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Community organizer recognized for leadership | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Greater Milwaukee Foundation
June 17, 2014
For his efforts to improve the quality of life in Milwaukee neighborhoods, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation will recognize community organizer Christopher Boston as the 2014 recipient of its Doug Jansson Leadership Award. He will receive the honor at the Foundation’s 99th annual meeting and civic awards presentation Wednesday, June 18, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.
As director of sustainable communities for LISC Milwaukee, Boston leads the organization’s strategy for comprehensive community development, helping transform distressed urban communities into healthy places to live, work and raise families. He serves as LISC’s liaison in Milwaukee’s Washington Park and Harambee neighborhoods.
Boston’s years of experience in grassroots community leadership complement his calling as pastor at Lamb of God Missionary Baptist Church. He previously served as lead organizer/director of Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) and was the youngest to serve in that role in the agency’s history. He also was president of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options.
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Born and raised in Milwaukee, Boston studied international management at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He began his career in organizing to help improve education outcomes for Milwaukee Public Schools students.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation created the Doug Jansson Leadership Award to provide support for local nonprofit leaders, particularly those serving underserved communities, to strengthen their leadership skills. Jansson led the Foundation for 17 years, beginning in 1993. The award was sponsored this year by BMO Private Bank.

author: Greater Milwaukee Foundation


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 17, 2014

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


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Urban Ecology Center branches provide safe options for outdoor play | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
June 17, 2014
Martin Ponce, a volunteer at the Urban Ecology Center Menomonee Branch, leads a group of children in the Young Scientists Club down an eroded hill. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
A stroll down many Milwaukee streets on a warm summer day makes it clear that children don’t play outside much anymore, resulting in much more sedentary lifestyles.
“The changes are the result of well-intending parents who are afraid to let their children play outside due to fears for their safety,“ said Dr. Cheryl Charles, president and CEO of the Minneapolis-based Children and Nature Network (C&NN) during a recent visit to the Menomonee Branch of the Urban Ecology Center.
But there are alternatives. In the neighborhoods around the Urban Ecology Center’s Riverside branch, 1500 E. Park Place, and Washington Park branch, 4145 W. Lisbon Ave., crime has gone down significantly since the centers opened.
Recent cases such as the playground shooting of Sierra Guyton, 10, the innocent victim of a playground argument turned shootout, serve to reinforce fears of parents who believe the streets are not safe.
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According to Kristine Camarillo, who is raising four children with her husband, last weekend the sound of gunfire interrupted the celebration of her son’s first birthday. The shooting, at South 15 and West Becher streets, wounded a 4-year old boy and a 21-year-old man. Camarillo, a University of Wisconsin -Milwaukee graduate with a degree in community engagement and education, said she’s shaken by the violence.
“I never let our kids play on the sidewalk and they are never outside by themselves,” she said.
France Mendoza, who lives in Muskego Way with her two children, takes the same approach. “I let my kids play outside only when I can supervise them.” She added that kids aren’t safe anymore, like they were when she was growing up.
But there are options for even the wariest of parents.
Safe Havens
The areas around Riverside Park and Washington Park have lower crime rates than the census tracts they’re in, according to a study commissioned by the centers and conducted by Big Lake Data, an independent data analyst, based on 2005-2011 Milwaukee COMPASS crime data.
In the Riverside Park “zone,” which encompasses the center and adjacent blocks, the peak number of crimes was in 2007, when 28 incidents were reported. That figure was cut in half by 2011, and about half of those crimes were categorized as acts of vandalism.  In the Washington Park “zone,” crime incidents dropped from 25 in 2005 to six in 2011, according to the study. In 2013, a 17-year old was gunned down in the playground by someone he knew.
Nevertheless, a used park is a safe park, said Willie Karidis, branch manager of the Washington Park UEC.
“When you have traffic in the park, it seems like crime seems to gravitate away from it,” Karidis said.
Filling up the park and getting children to participate in the free programming offered at UEC has not been a fast process, Karidis explained. He said classes offering canoeing, fishing and even cross-country skiing in the winter, have served more and more kids each year, and festivals that used to be sparsely attended, now bring 500-700 to the park. That happens because kids who visit the ecology center with their classes go home and tell other kids and their parents about their experiences, said Karidis.
“Then their parents say, ‘What, where’s that?’ ” he said.
That’s the process that changes perceptions, explained Beth Heller, senior director of education and strategic planning at UEC, who said that eventually the image of a safer neighborhood turns into a reality.
“It’s safer to be in the park than in the street,” Heller said.
Menomonee Branch
On West Pierce Street from South 34 to South 36 Street, a sunny Saturday afternoon was only appealing enough to draw two youngsters, sisters, out of their homes to sit on the grass in front of the Silver City Townhomes, 3500 W. Pierce St. Another child was riding a go-kart with his father. Even Arlington Heights Park, 3429 W. Pierce St., was empty at 2 p.m.
Nearby, on the grounds of UEC’s newest center, the Menomonee Branch, was a different scene, as nearly a dozen youngsters gathered for a weekly meeting of the Young Scientist’s Club. Raphael Jones, 8, who was taking his first hike with the club, biked to the center with his older brother Willie, from their Silver City home. Raphael and the other youngsters learned about bugs, land erosion, and about a strange piece of metal, likely a remnant of the area’s industrial past, that the kids found in Three Bridges Park.
“I like being outside because I’m more active,” said Raphael, as he squinted in the sun.
Willie Jones, 10, likes to ride his bike to the Menomonee Branch of the UEC. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Having a safe place to play that doesn’t involve electronics reaps enormous health benefits for kids, said Charles, who co-founded C&NN in 2006.  “Playing in nature improves their cognitive abilities, combats obesity and teaches them how to take appropriate risks,” Charles said.
She added that the Urban Ecology Center is highly regarded around the country for its ability to create nature-based experiences in urban environments. She was there recently when the center announced the findings of a two-year study, done in conjunction with the Medical College of Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, on the benefits for children of outdoor play. One key finding was that children who report playing outside have strong parental support for doing so.
And while that may seem obvious, it’s just another reminder that kids need encouragement from their parents to reap the benefits of the outdoors. As for parents who are just not comfortable letting their children play beyond earshot, Charles suggests joining them.
“As parents and grandparents and older siblings we can join the kids in exploring,” she said.
Garnering buy-in from the community that these parks are safe and valuable places for kids to play is all part of the journey, said Karidis.
“You’re always going to have challenges no matter what park you’re in or street corner you’re on; what we have here is a very valuable asset,” he added.
Heller has seen both the Washington and Riverside parks help spring their neighborhoods back to life and expects to see the same transformative effect at the Menomonee UEC, adding,  “That tells us it’s important to be here.”

author: Edgar Mendez


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 22, 2014


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Mother administers hope to three sons with hemophilia | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jenna Ebbers
June 18, 2014
Danielle Suchla carefully administers her son’s medication. (Photo by Jenna Ebbers)
Danielle Suchla said she did not know she was a carrier of the hemophilia gene. No one in her family had the condition, and she was not tested for the blood disorder while she was pregnant. But soon after her first child was born, she knew something was wrong.
“He was a baby, just a few months old. My boyfriend and I were laying in bed with him watching TV when I noticed that he had a very concentrated look on his face, and his body was held tight. This was unusual to me, so I talked to him and his expression wasn’t changing, like he was unresponsive,” Suchla said after witnessing her son’s first hemophiliac bleed.
Hemophilia is a rare disorder, one not well understood by the public. Many believe hemophiliacs will bleed to death if they get hurt, but experts say this is not the case.
“Hemophiliacs don’t bleed faster, they bleed longer,” said Dr. Sheryl Moss of the Comprehensive Center for Bleeding Disorders (CCBD) at BloodCenter of Wisconsin, 638 N. 18 St.
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The disease is caused by a deficiency of blood-clotting factors. The disease ranges from mild to severe, depending on how much of the protein a hemophiliac is missing.
Danielle Suchla works hard to help her sons lead normal lives. (Photo by Jenna Ebbers)
Moss said that bleeds result from injuries such as cuts or a fall. But they also happen spontaneously.
That’s because humans regularly bleed internally, through tiny openings in blood vessels or capillaries that burst. A healthy human is able to clot the blood, thus creating an internal “bandage” when these incidents occur, according to Moss. But, hemophiliacs lack the blood-clotting factors that would ordinarily seal the openings. The internal bleeding can lead to blood pooling in the joints, which causes damage over time.
The bleeding is also painful. “One day, I was just sitting here on the couch watching TV, and I had a bleed and my arm started to hurt really bad,” said Daniel, 12, Suchla’s oldest son.
Most hemophiliacs are treated with drugs to help manage the frequency of the bleeding, according to John Indence, a spokesman for the National Hemophilia Foundation. The medicine is administered through infusion, sometimes three and four times a week.
The recombinant drugs, which involve modifying DNA to contain genes from two different sources, contain no human blood products. This cuts the risk of contracting other blood-related illnesses, a problem for hemophiliacs in the past.
According to Indence, the vast majority of hemophilia is genetic. Three of Suchla’s four sons have hemophilia and both her daughters are carriers. While women are carriers of the disorder and can transmit it to their sons, few actually get the disease themselves.
Despite her children’s illnesses, Suchla said, “We’re just like any other family.” She added, “The boys play and have fun, but we just have to be more cautious.” She said her biggest fear is that other children will hurt her sons because they do not understand their conditions.
Suchla is in regular contact with her sons’ schools. She said that school nurses work with their teachers to spot problems and know when to call Suchla or the doctor.
The three children frequently go to the CCBD for tests and follow-up visits with the medical staff. At home, Suchla oversees their care. She said she does not work outside of the home because of the demands of caring for her children.
Suchla said she has been trained to administer her boys’ medication every other day. The task involves preparing syringes and tying tourniquets. For her children, it is a normal part of life. The oldest boy is learning how to do his own infusions.
“It’s definitely gotten easier as the boys have got older because it’s just sort of a routine now,” Suchla noted.
According to Indence, the drugs currently available to treat hemophiliacs allow them to have natural life expectancies. “In the 1940s, the average age of a hemophiliac was 20 years,” he said.
“We are now seeing the first generation of males who can expect to make it into their 70s and 80s.”

