together with members of other community groups, asked the people of Milwaukee to work with one another and with police to curb violence.
The morning’s highlight was a march on the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge, marking the start of a yearlong project to build symbolic bridges between community members.
Community members march across the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge as part of a campaign to stop violence in Milwaukee. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
The sky threatened rain as community members from the south side of the bridge began lining up at 9:30 a.m. to march north. At the same time, other residents gathered on the north end of the bridge to march south. Many of the marchers were children, encouraged to attend by staff members at community organizations.
Watching them was Norma Balentine, the director of youth programs at Safe & Sound. She said she helps youngsters try to understand violence by looking at the larger picture. “There is a cause for violence and it is not just at the individual level. It’s also at the policy level and some of the decisions we have made about community,” said Balentine,
Balentine said she tries to teach the children to use their voices for change. Getting children socially active, she said, helps reduce the chances that they will engage in risky behavior. “It is one way to redirect their energies,” according to Balentine.
The raindrops started as the marching began shortly after 10 a.m. but failed to dampen the groups’ enthusiasm. About 200 marchers, carrying signs and chanting, met in the middle of the bridge. There they were greeted by the Milwaukee Bucks’ mascot, Bango, who cheered them on.
After the groups joined together, they turned east and walked down an on/off ramp to a grassy area below the bridge where organizers had set up a canopy to protect a sound system and guest speakers. Tables with information about organizations dotted the area’s perimeter.
Sixth-graders Imya Patterson (left) and Aniaya Carter (right) participated in Saturday’s march to stop violence in the city. Patterson lost a 14-year-old cousin to gun violence in a shooting last summer. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
The event was one in a series slated for the next year. Organizer Katie Polace, program director at the Holton Youth +Family Center, said citizens are encouraged to build bridges with one another, in ways that range from “carrying groceries for neighbors to fighting for policy change.”
She said people will be encouraged to describe their efforts on a bridge project website and become eligible to receive an “I’m a Bridge” award. A music video about the project is also in the works. “Everyone can do something,” she added.
Dawn Barnett, co-founder of Running Rebels, said the project emerged, in part, as a result of the city’s “devastating year of violence” in 2013. According to Barnett, members of community organizations “took a step back and said enough is enough.”
“We have another summer coming up,” she said and organizations asked themselves and each other, “What if we all get together at the front end? Let’s all show that we can work together.”
Bridge walker Imya Patterson knows the impact of last year’s violence. She said that her cousin, Japhet Moore, 14, died in Milwaukee last summer after a fight broke out at a house party. “Somebody just brought out a gun and shot him,” according to Patterson.
“I was like sad and hurt at the same time because he was my big cousin. We used to play a lot,” said Patterson.
Patterson and her friend, Aniaya Carter, said they joined Saturday’s rally to try to help stop gun violence. “There’s a lot of people who’ve been killed for stupid things. And, it’s not right,” said Carter, also a sixth-grader.
The two were among those who gathered in the grassy area below the bridge as the drizzle turned to rain.
The group braved the wet and the cold to listen to speakers that included Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, District Attorney John Chisholm, a police officer, other city and county representatives, and Milwaukee organizer Al Hegwood. Each encouraged citizens to work together to stop the violence.
Moving out from under the canopy and into the rain that began falling steadily by the time he was to speak, Mayor Barrett told the group he appreciated their participation. Said Barrett, “I believe in the future of the community because of people like you, people who care enough about safety in this city to get involved.”
Derrick Shoates was one of the last speakers.
He thanked everyone for coming. Microphone in hand, he called out to the crowd standing in the drenching rain.
“All pledge to be a bridge?” he shouted.
“Yes,” was the enthusiastic response.

author: Karen Slattery


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 16, 2014


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 15, 2014


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Black entrepreneurs grow businesses with help from Dream MKE | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rick Brown
April 17, 2014
Executive Director Derrick Johnson of Dream MKE aims to help minority entrepreneurs grow with a new fellowship program. (Photo by Rick Brown)
For Nkosi Brown, a business began with a game.
Founder and president of Cleverhouse Games & Toys, he created his company in 2011 on the back of Chess King, a game he devised while incarcerated. Brown has overcome many challenges in building his successful business, but expanding has proven a different game altogether.
“One of the things that I’ve learned is that the [business community] is almost a club,” Brown said. “If they don’t know who you are, you’re not getting in.”
With the help of Dream MKE, Brown found his way into that community. Dream MKE is an online-based nonprofit that hopes to foster growth in minority businesses and start-ups in Milwaukee, according to Executive Director Derrick Johnson.
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“We want to foster an alliance between the underserved communities in Milwaukee and existing organizations to create opportunities for minority entrepreneurs,” Johnson said.
Founded in December 2012, Dream MKE connects entrepreneurs with business assistance through partnerships with organizations such as the African American Chamber of Commerce, according to Johnson.
The organization also offers consulting and seed loans to minority business owners. Through one-on-one mentoring, Johnson said, he aims to help entrepreneurs implement best practices to remain viable and become better integrated into Milwaukee’s business community.
(Photo by Rick Brown)
“Our goal is help businesses implement the protocols necessary to remain viable, be successful and create jobs,” Johnson said. “We help them discover how they can expand and how organizations such as WWBIC or the Chamber can help them.”
For businesses such as Cleverhouse, that assistance has been important. Dream MKE’s consulting has helped Cleverhouse expand into new venues, marketing its products at business events  at locations such as the University Club and Italian Conference Center that it might “not have been able to get into so fast” otherwise, Brown said.
For many entrepreneurs, the main difficulty is not knowing how to expand and build connections, Brown added. “We need more outlets and platforms to help small business entrepreneurs that may not know the different routes to go,” Brown said.
Since mid-2013, Dream MKE has offered small loans, or “milestone capital,” of approximately $2,500 to product-oriented entrepreneurs in Milwaukee to help them expand their businesses, Johnson said.
Andre Jones, founder of AJ Investments, has benefited from the organization’s assistance. A business owner and real estate agent with CENTURY 21 Affiliated, he built his company and real estate practice “from the ground up” after a period of unemployment.
Jones said the financial consulting and investment he received from Dream MKE has been “critical.”
“After establishing AJ Investments, I was still unable to capitalize on some opportunities due to lack of funding,” Jones said. “[Dream MKE’s] help has allowed me to stay afloat and become a successful realtor.”
Dream MKE hopes to expand its reach to start-ups through a new fellowship program, according to Johnson. Having secured $50,000 in donor funds, the organization is aiming to gain matching funds from a state or local organization to start a $100,000 grant program for expanding minority enterprises, Johnson said.
The $5,000 grants will provide the “first round of financing” for businesses in high-growth sectors such as technology and consulting, Johnson said.
“We’re focusing on employer-based businesses to create a social impact through jobs,” Johnson said. “We haven’t seen too many high-growth minority enterprises in Milwaukee, and we want to build them.”
According to Johnson, the fellowship program should be finalized within the next two months, when the organization defines its program criteria and selects a partner agency.
Dream MKE is also involved in fostering greater African-American interest in technology. The organization is working to prototype and eventually pilot a “Kids MBA” program to work with teens ages 13-18 to learn business skills and become comfortable with technology, according to Johnson.
“In terms of African-Americans, the educational system hasn’t been great at honing us to do great things,” Johnson said. “Business and technology are a part of that. Many of our children know about the term ‘CEO’ but not ‘founder.’ We want to teach them that, and the concepts to become one.”

