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As youth agencies plan for fall, they draw on lessons learned from the summer | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
September 1, 2020
The Milwaukee Christian Center has redone much of its programming in response to COVID-19. Youth participate in the organization’s summer program in 2017. (File photo by Adam Carr)
Some of Milwaukee’s largest youth-serving organizations say they’ve learned how to conduct safe, engaging programming — both on – and offline – over the summer.
And they are applying these lessons to their fall programming.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and the Y closed their doors in mid-March as COVID-19 forced schools to go remote.
When they reopened for in-person programming, leaders from the organizations credited rigorous health screening regimens and creativity in keeping their students safe and motivated.
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“We had to think about how we engage youth differently,” said Tamara Key, senior area director at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. “We had to focus on the way we do things, not just the things we do.”
Before COVID-19 hit Milwaukee, the Y already knew to take the virus’ impact seriously after its leaders talked to colleagues in Seattle and New York, two of the earliest-hit cities in the country. It also helped that Lisa Coombs-Gerou, vice president operations at the Y, has an educational background in health.
“The science behind what was happening was real,” Coombs-Gerou said.  “We anticipated that at some point it would come here and started planning for this before it arrived.”
Youth leaders were forced to flex their creative muscles after realizing some sports programming could not work during a pandemic. Here, youngsters get ready for the Soccer for Success program in 2014. (File photo by Scottie Lee Meyers)
Though two of its centers remain closed, the Y in-person programming begins with a health questionnaire and a temperature reading as youth are dropped off. Staff and youth over 3 years old who pass this screening are required to wear masks, programs are held outside whenever possible, and youth are kept in groups of 10.
Smaller organizations such as the Milwaukee Christian Center, or MCC, also have placed limits on groups since reopening in June. The MCC allows eight youth per every two staff members and requires daily health screenings for staff as well as rigorous cleaning of facilities.
Because events are held at the popular Kosciuszko Park, MCC’s Youth Program Manager Brian Stewart said limiting groups also helps reduce interactions with the public.
A challenge for all organizations is finding activities that are engaging while also socially distant.
“Initially we thought games like soccer could work, because you’re just kicking a ball around,” Stewart said. “But unless you only practice drills, you’ll inevitably have kids breathing [on] and touching each other due to the competitive nature of the game.”
Before the pandemic, programming for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee included taking field trips. After reopening in July, this was no longer an option as in-person venues were closed and staying  socially distant on a bus created challenges. This forced leaders to think big with alternative programming.
“We played humongous games like socially distant tic-tac-toe and checkers, laser tag and even socially distant marches around social justice,” Key said.
For the Y, the biggest lesson from the summer was to stay in constant communication with local health officials and to follow guidelines from the CDC.
“Anyone working with youth needs to establish and follow strict protocols, make sure staff are modeling how to follow those protocols, and keep parents informed on what’s going on,” Coombs-Gerou said.
The MCC’s Stewart said the summer forced his organization to become even more focused on its neighborhoods.
“We were very building-centric before — a lot of our summer programs were inside,” Stewart said. “Now we’re constantly looking for ways to get youth involved in their own neighborhood and build a lasting testament to their involvement in their own community.”

created: September 1, 2020

author: Sam Woods


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
August 31, 2020

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


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NNS Spotlight: How one group provides a safe space for Milwaukee’s runners of color | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
September 1, 2020
The running group F.E.A.R. works to shift the narrative that all runners are white. (Photo provided by Tenia Fisher)
Editor’s note: This story is part of an  occasional series that highlights groups and people worth knowing in Milwaukee. To nominate a person or a group, email info@milwaukeenns.org and put “Spotlight” in the subject line.
Before Tenia Fisher leaves her house to go on a run, she takes a picture and sends it to a friend just in case something should happen.
Running in general has always been a privilege for white people, Fisher said, citing the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was fatally shot on Feb. 23 while running through a Georgia suburb. The case has helped bring attention to the dangers Black runners may face.
For the past four years, Fisher has been the director of health and wellness at Social X, a local consulting group for young professionals of color. She’s also a captain for the group’s running group, Forget Everything and Run, better known as F.E.A.R.
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Fisher ran cross country and track and field at Rufus King High School before getting a scholarship to attend UW-Milwaukee.
As the only Black woman on the university’s long-distance team, Fisher often got looks. And when she returned to Rufus King as a coach, she never saw another Black coach.
“F.E.A.R. is trying to change that narrative so people who don’t look like us, see us,” Fisher said.
The group began several years ago under Nyerere Davidson, the co-owner and co-founder of Social X, as a safe space for runners of color.
‘Hesitant’ after Arbery shooting
About three years ago, Devin Jenkins, a Milwaukee transplant, decided he wanted to get in shape and that running was the way to do it. He joined F.E.A.R. after attending several Social X events.
Jenkins, who is Black, said he never viewed running as a whites-only sport. The shooting of Arbery changed his perspective.
“I get a little hesitant any time I go for a run now, especially after the Ahmaud Arbery incident,” Jenkins said.
He expected to see a lot of African Americans in F.E.A.R. and was surprised at the diversity in terms of race, gender, ethnicity and religion. Part of the reason the group is so successful and diverse is because it happened organically, he said.
Since joining, Jenkins noted that the creation of intentionally diverse running groups is becoming a thing.
“It’s cool to see how the movement is a common theme across the country,” he said.
From runners to family
Jenkins recalled his first time running with the group.
“I remember feeling good and then a mile in I was tired,” he said. “I was the last one to finish, and now I lead the group sometimes.”
Since then, running has become a part of his daily routine. In 2019, he ran his first half marathon and he joined the group in Washington, D.C., to run a 10-mile race.
Fisher said that before the pandemic, the group traveled to races together.
“We’re family now,” Fisher said. “When you run or train with someone, that’s something really deep, it’s indescribable.”
Although COVID-19 has prevented the group from meeting in person, virtual running sessions are held weekly and captains take turns pumping the group up over Instagram.
Joining the group has made Alexa Wild more aware of the discrimination that non-white runners face. She said more needs to be done to promote runners of color.
Fisher noted that while there have been some changes in society in terms of diversity and acceptance, it is not enough, especially if people still think it’s odd to see a Black man running.
Although one of the goals behind F.E.A.R. was to create a safe space for runners of color, anyone is welcome to join, Fisher said.
“The hardest part is showing up, but if you show up, you’ll be OK. We’ll take care of you,” she said, adding that no one runs alone.

author: Ana Martinez-Ortiz


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Post from Community: Registration for First Stage Fall Theater Academy 2020 is now open! | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
First Stage
September 2, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Name of Event: First Stage Fall Theater Academy 2020
Date: General registration is now open for First Stage Theater Academy’s fall session. Session dates Saturday, September 26, 2020 – Saturday, November 21, 2020.
Time: Class dates and times vary
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Description: First Stage Theater Academy, the nation’s leading high-impact theater training program for young people, is offering both virtual and limited in-person classes at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center for its Fall Academy programs with classes beginning Saturday, September 26, 2020. Both virtual and in-person classes will follow First Stage’s curriculum of Acting, Musical Theater, Improvisation and more led by professional theater artists, fostering life skills through stage skills. Classes are available for students in grades K3 – 12.
These fall programming adjustments are in order to ensure the health and safety of students, families, staff and teaching artists during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person classes will see additional health and safety procedures implemented, including staggered class start times, smaller class sizes, student temperature checks upon arrival, ensuring of six-foot separation among students and staff, requirements of masks to be worn by all students and staff, and thorough cleaning of facilities between classes. To learn more about First Stage’s COVID-19 health and safety measures, go to https://bit.ly/Academy-COVID-19.
Cost: Tuition varies depending upon length of class. Financial assistance is available.
Location: Online, with limited in-person classes at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 West Walnut Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212.
Website: www.FirstStage.org/schoolyear
Phone: (414) 267-2970
About First Stage
First Stage is one of the nation’s leading theaters for young people and families. First Stage touches hearts, engages minds and transforms lives by creating extraordinary theater experiences through professional theater productions that inspire, enlighten and entertain. Its Theater Academy, the nation’s largest high-impact theater training program for young people, fosters life skills through stage skills and serves nearly 2,000 students each year. As Wisconsin’s leader in arts-integrated education in schools, First Stage’s dynamic Theater in Education programs promote literacy, character building and experiential learning throughout the curriculum, serving over 20,000 students each year. First Stage was selected to participate in the Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2012), and was the recipient of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Eureka Award, recognizing creativity and innovation in business, education and the arts for its Next Steps program for students on the autism spectrum (2013, 2015). First Stage is a member of TYA/USA, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, the Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education, Milwaukee Arts Partners and is a cornerstone member of the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF). www.firststage.org.