author: Jenna Ebbers


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On the Block with James Dukes | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 19, 2014
At All-Star Car Wash on Vliet Street, they do more than clean vehicles — they sell tables. This summer, James Dukes hopes many outdoor diners will enjoy a meal with friends and family around the picnic tables he and the crew at All-Star Car Wash put together.


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MPS students to experience the history of Freedom Summer firsthand | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
June 21, 2014
Sixteen MPS students soon will head to the South, where they will learn more about civil rights history. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
Collins is one of 16 Milwaukee Public School students participating in the Freedom Summer Pilgrimage to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer. On June 25, they will begin a weeklong trip to Memphis, Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery and Jackson, Miss., to retrace the events of the summer of 1964.
That was a violent summer when, among other things, three civil rights workers were murdered, Freedom Summer workers were beaten, more than a thousand were arrested, and churches and homes were bombed. The trouble arose when organizers made an effort to register black voters.
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While on the road, students will see where the historic events unfolded and meet civil rights activists who participated.
Two chaperones, and other adults, including continuing education students from UW-Waukesha, will accompany the MPS students.
At Wednesday night’s fundraiser and send off at Arts @ Large, 908 S. Fifth St., the students had a chance to tell supporters about their upcoming plans and show some of the work they’ve done so far during their yearlong study of civil rights.
As part of the project, they created artwork, wrote poems and produced interactive maps.
In addition to Arts @ Large, sponsors include the Evinrude Foundation, Fellowship Open, the Milwaukee Arts Board and the Wisconsin Humanities Council, according to Ryan Hurley, a spokesperson for Arts @ Large.
Hurley said $5,000 is still needed to cover the cost of the student travel.
At the fundraiser, students heard from James Hall, Jr., president of the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP, who reminded the students that voting rights are still not secure.
The incoming interim superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, Dr. Darienne Driver, helped Hall hand out journals to students so that they can record their thoughts while on the trip. She said she grew up in the South. “Stories from my grandparents and parents and their fighting our struggle were part of our everyday conversation,” Driver said.
She said that when she was asked to participate in sending off the students, the invitation gave her chills. “Thank God someone is remembering the stories,” she told the group.
Margaret Rozga, who began her civil rights work as a voter registration volunteer in Alabama, read students a poem about that era. The widow of the Rev. James Groppi has long been active in civil rights in Milwaukee. She, too, said she was “thrilled” that the students are interested in the civil rights story.
Longtime Milwaukee civil rights activist Margaret Rozga will join MPS students on their Freedom Summer pilgrimage. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
“Stories orient you toward a way to live,” said Rozga. “If students get these stories when they are young, they can live out their lives this way.”
Raquel Anderson, a senior who just graduated from MPS, said she is taking the trip to learn more about what happened that summer. Anderson said the trip will “help me to help others understand their past, our ancestors’ past, and what they have gone through and why.” Anderson plans to start college at Lawrence University in the fall.
While on the journey, students will be working with artists from UW-Milwaukee to help create artwork based on their experiences.
The art will be on display at Arts @ Large on Gallery Night, July 25.

author: Karen Slattery


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MPS students to experience the history of Freedom Summer firsthand | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
June 21, 2014

author: Dwayne Burtin


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14462692845_b5f29d91b6_z | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
June 21, 2014


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Greater Milwaukee Foundation invests in success of MATC students through scholarship initiative | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Greater Milwaukee Foundation
June 22, 2014
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is partnering with Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) to increase opportunities for low income students to complete their education and enter a higher-wage profession.
As a prelude to its centennial celebration in 2015, the foundation is making a signature, $500,000 investment in scholarships for students participating in MATC’s integrated career pathways program. These need-based scholarships covering the cost of tuition, books and supplies have the potential to help 350-400 students over three years.
“For more than 100 years, MATC has helped students advance their education, preparing them for jobs that drive our local economy, from manufacturing to information technology to the culinary arts,” said Ellen Gilligan, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, who announced the grant Wednesday at the foundation’s Annual Meeting. “We are committed to helping eliminate the barriers to success for these students. We believe that providing scholarships to promising MATC students with the greatest need will improve program completion rates, reduce student debt and lead to better jobs for more of our community’s young people.”
Inadequate financial resources severely affect students’ ability to enter and complete collegiate programs. This is pronounced for community colleges. In 2013, 52 percent of students served by MATC were economically disadvantaged.
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Additionally, as many as 70 percent of students nationwide who enter the two-year college system are academically underprepared to perform in a higher education setting. For others, the lack of a high school diploma or GED precludes their full participation.
To address significant barriers to education and employment, MATC is one of the first technical colleges in the state to offer career pathways, which define coursework and the credentials students must earn to be a qualified candidate in the industry of their choice. The initiative enables students to address gaps in their basic skills while simultaneously progressing toward their career goals. Progress is incentivized through “stackable” credentials, meaning students can build a portfolio of industry-based credentials, leading to greater employment opportunities and quicker entry into the workforce.
MATC offers career pathways students 360-degree support services, such as study skills training, career counseling and financial literacy training, to increase retention rates and improve academic performance.
“On behalf of the entire Milwaukee Area Technical College community – our students, faculty, staff, alumni and District Board – I would like to thank the Greater Milwaukee Foundation for its investment in our career pathways initiative,” said Dr. Michael Burke, president of MATC. “This commitment has the potential to be transformative for an entire generation. Providing scholarship support for students who demonstrate the greatest need will enable them to pursue their career goals. As a result, the Milwaukee community will be strengthened, one of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s core goals.”
The importance of higher education is on the rise nationally. On average, those who complete an associate degree will earn $10,700 more per year than someone with a high school diploma alone. By 2018, two-thirds of Americans will need a postsecondary degree or credential to obtain employment, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
Supporting scholarships for MATC’s career pathways students aligns with many of the key issues in which the Greater Milwaukee Foundation is engaged as a community leader, including strengthening education, increasing economic opportunities, promoting racial equity and inclusion, and building strong neighborhoods.