author: Rick Brown


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College Possible receives $75,000 grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
College Possible
April 20, 2014
College Possible Milwaukee has been awarded a grant of $75,000 from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. The grant will support College Possible’s college preparation and readiness programming in Milwaukee high schools, allowing the Milwaukee nonprofit to continue to serve low-income students on their paths to and through college and to strengthen education in Milwaukee.
“We are grateful for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s continued support of our program,” says Edie Turnbull, College Possible Milwaukee’s Executive Director. “Thanks to this investment, we are able to help more low-income Milwaukee students earn not just admission to college, but college degrees.”
Launched in Milwaukee in 2008, College Possible currently serves over 600 high school students at 10 partner high schools in Milwaukee and more than 800 college students at colleges nationwide. The program provides guidance to students throughout their junior and senior years of high school and continues to support them until their graduation from college.
College Possible Milwaukee high school juniors took their first official ACT on April 12. Over the course of the school year, these students have taken four practice ACT tests and completed ACT preparation after-school sessions twice weekly. Last year, College Possible Milwaukee juniors increased their ACT scores by an average of over 19 percent. These improved test scores give students greater opportunity to earn admission to four-year colleges.
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The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is a family of more than 1,100 individual charitable funds, each created by donors to serve the charitable causes of their choice. Grants from these funds serve people throughout Milwaukee, Waukesha and Washington counties and beyond. Started in 1915, the Foundation is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the world.
College Possible also received attention in November when Harvard University released historic results from a study using randomized controls, considered to be the gold standard of evaluation. The findings show that College Possible’s approach to unlocking the potential of low-income students is effective and that students served are significantly more likely to enroll in four-year colleges.

author: College Possible


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Task Force begins work on youth and poverty issues | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
April 20, 2014
Youth are the future of the community. And that future looks bleak as many studies show that a high proportion of them are living in poverty. A group made up of representatives from the Milwaukee County community is coming together to look at poverty, how it is impacting area children and what can be done to create a better future for them.
The Youth and Poverty Task Force organized by the Social Development Commission (SDC) held its initial meeting Wednesday.  The group is co-chaired by SDC Commissioners Dr. Demond Means and Dr. Gary Williams and includes Tony Baez of Centro Hispano, Richard Cox of Neighborhood House, Chytania Brown of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board, Ger Vang of Lao Family Community, Dr. Earnestine Willis of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Myra Edwards from Mayor Tom Barrett’s office and Dr. Decoteau Irby from UW-Milwaukee.
The Task Force will look at the impact of poverty on Milwaukee County youth, identify root causes of poverty for young people, recommend practical solutions that can be implemented by SDC to address those root causes, and develop recommendations for policy changes at the city, county and state levels of government.  A final report is planned to be developed by mid-summer and will be shared with policy makers.
At the first meeting, Task Force members engaged in an exchange of ideas and looked at recent studies that show the extent of poverty in the young population of the County.  For example, U.S. Census Bureau figures show that 42.6% of Milwaukee children under the age of 18 live in poverty. Other areas of discussion examined ties between poverty and health care issues, the hidden impact of poverty on undocumented families, and how policy decisions far away from Milwaukee are impacting youth and the poor as well as organizations that serve them.
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Co-Chair Means told the group members that young people are the future of Milwaukee County and that we can’t afford to be let then fall any further.  The Task Force, he said, will be pool all the members’ experience and expertise to develop strategies to break the cycle of poverty impacting so many youth.