created: September 2, 2020

author: First Stage


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U.S. halts rental evictions through the end of the year | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
September 2, 2020
Struggling tenants got a temporary reprieve Wednesday when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered evictions be halted through Dec. 31. (File photo by Aaron Maybin)
The federal government is halting evictions through the end of the year for those who have lost work during the pandemic.
The moratorium, enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is meant to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 by keeping shelters as underpopulated as possible.
It will cover tenants who cannot pay rent due to loss of household income and who can prove they’ve made their best effort to pay a landlord. They must also specify that eviction could leave them homeless or force them to live with others at close quarters, like shelters.
Like the eviction moratorium Gov. Tony Evers put in place earlier this year, the federal government’s moratorium stops evictions, but it does not suspend rent.
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The CDC order covers those who:
In a news release, Ald. Khalif Rainey said, “this is very welcomed news, as we have seen a surge in evictions in the weeks since the CARES Act moratorium expired.”
Forms will be available on the CDC website once the order is published in the Federal Register.
Resources to consult if you’re worried about eviction
Check out our Instagram Story on “Milwaukee resources to help you avoid evictions.”
Help is just a text away with our News414 project with our friends from Wisconsin Watch and Outlier Media. Text MILWAUKEE to 73224 to see how it works.

author: PrincessSafiya Byers


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 2, 2020


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What you need to know now about mail-in voting in Wisconsin | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Max Witynski (For Wisconsin Watch)
September 2, 2020
Sharon Drefcinski, right, chief election inspector for the town of Rib Mountain, Wis., boxes mailed-in absentee ballots to send to the county for archiving, during the partisan primary on Aug. 11, 2020. Town Clerk Joanne Ruechel, left, sent out 1,348 absentee ballots ahead of the primary. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)
A bipartisan bill in the Wisconsin Legislature this spring proposed changes to improve voting during a state of emergency. But the GOP-run Legislature has shown little appetite for it or other bills designed to facilitate the mail-in voting process.
Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, co-sponsored the legislation with Rep. Staush Gruszynski, D-Green Bay. The bill introduced in May has yet to have a hearing in either the Assembly or the Senate, but several of its provisions — including ballot tracking barcodes and sending absentee ballot applications to all registered voters — have nevertheless been implemented by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
“I want to make it as easy as possible for people to (vote by mail), but I also want to protect the integrity of the election,” Kitchens says.
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Because of the state’s photo ID requirement, he believes the current system is largely resistant to fraud, despite President Donald Trump’s claims that this will be “the most inaccurate and fraudulent” election in U.S. history.
Kitchens stresses there is a big difference between sending out ballots automatically to all registered voters — something he does not support — and sending them applications only.
“Some of (Trump’s) comments — in my mind — have stirred up this fear in people that if you vote by mail, it’s going to be fraudulent,” Kitchens says. “I don’t think it has to be … if they would look at the way we are handling it, I think it will be a legitimate, fair vote.”

author: Max Witynski (For Wisconsin Watch)


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rib_mountain_boxing-1170×780 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
September 1, 2020

author: Dwayne Burtin


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Wisconsin tells voters to request ballots now in push to improve mail-in voting | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Max Witynski (For Wisconsin Watch)
September 2, 2020
Election workers Jeff and Lori Lutzka, right, process absentee ballots at Milwaukee’s central count facility on Aug. 11, 2020. Wisconsin elections officials are taking multiple steps to make mail-in voting smoother in November, when most people are expected to vote absentee. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)
Lee Ann Medina of Milwaukee says a constellation of factors conspired to prevent her from casting a ballot in Wisconsin’s spring primary.
Medina registered online and got her absentee ballot in the mail without much trouble, she says. But she did not realize she would need a witness signature, which posed a problem since she was living alone and practicing social distancing. So she considered in-person voting instead.
However, Medina — who does not drive and is immunocompromised — says she was uncomfortable taking public transportation to a polling place. She also feared the strain of waiting in line for several hours because a lack of poll workers had forced Milwaukee to reduce its number of polling places from about 180 to five.
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“I was in a conundrum,” Medina says. “And I had to make a decision … to vote and risk my life, or to not vote and lose what I feel is my right.”
Ultimately, Medina did not vote.
To avoid such disenfranchisement, Wisconsin officials are implementing a series of changes to help make mail-in balloting smoother in November.
Lee Ann Medina stands outside of Milwaukee City Hall after delivering her absentee ballot on Aug. 11, 2020. Medina did not vote in the April election because she was unable to secure a witness for her absentee ballot and feared in-person voting during the pandemic. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)
Relative to other states, Wisconsin has already lowered the barriers to casting a mail-in ballot in some ways: the state offers no-excuse voting by mail and provides a wide window of opportunity to register and request a ballot. However, strict voter ID laws and problems during the April primary, which included thousands of rejected ballots, have sparked calls for Wisconsin to do better.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission — the bipartisan state agency responsible for administering Wisconsin’s elections — is deploying new strategies to facilitate participation and improve voter confidence. That includes sending absentee voting guidelines and applications to 2.6 million registered voters and implementing intelligent mail barcodes to track ballot envelopes through the postal system.
Meanwhile, municipal clerks are scaling up staffing at offices and polling places, installing drop boxes and providing safe in-person ballot-casting options to move the election forward despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
But experts and advocates say Wisconsin could go further to improve or expand absentee balloting, including by allowing clerks to process absentee ballots before Election Day; requiring them to notify voters about rejected ballots and allowing voters to “cure” them; extending the deadline for clerks to receive absentee ballots at their offices; and ending witness requirements. Some of those steps are the subject of ongoing lawsuits.
“I think the Legislature is going to do nothing before Election Day,” says Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who runs the Elections Research Center. “There’s really not been interest in getting a legislative fix. So if anything happens between now and November, it will come through the courts.”
But clerks, Republicans who run the state Legislature and nonprofit, legal and academic experts all believe the election can be held safely and securely. With enough planning and reasonable safeguards, they say, Wisconsin can expect to see a fair mail-in process on Nov. 3 — and the state might even see the highest turnout ever.
Wisconsin’s pandemic election
As the COVID-19 pandemic intensified last spring, 74% of voters in the April primary decided to forego the polls on Election Day and cast ballots by mail or earlier in person. Just 10% used those options in April 2016. That meant clerks had to process more than 900,000 mail-in ballot requests, meeting enormous demand in just a few weeks.
“When those requests really started picking up, we were probably working 12 to 14 hour days, around the clock, throughout the weekend,” says Nikki Perez, a certified municipal clerk on the emergency management team at the Madison City Clerk’s office.
Mail-in ballots require much more front-end work for clerks than in-person votes because of the additional time required to check IDs on file, print, label, fold, stuff, authorize and mail ballot envelopes. After ballots are returned, clerks must verify that voter and witness signature and address requirements have been met, contact voters who did not meet requirements, open envelopes, feed ballots through machines and, finally, tally the votes.
Wisconsin law forbids clerks from opening and processing returned absentee ballots until Election Day. A massive shift from in-person to mail-in voting creates a huge backlog of ballots that must be processed in a matter of hours.
Madison, Wis., elections officials Gregory Damico and Jim Fortner, right, alphabetize returned absentee ballots by hand in the City-County Building’s ballot sorting room on Aug. 5, 2020. The ballot sorting room was one of two rooms in the building that the Madison Clerk’s Office took over during the lead up to the Aug. 11 election to handle the increase in absentee ballots. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)
Ballot rejections also were a problem in April, including in communities such as Rib Mountain, Wisconsin. Clerks there rejected 112, or 9% of mail-in ballots, according to analysis by APM Reports.
Town Clerk Joanne Ruechel says the rejections were mostly due to residents not signing the certification on the ballot, not having the ballot witnessed or providing no contact information for her to follow up with them if there was an error.
Such problems were common statewide, leading to more than 23,000 rejections overall. Clerks in Wisconsin are encouraged, but not required, to notify voters if their absentee ballots are rejected.
Clerks, commission strive for clarity
To reduce confusion and the chance of rejection, Ruechel says she is providing new information to voters in absentee ballot envelopes.
“(In August) I sent a separate sheet with a photocopy of the envelope, saying ‘Voter signs here, date, the witness signs here and the address goes here,’” Ruechel says. “Everything is in color and highlighted, so they actually have a visual of what their envelope should look like when they get done voting.”
The strategy appears to have worked. Just eight of the 822 mail-in ballots cast in August were rejected, Ruechel says.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission also approved new, simplified instructions for mail-in voters.
And the agency is sending voting information to most registered Wisconsin voters advising them how to quickly request an absentee ballot. Clerks will begin sending out ballots on Sept. 17.
“We learned a lot from what happened in April,” says Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney. “So our team was able to do a very thorough assessment, (and) figure out what it was we needed to do … to make that process much easier.”
Magney says software has been streamlined to make it simple for clerks to check IDs and automatically generate printed labels without as much manual entry. Perez says the new process is “insanely faster” compared to April, when thousands of ballots were waiting in the queue.
Meanwhile, intelligent barcodes on envelopes will enable tracking from clerks’ offices to voters and back again in many jurisdictions  — a new feature for the upcoming election. Another difference in November will be that people who voted by mail in April already have photo IDs on file, so they will not need to submit a new one to get a ballot.
Joanne Ruechel, town clerk of Rib Mountain, Wis., sent out 1,348 absentee ballots ahead of the Aug. 11, 2020 partisan primary, and included a sample ballot with instructions on how to fill it out, to try to prevent the errors she saw during the April 7, 2020 primary. She made these instructions by hand, as they were not provided by the county or state for the election. Photographed Aug. 11, 2020. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)
Rejections cause ‘systematic’ disenfranchisement
In April, Wisconsin had a 1.8% rejection rate for absentee ballots — similar to past elections. But when thousands more vote by mail, that can lead to many more rejections.
“There are just a lot of vulnerabilities in that chain that don’t exist when a person’s voting in person,” Burden says. “The effective disenfranchisement of voters is a substantial problem that is systematic and widespread when it comes to voting by mail.”
Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, says many more people in Wisconsin are barred from voting by requirements designed to prevent fraud — like voter ID and witness signature requirements — than would justify their use.
“You have (a greater) chance of being struck by lightning,” she says, than “having your ballot improperly messed with.”
Request ballots now — and return them early
Wisconsin law allows mail-in voters to request absentee ballots until the Thursday before the election. However, experts call that timeline unrealistic.
“We have been aware for years that there is a conflict between Wisconsin statutes setting the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot the Thursday before the election and the week that (the Postal Service) says it needs to get a piece of mail from point A to point B in Wisconsin,” Magney says. “That is why we have been urging voters to act as early as possible to request absentee ballots and to return them as soon as possible.”
In a set of federal court cases currently before the Western District of Wisconsin, Judge William Conley hinted during a recent hearing that he may extend the deadline of 8 p.m. on Election Day to receive mail-in ballots. No matter what Conley decides, however, it likely will be appealed.
The U.S. Postal Service has warned states including Wisconsin with deadlines close to the election that it might not be able to deliver ballots on time. Voters who wait until the last minute can drop their ballots off at drop boxes, clerks’ offices or polling locations.
Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg says her office is providing drop boxes and has hired a communications firm to help produce informational videos about absentee voting.
“My best advice would be to request your ballot now, and mail it back as soon as possible if you are going to mail it,” says Madison’s Perez.
Advocate: More steps needed
Amber McReynolds, CEO of the nonprofit National Vote at Home Institute, applauded the steps Wisconsin is taking but says there is room for improvement. These include making drop boxes available in all jurisdictions and eliminating what she calls ineffective security measures — like witness signature requirements — that create barriers to voting while offering little security.
McReynolds also suggests that Wisconsin adopt “drive-up drop off” in which election inspectors collect and witness absentee ballots outside a polling place without asking voters to leave their cars. Madison, Milwaukee and other jurisdictions used this technique in April.
She also advocates “text-to-cure,” a system by which clerks can text voters whose mail-in ballots have errors and allow them to correct them by text. For example, a voter who forgot to sign the ballot envelope could deliver a signature to the clerk by text.
Ruechel, the Rib Mountain clerk, favors a bill that passed the Assembly in February allowing clerks to process ballots — but not tally the results — before Election Day.
Despite fears over COVID-19, the Postal Service’s capacity to deliver ballots on time and voters’ ability to properly fill them out, many believe November’s election will still see heavy turnout, says Kelly Michaels, the Brookfield, Wisconsin city clerk and former president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association.
Says Michaels: “I don’t have to dust off my crystal ball too much to know it’s gonna be big.”
This project was funded by the Solutions Journalism Network. The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
What you need to know now about mail-in voting in Wisconsin