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Recognition for budding small business operators | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
June 22, 2014
Eleven women have been singled out for their efforts to establish their own childcare businesses. They were among the aspiring business operators recognized at the Multicultural Entrepreneurial Institute’s (MEI) 2014 Graduation ceremony.
The women are participants in the Refugee Childcare Microenterprise Development Project coordinated by the Social Development Commission in partnership with MEI and the Pan African Community Association. The project trains refugees in childcare and business practices so they can become certified home child care providers. The work includes the development of a business plan, record keeping systems and help locating start- up funding where needed.
During the ceremony, Nelson Soler of MEI specifically recognized one of the program graduates Halimo Gael. Mr. Soler pointed out her effort and excellence during the five months of coursework. He noted that the Somali refugee had successfully balanced the demanding class schedule while dealing with language and cultural differences, a job, raising her daughter and using public transportation to get to and from classes.
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The 2014 class is the second group of refugees to undergo the coursework and certification process with the SDC program. To learn more about the Refugee Childcare Microenterprise Development Project, visit www.cr-sdc.org/index/Programs–Services/Refugee_Childcare_Microenterprise_Development_Project.htm.

author: Social Development Commission


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Amani, Metcalfe Park build capacity, win program extension | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 24, 2014
A group of Amani residents participate in ‘Painting with a Purpose,” a youth development program that decorates vacant houses. (Photo by Stanford Brookshire)
When 10-year-old Sierra Guyton was struck in the head by a stray bullet while playing on her school’s playground across the street from her home recently, Danell Cross was devastated.
“Everything that I have been doing and every hope that we have for our community was almost completely shattered at that moment,” said Cross, the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program (BNCP) coordinator in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood, where the shooting occurred.
But Cross said she was heartened by the community’s response to the tragedy. Cross organized a neighborhood call to action on Memorial Day that brought together hundreds of residents, as well as leaders of BNCP’s partner organizations and police officers, to stand against such violence.
“Out of that challenge, the support that I needed came up,” said Cross. “Together (we made) a statement that we are not happy with what’s happening in our community, we are not complacent about it, we are not tolerant of it, and we want to be a part of making a difference.”
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The community’s willingness to “take on the knowledge that we are part of the change” helped Cross “get back up and keep moving,” she said.
Metcalfe Park is one of two distressed Milwaukee neighborhoods selected in 2012 for an 18-month grant from BNCP, a program of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. The grant has been extended for another 18 months, according to Susan Lloyd, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation, a BNCP funder and partner.
From left: William Clary, Heidi Sutton, Daiquizion James and Sutton’s nephew, Cortez Hodges, plant vegetables at a community garden in Metcalfe Park last summer. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
John Kordsmeier, president of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, another funder and partner, says the best evidence of BNCP’s success is that the application for the extension was granted and a third neighborhood will be added.
According to Kordsmeier, the challenge in the second part of BNCP is to ensure that the neighborhoods are capable of providing self-sustaining change. “How do you work with partners to sustain gain? That‘s where we are committed to focusing our attention,” Kordsmeier said.
Metcalfe Park and Amani are among eight neighborhoods in four U.S. cities chosen to receive technical training aimed at catalyzing community-driven change.
Leaders of the program in both neighborhoods acknowledge that the work is slow and difficult but say they have made progress. Both communities have seen an uptick in resident engagement and improved relationships with the Milwaukee Police Department, the lead agency in the federal grant. And both are working on ways to engage young people in their neighborhoods in positive activities that will promote their growth into healthy adults.
Inspector Mary Hoerig of the Milwaukee Police Department said it has been “quite amazing and challenging” for the police department to be part of BNCP at this very first stage. While the police are used to going in and solving problems, now they need to lend support to help residents solve problems. “We are learning to partner in a helpful way, as we go through the process,” Hoerig said.
Hoerig sees BNCP as valuable in many ways, including its ability to bring the resources of so many entities to bear on the problems of a single neighborhood. The opportunity to employ coordinators whose main focus every day is to figure out how to connect a neighborhood with the right services is also valuable.
“I don’t know how you could do that without a grant like this. There’s just no money to do it,” Hoerig said.
Metcalfe Park
In Metcalfe Park, Cross has worked with other residents to create a governing structure in the form of a steering committee made up of residents and representatives of partner organizations including the Zilber Family Foundation, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Gorman & Company, Inc., Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and Safe & Sound.
Metcalfe Park Neighborhood
In addition, formation of the most engaged residents into the Metcalfe Park Community Action Team (MPCATS) has boosted participation in grassroots efforts to spark change. MPCATS is working with youth to beautify the neighborhood, learn urban agriculture, and connect with seniors through community gardening.
Initially coordinated by Cross and Sara Bauer, working with the Next Door Foundation as the anchor agency, Metcalfe Park decided in March that resident leadership was able to work independently, ending the partnership with Next Door. Bauer left her position in April and Cross expects to announce her replacement this week.
One of the initial projects for both neighborhoods, according to Lloyd, was to gather information door-to-door in a survey of residents to get a feel for the level of trust in   their neighbors. Metcalfe Park also conducted surveys to find out the residents’ greatest concerns and to prioritize them.
Through a series of focus groups, the community identified safety as its area of most concern. “And safety is really impacted by our young adults. We felt that they have some disruptive behaviors that are making the community unsafe,” Cross explained.
Helping young adults, ages 18 to 24, to solve the problems that are barriers to becoming healthy, successful adults has become Metcalfe Park’s central focus. The community has developed a list of solutions and is in the process of engaging a group of 17 young adults in taking leadership roles in this effort. Since Metcalfe Park has no community center to house community initiatives, establishing such a center may be one part of the solution, Cross said.
Cross cited the work of Groundwork Milwaukee as one of Metcalfe Park’s most beneficial partnerships so far. Even though its program originally was designed for younger children, Groundwork listened to what the community has said about the needs of its young adults and has shifted its program to address those needs, Cross said. Groundwork is preparing to hire 10 young adults for 10 weeks to install rain gardens.
Amani
The Dominican Center for Women, the BNCP anchor agency in Amani, has been working with residents for many years, originally serving as a women’s spiritual center. In that role, the center’s founders heard from women in the community that they needed literacy and education and wanted to become homeowners.
Amani Neighborhood
Led by those resident interests, the Dominican Center arranged for literacy and GED classes, as well as lead and asthma abatement services. Eventually two resident groups evolved to address community issues. “The Dominican Center was doing what BNCP is doing, but on a smaller scale,” said Sister Patricia Rogers, executive director of the center.
To meet the community’s needs, BNCP advisors said the center would have to do more, and the only way is by building the capacity of residents, Rogers said.
Rogers cited a number of successes Amani residents have achieved, including more than doubling the core group of active residents from about 20; increasing resident involvement in key government decisions about the neighborhood, such as the redesign of Moody Park; and encouraging police and residents to form relationships outside of crisis situations.
The biggest challenge is making sure that the little successes continue. “If we go too long without residents seeing something happening, they’re going to lose interest because that’s the way it’s always been. You have a big boom and nothing happens,” Rogers said.
Amani has had three interim coordinators since BNCP’s first coordinator, Denise Wooten, left in July 2013, said Rogers. Architect and housing specialist Fatima Benhaddou, who is working with the Dominican Center as a consultant, is filling in while the search for a permanent coordinator is underway. Rogers expects Amani to have its new coordinator in place by early July.
Building capacity
Residents in Metcalfe Park and Amani have joined with Lindsay Heights residents to design a community leadership training program to build residents’ practical skills. The program will teach community members how to run meetings, deal with resistance, get in the door with elected officials, and hold themselves and neighbors accountable, among other skills. They enlisted Cardinal Stritch University to teach the program beginning in late July. A group of core members from each neighborhood will take all of the classes and any interested resident can take individual classes.
Darlene Russell, senior program officer at Greater Milwaukee Foundation, a funder and founding partner of BNCP, said the program has expanded her ability to bring together grantees to strengthen the impact of the foundation’s grants. For example, Russell connected the Wisconsin Humane Society with Amani neighbors to enhance their involvement in adopting and caring for pets.
Russell also said that BNCP is a trailblazer in boosting resident engagement and raising up resident voices. Residents visit the foundation now to participate in meetings and stay to help with foundation projects. Recently 10 or 12 residents of Metcalfe Park and Amani helped ensure that a new small grants application was “resident friendly” in its wording and availability. Residents will also serve on the grant review committee.
Lloyd noted that BNCP’s community development and revitalization work is “hard, in-the-trenches work.”
She said she was impressed to see that the BNCP in Metcalfe Park, under Cross’s leadership, was able, in a very short period of time over a holiday weekend, to organize the partners to hold the Memorial Day rally. She was gratified that they were able “to begin to raise up the importance of people who live in the neighborhood taking a much more active role in establishing the norms that should govern the behavior of people in the community.”
“It’s a promising sign of the strength of community engagement that’s possible when … people who live in the neighborhood … step up and exercise their leadership skills on their own behalf,” Lloyd said.

author: Andrea Waxman


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 23, 2014


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amani | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
June 24, 2014


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metcalfepark | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
June 24, 2014


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On the Block in Hillside | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 24, 2014
Natasha Burchette, with her children Adrianna and Kenyae, and Carlton Warren were among the city residents who came to a recent community forum on transit in metro Milwaukee. They explain how they use city buses.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 24, 2014