author: Social Development Commission


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Special Report: Undocumented immigrants pay heavy price for minor offenses | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
April 21, 2014
Jose Calderon, a married father of two from Mexico, found out the hard way just how easy it is to fall in the crosshairs of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Wisconsin.
His ordeal began with a traffic accident on an icy freeway in December 2012, followed a few months later by a traffic stop while driving his wife to work in Ozaukee County. He was ticketed both times for driving without a license. The tickets were his first and only run-ins with the law.
“I’d had my license for eight years with a clean record,” said Calderon. In 2007 the state passed a law requiring applicants to submit legal proof of residence, preventing undocumented immigrants from renewing or receiving their licenses.
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Calderon hired a lawyer and showed up for court in Ozaukee County on July 8, 2013, as ordered, attended his hearing and paid the fine. Waiting there to whisk him away — along with four other Hispanics — were officials from Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).
Calderon and the other men had been identified for detainment through the IDENT/IAFIS system, a fingerprint scan that pinpoints people to take into custody for possible deportation.
The intent of the system is to identify undocumented immigrants in federal, state or local custody (or at-large), who have been convicted of serious criminal offenses or have immigration violations.
It is used to target individuals for deportation as part of Secure Communities, a federal program that aims to remove undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to public safety. The ICE Secure Communities program, initiated in 2009, has resulted in 322,706 deportations nationwide as of Jan. 31, 2014, when data was last made available.
According to Gail Montenegro, public affairs officer for the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s highest priority is to remove individuals who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety, including “aliens convicted of violent crimes or felonies, and repeat offenders.”
“The composition of the individuals that ICE removes is in line with these priorities,” wrote Montenegro in an email to NNS.
But, across the nation, many individuals tabbed for deportation were convicted of minor offenses such as traffic violations, or no crime at all. In 2012, NNS reported that 34 percent of Milwaukee County deportees had no criminal record. Critics of Secure Communities question whether the program is actually about public safety, or an excuse to deport undocumented immigrants.
In early 2014, 24 percent of Milwaukee County deportees had no criminal record.
In Milwaukee County, 188 individuals classified as criminal deportees have been forced to leave the country since Jan. 1, 2011, when the Secure Communities program was initiated in Wisconsin. An additional 58 were deported for other reasons, such as violating their visa or for being removed and returning to the U.S.
Of the 188, 44 percent were categorized as Level 3, meaning they were convicted of minor offenses such as speeding, loitering or littering. This is a higher rate than the state (38 percent) or the nation (37 percent).
Twenty-seven percent of Milwaukee’s criminal deportees were classified as Level 2 (convicted of a felony, or three or more misdemeanors.) Only 29 percent were Level 1 offenders, guilty of the most serious offenses.
In Milwaukee County, Level 2 and 3 deportees comprise 71 percent of those deported due to criminal convictions. Nationally, the combined rate is 61 percent.
Nancy Flores, who leads the New Sanctuary Movement, part of a nationwide coalition of faith-based groups that support immigrant families affected by deportation, said cases like Calderon’s are common.
“Many of the people that are facing deportation or have family members who are, say their troubles started with minor traffic offenses,” Flores said.
In 2012 the Milwaukee County board passed legislation ending ICE detainers for non-criminal immigrants or those who’ve been accused or convicted of minor crimes, such as driving without a license. Consequently, enforcement officials no longer hold immigrants in custody for ICE unless they’ve been convicted of, or are wanted for, a serious crime. These rules don’t apply to the counties outside of Milwaukee. If individuals are detained in another county, they are returned to the city to be processed by immigration officials.
In late February, Voces De La Frontera (VDLF), an immigrant rights group based in Milwaukee, held a protest condemning ICE officials for targeting undocumented immigrants at county courthouses and those leaving immigration hearings at the ICE office on 310 E. Knapp St., in downtown Milwaukee. The group sent a letter to ICE officials requesting an end to a practice they consider racial profiling, citing reports that ICE has routinely showed up in courthouses in Milwaukee, Racine, Dane, Ozaukee and other courthouses in Wisconsin.
Jose Calderon speaks about his case during a deportation protest in front of ICE’s Milwaukee office on 310 E. Knapp St. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
According to Montenegro, individuals identified for deportation typically have completed their criminal proceedings before ICE takes them into custody.
However, Flores said that in many cases ICE officials show up while court cases are still in progress. “They (ICE officials) come to the courthouse on days [when] there will be translators,” signaling that defendants who don’t speak English also will be there.
The city’s annual “May Day” march to stop deportations, which in the past has drawn thousands of people, usually ends at Veterans Park.  But, this year’s march on May 1 will conclude at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to protest the ICE practice.
Flores said individuals trying to do the right thing by going to court and paying their fines end up facing deportation, which instills a deep fear of law enforcement in the community.
“They’re afraid to go to court, to drive to work, but they have to,” Flores said.
Montenegro said that changes have been made to prevent those guilty of minor traffic offenses and other misdemeanors from being deported. For example, ICE detainers cannot be issued to individuals charged with a minor traffic offense until they are convicted, unless they have other convictions on their record.
ICE officials have also created a training program for state and law enforcement agencies to provide more information about how Secure Communities works and the rights of undocumented immigrants in the criminal justice system, according to Montenegro.
In recent years, the percent of Level 3 individuals being deported has dropped both nationally and locally, while the percent of L1 deportees has risen. During the first 20 months of the Secure Communities program, Level 3 individuals made up 52 percent of those deported from Milwaukee for criminal offenses. That figure dropped to 44 percent as of Jan. 31, 2014.
Montenegro said the Level 1 numbers are going up because some offenders have finished their jail or prison terms and are now being deported.
Maria Ryan, a Milwaukee immigration attorney, agrees with Montenegro that many serious criminals are sitting in jails and will eventually be deported.
Still, she believes that ICE is targeting people who don’t represent a threat, and is guilty of racial profiling, especially at the courthouses. “These people are not a priority; they have no criminal record,” Ryan said of many immigrants tabbed for deportation.
According to the Secure Communities memorandum of agreement, the use of the IDENT/IAFIS system for purposes of ethnic or racial profiling is not permitted.
Ryan said immigrations officials are creating a culture of fear at courthouses and other sensitive locations where people should feel safe. She said often undocumented immigrants have no clue that by pleading guilty to minor offenses they risk deportation because they have a conviction on their record.
“If they knew they might lose their families, they wouldn’t plead, they’d borrow money and fight the case,” Ryan said.
Once an individual has been tabbed for detainment by ICE, the case becomes federal and is much harder to fight, according to Ryan.
Currently, Calderon’s case is in limbo. The average wait for immigration court cases is 550 days as of January 2013, according to TRAC Report Inc., a nonpartisan project that tracks and reports government information.
As he waits, Calderon said he doesn’t know what’s happening with his life. He said that all he knows is that what’s best for his family is to remain in America, where they have more opportunities.
Said Calderon, “The future of my kids is here; I have to give them a better life.”

author: Edgar Mendez


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 20, 2014


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nns_specialreport_trimmed | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 20, 2014