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Lee_Ann_Medina-336×503 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
September 1, 2020


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Madison_sorting-1170×781 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
September 1, 2020


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MKE_Central_Count-1170×781 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
September 1, 2020


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rib_mountain_sample_ballot-1170×780 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
September 1, 2020


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NNS on WGLB: Reporter PrincessSafiya Byers discusses community-police relations, Quanita ‘Tay’ Jackson | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
September 3, 2020
(Photo by Adam Carr)
NNS reporter PrincessSafiya Byers talks with Saryea Murchinson and Dennis Walton of WGLB about how Black men in Milwaukee are responding to the shooting of Jacob Blake and how the community is still celebrating Quanita “Tay”‘ Jackson.

created: September 3, 2020

author: Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service


text:
NNS Interview Princess August 28 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 2, 2020
“NNS Interview Princess August 28”. Genre: Blues.


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OPINION: The voices of 5 Points residents are being muted in rush to expand MLK business improvement district | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Fatima Laster
September 3, 2020
A view of the 3300 block of North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Editor’s note: Have something on your mind? “Community Voices” is the place to let Milwaukee hear what you have to say. To be considered, we need your name, email address and phone number for verification. Please email your submissions to info@milwaukeenns.org.
Fatima Laster is a resident and business owner in the 5 Points neighborhood.
As generationally homegrown natives to this great city of Milwaukee, we humble, locally and loyally invested resilient residents and business owners of the 5 Points neighborhood take our community and civic responsibility quite seriously. As evidenced throughout history, and even to this day, smaller societies, like our family and small business-oriented neighborhood, are consistently subjected to pillaging, bullying and surprise attacks by larger acquisitive, self-serving factions. These factions are motivated not by cultural preservation and harmonious integration for an improved quality of life, but by individualized wealth-accumulation through imperialistic domination.
The result is the subjugation of a population and erasure of peace-of-mind and existence for that small, historic, self-sustaining community.
Given the absence of preliminary communication or community engagement, we were more than caught off guard and taken aback when we unexpectedly received a notice from the city. It was a letter listing the amounts to be tacked onto our already high taxes, and a notice of a city-sponsored public hearing about the expansion of one of the nation’s largest business improvement districts, the Historic King Drive BID #8 (“MLK BID”), into the 5 Points area The lack of communication and inclusion from those who would be the most affected by this expansion is indicative of how city governance has acted for some time now.
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A lack of proper representation for, and input from, our residents and business owners has led to a level of frustration akin to warding off bullies.
This bullying was extended into the City Planning Commission hearing held on Aug. 17, 2020. If one would review the publicly recorded transcript of this hearing, one would observe the grave disparity in manner and weight that the 5 Points community members and other areas wrapped into the proposed territory expansion were given compared to incumbent MLK BID constituents, who were, in most cases, active board members of the BID.
Of the six property owners from the proposed expanded BID territory who testified, five vehemently opposed the expansion. One poignantly asked why the MLK BID would even think to expand during the pandemic, forcibly adding an additional financial burden to the small neighborhood businesses already struggling to stay afloat. Instead of responding to this question or any other counterarguments concerning gentrification—and hushing input from residents as invalid—the hearing was flooded with a barrage of pro-expansion endorsements by current and past MLK BID board members and entities within the existing BID boundaries.
The hearing was a gross display of conflict of interest and corruption. It was analogous to staging a rubber-stamped “democratic” vote in which the imperialistic commissioners allow its colonizers’ votes for invasion to outweigh the votes of the indigenous people of the invaded land. We, the indigenous Black residents and businesses of the 5 Points community, had our voices drowned out by the self-serving external factions who stood to gain the most from this expansion.
In far too many occasions in the wake of the MLK BID #8, the adjacent property owners have been subjected to severely rising taxes that have threatened to and actually physically displaced the long-standing indigenous Black home and business owners of the area. One has only to point to the Brewers Hill and Halyard Park neighborhoods to see clearly what lies ahead for our affordable 5 Points neighborhood as the BID expands.
On a personal note, as a financially vulnerable Black artist, I used the city’s Art and Resource Community Hub artist housing program in conjunction with my own life savings to become an embedded mainstay in my childhood neighborhood through the development of 5 Points Art Gallery & Studios. This Black woman-owned artist safe-space has become a notable community staple. It was created for increased representation and collection of artwork produced by artists of color, as well as for visual, culinary and performative art business development.
I have learned that my earnest neighborhood reinvestment project has been wantonly and exploitatively used against me and my neighbors in the most classic cases of gentrification. In secluded real estate development meetings held by the MLK BID, Bader Philanthropies, Ald. Milele Coggs and others, my community reinvestment project has been promoted to lure external investors, threatening to displace not only my cherished neighbors, but me as well, from an area that we call home. I haven’t even owned 5 Points Art Gallery & Studios for two years. I am now receiving calls to sell and being subjected to the MLK BID’s expansion.
I see the trajectory of the corridor and the surrounding area as one that is quickly eliminating the power and the traces of those indigenous to the area.
During the public hearing, the MLK BID and expansion supporters inadvertently revealed their promised plans of bringing American Family Insurance to the neighborhood. I hope that American Family’s CEO, Jack Salzwedel, a self-proclaimed Black Lives Matter advocate, ally and corporate steward of healthy community reinvestment, not be in alliance and support of the systemically racist tactics of redlining and displacement of Black and brown communities being enacted through the MLK BID’s expansion.
Society’s current equilibrium is tilted heavily toward a decimation of Black lives, and it’s not only as a result of police brutality. Displacement and the decimation of families and neighborhood-based businesses via gentrification is equally brutal and inhumane. We all have bellowed the slogan “Black Lives Matter.” But to continue to aid in the pushing of our community down the slippery slope of gentrification shows as much disregard for Black lives as those with a badge have unfortunately shown.
5 Points does not welcome the Historic King Drive BID #8’s expansion.