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Parents of the Year event raises over $121,000 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
COA Youth & Family Centers
June 24, 2014
The 32nd annual Parents of the Year luncheon, honoring Steve and Melanie Booth and Rick and Sue Strait raised over  $121,000 to benefit COA Youth & Family Centers on Thursday, June 19th. The event featured tributes to the Booths and Straits by their children, addresses from both honoree couples, a reading of congratulatory proclamations from Wisconsin elected officials, and a declaration from Mayor Tom Barrett announcing Thursday, June 19th as Steve and Melanie Booth and Rick and Sue Strait Day in the City of Milwaukee.
“Melanie and I are humbled to be recognized with this prestigious honor,” said Steve Booth, President and Chief Operating Officer of Baird. “COA Youth & Family Centers is a true asset to our community supporting educational programs that help parents, children and families to be their best. We are honored to be associated with COA and we are proud to support its mission.”
The luncheon, presented by Robert W. Baird & Co., the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, and Stephen and Shelagh Roell, raises funds to support COA’s continuum of educational, recreational, and social work programs.  In recent years, COA’s Parents of the Year honorees have included Ann and Jon Hammes, Bonnie and Leon Joseph, Irma and John Daniels, Sue and Allan “Bud” Selig, Christy Brooks and Allen Silverstein, and Mary Ellen and Scott Stanek.
“It means so much to me and my wife Sue to be recognized with this distinction and to join the company of the many outstanding parents COA has recognized at this event,” said Strait, a 2014 Parent of the Year honoree and an officer on COA’s Board of Directors. “We greatly appreciate the support that our friends, colleagues, and Milwaukee’s business community have contributed to this event and to the mission of this organization,” said Strait.
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Richard (Rick) Strait is a Managing Director of Private Equity Funds at the Northwestern Mutual Capital, LLC.  He is a long-time board member and officer of COA Youth & Family Centers. Sue Strait is the past chair of the Harry and Rose Samson Jewish Community Center and a senior advisor on the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Milwaukee Section Board, a partner and supporter of COA’s Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program.  Ronald Miller, Managing Director at Cleary Gull and COA Youth Development Committee Co-Chair, and Susan Miller, Executive Committee Member of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and Past President of the NCJW – Milwaukee Section, served as event co-chairs on behalf of Rick and Sue Strait.
Steve Booth is President and Chief Operating Officer and member of the boards of directors of Baird Financial Group and affiliated entities including Robert W. Baird & Co.  Melanie Booth has served on the boards of Junior League, First Stage, Friends of the Milwaukee Public Museum, Tree of Life Pre-school, Junior Achievement Women’s Association, and the Middle and Upper School Advisory Councils for University School of Milwaukee. Mary Ellen Stanek, Managing Director – Director of Asset Management at Robert W. Baird & Co., and Scott Stanek, D.D.S. served as event co-chairs on behalf of Steve and Melanie Booth.
Both Baird and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation have long-standing traditions of giving back to the communities in which its associates live and work.  In 2013, Baird Foundation provided more than $3 million in support to charitable organizations. It also administers a firm wide Charitable Gift Matching Program that provides a match for associates’ financial contributions to eligible nonprofit organizations. The “Baird Cares” program gives associates two additional paid days off each year to perform volunteer service. In 2014, more than 1,500 Baird associates and family members in more than 60 office locations participated in Baird Gives Back Week, a firm wide initiative to promote volunteerism.
The mission of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation is to improve the lives of children and families in need. The Foundation has given more than $260 million since its inception in 1992 and is designed to create lasting impact in the communities where the company’s employees and financial representatives live and work. This is accomplished by combining financial support, volunteerism, thought leadership and convening community partners to deliver the best outcomes. The Foundation’s efforts are focused nationally on curing childhood cancer, and locally on education, neighborhoods and making its hometown of Milwaukee a great destination.

author: COA Youth & Family Centers


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Curbing violence in Milwaukee will “take a village” | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
June 25, 2014
The town hall meeting on the growing problem of gun violence in the city attracted a full house. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
Calbe Mosley sat next to his grandmother, Auriea Mosley, or on her lap for more than two hours Sunday afternoon at the Lindsay Heights coffee shop, Coffee Makes You Black, 2803 N. Teutonia Ave. He quietly played with her cellphone and his shoe. The toddler was too young to know that the adults in the room were talking about him, and other children just like him, wondering how to keep them alive and safe.
More than 70 citizens, including politicians, pastors, parents and grandparents such as Mosley participated in the town hall meeting to wrestle with the growing problem of gun violence in the city.
Since the year started more than 180 shootings have occurred. At least 30 of the victims have been children, some less than 3 years old.
Sequanna Taylor, in the audience with her children, is worried about them and others. Taylor, a paraprofessional at Samuel Clemens Elementary School, 3600 W. Hope Ave., said one of the shooting victims was a student at her school. “If it affects one of us, it affects all of us,” she said.
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Calbe Mosley and his grandmother Auriea Mosley participated in the conversation on limiting gun violence in the city of Milwaukee. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
The event, hosted by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James Causey and former WMCS radio talk show host Earl Ingram, Jr.,  was intended to come up with ideas for stemming the violence. With the large crowd and an open microphone, the comments flowed.
Most agreed that neither the government nor police could solve the problem. Many acknowledged the role that racism, poverty, the lack of black male father figures in the home and the state’s gun laws play. But they also insisted that the solution, in part, would have to come from within the community.
Gun violence must be reduced “neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block,” according to Rev. John McVicker, Sr., of Christ the King Baptist Church, 7750 N. 60 St.
Prophet/Elder Malcolm Mwendwa Hunt, of the Least of These International Ministries, Inc., 1036 W. Atkinson Ave., said he “walks the streets every day talking to young people.” He said that by approaching the young men in high crime neighborhoods, “we could put a big, big dent in this crime.”
David Crowley, 28, echoed the theme, saying everyone needs to take responsibility for what is going on. “Home is the city, not just a house. Make sure everyone is taken care of.” He added, “Stop being afraid.”
Those who did not take the microphone also had ideas. Fifteen-year-old Kenneta Lewis, there with his mother, said he was shot in the wrist while hanging with “the wrong crowd.” He said the incident taught him a lesson. “Don’t be around loaded guns,” he said, adding that he now stays in the house after 10 p.m.
State Sen. Nikiya Harris Dodd, who represents the 6th District, argued that keeping guns out of the hands of criminals should be a top legislative priority. She said she witnessed the problem firsthand when someone got shot across the street as she campaigned door to door.
Ingram said jobs would offer a “solution to much of the problem,” adding that people want to work and without jobs, they “are doing whatever they can to survive.”
Citizens can create jobs in their neighborhoods, according to State Rep. Evan Goyke of the 18th District.). “Invest $10,” he said, waving a $10 bill. “Hire children and young adults to do yard work and clean up the neighborhood, to help older adults tend to their lawn or paint their house.” He said it is done in some areas in the city and told the group, “You can do this on your block.”
Milwaukee District 2 Alderman Joe Davis, Sr. said he wants more community development block grants funneled into neighborhoods in order to attract black entrepreneurs. “Black businesses will hire black males,” he said. Those released from prison deserve a second chance, he added.
Saying blacks are “too divided,” William Muhammad, minister of Muhammad Mosque #3, 4202 N. Teutonia Ave., noted that there needs to be unity among African American citizens in the city if progress is to be made.
The conversation ran longer than the scheduled two hours, enough to try the patience of any toddler. But Calbe Mosley was the picture of patience, at one point reaching for the charms on his grandmother’s silver bracelet that caught the light of the summer sun coming through the window.
Mosley, 61, said she doesn’t know the long-term solution to the problem that threatens the children and young black men. She echoed the call for getting churches involved and for unity. She also suggested that individuals create their own jobs. “If you can sew, make clothes. “If you can bake, make pies.”
When the gathering broke up, Mosley put her grandson down on the floor and he was off to explore. As the adults gathered in small groups to visit,  they kept an eye on the youngster as he wove his way between the tables in the long room, learning the lay of the land.
“He’s free at last,” she commented.