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Corner stores fill need for convenience, companionship | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
April 23, 2014
Arshpreet Natt helps a customer at Natt Groceries, 401 N. 35th St., a store he owns with his father Jaswinder. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
This is part of an ongoing series of articles that put a face on the poor in Milwaukee, 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty.”
A composition notebook sat closed among office supplies, bills and receipts on a counter behind a Plexiglas partition.
A gaggle of men mingled in the front of the bustling corner store, their dreams and fortunes delicately hung on each scratch they made with a coin on the lottery tickets they had just purchased.
The storeowner walked up to the notebook, flipped it open and placed his index finger on a random page filled with rows of names and dollar amounts.
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“Before last year, two years ago, they came to pay their bill, but now they have to pay their gas bill, their light bill first,” he said, moving his finger down the page. “It’s sad. It’s very sad.”
Page after page are filled with small IOUs owed to City Spirits and Liquor, 1535 W. North Ave., in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood by some of its patrons. Although many of the names and amounts are scratched over, representing unpaid debts that he has given up on, the owner feels he must continue to offer credit.
“When my kids eat at home and I come here and the poor can’t eat at home, how else can I feel? That’s the reason I do it,” said the owner, who did not want his name published. “We have to be involved in our community.”
Microcosms of inner city
According to city records and online phone listings, there are more than 300 corner stores in Milwaukee, many of which are a microcosm of the social and economic norms of their impoverished neighborhoods.
The first sign of this are the structures themselves. Many of the stores are located in dingy buildings with peeling paint and ragged signs outside, and creaky floors and doors inside, typifying the dilapidated housing stock in the neighborhood.
A page in an IOU book kept by the owner of City Spirits and Liquor in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
Illustrating the economic struggles of many customers are signs plastered to the stores’ exteriors, noting that FoodShare, the state’s food stamp program, and WIC, the state’s women, infants and children program, are accepted by the business.
Inside, the latest winning lottery numbers and a handwritten “no checks” sign are taped to the Plexiglas in many of the stores, reflecting the hopes of the store’s clientele, and their financial plight.
Store owners meet the appetites and tastes of their customers by gearing packaged food choices to the neighborhood’s ethnic and cultural makeup. Some even compete with nearby fast food joints, offering prepared foods such as fried chicken, sub sandwiches and nachos.
The smoking and drinking habits of customers are also echoed by the liquor on shelves behind the counter and the “loosies” – single cigarettes sold for a quarter – offered by the cashiers.
Ultimately, the stores serve as a town square of sorts for tight-knit inner city blocks, where regulars come to chat about politics, sports and pop culture as a radio blares the latest hits and a slushy machine hums in the background.
“You get regular patrons that go in and form relationships with store owners and it becomes a home away from home in the sense that people from the neighborhood become very comfortable in the store,” said Marcus Britton, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Compassionate owner
Store owner Inderjit Kaur, 45, is acutely aware of the perilous state of life in her neighborhood and the unrelenting financial hardships her customers face. It propels Miss Buddy, as she is known in the neighborhood, to give free food to customers in need.
But Kaur, who owns PJ’s Supermarket, 3079 N. 21st St., in the Park West neighborhood, shooes away youngsters who attempt to shoplift.
“Stupid. Some do stupid things,” she said.
“She feels that people should change around here,” said her 22-year-old daughter Jaspreet Singh, who translates for her mother. “But, basically all of the boys around here love her.”
Kaur reciprocates by donating snacks and cash to poor families who must bury loved ones lost to violence on the streets teeming with gang bangers and drug dealers.
“Sometimes it’s young people who you never think would be involved in a shooting. Then they are dead,” she said.
Jaswinder Natt owns Natt Groceries, 401 N. 35th St., in the Merrill Park neighborhood with his son Arshpreet. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
Stores provide convenience
Streams of children darted in and out of Neighborhood Food Market, 2801 N. 20th St., in the Park West neighborhood, where they bought chocolate candy bars, 25-cent bags of potato chips and sweet drinks. They counted their coins on the counter as their friends waited impatiently behind them, playfully jostling for position in line and lending a nickel or dime when needed.
A man who goes by the name of Sonny Boy Bean said the store provides convenience to people who live within walking distance, especially for those who do not own cars.
“That’s the way I like it, right in the hood ’cause I don’t got to go nowhere, I just have to walk ’cross the street,” he said as he strolled to his home facing the store.
The fast-talking 62-year-old football fan said he regularly phones in orders for sub sandwiches during Packers games.
“Old folk that live around here can walk to go for their ice cream and go right back home,” he added.
The issue of mobility among the poor has provoked Janswinder Natt and his son Arshpreet, owners of Natt Groceries, 401 N. 35 St., in the Merrill Park neighborhood, to consider offering deliveries from the store they just opened last month.
“We have to keep in mind the people that we serve and their needs. We need to treat them like our own family,” said the elder Natt, behind his white beard and mustache as he sat cross-legged in a wheelchair.
Stores not immune to crime
“Someone got shot down the street,” a young man casually said standing on the doorway stoop of Center St. Market, 4630 W. Center St., in the St. Joseph’s neighborhood. Inside, three policemen jammed themselves behind the counter to view footage from the store’s security camera, hoping that it captured something of interest about the crime.
La Tiendita, a corner store in the Burnham Park neighborhood, stocks items that appeal to neighborhood residents. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
The stores also tend to be prime targets for armed robbers. On a warm May Sunday afternoon a year ago, three teenagers walked into La Tiendita, 3100 W. Mitchell St., locked the door and robbed the Burnham Park neighborhood store of large bills in the cash register and cigarettes behind the counter.
The owner of the store, Samuel Perez, who has been robbed three times, said the key to staying alive during a stick up is to let thieves have what they want.
“I tell my son and wife when they work not to say anything, just open the cash register,” said Perez as he stood below colorful piñatas shaped like stars and clowns hanging from the ceiling.
Despite the robberies, Perez, who has owned the corner store for seven years, has built a strong relationship with the neighborhood he serves. Perez offers an array of Mexican food such as bags of tortilla chips, spices and sauces that fill the shelves of the store in the largely Hispanic South Side neighborhood.
“It’s like family here,” he said.
For Tom Griffien, Mid-Town Discount Foods, 801 N. 27th St. in the Concordia neighborhood, offers an alternative to shopping at big box stores, especially when he only can only afford a few items.
“I had to rob my piggy bank to get a few potatoes here,” said Griffien, as he held a clear bag of Russet potatoes and long carrots while unlocking his orange bicycle chained to a post outside of the store.

author: Brendan O’Brien


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 22, 2014


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Inspiring youth about higher education | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
April 23, 2014
A number of high school youth are much more inspired to attend a university following the SDC 2014 Spring College Tour.
Nine young men and women from Youth programs at the Social Development Commission took part in the weeklong trip during Spring Break. That tour included stops at universities in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Ohio. They visited seven colleges including Philadelphia University, Lincoln University, Georgetown, Howard University, West Virginia State, Charleston University and Ohio State.
The college tour participants were able to view a variety of university sizes and settings as well as learn how to apply for admission and financial aid. The group included three high school seniors who took the opportunity to apply to several of the schools during the visits.
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The annual visits to institutions of higher learning have been key to inspiring youth at SDC to make attending college a priority. Younger students especially have learned also what they to do in high school to position themselves for success at the next educational level. Those students taking part in this year’s tour are already talking about how to expand the number of young people who will be able to take part in next year’s trip.
To learn more about Youth programs at SDC, visit the agency website www.cr-sdc.org/index/Programs–Services/Family-Strengthening/Youth-and-Family-Development-Program.htm.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 23, 2014


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Stuff the Truck for Independence | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
IndependenceFirst
April 23, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Pettit National Ice Center
500 S. 84th Street
Milwaukee
As Wisconsin celebrates Earth Week, AT&T is teaming up with IndependenceFirst, River Run Computers and Rocket Clicks to encourage consumers and businesses to recycle their old electronic devices through the “Stuff the Truck for Independence Drive.”
The free electronic collection drive will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2014 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Pettit National Ice Center located at 500 S. 84th Street in Milwaukee (rain or shine).
Computer donations will benefit IndependenceFirst, a nonprofit agency directed by and for the benefit of people with disabilities that primarily serves the four-county metropolitan Milwaukee area.
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“All of us have old electronics lying around our house or office that we no longer use,” said Scott T. VanderSanden, president of AT&T Wisconsin. “This event is a great chance to recycle old gadgets and donate old computer equipment as we celebrate Earth Week. It’s also a terrific way to support an organization that provides opportunities to people with disabilities.”
The following electronics with a plug or battery will be accepted: computers, laptops, cell phones, tablets, appliances and TVs, as well as computer accessories like mice and keyboards. Recycling is being provided by Digital Recyclers. The data destruction process for all donated laptops and computers will follow strict identity theft prevention standards.
AT&T Wisconsin is also encouraging all of its employees in Waukesha, Pewaukee, Brookfield and the greater Milwaukee area to donate their old electronics on Saturday.
Those who are unable to attend the event Saturday can always recycle their old small electronics weekly from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the River Run Headquarters, 2320 W. Camden Road, in Glendale.
Recycling old computer equipment to benefit IndependenceFirst will provide opportunities for people with disabilities to obtain a computer they otherwise could not afford, develop crucial job pre-skills, gain information, seek jobs or housing, and get peer support.
“This Earth Day, I encourage all Milwaukee area residents to join me in recycling their old electronics to benefit a great cause,” said State Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield). “This is a simple way all of us can both help protect the environment and provide important job and housing opportunities for those with disabilities.”
Individuals with a large amount of computer equipment to recycle (10 workstations or more) can arrange for a pick up. If you have questions regarding the event or about recycling services, please email recycle@river-run.com or call 414-228-7474.
The E-Cycle Wisconsin program requires state residents to recycle their electronic waste. More information about the products covered under Wisconsin’s e-waste law and a list of other collection sites is available at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ecycle/wisconsin.html.