author: Fatima Laster


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118504685_337752753937233_8895225738624681258_n | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 2, 2020


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5 things to do and know the weekend of Sept. 4 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
September 4, 2020
Drive Thru at the Farm, 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive, is hosting drive-through events Friday and Saturday. (Photo provided by Drive Thru at the Farm)
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about as the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please email info@milwaukeenns.org and put “5 things” in the subject line by noon Thursday.
Bonus: The latest coronavirus coverage from NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporters are hard at work bringing readers up-to-date information regarding coronavirus. Stay informed on coronavirus by following us on our Facebook page and subscribing to our daily newsletter. All coronavirus related articles can be found on this landing page. If you have a question or concern about coronavirus, send them in our way. We’re here to serve you.
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created: September 4, 2020


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 3, 2020


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Milwaukee’s homeless providers brace for the worst as the coronavirus creates more challenges | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
September 4, 2020
With the pandemic in full force and evictions rising, homeless care providers are preparing for the worst. Volunteers at the Street Angels Milwaukee Outreach emergency shelter at Ascension Lutheran Church speak with a guest in 2018. (File photo by Elliot Hughes)
Despite efforts by shelters, the city and the county, Shelly Sarasin fears the worst is yet to come for Milwaukee’s homeless population.
Sarasin is the co-executive director of Street Angels, a nonprofit that helps feed, shelter and advocate for those facing homelessness. She said she’s noticed an increase in those living outside in comparison with earlier years, though definitive numbers are hard to come by.
Shelters, along with city and county leaders have been in constant communication about the state of homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic — but their efforts may not be enough, leaders told NNS.
From having to require a 72-hour quarantine, where people have to isolate within a shelter, to ensuring people are social distancing, Milwaukee’s homeless shelters face serious challenges from the coronavirus.
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During the beginning of the pandemic, many shelters suspended in-person services for residential and outpatient programs and limited the number of people shelters could house, effectively reducing their capacity.
A rise in homelessness?
Now, shelters are seeing “an uptick in individuals living outside,” said Ashley Wisnefske, housing and outreach manager at Outreach Community Health Centers. “Some shelters aren’t taking new people, and even for those that are, the influx is much slower as people have to quarantine before being allowed into a center.”
Outreach Community Health Centers provides primary care, behavioral health care and community services like rapid rehousing for families facing homelessness.
Early this year, places like Clare Hall, on the grounds of the St. Francis de Sales Seminary, opened to provide temporary shelter for people, as did many motels, to flatten the increase of people living on the street.
Nancy Esteves, homeless management information system manager for the Institute for Community Alliances, said the decrease in shelter capacity makes it look like the city has a new or worsening homeless population. But that’s not the case, she said.
“We don’t necessarily have more people facing homelessness,” she said. “There has just been a decrease in space to shelter those who were already facing homelessness.”
Other shelter leaders echo Esteves’ observations.
“We had about a 30 to 40 percent drop in residents,” said Aurelia Brown, director of Joy House at Milwaukee Rescue Mission. “Because we have a decent sized space, we are still able to serve about 60 percent of the people we usually do.”
According to 2020 Point-in-Time Count, there were 970 people without homes as of January. Once the pandemic hit in March and local shelters cut back to 50 percent to 60 percent of their capacities, city and county officials came together to provide temporary housing for about 177 people, according to data provided by the Institute for Community Alliances. This number does not include those housed at Clare Hall.
A Point-In-Time, or PIT, count is a statistically reliable, unduplicated count of people experiencing homelessness during a designated one-night period. Wisconsin conducts this count twice per year.
Is it better or worse?
Sarasin said a decrease in those sleeping outside does not necessarily mean a decrease in people without homes.
“Around this time last year, we were passing out about 180 meals” per day, Sarasin said on Aug. 12. “We are planning to pass out about130 to140 tomorrow.”
“While that is a smaller number of people served, when you count the around 150 people the city has housed plus those in Clare Hall, which has a capacity for 80, plus those in areas of the city that we don’t serve, this issue looks worse.”
She said that winter is always hard for those living on the streets, but with the ongoing pandemic and evictions on the rise, this year could be worse than usual.
As leaders prepare for the expected next wave of COVID-19, homeless care providers are focused on ensuring their clients aren’t left behind.
“We don’t want to open another opportunity for COVID-19 to hurt this population, and people will not just be left in the wind when the pandemic is over,” Sarasin said.
Where you can find help
Resources for those who experience homelessness in Milwaukee (and how you can help)


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Post from Community: Cultural organization grant program aims to help financially-strapped arts providers | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Michael Murphy
September 4, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Milwaukee arts and cultural organizations and agencies negatively impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will be able to apply for assistance under a new $5 million grant program announced by Governor Tony Evers, said Alderman Michael J. Murphy, chair of the City of Milwaukee Arts Board.
Governor Evers announced the launch of the COVID-19 Cultural Organization Grant Program yesterday (September 3) to assist Wisconsin cultural organizations that have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is funded through the Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars. Administered by the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA), the program will be providing eligible organizations grant awards of up to $250,000 to cover pandemic-related impacts including lost revenue, increased workers compensation costs, cleaning and sanitization, and purchases of services or equipment to facilitate telework by employees.
Alderman Murphy said eligible organizations must have a primary mission to produce, present or exhibit cultural disciplines such as music, dance, theater, literature and the visual arts, or items of environmental or scientific interest.
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“We are very fortunate in Milwaukee to have numerous nonprofit art and cultural organizations that provide enriching forms of art and expression that draw attendees from across the region,” Alderman Murphy said.
“These organizations are important job providers, play an important role in our local economy and are also a great source of pride, healing and comfort, and this grant program will be a vital help to keep them alive as we look to rebound from the devastating economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 emergency,” he said.
Full program details, eligibility standards, grant application, and program contact information are available here on the DOA website.
Grant applications are due to DOA by no later than 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30th. Interested applicants are encouraged to attend a program webinar on September 10th; details are available here.

author: Ald. Michael Murphy


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5 things to do and know this week in Milwaukee: Sept. 7 to Sept. 12 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
September 7, 2020
County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee County are hosting an open budget hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 8. (File photo by Edgar Mendez)
It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about as the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please email info@milwaukeenns.org and put “5 things” in the subject line by noon Thursday.
Bonus: The latest coronavirus coverage from NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporters are hard at work bringing readers up-to-date information regarding coronavirus. Stay informed by following us on our Facebook page and subscribing to our daily newsletter. All coronavirus related articles can be found on this landing page. If you have a question or concern about coronavirus, send them in our way. We’re here to serve you.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!

created: September 7, 2020


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 6, 2020

created: September 6, 2020


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Post from Community: City Forward Collective is hiring: Director of Development | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City Forward Collective
September 7, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
You’re a connector, and a passionate storyteller who believes deeply in Milwaukee.
You know education is a powerful way to achieve transformational change with our city’s families.
You might be the next Director of Development for City Forward Collective.
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We are a Milwaukee-based nonprofit that supports school teams and families across the city the build skills, knowledge, and power to foster more high-quality schools.
The Director of Development will lead our fundraising strategy to secure resources to fight educational inequities in Milwaukee and increase access to high-quality schools.
Learn more about us and this great opportunity at https://www.cityforwardcollective.org/careers

author: City Forward Collective


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WERE-HIRING.png | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
September 3, 2020

author: Name *


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Post from Community: ManpowerGroup and United Way partner on fifth annual Virtual Men’s Job Seminar | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
September 7, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
On Wednesday, September 9, 2020, ManpowerGroup, in partnership with United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, will host the fifth annual Success Starts Here! Men’s Job Seminar. This is a free cutting-edge seminar for local men looking to boost their skills, find a job, or explore new career options. The event this year will be virtual.
Presenters at the event include, Chris Rowland, Global Diversity Officer for ManpowerGroup; Kobena Marcus Collins, Diversity & Inclusion Advisor; Donald Driver, Retired Football Player/Motivational Speaker; Joel Peterson, Founder and President of Speak Life LLC; and the keynote speaker, Dr. Kweku Ramel Akyirefi Smith, PhD, Licensed Psychologist. The event will be hosted by Nafessa Burdine, Community Investment & Sustainability Leader, ManpowerGroup and Shannon Reed, Director Innovative Strategies for Boys & Men of Color, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha.
From 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., attendees can join us for the entire event or select which session interests them the most:
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The goal is to provide each attendee to leave with tools to find and land employment.
To register for the event, visit the event page: Success Starts Here! Men’s Job Seminar
This event supports United Way’s Diversity Leadership Society, which has set a goal to reduce unemployment among African-Americans in the region.
In addition to the event, an online resource employment library will be available at United Way’s website.
If you know someone who is looking to polish their professional skills, please encourage them to attend.
About United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County: United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in our local community. Learn more at: http://www.unitedwayGMWC.org