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Urban Underground building to be renovated and ‘gifted’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 2, 2014
Volunteer J’bri Seay helps paint a second-floor room at Urban Underground. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
As the building that houses Urban Underground undergoes renovation with the help of volunteers and the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trade Council (MBCTC), talks are underway to transfer ownership to the youth development organization, according to Urban Underground founders Reggie and Sharlen Moore.
Former Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl bought the building in 2005 for Urban Underground’s use because he believed in the leadership development work the organization does with urban high school students, said Executive Director Sharlen Moore. Reggie Moore now heads the Center for Youth Engagement (CYE), which operates in the same building.
Karl could not be reached for comment, but a Karl family advisor confirmed the pending transfer.
Ownership of the building “will allow usto put our resources into programming, where they are most needed and focus on the young people and our mission,” said Sharlen Moore.
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The Moores began Urban Underground at 151 W. Wisconsin in 2000 and then relocated to 231 W. Wisconsin Ave. They moved to the current location at 4850 W. Fond du Lac Ave. from temporary quarters in the Esperanza Unida building on the South Side.
(From left) Anthony Dodd, State Sen. Nikiya Harris Dodd, and Urban Underground founders Sharlen and Reggie Moore take a break from the renovation work. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Shira Higgins, 16, and J’bri Seay, 17, arrived early Saturday morning to volunteer for the kickoff of the building renovation. Urban Underground expects to have a refurbished façade as well as new lighting, interior painting, electrical repairs and new flooring and carpeting by the start of the 2014 school year.
“I love Urban Underground, said Higgins. “I love being here and I wanted to be able to help out and make it beautiful so people will feel welcome.”
Added Seay, “I come here basically every day. I would like to see a better environment for more kids like me; a brighter environment, a cleaner environment where they can come and feel safe.”
“We really want the building to stand out” and be memorable to everyone who walks in, said Sharlen Moore. “It’s definitely going to be more vibrant; it’s going to be more colorful.”
With Urban Underground’s offices occupying about a quarter of the building and CYE’s using another quarter, Sharlen Moore said there is room for other organizations to rent space and community groups to use meeting rooms free of charge.
The facility is looking for partners who have complementary missions that are youth, community or socially driven to locate there as well, said Reggie Moore. He added that they would like the building to function as a “community innovation center.”
“This (renovation) opportunity has been a long time coming. And to have people such as Marcus Shepherd, who is a part of the building construction trades (and also an Urban Underground volunteer) be the point person to get this moving and implement this day actually happening has been a blessing,” Sharlen Moore said.
Shepherd, a member of the Painters & Allied Trades District Council No. 7 AFL-CIO, whose specialty is dry walling, asked the MBCTC to take on the project and the council accepted with enthusiasm, he said.
“It’s a huge undertaking but it’s something that we are looking forward to and ready for. I’m really glad that (MBCTC) jumped on board with the help of (organizer) Pam Fendt and many other building trade organizers. We just decided, ‘let’s do this and give back to the community,’” Shepherd said.
Ricardo Gutierrez, a Walker’s Point resident and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, recruited volunteers from Local 494 to work on the project. Gutierrez said he’s volunteering because he believes in Milwaukee,  where he learned his trade and where he estimates he has about 200 family members. He said he’s proud to be a Milwaukeean and wants to give something back.
During the renovation, Urban Underground will continue to operate its seven-week summer program in partnership with the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board, in which the young people work 20 hours a week.
The volunteer workers will mostly be there on the weekends and “we’re looking to leverage the help of our parents, community folks and our friends and family to make sure they put some skin in the game,” said Sharlen Moore.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 2, 2014


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Fireworks and other festivities set to celebrate Independence Day | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
July 3, 2014
(Photo by Jim McGowan)
(Photo by Jim McGowan)
Happy Fourth of July! Fireworks displays around Milwaukee will begin at 9:15 p.m.
Alcott Park, 3751 S. 97 St.  (ground-display fireworks)
Gordon Park, 2828 N. Humboldt Blvd.
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Humboldt Park, 3000 S. Howell Ave.
Jackson Park, 3500 W. Forest Home Ave.
King Park, 1531 W. Vliet St. (no fireworks)
Lake Park, 3233 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Lincoln Park, 1301 W. Hampton Ave.
Mitchell Park, 2200 W. Pierce St.
Noyes Park, 8235 W. Good Hope Rd.
Sherman Park, 3000 N. Sherman Blvd. (no fireworks)
Washington Park, 1859 N. 40 St.
Wilson Park, 1601 W. Howard Ave.
Click for specific details on parade information and entertainment schedules at each park.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 3, 2014


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Keeping Youth Fed During the Summer | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
July 6, 2014
A partnership is helping youngsters on summer vacation remain fed. The Summer Meals Program is now feeding school age children at sites located across the Milwaukee area.
The annual effort is a collaboration of organizations that include the Social Development Commission, the Hunger Task Force, Boys & Girls Clubs, Milwaukee Public Schools, West Allis/West Milwaukee Schools, the Salvation Army and Heartlove Place. The effort prepares and delivers meals to sites across the area where children spend the months of summer vacation.
The goal of the program which is supported by the Kohl’s Foundation is to provide food to youth who during the school year rely on school meals to keep from going hungry. 1,900 meals a day are prepared at the Social Development Commission’s Food Service program and delivered to summer program sites. Those meals include breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners. A new addition for the Summer Meals Program this year is a brunch served at five Milwaukee Recreation sites.
The meals are prepared at SDC with the help of 16 Earn and Learn youth who are getting paid while gaining valuable work experience in a program coordinated by the City of Milwaukee. The young workers help with the creation, packing and delivery of the food to participating sites.
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One of those summer meal sites is the Reclaiming Our Youth summer program at WestCare’s Harambee Community Center at 4 and Wright. There young girls enrolled in the program are able to refuel with the lunches provided through the summer program.
To learn more about SDC’s Food Service and the Summer Meals Program, visit www.cr-sdc.org/index/Programs–Services/Support-Services/SDC_Food_Program.htm.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 6, 2014


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Smoke-free workplace law improves health conditions for customers and employees in Wisconsin | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
WAATPN & WTPPN
July 6, 2014
Saturday, July 5 will mark the fourth anniversary of Wisconsin’s smoke-free workplace law.  Local health advocates say the law has made an enormous impact and has drastically improved the state’s health.
“This law has protected employees and customers from the effects of secondhand smoke,”said Lorraine Lathen, Representative of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network (WAATPN).  “Research has shown that since Wisconsin went smoke-free in 2010, employees and customers are 89 percent healthier.”
Research has shown that working in a smoke-free environment has resulted in several health improvements for customers and employees. For example, bartenders who have been exposed to second-hand smoke while at work reported that they had a decrease in respiratory symptoms.
Wisconsin has enjoyed clear gains thanks to four years of smoke-free workplaces, including a significant drop in respiratory health symptoms and improvement in air quality.
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“As a result of the law, smoke-free air is now the standard in Milwaukee,” Kevin Reeder, Representative of the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Poverty Network (WTPPN) explained.  “Nine out of 10 Wisconsinites go out more often since the state has gone smoke-free. People enjoy smoke-free air and they expect it where they live, work and play.”
Reeder also encourages using the Smoke-Free Anniversary as an opportunity for smokers to kick their addiction to tobacco.  Help is available to individuals who want to quit by calling the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT NOW.
For more information, visit the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/WiTPPN
https://www.facebook.com/WAATPN