author: IndependenceFirst


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New Bucks ownership not game-changer for ‘Fair Play’ campaign | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
April 28, 2014
A community member makes her views known at an event to unveil a report by Common Ground on athletic and recreational facilities at Milwaukee County public schools. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
The recent sale of the Milwaukee Bucks will not alter a grassroots effort to persuade public officials that if taxpayer money is used to pay for a new arena, it should also pay to improve courts and ball fields at area schools.
Longtime owner and former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl announced on April 17 that he sold the NBA team to investors Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry for $550 million. The three pledged to chip in at least $200 million for a new arena, which is expected to cost at least $400 million, meaning the public may need to foot the rest of the bill.
Officials and volunteers of Common Ground’s Fair Play campaign voted earlier this month to support public funding for a new Bucks arena if a $150- to $250- million public investment is made to improve Milwaukee County public school outdoor athletic and recreational facilities, and to oppose the project if public money for these facilities is not included.
One of the three basketball goals lack rims at the Washington High School of Information Technology, 2525 N. Sherman Blvd. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
“As we have consistently stated, Common Ground is not opposed to a new arena. But if public taxpayer money is used to build a new Bucks Arena, we demand a say in how our money is used, and that means investing in our children through Fair Play. New ownership does not change that,” said Jennifer O’Hear, the chairwoman of the campaign, in a statement.
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Common Ground, a grassroots organization of citizens, small businesses and churches that focuses on social and economic issues, launched the Fair Play campaign last April to make the public funding pitch.
In June, Fair Play released a report showing two-thirds of the outdoor athletic and recreational facilities at 268 public schools in the county’s 38 school districts are in terrible, poor or fair condition. The Milwaukee Public Schools was one of 11 districts with facilities rated in the poorest condition, according to the report.
“We welcome Mr. Edens and Mr. Lasry to Wisconsin. If they want public money for their new Bucks arena then we hope they will support public money for the athletic facilities (used by) our children. It’s Fair Play,” O’Hear said.
The Milwaukee Bucks had the NBA’s worst record during the 2013-14 season, winning just 10 out of 41 games at home. The team, which plays at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, also recorded the worst attendance in the league during the season.
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce created a task force in October to explore financing and enhancements for the metro area’s cultural and entertainment facilities, including the Bradley Center, which also hosts concerts, college basketball games, NCAA tournaments and Admirals hockey.
The arena, for which the Bucks have a lease until 2017, is owned by the public and receives tax support for its operations. The arena will need at least $100 million in investment to stay operational, according to MMAC President Tim Sheehy.
“The bottom line is that a new facility is a necessity to move forward with the NBA. Done right, it can be a game-changing development for the Milwaukee region but will need some level of public sector investment,” Sheehy said in a blog after the sale of the team.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 27, 2014


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 27, 2014
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Construction trades program moves to unused space at North Division | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
April 29, 2014
One Hope Made Strong founder Ezzard White introduces a new group of students to his program at North Division High School. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
One Hope Made Strong, a grassroots initiative to teach building trades, has moved to North Division High School.
The program, which teaches construction skills to low-income residents 18 and older, started last fall. Until late April, business owner and former high school electricity shop teacher Ezzard White taught the free nine-module program at two central city churches, Inter-Denominational Church of the One Lost Sheep Foundational Ministries, 2567 N. 8th St., and St. Francis of Assisi Church, 1927 N. 4 St.
Though students have demonstrated great interest from the start, the church spaces were not designed for this kind of training. And there was not enough space for all of the students who wanted to take classes.
Student Anthony Harper is prepared to learn at his first One Hope Made Strong class at North Division High School. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Aware that the skills he is offering were no longer taught at North Division and that its workshops were sitting idle, White proposed a partnership that would allow him to teach at the high school. For months, the proposal made its way through the school district’s bureaucratic process.
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“We had a tremendous fight and struggle trying to get here but we’re here,” said Pastor Wendale Spivery, an OHMS volunteer, speaking at North Division.
Spivery and others who have supported White’s vision said they are excited by this development and would like to see it expanded to MPS high schools on the east and south sides.
The partnership will take the program out of churches, where there are no tools or facilities for hands-on projects, and into workshops designed for instruction and practice with real tools and materials, explained Pastor Theresa Thomas-Boyd, who has worked to promote the program.
OHMS charges $40 for each of nine eight-week modules. The topics of the modules include electricity, blueprint reading, plumbing, welding, building construction, masonry, general drafting, carpentry and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning). Throughout the program, White also teaches his students about the realities and expectations of work in the construction field.
“(White) is at his best when he’s teaching his students. He loves them all and the students can feel the love emanating from him,” Spivery said.
Tiffany Hughes learned about OHMS from her brother and his fiancée who are both taking classes on other nights. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
If students miss more than two classes, they must repeat the module. To earn a certificate of completion, they must have a high school diploma or a GED.
North side resident Anthony Harper was given a heads up about the program from his pastor. Harper, who is 28 and unemployed, pursued the lead to White’s construction skills training program.
“I’m here today and it’s a life changer,” Harper said.
With some experience helping his father do carpentry and lay concrete, Harper wants to build on his skills and find a well-paid job. “ I want to see that I can better myself as well as my wife and kids,” Harper said.
Harper and Tiffany Hughes were among approximately 30 students who showed up at North Division on a recent Wednesday evening for the first class of an eight-week module on welding.
Hughes, a 32-year-old homemaker from Burlington, is also hoping that the training will lead to employment. In addition, she is interested in fixing things around her home and hopes to build her own house one day.
Classes are held from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 29, 2014