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Post from Community: United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County to focus on reducing barriers to employment & advancement in 2020 campaign | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
September 7, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
On Thursday, September 3, 2020, United Way held a virtual version of their annual Community Campaign Kickoff. The event was sponsored by BMO Harris Bank and highlighted some of the key initiatives that United Way is focused on for the 2020-21 season. At the event, they also announced their campaign goal of $55 million.
One of the key initiatives mentioned at the event was Reducing Barriers to Employment & Advancement, led by United Way’s Diversity Leadership Society. This initiative is anchored in the belief that all adults of working age in our community should have the opportunity to obtain permanent employment with a livable wage at a workplace where they are treated with dignity and have opportunities for advancement. This is a multi-faceted approach focusing on African Americans with an emphasis on education, training, and credentials; transportation, involvement in the justice system; and diverse talent retention. ManpowerGroup is a major sponsor of this initiative.
“We know that over the last several months, unemployment rates have skyrocketed,” said Amy Lindner, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “The barriers that people face will only continue to grow. This is our time to reimagine a workforce in our community that provides equal opportunity for everyone. That’s why reducing barriers is such an important initiative for us this year, and for years to come.”
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Other key initiatives that United Way is focused on for 2020 include:
2020 COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN
United Way’s focus is on health, education, and financial stability, the building blocks for a good quality of life.
At the virtual event, United Way announced their annual campaign goals:
Raise $55 million for the annual Community Campaign. The funds raised will mobilize local resources to provide vital health and human services to thousands of families in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties.
Coordinate volunteering in a COVID-19 world.  United Way connects individuals, workplace teams, school groups, and entire organizations to meaningful volunteer experiences. This year the focus is on delivering volunteer experiences while keeping everyone safe and healthy. The year-long Seasons of Caring effort is sponsored by Rockwell Automation.
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County has four community leaders heading up the 2020 campaign: Jud Snyder, BMO Harris Bank; Austin Ramirez, Husco; Dr. John Raymond, Medical College of Wisconsin; and Kelly Grebe, Community Leader.
“We are so grateful to have these co-chairs who are leading our campaign during these challenging times,” said Linda Benfield, Board Chair for United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “We know we absolutely have the right group of people leading our efforts this year.”
“United Way is a pillar of the community that has been driving positive change for generations,” said Jud Snyder. “For me, co-chairing is an opportunity to go out and tell the community how much I – and BMO Harris Bank – believe in the work they do.”
“This year has been a great case study in why United Way is so important and why I am so passionate about it,” said Austin Ramirez. “I have my favorite causes that I am involved with. What United Way does, and I could never do myself, is understand the full diversity of need especially during times of crisis. United Way connects the capacity the community has for giving with organizations that can meet the urgent needs of the moment.”
“United Way: Those two words are so significant when put together,” said Dr. John Raymond. “United Way brings our community together in a way that promotes accountability and compassion for everyone. It shows us the pathway forward for helping to identify and focus on our most pressing needs. We needed that guidance in unanticipated ways this year.”
“I think it goes without saying that none of us knew what this year was going to bring when we agreed to be co-chairs,” said Kelly Grebe. “We have really seen how much need there is, and United Way, because of its track record and its scale, has been able to provide help where it is needed the most.”
Join the fight.
You can get involved by giving through a workplace giving campaign or a direct personal contribution, advocating for lasting change by sharing United Way’s message on your social media platforms, or by connecting to the community through volunteering.
ABOUT UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County fights for the health, education, and financial stability for every person in our local community.


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The NNS coronavirus update: What Milwaukee residents need to know the week of Sept. 7 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Matt Martinez
September 7, 2020
Health leaders are urging parents to comply with safety guidelines as COVID-19 cases appear in schools. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Here’s the latest update on COVID-19 in Milwaukee and the resources you need to combat it.
During a media briefing, Greenfield Health Department Director Darren Rausch urged parents to comply with safety guidelines, as cases have begun to appear in schools across the county. Rausch said that members of his department have reported a lack of “parental responsibility” since school has resumed.
“Specifically, some of our colleagues have mentioned and outlined situations where parents have sent their COVID-positive child to school,” Rausch said. “Additionally, departments have identified that many parents have not been quarantining their child appropriately and have sent that child to school or to a daycare setting.”
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Rausch said members of his department have reported obstinance and lying when trying to conduct contact tracing. Rausch urged parents to answer phone calls from health officials and do their best to help with contact tracing in the future.
Rausch also mentioned that obstructing a disease investigator is against Wisconsin state law and local ordinances.
“When you tell us that you won’t give us the information, that doesn’t help us to fight COVID-19,” Rausch said.
During the briefing, Mayor Tom Barrett provided an update on the COVID-19 indicators, which provide benchmarks for the county’s response to the virus.
The indicators for cases and testing flipped to yellow in Milwaukee County. This means we saw an increase in the number of cases and a decrease in individuals seeking testing.
Dr. Ben Weston, director of medical services of the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management, again urged anyone in the following categories to get tested for COVID-19:
Jeanette Kowalik, commissioner of the Milwaukee Health Department, announced she’s resigning from her position last week. Kowalik will join Trust For America’s Health, a health policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
Kowalik said in a news release that she felt limited in her position.
“This was evident at multiple points in time through our pandemic response,” Kowalik said in the release. “From access to testing, promotion of masks/face coverings, gathering limits, orders, messaging and outreach for communities of color, and various threats to Health Officers.”
To find out more about her efforts to curtail the coronavirus pandemic, read this story from NNS.
Kowalik will continue in her current role for three weeks. Barrett said the city will start searching for a replacement immediately and that an interim health commissioner will be named.
Barrett announced Thursday that the city will be opening Fiserv Forum and Miller Park as early voting locations starting on Oct. 20 and ending on Nov. 1.
Fiserv Forum will host in-person absentee ballot voting, and Miller Park will host drive-through voting in its parking lot. Fiserv will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Miller Park has yet to release its hours for operation.
The move comes as the city prepares for the upcoming election Nov. 3. Barrett described preparations for the 2020 general election as “a marriage between the election commission and health department” because of COVID-19.
“We anticipate increased voter turnout in 2020 … and with the ongoing pandemic, we want to make sure that our in-person voting locations comply with the CDC guidelines to keep voters safe,” Barrett said.
The addresses for the two locations are:
Fiserv Forum – 1111 Vel R. Phillips Ave.
Miller Park – 1 Brewers Way
To obtain a free mask, residents can visit these sites:
NNS reporters also gathered a list of where to buy locally made masks if you’re looking to show some local business love when masking up.
Check the City of Milwaukee Health Department’s website for the most updated facts and answers to questions about the mask ordinance.
Look here for up-to-date statistics on COVID-19 in the county. More precautions on how to stay safe and information on COVID-19 can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
Contact your health provider, call IMPACT 2-1-1 or take a look at the county’s testing site map to find a testing center near you. The free community testing sites at UMOS, 2701 S. Chase Ave., and Custer Stadium by Barack Obama School, 4300 W. Fairmount Ave. continue to operate.
Check out our continuing coronavirus coverage.
Looking for more personalized direction to resources and information during the coronavirus crisis? Get connected with News414, a texting-based news resource from Milwaukee NNS, Wisconsin Watch and Outlier Media. You can text MILWAUKEE to 73224 and begin to receive free, personalized data via text messages.