author: WAATPN & WTPPN


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Health insurance advocates continue ACA enrollment efforts | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
July 7, 2014
Nurse Practitioner Kathlyn Albert discusses delivery date details with patient Endasia Alli during an appointment at the Marquette Neighborhood Health Center in the Hillside Family Resource Center. (Photo by Kara Chiuchiarelli)
If you’ve gotten married, had a child or lost company insurance coverage, you can enroll for health insurance on the federal marketplace for 60 days after the event occurred, even though open enrollment is closed.
Advocates throughout Milwaukee are attempting to get the word out that these types of life-changing events open a window in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Open enrollment will not begin again for another three months.
“We see enrollment as a continuous process. We really want people to know that there are many opportunities for individuals to enroll,” said Joy Tapper, executive director of the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, adding that individuals and families can also enroll at any time in BadgerCare, the state’s Medicaid program, if they meet income requirements.
Volunteers for the Common Ground Health Cooperative, a member-owned insurance company with policies available on the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace, also continue going door to door, educating Milwaukee residents and small business owners on their health care options, much like they did last winter and spring.
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Litisha Ramus, a family nurse practitioner at Milwaukee Health Services’ Convenient Care Clinic, tests the blood of patient Tony Driver. (Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Health Services)
“We haven’t stopped and are not going to stop,” said Bob Connolly, board president of the cooperative, noting that small business owners can purchase insurance for their employees on the exchange at any time.
The Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin also continues to be busy with people stopping by the organization’s Vliet Street offices and attending events to learn about their health insurance options and to enroll in BadgerCare or the ACA, according to Clarene Mitchell, an organization spokeswoman.
“We were busy and continue to be busy … the ACA work is not done,” she said.
The organization also has seen an influx of individuals who are now eligible for BadgerCare, after eligibility in the state’s Medicaid program expanded earlier this year to include childless adults who earn less than the federal poverty line, about $11,500.
More than 31,000 adults without children have signed up for BadgerCare in the county since the expansion, amounting to about 70 percent of those who are eligible, according to Tapper.
“It’s remarkable and beyond what was estimated,” she said.
Tapper said the number of low-income childless adults who signed up for BadgerCare indicates the work done by health insurance advocates such as the Black Health Coalition this winter and spring has paid dividends in decreasing the overall number of uninsured.
Tapper said that part of the success in BadgerCare enrollment can be attributed to efforts to educate individuals on all of their insurance options, not just the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Although BadgerCare enrollment numbers are readily available, Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollment data has not been released at the county, city or ZIP code level, limiting advocates’ ability to quantify their efforts earlier this year.
Those numbers will go a long way in helping the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, a cooperative made up of more than 100 organizations throughout the area, prepare for the next open enrollment period from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, Tapper said.
“We hope to secure that data to drill down and understand where there are still pockets of opportunity,” Tapper said.
In the meantime, officials at the partnership organizations are trying to absorb new federal regulations for renewing or changing ACA marketplace insurance plans during the next open enrollment period, Tapper said.
The organizations also are working to strengthen the relationship between application counselors and area insurance agents and brokers, who have a wealth of expertise in the field that they can share, she said.
After the Common Ground Health Cooperative enrolled 25,000 people, 250 percent more than its goal during the first enrollment period, the organization hired 35 staffers to handle customer service and operations. In addition, the cooperative has worked to ensure billing and claims are timely and that customer service representatives are able to navigate through the complexities of health insurance, Connolly said.
“We have had a few problems in that regard because we’ve had to catch up with the enrollment, but it’s working,” he said, adding that the organization’s customer service department is being reorganized to help manage the calls.
The effort to get people enrolled in the federal health care marketplace during the first open enrollment period was stymied by problems with the federal website Healthcare.gov.
Mitchell said staff at the Black Health Coalition learned during the first open enrollment period the importance of staying up to speed on any problems with the website and any spur-of-the-moment changes at the federal level involving deadlines and regulations.
“It was hard to do it flawlessly as we were learning as we went,” she said. “But it helped that we at least had the foundation of being a community health advocacy organization and this being our daily work.”
Connolly said getting prospective enrollees to sign up during the second enrollment period will likely be easier than during the first because they have had time to understand the marketplace, their insurance options and income-based subsidies that may be available to them.
“More people now will talk to their friends and neighbors and it will have a cumulative effect,” he said. “We also had a lot of people who were uninsured that didn’t understand it or didn’t understand what was going on. The word of mouth will create more enrollment for us.”

author: Brendan O’Brien


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On the Block: Tradesman trains teens | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 8, 2014
Marcus Shepherd explains how a successful career as a drywall finisher inspired him to give back by working with teens at Urban Underground.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 8, 2014


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Now accepting applications — Neighborhood Leadership Institute | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
LISC Milwaukee
July 9, 2014
We are excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for the second cohort of the Neighborhood Leadership Institute to start in October 2014. The Neighborhood Leadership Institute was developed to help build the capacity and effectiveness of resident and non-profit leaders. This  is a partnership among the Cardinal Stritch University Leadership Center, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, the Zilber Family Foundation, LISC-Milwaukee, and United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee.
This program will bring together 10 teams of two people each and is open to the following neighborhoods: Amani, Baran Park, Capitol Heights, Century City, Clarke Square, Concordia, Harambee, Havenwoods, Johnsons Park, Layton Boulevard West (Burnham Park, Layton Park, Silver City), Lenox Heights, Lincoln Village, Lindsay Heights, Metcalfe Park, Muskego Way, Pulaski Park, Riverwest, Sherman Park, Silver Spring, Thurston Woods, Tower Hill – Waukesha, and Washington Park. Teams will consist of a resident and a staff member from one of the lead and/or partner agencies.
Apply Online Now
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For questions about the Neighborhood Leadership Institute, contact Christopher Boston, LISC Milwaukee, at 414.273.1815 or cboston@lisc.org.

author: LISC Milwaukee


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Deadline approaches for $5,000 grants to community-minded youth groups | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lead2Change
July 10, 2014
Lead2Change, the youth leadership organization founded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, is offering two $5,000 grants to youth groups with the best ideas to improve their communities.
Applications for the “Dream Big” challenge are due at the Lead2Change office, 735 N. Water St., by 4p.m. on July 14. Applicants will formally present their projects to the youth council between July 22 and July 24. Winners will be announced on Aug. 8.


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Teenage entrepreneurs sell water bottles to thirsty motorists | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
July 10, 2014
Otis Lynn (center) and his friends seek customers on the corner of Hadley and 35th streets in the Sherman Park neighborhood. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
Otis Lynn set out to triple his investment.
Hoping to profit from the oppressive heat on one of the first hot, humid days in Milwaukee this summer, Lynn bought a case of bottled water for $8 at a local grocery store.
The 14-year-old dumped the 24 bottles into a cooler packed with ice, made a sign on a bright neon yellow poster that read “$1 Water” and gathered a few of his friends to help him peddle the water to passersby on the corner of Hadley and 35streets in the Sherman Park neighborhood.
“Water for sale. Get your water,” the boys roared as cars whizzed by and one of their friends glided around the intersection on rollerblades with two bottles of water raised up above his head, which glistened from sweat.
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“We need the money,” Lynn said, standing on a corner of the intersection, hold up water bottles, smiling and waving to passing motorists.
With the neon sign hanging from string around his neck, Lynn, who towers over his friends, explained that he got the idea to sell bottles of water on the street when he saw a similar operation outside of a local Wal-Mart a few weeks earlier.
Lynn financed the operation while his friends helped sell the water on the busy street. For their work, they get part of the profits.
“It’s nice to share. They’re all my friends,” he said.
With the profits, the boys planned to buy snacks such as nachos and sweet drinks at the nearby corner store and maybe a video game or two if they make enough money.
“We’re going to split it up and buy stuff,” Lynn said as motorists occasionally honked their horn and waved back.
Earlier this summer, the boys made about $50 after two or three hours of selling bottled water on the street. The boys plan to continue their water-selling operation “when it’s extra hot,” Handley said.
Spending money is tough to come by in Lynn’s neighborhood, where he lives with his mother, father, younger brother and older sister and where about a quarter of the adults are unemployed and more than 40 percent of the occupants live in poverty.
“This is the hood…but I (do not) try to focus on that,” said Lynn’s mother, Tressi Johnson, a nursing assistant, as she relaxed on the porch of the house she has owned for 12 years in the 2700 block of 35 Street, down the street from where her son sells bottled water.
Johnson has warned her son to watch out for kids who may try to take advantage of him. She also has implored Lynn to save some of the money he earns.
“He has the mind to save it, but he goes and junks it up like any kid,” she said. “I am telling him to put some money away…I tell him when he grows up, he has to learn how to be independent, learn how to take care of himself and learn how to earn an honest dollar.”
Ironically, it’s against city ordinance for kids to be selling bottled water on the street. Nevertheless, adults in the neighborhood appreciate the boys’ entrepreneurship.
“I prefer seeing them do this instead of living a life of crime. At least they’re getting it honestly,” said Victor Butler, 47, as he walked down the street across from where the boys were selling the bottled water. “This will encourage them to go further and do things that are positive…instead of snatching a purse or doing a burglary.”
The 47-year-old ex-felon knows all too well what happens when a young man makes the wrong choices early in life. Butler sold and used drugs when he was younger, earning him nine years in prison and another 23 years on parole.
“I tell them not to be out here doing something you have no business doing,” he said.
Lynn wants to play running back in the NFL or, if that does not work out, be a businessman. But before he grows up, Lynn wants to enjoy summers like any other kid, going to the pool and the park and buying treats with his own money.
“I am very proud of him, very proud,” his mother said.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 9, 2014