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Instructor2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 29, 2014

author: Dwayne Burtin


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Instructor2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jim McGowan
April 29, 2014

author: Jim McGowan


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Reaffirming a role in the Community | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
April 29, 2014
The Social Development Commission continues to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the thousands of low-income residents of Milwaukee County… that was the message at the April Community Brainstorming Conference Forum.
Members of the Social Development Commission (SDC) Board and CEO George Hinton outlined agency activities for participants at the monthly gathering held at St. Matthew C.M.E. Church. Board Chair Gerard Randall outlined challenges that the agency has faced and adapted to during the past year. He said that SDC has used those challenges to refine and refocus its efforts.
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Among recent initiatives at the agency described at the forum were two task forces looking at the issues of Healthcare and of Youth and Poverty.  The Healthcare group is in the process of forming and will draw on existing data linking poor healthcare with poverty. The group to be headed by CEO Hinton will draw up recommendations on how SDC can link with current efforts to address that problem. Commissioner Demond Means also described the Youth and Poverty Task Force which has begun meeting with community leaders. He noted that a pair of public forums to get community input will be held May 8 and 10.  That group plans to draft policy change recommendations by mid-summer that will be shared with policymakers on all levels of government.
Commissioners described to residents at the Community Brainstorming Forum how the agency is seeking partnerships with other organizations, agencies and businesses to increase SDC’s impact. Commissioner Jim Sullivan held up SDC’s work on the annual Milwaukee Fatherhood Summit as an example of working with other groups to provide valuable information and services to Milwaukee County residents.
Participants at the forum took advantage of the event to ask questions of SDC Commissioners as well as program staff representatives. They asked how SDC is involved in issues like helping formerly incarcerated residents transition back to their neighborhoods, senior issues, and job creation. SDC CEO George Hinton thanked the participants for their questions and suggestions, saying that the agency belongs to the community and needs its input so it can remain focused on the most pressing issues and challenges that it faces.


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Free prostate cancer screenings to be offered at Miller Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin
May 2, 2014
Marking six years of collaboration, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Fox 6, the Milwaukee Brewers and ZERO-Prostate Cancer Testing are again joining together to encourage men to protect themselves against prostate cancer.
Set for Monday, May 12 (rain or shine), from 7 am to 1 pm at Miller Park, the free screenings will be provided in the comfortable, private environment of two mobile clinic vehicles in the stadium parking lot, near the Home Plate Gate entrance at the northwest corner of the ballpark.
No appointment is necessary. Exams will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. The first 250 men who complete the screening will receive a voucher for two tickets to a future Milwaukee Brewers home game.
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Statistics show one in every six men will develop prostate cancer. With early detection, prostate cancer is highly curable. For all men, the risk of prostate cancer goes up at age 50, and for African-American men, the risk elevates at age 40.
“If you’re over 50, or are over 40 with an increased risk for developing prostate cancer based on family history or ethnicity, getting checked is a simple step that could save your life,” said William See, MD, prostate cancer specialist with Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center at the Froedtert Hospital campus. “This is an incredible time for men with prostate cancer and their physicians. We may be in one of the most progressive periods ever with prostate and urological cancer research.”
Dr. See added, “If diagnosed with cancer, patients should determine if their physician has advanced specialty training in treating this disease. Many men find it helpful to get a second opinion, and we offer clinical trials to expand their options.”
Men are encouraged to talk with their physicians about whether and when screening is appropriate.
The prostate cancer screening involves a blood draw to measure the amount of prostate specific antigen, or PSA, in the blood, as well as a physical examination of the prostate gland. The PSA test is a widely used diagnostic tool to identify changes in the prostate that may indicate disease.
Participants in the screening at Miller Park will learn the results of the physical exam immediately; PSA test results are mailed within four weeks. All results are confidential.
Exams will be performed by Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin physicians and clinical experts in two 39-foot clinic vehicles operated by ZERO. The exam takes 20 minutes; wait times will depend on demand. Fasting is not necessary. Men should eat before arriving and stay well-hydrated – important for the PSA blood test.
More than 450 men were screened at the last event. More than 16 percent had abnormal PSA results and nearly 10 percent had abnormal physical prostate exam results. In the six years the free event has been held, more than 3,100 men have been screened—many of them for the first time.
Financial support from donors to the Froedtert Hospital Foundation help support this event.
For information about the Froedtert & the Medical College Prostate and Urologic Cancer Program or physician team, call 414-805-0505 or visit froedtert.com/prostate.


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Journey House CEO receives women of influence award | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Journey House
May 2, 2014
It is our distinct pleasure to inform you that Dr. Michele Bria has been selected as a winner in the Milwaukee Business Journal’s annual Women of Influence awards program!!
This program profiles Milwaukee-area women who are leaders in their fields and are making an impact in their professions and communities.
These profiles will be published in a special section in the Milwaukee Business Journal on June 20, with an awards luncheon to be held that same day.
Please Click Here! to view the Milwaukee Business Journal Article.
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author: Journey House


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426 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 8, 2014


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Milwaukee youth speak up and engage with police to create positive relationships | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Safe & Sound
May 3, 2014
“Talk it Out! Youth Engaging with Law Enforcement” is a unique pilot program of the 27 Street West Drug Free Coalition designed to give youth in the 53208 zip code (an area that includes Washington Park, Cold Spring Park, and Historic Concordia among others) the opportunity to command a conversation with local law enforcement in an intimate setting about concerns in their communities and their central involvement in creating positive change in the areas in which they live – a conversation that affects them and involves them, but that so often does not include them. Designed by youth, run by youth, and made for youth – this event hopes to be a pivoting point in creating stronger, more positive relationships between youth and law enforcement.
On May 5 students from five local youth-serving agencies including Neighborhood House, Our Next Generation, the Boys and Girls Club, the Hmong American Friendship Association, and Westside Academy II will join together at the Washington Park Library with five officers from Police District 3 to discuss three questions developed by two senior members of the Coalition’s Youth Council: “What are some of the strengths and challenges of this community?” “How can youth be leaders in solving some of these problems and challenges?” and “What are police and youth relationships like in the community? What are some ways we can make them stronger?”
Youth and police will discuss these questions in small roundtable groups of 10 (9 youth: 1 officer) using a peace circle format (i.e. a “talking piece” allows its holder to speak while all others must remain respectfully silent and listen) while a youth chosen by his or her peers facilitates the table discussions. Once each group has fully discussed the three universal questions, they have a separate allotted amount of time to ask the officer at their table their own additional questions as they relate to their community, youth community participation and leadership, and youth-police relationships. At the end of the question and answer period, the two event facilitators – both high school students and active members of the Coalition’s Youth Council – will ask each group to report back on the question, “How can we make police and youth relationships in the community stronger?” and will guide a reflection exercise involving both law enforcement and youth. The responses to these questions will help serve as a directional guide for future projects and community initiatives between youth and law enforcement, projects and initiatives that will hopefully help repair and mend current broken relationships between police and residents in the community and – with time – replace them with ones of trust and support.
Aside from giving youth and law enforcement an opportunity to connect on an interpersonal and humanizing level, “Talk it Out! Youth Engaging with Law Enforcement” empowers the youth in today’s age to speak up, stand up as leaders, and become involved in the decision making processes that affect them and their environments, too. The 27 Street West Drug Free Coalition aims to make this only the first of such opportunities.
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The mission of the 27 Street West Drug Free Coalition is to decrease drug and alcohol use among youth and their families by focusing on environmental factors that influence youth to drink and use drugs and by offering positive alternative activities for youth to engage in. The Coalition recognizes that youth play a central part in this process and can be leaders within their communities, which is why the Coalition supports a Youth Council: a group of middle and high school students that are an integral part of the Coalition and its efforts.