author: Matt Martinez


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COVID-19 forced him to fight for his life. Now he’s fighting for others. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Bridget Fogarty
September 8, 2020
Pastor Greg Lewis, the founder and president of Souls to the Polls and Pastors United, survived the coronavirus. Now, he’s back to organizing for change. (Photo by Bridget Fogarty).
Greg Lewis isn’t used to slowing down.
He’s usually focused on helping others.
Lewis serves as the assistant pastor at St. Gabriel’s Church of God In Christ, 5363 N. 37th St., and is the founding president of Pastors United and Souls to the Polls. Both are Milwaukee-based groups that organize hundreds of faith leaders who are seeking solutions to the issues impacting Black residents and strengthening civic engagement in their congregations.
Yet as the coronavirus hit Milwaukee in March and both of his organizations began working to meet the community’s needs remotely, the 62-year-old began to develop a strong cough. Then he started getting chills and his body ached.
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His doctor treated him for bronchitis, but he only felt worse after a couple of days on antibiotics. Lewis couldn’t eat, drink or taste anything, and he felt so fatigued he could barely walk from his bedroom to the kitchen across the hall.
When he finally took his temperature, it was about 104 degrees. He went to get tested for COVID-19, and his results came back as he had feared — positive.
“That sent him in a downward spiral,” said Annette Lewis, the pastor’s wife who works as a manager for the City of Milwaukee. “All we could do is make sure he gets rest.”
Though she felt sick as well, she took care of her husband around the clock for about two weeks. One day, as he lay in bed, something didn’t feel right to him.
“It was like a bright light in my room,” Lewis said. “And I looked up at my wife and said, ‘Baby, I’m dying.’”
“I saw in his face . . . I saw a light,” Annette said. “I was scared.”
Lewis was rushed to Froedtert Hospital’s intensive care unit. As he lay in the hospital bed, doctors stood outside his room to avoid contracting COVID-19 and began asking him the unimaginable: Did he have his personal affairs in order? If he became unconscious, would he want to be resuscitated?
“I couldn’t move,” Lewis said. “I was dying— and I knew it. And now I know what it feels like to die a slow death, ’cause that’s what that COVID does to some of us.”
As Lewis endured the next three days in the ICU, Annette waited to hear if her husband was dead or alive. She finally received a call from Greg on the third day — he was in stable condition and moving from the ICU to a floor with other coronavirus victims. Doctors discovered Lewis, who has Type 2 diabetes, had bronchitis, pneumonia and infected lungs — and COVID-19 had exacerbated all of that, leaving him unable to breath without a ventilator.
He spent the next three days on his stomach to increase oxygen to his lungs and was awakened frequently to receive a shot of insulin for his diabetes and antibiotics for the other conditions. On the fourth day, he was finally able to go home and continue his recovery with Annette’s aid.
“Even though I wasn’t feeling the best, I still had a strong will to take care of me and him,” she said.
Now, Lewis is healthier but still feeling lingering effects of COVID-19 on his respiratory system. “I know if I’m trying to preach, and I’m starting to get really excited, I have to stop because I’ll cough a lot,” he said.
He said he’ll tell his survival story to anybody who will listen and wants people to know that what happened to him could happen to them or their loved ones.
“That virus is real, and people don’t understand it,” he said. “They keep thinking that they don’t need to wear masks or protect themselves from it. But I can guarantee you – if you went through what I went through, you’d understand how deadly that virus is.”
As he doesn’t know when he first came in contact with the virus, he believes there’s no such thing as being too careful.
“I don’t think you need to apologize for believing that you have to be a certain distance from one another, or have a mask on,” he said. “All it needs is to get one little droplet. That’s all it needs, and it’s over, you’ve got it . . . that’s how infectious that virus is.”
Lewis is back to what he does best: lifting up his community through faith, organizing and civic engagement.
“He’s invested in the people,” said Pastor Mose A. Fuller, the vice president of Pastors United, who calls Lewis a true community organizer and “the hardest working pastor in the community.”
Through Lewis’s leadership, Pastors United created programs that help residents in congregations across the city focus on building their credit to overcome the financial barriers to homeownership. According to Fuller, the organization has helped 32 families move into homes.
With Souls to the Polls, he’s organizing a voting bloc of Milwaukeeans who work to fight voter suppression and make the election process more accessible on Nov. 3.
And “it’s not just about voting,” he said. The group will continue fighting after the election to ensure the issues impacting their communities are addressed by officials.
“All the true work starts Nov. 4.”
Faith communities have changed since COVID-19 hit Milwaukee in March, Lewis said. Even though the city’s current reopening phase allows churches to host in-person services with certain safety guidelines, people don’t show up.
“It’s devastating” not to share fellowship as they once could, he said. Elderly church members — whose ages put them at a higher risk of health complications with the coronavirus — avoid gatherings, sometimes opting to attend virtual services instead.
Lewis knows people in his own congregation who have contracted the coronavirus. Four of his friends died from it while he was in the ICU.
Yet through the challenging past six months, Lewis’s faith hasn’t dwindled. Surviving COVID-19 has re-energized him to continue his work.
“I’m more dedicated than ever to fighting for our people to understand true freedom,” he said. “That is something that has been strengthened in a way that only a person who has faced death can understand.”

created: September 8, 2020

author: Bridget Fogarty


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 7, 2020


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PHOTOS: Milwaukee youth get free school supplies | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sue Vliet
September 8, 2020
Capuchin Community Services distributed school supplies to Milwaukee youth on Aug. 27.
The 200 donated backpacks included pencils, pens, erasers, spiral notebooks, hand sanitizer and calculators.
The distribution took place at House of Peace on North Walnut Street.
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author: Sue Vliet


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PHOTOS: New housing initiative will revitalize homes in Garden Homes area | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sue Vliet
September 8, 2020
Good City Brewing and The 30th Street Industrial Corridor co-sponsored a “Black is Beautiful beer release” on Aug. 15 to support a new housing initiative in the Garden Homes area.
The initiative, a partnership with Impact Seven and the Garden Homes Neighborhood Association, will revitalize 30 homes on Milwaukee’s North Side, including 10 historic homes in the Garden Homes.
Black is Beautiful is an Imperial Stout that Good City brewed in collaboration with breweries across the country in support of racial equity.
Proceeds will go toward supporting the initiative.
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Post from Community: New dates for the Mobile Legal Clinic’s expungement and pardon clinics | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mobile Legal Clinic
September 8, 2020
Editor’s note: Our Posts from the Community feature is a platform for community announcements and event postings. If you have a post to be considered, send it to info@milwaukeenns.org or submit it directly.
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author: Mobile Legal Clinic


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Expungement Clinic | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
September 8, 2020


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Causey’s Career Corner: She lost her corporate job — and found happiness | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Damia S. Causey
September 9, 2020
As the coronavirus continues to disrupt the job market, side hustles are gaining popularity
At first glance, you may not think making fish dinners, landscaping and personal shopping have much common, but as “The Rona” digs its heels in, a new wave of “side-hustle entrepreneurs” is emerging. Side hustles are jobs usually worked to supplement jobs and income.
As the saying goes, “ Necessity is the mother of invention.” During the pandemic, this rings true for many workers who have been laid off or had hours reduced.
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According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent as of July 2020. While in 2019, unemployment had fallen to its lowest rate of 3.5 percent.
“My side hustle was something I was passionate about. I am so much happier,” Pamela McCreary says. (Photo provided by Pamela McCreary)
Pamela McCreary understands fully the impact of sudden unemployment. In 2019, after working as a product specialist for eight years at Northwestern Mutual, her department was downsized, and she was laid off.
She had one month to find other work within the company or take a severance package. McCreary, who had been making jewelry as a side hustle since 2007, decided to step out on faith and bet on herself.
She fleshed out the numbers, and after discussing things with her husband and her daughter, Jamila Riley, who owns J. Riley, a jewelry and clothing brand, McCreary decided to give herself six months to pursue her creative passion full time. If things didn’t work out, she would go back into the traditional workforce. Buoyed by her severance and a strong support system, she leapt into full-time entrepreneurship.
Said McCreary, who’s in her 50s, “I’d worked in corporate jobs since the age of 13. The stress of working in corporate America and all the politics and schemes, to let that go is so liberating. I didn’t realize how fed up I was with corporate America until I wasn’t there anymore.”
Since the end of April 2019, McCreary hasn’t had any regrets about her decision to pursue her passion full time.
Before her departure from Northwestern Mutual, she was offered an opportunity to have a store and sell her wares inside the Sherman Phoenix. Previously, she had worked at craft fairs and outdoor markets.
“I didn’t want a store initially,” she said. “How could I have a store and work my job at the same time?”
Her layoff opened the pathway for what is now a flourishing full-time business, At Peace Design.
McCreary’s products include stickers, bracelets, earrings, shopping bags, mugs, masks and numerous other products.
This December, she will celebrate one year in a brick-and-mortar establishment at the Sherman Phoenix. A business incubator formed after the Sherman Park uprising in August 2016, the Phoenix sits on the site of the old BMO bank building at 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
“My side hustle was something I was passionate about. I am so much happier,” McCreary said.
McCreary’s top three pieces of advice for those looking to pursue their side hustle:
We may have to deal with this pandemic for the next one to two years if science holds true, and adjustments will continue to be made.
In the meantime, McCreary believes there can be peace in the uncertainty.
“Through this pandemic, you just gotta believe everything is gonna be all right.”
Resources:
To file unemployment claims, click here.
To apply for BadgerCare Plus and FoodShare, click here.

created: September 9, 2020

author: Damia S. Causey


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How to make your voice heard during budget season | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
News414
September 9, 2020
The City of Milwaukee is planning its budget for the next year.
Check out our Instagram story to find about the process and how you can weigh in.
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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 8, 2020


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NNS on ‘Lake Effect’: 5 things for this September in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
September 9, 2020
Reynaldo Hernandez (center in teal blazer) celebrates the restoration of his iconic “Celebrate the Arts” mural, one of the many public artworks he’s created in his 50-year career. (File photo by Adam Carr)
NNS’s Adam Carr spoke with WUWM and Joy Powers of “Lake Effect” for the September installment of our monthly “5 Things” feature.
This month’s list includes an event highlighting Latino Arts’ retrospective on the career of artist Reynaldo Hernandez, a conversation among refugee and immigrant community members on Black Lives Matter at Lynden Sculpture Garden, the annual celebration of Valley Week, Niche Book Bar’s upcoming pop-up residency and “Juntas,” a digital conversation where “latinx womxn, femme, and non-binary-identified students share unique cultural experiences.”
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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 9, 2020