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Organization donates books to combat “summer slide” | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
July 11, 2014
Volunteers at New Threads of Hope, 3001 N. 112th St., sort through stacks of books that will be donated this summer. (Photo by David La Haye)
School’s out for summer.
To Megan Byrne Sandberg, director of development for New Threads of Hope, an area non-profit, that means kids are dropping their backpacks and picking up remotes.
As a result, valuable knowledge gained over the school year will be lost over the extended summer break, she said.
New Threads, located at 3001 N. 112 St. in Wauwatosa but primarily serving Milwaukee’s central city, started out distributing new clothes, shoes and other household items to the poor, and began distributing books four years ago.
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The organization is working to combat the problem widely referred to as the “summer slide.”
Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in math over the summer, and low-income students lose more than that in reading, according to the National Summer Learning Association.
“One reason is a lack of books at home,” Byrne said. That’s why the organization launched the literacy initiative, “New Books for New Achievement.”
The organization recently donated 25,000 books that children will be receiving at summer meal programs in Milwaukee. Most of the books New Threads distributes are overstock, and provided through a partnership with First Book, located in Washington D.C., and other local partners. The initiative was made possible by a $15,000 donation from the Faye McBeath Foundation and $5,000 from the United Way of Greater Milwaukee.
Book donations will number more than 100,000 by the time the 2014 initiative is complete.
New Threads partners with children’s centers, literacy programs and schools to distribute the books. One of those partners is the Hmong American Peace Academy (HAPA), 4601 N. 84 St. According to Lisa Attonito, director at HAPA, the donation helped the school’s library, generated buzz for a book drive and put much-needed books in the hands of kids.
“It was a special opportunity, as many children have very limited family resources, and to have a book of their very own is very inspiring and something that is cherished,” Attonito said.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 10, 2014


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Metcalfe Park hires new coordinator for capacity-building program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 12, 2014
Metcalfe Park residents gathered in an empty lot for an outdoor movie night in July 2012. (Photo by Alec Brooks)
Community activist Leilani Lopez has been hired as co-coordinator of the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program (BNCP) in Metcalfe Park.
Danell Cross, coordinator of the program since it was launched here in January 2012, said that Lopez stood out from a field of 18 applicants because it was clear that “she has a service mentality… and understands that a lot of the work that we do has to do with race, class and power.”
“They affect everything, all of the work that I have done in this community,” Lopez wrote in answer to a question on the application. One example she cited was the absence of Hispanic culture in her education. In school, Lopez always tried to highlight the contributions of Hispanics, according to Cross.
“That mirrors one of the challenges we have in (Metcalfe Park’s) school settings, that our young people don’t learn enough about their culture, which we believe impacts them in a negative way,” Cross added.
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Leilani Lopez (Photo courtesy of Building Neighborhood Capacity Program)
Neighborhood resident Lanice McGee, a member of the team that interviewed candidates, said that Lopez has had a lot of experience with diverse people. “She was very vocal about how to get residents involved and take leadership to make the community better,” McGee said.
Lopez, 28, is a Milwaukee native who grew up in a number of central city neighborhoods. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee with a bachelor’s degree in education policy and community studies. She also earned a master’s in cultural foundations of education at UWM. Married with four children, she lives in Concordia.
Describing herself as outspoken and forward, Lopez said she has found that some organizations “aren’t used to that and are actually afraid of people having power.”
She was attracted to the BNCP position, she said, because it offers the opportunity to do the work she loves.
“I really believe in people having power, not just … wealth but also political power, power to make change. I think there’s a lot of hopelessness and a lot of giving up (among) people and I just want to be involved in processes where ‘we the people’ get together and build our own communities with assistance, (but) not with leadership or guidance from outside sources,” Lopez said.
Lopez previously worked at Penfield Children’s Center as a liaison between the families of young children with disabilities and service providers. Prior to that she worked with students from elementary school to adulthood in academic, computer skills, recreation and athletic programs through UWM, Milwaukee Recreation, and other organizations.
Cross noted that she and Lopez have complementary skills. Not only does Lopez bring knowledge and passion, she is focused and she’s a detail-oriented planner, Cross said.
Lopez is very comfortable in the neighborhood and she has already connected with young adults, who are the focus of the Metcalfe Park program. “She already knew families in Metcalfe Park, including some who live across the street from me,” Cross said.
Metcalfe Park and Amani are among eight neighborhoods in four U.S. cities selected for the BNCP program. The Milwaukee program has been extended for a second 18-month period and a third neighborhood will be added.
The BNCP is part of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, which is focused on empowering local communities to transform poor neighborhoods into neighborhoods with opportunities that support the well being of children and families.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 12, 2014


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‘The shooters are killing people who look like themselves’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 15, 2014
At least half of the dozen participants in one breakout group at a weekend gathering on gun violence spoke about personal connections to a shooting.
One said she sleeps on a mattress on the floor, below window level, for fear of the gunfire near her house. Another described hearing 10 or 12 shots as she waited her turn in a hair salon. She told of a young boy who was frightened to tears by the incident. A young woman said her former boyfriend is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the chest.
Several others told of gun deaths of young relatives. Retired high school teacher Tony Courtney said his 24-year-old son was shot to death on Jan. 3, 1998.
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Participants listen as a community member shares a personal story about gun violence. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
State Sen. Nikiya Harris Dodd, who organized the meeting to find ways to reduce the violence, said she witnessed a young man get shot “right in front of my face,” adding that the shooters are killing people who look like themselves.
A recent spike in shootings has city residents thinking about ways to stem the bloodshed. While gun homicides among children 17 and younger are down this year compared to 2013, nonfatal shootings among the same age group are up 46 percent from 26 to 38, according Dr. Mallory O’Brien, director of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission.
The meeting at the Parklawn YMCA, 4340 N. 46th St., drew more than 50 people who brainstormed short-term solutions and encouraged Harris Dodd to pursue a summit on violence to consider the issue in more depth.
“We would like to come up with some bigger, broader solutions that will impact legislation as well as (affect) the community,” Harris Dodd said.
After assessing community strengths and weaknesses, attendees suggested simple steps that individuals and neighborhood groups can take now to improve safety.
Several participants suggested promoting neighborhood walks and community dinners to reduce residents’ fears and create a foundation for building relationships between neighbors. Engaging and supporting local young people by organizing athletic leagues, helping them pay fees required to participate in youth programs and simply befriending them were popular ideas.
Wisconsin State Senator Nikiya Harris Dodd addresses the group. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Some raised concerns about what they called the negative stereotyping of the city’s African Americans, particularly its young men, and encouraged residents to hold media accountable.
“We have to be accountable too,” added Minister Denise Sanders of Blessed Deliverance Missionary Baptist Church, who noted that the young people involved in gun violence are profiling each other. Calling them “a priceless resource,” Sanders advocated working to help young perpetrators of violence get back in school or get some alternative education.
Other suggestions for immediate actions included registering and voting; reporting crimes; disseminating information about programs and resources through churches; and pressing for better education funding.
“I was ecstatic at the number and diversity of the people who attended,” said Harris Dodd. “We got folks from all across Milwaukee and everybody understood that gun violence affects the entire city.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 14, 2014