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May Day marchers seek tuition equity for undocumented college students | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
May 5, 2014
For the ninth consecutive year, Milwaukee’s May Day march for immigrant rights wound its way from the heart of the Hispanic enclave to downtown, this time ending in a rally on the front steps of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
The rally was held in response to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) practice of detaining undocumented immigrants at local courthouses, including Milwaukee Racine, Dane and Ozaukee. The immigrant rights group Voces De La Frontera (VDLF) organized the protest
Leading up to the rally, hundreds marched in procession, through a slow, intermittent rain, demanding an end to deportations, comprehensive immigration reform and tuition equity for local undocumented students attending Wisconsin colleges.
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Legislation that would have provided tuition equity for Wisconsin “dreamers” (undocumented students who aspire to go to college), introduced by State Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa late in the legislative season, was shot down.
A May Day crowd estimated around 1,000 made their way to the front steps of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Two additional bills she introduced, one allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses and another establishing an optional state holiday honoring the late civil rights leader Cesar E. Chavez, were also rejected in party line votes. Zamarripa did receive some bipartisan support. Republican State Rep. Garey Bies of Sister Bay co-sponsored the driver’s license bill and Gov. Scott Walker expressed support for the Chavez holiday.
Still, “the bills never saw the light of day,” said Zamarripa.
Currently, undocumented students who attend the University of Wisconsin or technical college must pay out-of-state tuition, which raises the price significantly. At UW-Milwaukee in-state tuition for 12-18 credits is $4,650, compared to $9,514 for non-residents.
A previous version of the tuition measure passed the legislature in 2009 before Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 budget bill eliminated the practice of charging undocumented Wisconsin students in-state tuition.
Luis Jimenez, a student leader with Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), a youth advocacy group, said he was recently accepted at the University of Wisconsin Madison where he’d planned to study engineering.
“But a letter of acceptance was not enough to make that dream possible,” Jimenez told the crowd. He said the out-of-state tuition priced him out.
“Is that fair?” questioned Jimenez repeatedly, adding that his parents have paid their fair share of taxes over the past 10 years.
Jairo Galan, of Chicago, said he understands Jimenez’s plight. Galan, who’s about to graduate with a triple major at Marquette University, was undocumented. But, after gaining legal status in eighth grade, he was inspired to pursue a higher education. Galan, who participated in the march with three fellow students, said others deserve the same opportunity that he had to dream big.
“Access to higher education is the key to the future,” said Galan, who said Wisconsin is way behind when it comes to immigrant rights.
Currently, 21 states, including neighboring Minnesota and Illinois, offer in-state tuition to undocumented residents.
Zamarripa, who is running for reelection in November against Vincent Synowicz, said she won’t give up on tuition equity, or the other immigrants rights bills she’s sponsored. Synowicz is the former president of the Walker Square Neighborhood Association.
Zamarripa said she doesn’t understand why the measures she introduced weren’t adopted, adding, “These are dreamers who want to pay their way through college!”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 4, 2014


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ACTS Housing receives $50,000 from JPMorgan Chase to continue addressing Milwaukee foreclosure crisis | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
ACTS Housing
May 6, 2014
ACTS Housing announced today that the organization has received a $50,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase to build on efforts to address Milwaukee’s foreclosure crisis.
“We are honored to be receiving this grant from JPMorgan Chase,” said Michael Gosman, assistant director of ACTS Housing. “These funds will be critical in our work to revitalize Milwaukee neighborhoods. JPMorgan Chase’s investment in helping to solve Milwaukee’s foreclosure crisis is to be commended.”
This grant builds on a $200,000 contract that ACTS Housing recently finalized with the City of Milwaukee as part of Mayor Barrett’s Strong Neighborhoods Plan. An area of emphasis of the Strong Neighborhoods Plan is selling City-owned foreclosed properties. ACTS will assist with the sales of City-owned properties to help the City achieve its goals.
The funding from JPMorgan Chase will broaden ACTS Housing’s reach in this effort, allowing more renters to become homeowners in the city.
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“We are pleased to be a partner with ACTS Housing,” said Charlie Corrigan with JPMorgan Chase. “By working together, more Milwaukee residents will be able to become homeowners. This in turn strengthens our community and neighborhoods.”
Over the past two years, ACTS has helped more than 170 families purchase foreclosed properties in the City of Milwaukee. Sixty of those properties were tax-foreclosed properties that were bringing in no tax revenue and required city maintenance. Both the City partnership and the JPMorgan Chase grant will allow ACTS to continue this work and expand its reach.

author: ACTS Housing


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Ballroom dance competition keeps students on their toes | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
May 6, 2014
The fourth graders in the gym at Washington Park’s Westside Academy II held back their exuberance as best they could while waiting for their tap dance class to begin on a recent morning.  But despite teachers’ efforts to quiet the group, feet tapped, arms waved, and children talked, laughed, pushed and hopped in anticipation.
“At first, some kids are apprehensive because they don’t know how they’re going to do with (the dance class) but then they get going and they just love it,” said Sarah Carpenter, the students’ classroom teacher.
“We have very few behavior problems because they’re so absorbed and interested in what they are doing. They are really excited about it,” she added. Westside Academy II is located at 1940 N. 36th St.
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Westside Academy II sixth-graders practice ballroom dancing steps in preparation for the 2014 Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap Competition slated for May 17. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Since February, these students have been learning and practicing tap dance steps and routines for the Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap (MHBT) Competition slated for Saturday, May 17, at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
It will be the eighth annual citywide MHBT competition since Danceworks initiated the program here in 2006. In addition to its community outreach programs, Danceworks, at 1661 N. Water St., includes a school as well as professional resident and youth performance companies.
Last year, students from 45 city schools participated in the 12-week program. All of the schools sent teams to the competition where they performed before an audience of 7,500. This year, 50 schools are involved in the program.
Westside Academy II sixth-grader Ronnie Rideout, who is taking ballroom dance classes, said he is excited about the competition. When he participated last year, “it was a little terrifying because there were a whole lot of people there,” he said. But once he started dancing, the fear went away and it was just fun, Rideout said.
Mad Hot Ballroom is based on a ballroom dance program initiated in New York City schools and featured in an award-winning 2005 documentary by the same name.  Danceworks’ Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap provides classes for students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades in central-city schools.
Through a 12-week course in ballroom and tap dancing, students participate in arts and physical education programming that is largely absent in the curriculum. The classes foster cooperation, perseverance, respect for self and others, increased confidence and other skills, which are measured by pre- and post-program surveys of students.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 5, 2014