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Health and safety intersect in ‘Complete Streets’ initiative | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Matt Martinez
September 10, 2020
Neighborhood residents are an integral part of the “Complete Streets” program, which seeks to make streets safer and easier to use. One of the initiative’s goals is to make streets places for people, not just cars. Events such as Ciclovia MKE help the effort. (2015 file photo by Andrea Waxman)
What do you see when you look at a street?
Robert Schneider, a professor of urban planning at UW-Milwaukee, sees a place where the city can reinvent itself.
“They’re a place to reunite our neighborhoods,” Schneider said. “They’re a place to support local businesses and create opportunities for physical activity.”
Schneider is on the implementation team for the “Complete Streets” program, an initiative that aims to make Milwaukee’s streets safer and easier to use. Schneider helped to create the annual report for the program.
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The report, released on Aug. 27, is meant to detail the progress of the program and how closely Complete Streets guidelines are being followed.
Complete Streets is rooted in physical projects: reducing lanes on a road to decrease traffic speed, expanding or repairing sidewalks or adding bike lanes are some examples.
Caressa Givens, Milwaukee project manager for the Wisconsin Bike Federation, described Complete Streets as a “whole way of thinking and doing” rather than a single program.
Givens said Complete Streets is meant to incorporate thinking for multi-modal transportation; in other words, it includes pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders and drivers. She particularly thinks it’s important to focus on pedestrians, the most vulnerable users on the road.
“We need to rebuild our cities to be people places, not just places to move cars through,” Givens said.
This means addressing things like the Pedestrian High Injury Network, a stretch of the city that covers 106 miles where serious and fatal pedestrian crashes occur most frequently. The report urges that these areas be invested in to address the crashes quickly. In 2019, 12 pedestrians were killed and 71 were seriously injured across the city of Milwaukee.
Complete Streets is meant to make streets more equitable and usable, intentionally targeting Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas, or NRSAs, a term coined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to identify areas that may face economic disparities.
In 2019, the majority of transportation projects completed in Milwaukee were in NRSAs. Two Complete Streets projects were completed in 2019, and one was in an NRSA. Five projects were completed in the Pedestrian High Injury Network, of which three were in NRSAs.
Ald. Nik Kovac said the program addresses health disparities in the city by providing spaces where people in lower income neighborhoods can walk, bike and run safely.
“If the wealthy have easier access to healthier modes of transportation, that only deepens the divide,” Kovac said.
Kovac said that some areas most in need of street work are areas with the least amount of car ownership as well. Givens agreed.
“A high school diploma is less important than a driver’s license in Milwaukee,” Givens said.
Givens said the city is so spread out, that residents often have to drive to find a recreational area; this is especially problematic in areas where car ownership is low.
In 2019, 28.5% of people in NRSAs reported they had no leisure time activity. The same year, 41.5% reported obesity; and 36.6% reported high blood pressure, according to the report.
The Complete Streets program is really about enacting systemic change in how entities like the Department of Public Works operate, Givens said.
Part of Complete Streets involves community walks, where officials tour the areas where projects are being planned and hear from people living there. There is also an effort to get equal racial representation within the departments that are reflective of the communities they serve.
“The city itself has embraced this project,” Schneider said. “It’s updating its internal structures so it can support Complete Streets fully.”
Givens said an important aspect is recruiting and retaining talent to ensure there is equity in city government. She said people in Milwaukee should be able to choose how to get around, and Complete Streets is taking the first steps toward what she referred to as a “never-ending project.”
“It isn’t just about going out and building a safer street,” Givens said. “It’s meant to be a culture.”

created: September 10, 2020


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OPINION: The neighborhood wins with an expansion of the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Deshea Agee
September 10, 2020
A view of the 3300 block of North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Editor’s note: Have something on your mind? “Community Voices” is the place to let Milwaukee hear what you have to say. To be considered, we need your name, email address and phone number for verification. Please email your submissions to info@milwaukeenns.org.
Deshea Agee is the executive director of Historic King Drive Business Improvement District #8 and a resident of the Rufus King neighborhood.
With a rich legacy of nearly three decades, the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District (BID #8) has been working to improve the district by fostering a culture of revitalization that has attracted local entrepreneurs who embrace the commitment to hard work and strong character that the area was founded on.
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Now experiencing an unprecedented growth in commercial and housing development, the quality of life has never been better and continues to grow every day. The work to ensure equity, access and opportunity continues, along with a supported vision to ensure the same investment and support visible in the south end of the King Drive business district is equally visible and felt on the north end.
Efforts in the area led commercial property owners to petition the City of Milwaukee to expand BID #8. Property owners in the proposed boundary were sent invitations (postcards) to share feedback on the proposed expansion. Postcards were sent stating BID services and listed days and times for three two-hour virtual meetings in June and three two-hour virtual meetings in July with the executive director.
Phone or email contact attempts were made to property owners not responsive to postcard mailings. Door-to-door visits were made to businesses in the proposed expanded boundary. The City of Milwaukee sent certified mail to affected property owners inviting public comments before or during a meeting of the City Plan Commission. One in-person meeting was hosted for affected property owners on Aug. 13 at King Hall (3415 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.). It was also broadcasted virtually. Property owners were also sent personalized letters from the BID that included proposed neighborhood improvement services and an estimated BID member fee.
In brief, services referenced street cleaning, graffiti removal, technical assistance with building improvements, commercial tenant recruitment, incentive grants and placemaking. With this information, the proposed expansion garnered strong support of property owners and businesses in the expanded boundary, and others.
On Aug. 17, the City Plan Commission held a public hearing on the proposed expansion. After hearing all public testimony of those in opposition and support, the commission voted unanimously to approve file #200377.
Documentation of opposition and support for expansion can be viewed here.
Residential property owners will not contribute financially to the work of the business improvement district. Neighborhood beautification, public space improvements and building enhancements are benefits residents can anticipate with the boundary expansion.
In talks with residents of the 5 Points neighborhood, support for the expansion exists along with a desire to work together to improve the area. Of more than 80 commercial properties to be added, two objections were voiced by property owners contributing to BID operations.
Misinformation and scare tactics can be used to bully people. Terms like gentrification, displacement and redlining can spark outrage, particularly in the times we are living in.
There is no evidence to suggest an expansion of the business improvement district at this time will cause these to occur. There is overwhelming evidence that show economic opportunities for men and women of color have increased in the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District in recent years. This includes new businesses opened, new grant programs offered, property redevelopments and improving public spaces.
Finally, with the documented support of property owners, it is my hope to continue the work of improving our community and establishing the best King Drive in the nation.
One we all can be proud of.
In case you missed it: OPINION: The voices of 5 Points residents are being muted in rush to expand MLK business improvement district

author: Deshea Agee


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deshea | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 10, 2020

author: Adam Carr


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Post from Community: ‘Radical,’ ‘Hungry,’ ‘Invisible’ and ‘Unbroken’: Powerful films depict minority health experience in upcoming festival | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Black Lens
September 10, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Fifty films will come together to create a powerful look into the health and wellbeing of minority communities during Milwaukee Film’s second Minority Health Film Festival (MHFF), presented by the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin regional health network.
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On Monday, the nonprofit Milwaukee Film announced the full lineup of film titles that will be offered virtually from Sept. 10-24 and opened sales of passes that offer access to all virtual films.
“The health of people in communities of color is affected by a lot more than a doctor’s visit,” said Geraud Blanks, Cultures and Communities director for Milwaukee Film. “We set out to find films that would show the full range of issues and experiences that impact health outcomes for racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minorities.
“Between the coronavirus pandemic and racism-fueled violence, these days most people are feeling less control over their mental, emotional and physical well-being. The information and stories in these films can help empower people toward improving health for their families, their communities and themselves,” he added.
Highlights of MHFF’s 29 feature-length and 21 short films include:
The festival brings back several films from previous Milwaukee Film Festivals, including “Charm City,” “Cooked: Survival by Zip Code” (2018 / USA / dir. Judith Helfand) and “We Are the Radical Monarchs” (USA / 2019 / dir. Linda Goldstein Knowlton). The lineup also includes films from 2019’s inaugural MHFF, “The Invisible Vegan” (2019 / USA / dirs. Jasmine Leyva, Kenny Leyva) and “Unbroken Glass” (2016 / USA / dir. Dinesh Sabu).
“The bad news of this festival is, of course, that we can’t safely gather at a cinema for this festival. The good news is that our virtual platform makes it incredibly easy and affordable for people throughout our community to experience these films,” Blanks said.
Passes, which include access to all virtual films and events, are $24.99, or $19.99 for Milwaukee Film Members. For each pass purchased, Milwaukee Film will donate a pass to one of three community partners: Leaders Igniting Transformation, Marquette Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach (CURTO) or Teens Grow Greens.
Passes are on sale now at mkefilm.org/mhff. Tickets for individual films will be on sale starting Thursday, Sept. 10, the first day of the festival. Full details for all 50 films are also available at mkefilm.org/mhff.
Like last year’s event, the second Minority Health Film Festival reflects a strong partnership between Milwaukee Film and the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. The organizations are co-presenting a kickoff keynote event with Dr. Camara Jones, a family physician and epidemiologist whose work focuses on naming, measuring and addressing the impacts of racism on the health and well-being of the nation. Free registration for her talk, “Dismantling racism: We put out a statement, now what do we do?”, on Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. is open now at mkefilm.org/mhff.
“The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network is excited to work with Milwaukee Film in supporting the Minority Health Film Festival,” said Heidi Moore, director of Emerging Markets and Inclusion for Froedtert Health. “The MHFF is an opportunity to learn about the 80% of the health not addressed by hospitals, health centers or doctor’s appointments. This year’s film series looks at racism as a public health issue, the relationship between zip code and health outcomes and how employment and income affect health. Our health network is committed to connecting with our communities to improve quality of life for all.”
A number of additional local businesses and foundations have provided essential support for this year’s event, including:

author: Black Lens


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 10, 2020


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5 things to do and know the weekend of Sept. 11 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
September 11, 2020
North Side Rising is hosting an event to encourage the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to extend the utilities moratorium. (Photo provided by North Side Rising)
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about as the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please email info@milwaukeenns.org and put “5 things” in the subject line by noon .
1. Minority Health Film Festival
Earlier this week, Milwaukee Film announced the lineup for the Minority Health Film Festival. The festival is taking place virtually. It began Thursday, Sept. 10 and will go until Thursday, Sept. 24. Passes to all the virtual films and events cost $24.99 for non-members and $19.99 for members.
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Ald. Russell Stamper is inviting Milwaukee residents to participate in Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Residents who have old or unused prescription medications can drop them off at the Pop-Up Park, North 14th Street and West North Avenue, from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11. There will also be giveaways, food, music and resources.
3. Menomonee River Valley Week
Menomonee River Valley Week is taking place from Saturday, Sept. 12 to Saturday, Sept. 19. This is an opportunity to explore the valley. Some events will be free while others will cost money. The events include a photography class, a gardening class, a self-guided bike tour and more.
4. Clarke Square neighborhood cleanup
Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative is hosting a neighborhood cleanup from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12. Participants will meet at West Scott Street and South 22nd Street to hand out cleaning supplies. Everyone is  reminded to wear their masks.
5. North Side Rising: Night Out
North Side Rising is hosting “Night Out to Keep the Lights On” as part of the group’s campaign to encourage the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to extend the utilities moratorium. The event will take place across from the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, 2620 W. Center St., from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12. The group will have glow-in-the-dark signs and a station for people to make their own signs.    UPDATE: Moratorium on utility shut-offs extended to Oct. 1
Bonus: The latest coronavirus coverage from NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporters are hard at work bringing readers up-to-date information regarding coronavirus. Stay informed on coronavirus by following us on our Facebook page and subscribing to our daily newsletter. All coronavirus related articles can be found on this landing page. If you have a question or concern about coronavirus, send them in our way. We’re here to serve you.

created: September 11, 2020

author: Ana Martinez-Ortiz


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‘I can show you better than I can tell you’: Meet the man behind ‘Milwaukee in Pain’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Matt Martinez
September 11, 2020
Theo Rogers interviewed residents for “Milwaukee in Pain,” a documentary about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the Black community. (Photo provided by Theo Rogers)
After the coronavirus canceled most of the events he relied on for business, Theo Rogers began searching for a new purpose.
So the Las Vegas resident came back to his hometown armed with a camera and a vision.
The result: A documentary, “Milwaukee In Pain,” which explores how COVID-19 has affected the Black community.
“I can show you better than I can tell you,” said Rogers, who grew up  at 29 and Congress. The 35-year-old is an audio engineer who produces audio and visual effects for shows and events.
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After filming testimonials for his church, Rogers became inspired to do a documentary with the skills he learned. And he felt the best way to tell Milwaukee’s story would be from behind the lens of a camera.
His documentary discusses systemic oppression and racism. Rogers said the pre-existing hardships Black people face, coupled with the coronavirus, creates “a pandemic on top of a pandemic.”
“I’m trying to figure out where the structure has been broken,” Rogers said.
“When people think of Milwaukee, they think of ‘Happy Days’ and beer,” Rogers said. “They don’t think of segregation and oppression.”
‘Something positive’
The documentary also shows the resilience of members of the community. Rogers said small Black businesses, in particular, have reinvented themselves during the pandemic.
He said Hookahs by Tweezy, a smoke shop located at 6050 W. Fond du Lac Ave., is an example.
Antwan Hogans has been posting pictures of his products on social media and delivering them to people since the pandemic started.
Hogans praised Rogers for telling a story that’s important to the community.
“He was down, and he was trying to do something positive for the city,” Hogans said.
Rogers interviewed other local business owners, including Gaulien “Gee” Smith, the owner of Gee’s Clippers. Rogers also spoke to state Sen. Lena Taylor and Michelle Pitts, president and owner of  New Pitts Mortuary.
In the documentary, Pitts offers her on-the-ground perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic, as she saw a 30% increase in funerals during the early stages of the pandemic.
The Rev. Marlon Lock, pastor of the Unity Gospel House of Prayer, also is featured in the documentary.
Lock said he wanted to show viewers the strength of the community through charitable works. He pointed to recent examples, such as his church’s partnership with UnitedHealth to distribute toiletries to residents.
“We want to show them what love looks like, not just tell them,” Lock said. “Coming together now is more critical than ever.”
Ultimately, Rogers said he really just wants to start a conversation at the dinner table.
“I want people to relate and see what’s going on in my home city,” he said.
How to see ‘Milwaukee in Pain”
The documentary can be viewed on Rogers’ website for $4.99. Rogers said it will eventually be available on Amazon Prime. The documentary, which is 35 minutes long,  premiered Aug. 25.


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Post from Community: Alverno College, A. O. Smith Foundation partner to construct campus greenhouse | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Alverno College
September 11, 2020
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Alverno College is partnering with the A. O. Smith Foundation to construct a greenhouse on campus, offering students an exciting new opportunity to engage in hands-on learning and explore new career paths.
The 1,400-square-foot facility will feature an aquaponics system and a classroom space. Hundreds of undergraduate students, as well as area high school students, will participate in learning opportunities and research projects in preparation for careers in the food, agricultural, natural resources and human sciences industries.
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“Alverno is proud to empower women and girls to explore and launch STEM careers, and the greenhouse offers a new way for us to engage our students in the experiential learning that is the cornerstone of an Alverno education,” said Angela Frey, Ph.D., chair of the STEM program at Alverno College. “We look forward to using this unique space to attract more women, including more women of color, to fields where their expertise and leadership are greatly needed and where their potential to serve their communities can be realized.”
Construction on the facility will begin within the next month and is expected to be complete in December.
As lead sponsor of the project, the A. O. Smith Foundation has committed $250,000 in funding over five years to cover expenses, including initial startup, maintenance and staff.
“We are proud to partner with Alverno on this project, further advancing our mission of making our community a better place to live and work. We know that by investing in these students, we can help make STEM a field where more women are empowered to thrive and lead,” says Mark Petrarca, senior vice president of human resources and public affairs at A. O. Smith and A. O. Smith Foundation board of directors’ secretary.
A cross-disciplinary team of Alverno faculty is leading the design of new classroom curricula and developing hands-on research opportunities to engage high school and college students in the fields of urban agriculture, water research and conservation.
The program will provide Alverno with additional opportunities to recruit, retain and graduate women in a wide variety of STEM majors, including underrepresented minority students, and to create a pipeline to new career opportunities. To assist with the project, Alverno has received a $273,786 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the College’s first major grant tied to its status as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
As Wisconsin’s first HSI, Alverno is proud to serve a diverse student population, many of whom are first in their families to earn college degrees.
“Ultimately, the greenhouse project will positively impact the community in which our students live and work and will help build our nation’s growing urban agriculture sector, promote environmentally sound and sustainable practices, and strengthen participation in the sciences among students who are currently significantly underrepresented in these areas,” said Joseph Foy, Ph.D., vice president for Academic Affairs at Alverno.
About A. O. Smith
A. O. Smith Corporation, with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., is a global leader applying innovative technology and energy-efficient solutions to products manufactured and marketed worldwide. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment and boilers, as well as a manufacturer of water treatment and air purification products. For more information, visit www.aosmith.com.
About Alverno College
Founded in 1887 by the School Sisters of St. Francis, Alverno College promotes the academic, personal and professional development of its students in a collaborative and inclusive environment. Undergraduate programs for women are offered in more than 60 areas of study, and graduate programs in education, nursing, community psychology, school psychology, music therapy, music and liturgy, and business are open to women and men.
A leader in higher education innovation, Alverno has earned international accolades for its highly effective ability-based, assessment-as-learning approach to education, which emphasizes hands-on experience and develops in-demand skills. The college, Wisconsin’s first Hispanic-Serving Institution, ranks among the top schools in the Midwest for its commitment to undergraduate teaching and innovation by U.S. News & World Report. For the past two years, The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education named Alverno the country’s most inspiring college.
Based in Milwaukee, Wis., Alverno College is a four-year independent, Catholic, liberal arts college.

author: Alverno College


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20-118-Alverno-Greenhouse-Render-2.png | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
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September 9, 2020