author: Adam Carr


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Safer workplaces for lead removal contractors | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
May 6, 2014
(Photo courtesy of SDC)
The Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance (LHRA) Program of the Social Development Commission and the State Department of Health Services are helping lead workers stay healthy.
The two partnered to hold an Exterior Lead Containment Workshop at a Milwaukee Near-Southside home.  More than two-dozen lead abatement workers, renovators and contractors took part in the session at the home on S. 31 Street.  The foreclosed home was recently purchased by Layton Boulevard West Neighbors and will be completely renovated before being sold to a local family.
The contractors who perform lead abatement work as part of SDC’s LHRA program viewed the home before being asked to fill out an occupancy protection plan.  They then set up containment and safety measures to keep any lead dust or chips from affecting residents, neighbors or the workers while the work is completed. State inspectors critiqued the efforts and offered suggestions on how to make the site even safer.  They then provided feedback on clean-up for the area.
The workshop is one of a series that SDC’s Residential Services Programs and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services are conducting for lead contractors as part of regular Quality Assurance gatherings. Previous sessions have included use of proper safety gear and future hands-on workshops will include interior containment for lead removal.
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The Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance Program works with HUD and the City of Milwaukee Health Department to identify and renovate housing units with young children living in them which have a high risk for lead poisoning.  To learn more about the program, visit the SDC website located at www.cr-sdc.org/index/Programs–Services/VITA/Asset-Development/Lead-Hazard-Reduction-Assistance-Program.htm.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 6, 2014


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New shelter offers women a chance to leave life on the streets | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
May 7, 2014
Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Donald J. Hying leads friends and supporters of the Clare Community project in prayer at a celebration of the new women’s shelter. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
At the heart of the Franciscan Peacemakers’ Clare Community project is a newly renovated, bright and spacious three-bedroom apartment.
The home, awaiting occupancy, is located in a building that is part of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church, 3114 N. Second St. The Franciscan Peacemakers hope it offers an escape for prostitutes working the city’s sex trade.
The Peacemakers recently hosted Bishop Donald J. Hying, Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and dozens of friends and supporters at the new shelter’s dedication.
Standing in the sunny, spacious living area, furnished with a formal dining table and inviting overstuffed furniture, the bishop blessed the new home. He asked the visitors to pray with him for the women who will live there as they move away from a life marked by hopelessness and despair.
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Bishop Donald J. Hyling walks through the new Clare Community apartment sprinkling holy water to bless the new facility. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
Hying called the project a “concrete expression of living the gospel,” adding that it offers the women “hope, dignity and love.” Following the prayer, the bishop sprinkled holy water throughout the rooms.
Peacemakers Steve Przedpelski and Carmen Mojica plan to fill the apartment by doing what they’ve done for years — travel the neighborhood in the nonprofit group’s van, bringing women bag lunches and inviting them to leave behind their lives of sex trafficking and drug and alcohol addiction.
Until now, they’ve had no place to offer the women as refuge while they transition to new lives.
Finishing touches are being put on the 1,400-square–foot furnished apartment that will provide women a safe home for two years while they reshape their lives. If they need jobs, they will be able to work in the project’s soap-making business one floor above, called Gifts for the Journey.
The program includes access to drug and alcohol treatment, education, financial training and spirituality. “We want to be holistic in our approach,” said Mojica. “We help them look at different things [about themselves] they may not have seen, things that were not nurtured while they were growing up.”
Przedpelski said the program will connect the women to therapists, enabling them “get at the sexual abuse and trauma issues that have happened throughout the years.”
Clare Community can house three women in the apartment. It partners with Project H.E.A.T. to shelter two more women, bringing the total to five. Przedpelski and Mojica modeled Clare Community on a similar residential program, called Magdelene, in Tennessee.
Franciscan Peacemaker Deacon Steve Przedpelski (center), welcomes volunteers and visitors to the Clare Community program’s open house. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
According to Przedpelski, the program’s creation reflects a two-year commitment by financial backers and volunteers. He said that when he asked them to provide the financial and other resources that the women would need to make the transition, program supporters quickly said they would pitch in.
Renovating the church space, which at one time served as a day care center and before that a residence for men studying to be Capuchin priests, required a major effort.
Commercial real estate owner Casey Gill volunteered as the contractor for the renovation. He said he called in favors from friends and associates to help with drywall, electric and new flooring.
Gill described their help as a “blessing,” adding that the finished work “warms my heart.”
Sister Alberta McBride, a member of the order of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, offered her support for the project. She said nuns across the nation are pushing to get the issue of human trafficking on the public’s agenda, so that “when people see it happening, they will recognize it.”
Lucy Bloedorn, a social worker who stopped by to offer congratulations to the Peacemakers, said that while government programs are helpful, programs such as the Clare Community are a necessity. “We need to help people in a one-on-one way,” she said.
According to Przedpelski, the Peacemakers plan to expand the program.  He said they will continue to ask supporters for the resources needed to help the women move off of the streets, adding, “We would like to open another shelter in the neighborhood in 2017.”


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Boys & Girls Clubs member Jarvis Garrett signs with the University of Rhode Island | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee
May 8, 2014
Surrounded by family, friends and mentors, Jarvis Garrett, a member of the LaVarnway Boys & Girls Club, signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Rhode Island as a member of the men’s basketball program.
Garrett, a native of Milwaukee and Club member since the age of four, began his basketball career through Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee’s (BGCGM) Little Dribblers program. The program, which Garrett credits for introducing him to the game, teaches young members the basics of basketball, while also providing valuable life lessons about healthy living, sportsmanship, teamwork and leadership skills.
Currently attending Notre Dame Preparatory School in Fitchburg, Mass., Garrett played his first two years at West Allis Central High School. He also played with the Terry Porter Elite Amateur Athletic Program (AAU) program in Milwaukee.
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With both of his parents working for the Clubs, Garrett has remained an active member of BGCGM while attending school in Massachusetts. Acknowledging the role that BGCGM has played in his life, Garrett strives to be a mentor for other Club members; visiting the Clubs whenever he returns home.
“Jarvis is a true example that through hard work and dedication, anything is possible, “said Michael Chisom, Club Manager at the LaVarnway Boys & Girls Club. “He continues to be a humble leader for his peers, pushing himself and others to reach their highest potential.”
One of two newcomers to the University of Rhode Island on the 2014 – 2015 roster, Garrett is one of five players from Notre Dame Preparatory to commit to an NCAA Division 1 program this season. A three-start recruit according to Rivals.com and 247Sports.com, he was among the top point guards in the country during the late signing period.
“Jarvis is a well-rounded player who can impact play on both ends of the floor,” said Dan Hurley, head coach, University of Rhode Island’s men’s basketball. “He possesses great quickness and speed which helps him create opportunities for his teammates and himself. Jarvis can change the pace of the game offensively and defensively.”

author: Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
May 8, 2014