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Children’s Hospital announces gift from Selig family will support victims of abuse | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
July 17, 2014
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin announced that it has received a gift of $2.5 million from the Selig family to support the Sojourner Family Peace Center, a first-of-its-kind family justice model in Milwaukee.
The new, centrally located 78,000-square foot facility, which is scheduled to open in 2016, is a joint project between Sojourner Family Peace Center and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. It will provide both adult and child-focused services to families who are victims of domestic abuse throughout the state and will be one of the nation’s first complete co-location of a child advocacy center with a family justice center. In his budget, Gov. Scott Walker proposed funding $10.6 million (half of the overall cost) from the Building Commission. The Wisconsin State Legislature approved the state grant in June 2013. The remaining funds are required to come from the private sector.
The Seligs’ gift will support expansion and enhancement of prevention, identification and treatment of child abuse; professional and community education; child trauma therapy; foster children health screens; and Project Ujima, which addresses the needs of youth victims of violence. It will also house the Child Abuse Prevention Fund and Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellowship Program.
“The Selig family has made a profound impact by providing a voice for many of Milwaukee’s most vulnerable children and families in our community,” said Peggy Troy, CEO, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. “We are so grateful for the Seligs’ long-standing dedication, which allows us to ensure children in Milwaukee and other parts of the state receive the best care possible and gives hope to families and children who are victims of domestic abuse.”
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“Children and families for generations will benefit from the work done by Children’s Hospital and Sojourner to prevent and treat domestic abuse. We are committed to helping our most vulnerable citizens, which is why we included over $10 million in the most recent budget to partner with Children’s Hospital and Sojourner on this project. The Selig family’s generosity brings further attention and funding to this issue and is a wonderful gift to our community,” said Gov. Walker.
The Seligs’ legacy to children began 27 years ago, when they recognized the need to protect children in our community. In 1987, in response to the rising incidence of abuse and neglect, Bud Selig co-founded the Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Fund with then-Milwaukee County Supervisor Thomas Bailey and former Children’s Hospital and Health System President and CEO Jon E. Vice. The CAP Fund continues to provide financial support for primary prevention activities in Wisconsin, aiming to help ensure a safe environment for children and educate professionals and the public about the role of prevention in eliminating child abuse.
The other components at the center will include an on-site shelter for victims and dedicated space for law enforcement services, medical and social services, legal services, district attorney services, mental health and AODA counseling, job training and faith-based services in the facility, which will be built at 619 W. Walnut St. in Milwaukee.
“The new center will end the splintered approach that has made it difficult for battered women and abused children to receive needed care and bring their abuser to justice,” said Carmen Pitre, executive director, Sojourner Family Peace Center.
According to the Children’s Trust Fund, Wisconsin annually spends $8.07 million to protect children from abuse and neglect and 83 times as much — $673 million — to repair the damage done by abuse.
Providers and government agencies housed at The Family Peace Center will include:
– Sojourner Family Peace Center
– Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin (Child Advocacy Center/Child Protection Center, Child Abuse Prevention Fund, Prevent Child – – Abuse Wisconsin, WI CAN, and Project Ujima)
– Milwaukee Police Department
– Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office
– Job Training Agency Partner
– Suburban law enforcement representatives
– Legal Action

author: Children's Hospital of Wisconsin


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City of Milwaukee Health Department farmers’ market stands to open for season | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee
July 21, 2014
‘Tis the season for fresh produce, and for the fourth year the City of Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) is helping area residents access healthy foods by opening weekly farmers’ market stands at MHD health center locations.
“Access to healthy food is essential to building a healthy community,” said Mayor Tom Barrett. “By hosting market stands at our health center locations, we are providing another opportunity for families to find fresh foods in their neighborhoods.”
The MHD market stands are part of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, which provides WIC participants the opportunity to purchase locally grown fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables from approved farmers’ markets using supplemental nutrition benefits. In 2013, a total of 3,170 WIC checks were spent at MHD market stands.
“The City of Milwaukee Health Department works to not only educate the community about the benefits of a healthy diet, but also to increase availability of healthy, fresh produce in the communities we serve,” said Commissioner of Health Bevan K. Baker.
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The weekly market stands are open to all community members, including WIC participants, at the following locations:
The MHD stands remain open weekly through October and are closed on holidays and City furlough days. For more information, visit www.milwaukee.gov/health.

author: City of Milwaukee


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Kids, parents pass on parks, playgrounds in favor of street hoops | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
July 22, 2014
Deonta Grimes, 13, takes a jumper over his cousin Latravius Gregory, 16, during a pick-up game. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
This is part of an ongoing series of articles that put a face on the poor in Milwaukee, 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty.”

Between a short chain link fence and a two-story house, four adults sat on a cracked cement sidewalk in bright beach chairs as they drank cans of cold beer.
Their chatter came to a dead stop as one of the men pointed and nodded down the 2800 block of 21 Street.
All eyes turned to an adolescent boy who, in the middle of the narrow roadway, dribbled a basketball between his lanky legs and passed two overmatched defenders toward a wobbly basketball rim where he raised up and dunked with authority.
The net-less rim shook violently, making a clanking noise that echoed against parked cars, brick facades and vinyl siding as the four adults howled and hollered in admiration, raising their drinks toward the cloudless blue sky in honor of the young ball player.
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“There he goes again,” one of the men said as the youth dominated a game against his younger and shorter opponents.
The pick-up game repeats itself each afternoon when the kids on the block place the rickety, bent basketball goal against a curb, facing the street. The fiercely competitive games continue deep into the summer evenings to the delight of neighbors and parents, who appreciate the action and the ability to keep a close watch on the children.
A basketball goal sits at the corner of 13th Street and Groeling Avenue. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
“They feel safer because they don’t have to worry about something happening at the park or the playground,” said Damon Richmond, 34, whose children play basketball on the street in front of his house. “We can come outside and watch all the kids and maintain them if they are getting too rowdy or arguing with each other.”
Richmond said this summer he is even more reluctant than in summers past to send his kids to the parks and playgrounds after 10-year-old Sierra Guyton was wounded during a shooting at the playground at Clarke Street Elementary School on May 21. The shooting of Guyton, who died on July 13, is a stark reminder for Richmond of the random nature of deadly violence.
“When we are sitting at our kitchen table and we hear gunshots, whether or not they’re our kids out here, we tell them to come in the house,” he said.
The game that unfolded behind Richmond was briefly interrupted when a driver zoomed down the street through the makeshift basketball court, making the players scatter to the curb, and then again when a pass ricocheted off a player’s fingertips and bounced down the street.
Similar street hoop games unfold throughout the streets and alleys of Milwaukee, where players of all ages regularly place hoops outside of their homes in the roadway, which serves as a court. Some hoops are basketball goals, bought at “big box” stores, while others are large buckets or plastic crates with the bottom cut out, attached to a utility pole with wire or nails.
“We’re bored. We did it for the little kids who don’t go to the park,” said a shirtless Latravius Gregory, 16, after he nailed a blue crate to a wooden pole in a dusty alley behind his house near Browne and 30 Street, in the Midtown neighborhood, where about a dozen kids gather each afternoon to hoop.
“It gets real, real competitive,” he said during a brief break from a game of one-on-one as sirens blasted a few blocks away and a hungry dog yapped in a nearby yard.
As Latravius dribbled around his younger cousin, Elliot Brown, Latravius’ father, attempted to usher the boys back inside to do their Sunday chores before they went for their weekly haircuts.
“I actually did this when I was little and as a teenager,” said Brown referring to his son’s ingenuity building the basket.
Jeffrey and Brenda Hardy set up a hoop in back of their house in the 2400 block of North 34 Street where their children and neighbor kids can come play basketball.
“I can’t take my kids to the park; it’s too dangerous. There are guns at parks. We do it to be able to watch them,” Jeffrey Hardy said, before returning to a pick-up game with neighborhood kids and his 12- year-old son Jeffrey Jr.
Zoinishiayia Crape, 29, the couple’s daughter, recounted how when she was a child she lost two friends who were caught in crossfire while they played basketball in public parks.
“Things happen in a blink of an eye and that’s not a blink-of-an-eye distance,” Brenda Hardy said, referring to the courts at Metcalfe Park, adjacent to her house. “(Here) there’s no cursing. There’s no fighting. There’s no disrespecting.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 21, 2014


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DSC_9153 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 21, 2014


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On the Block: Community gardener | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 23, 2014
Lawarrell Cain, a Sherman Park resident who gardens in Lindsay Heights, explains what he loves about Alice’s Garden, while planting onions on a windy summer day. (Photos by Sue Vliet)


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 23, 2014


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Neighbors unite to make Clarke Square cleaner, friendlier place | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Raina J. Johnson
July 25, 2014
Ramon Candelaria, executive director of the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, chats with volunteer Anthony Mercado during Serve Your City Day. (Photo by Raina J. Johnson)
Anthony Mercado was a street kid. “I used to deal drugs and smoke bud at this park,” he recalled while preparing to help clean up Clarke Square Park. “I wanted fast money and it got me in trouble,” he said.
Mercado, who spent 10 years in prison, turned his life around, and now he and his wife, Linda, own a home near the park.
On a recent Saturday, Mercado and 300 other volunteers, Clarke Square residents and representatives from community organizations participated in a neighborhood beautification effort.
Anthony Mercado, who grew up in Clarke Square, participated in the Clarke Square cleanup. (Photo by Raina J. Johnson)
“If people see me cleaning up and respecting what I have, then maybe they will do the same thing,” Mercado said.
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The Mercados are active members of Faith Builders International Ministries at 4901 S. Howell Ave.
Also volunteering was Richard Schwoegler, director of Faith Builders’ Urban Heart Community Teams and a retired police officer. “I recently resigned as a police officer to go into ministry full time, and events like this help us learn who our neighbors are and build relationships,” said Schwoegler, whose height and signature cowboy boots make him stand out in a crowd.
The third annual Serve Your City day was held to clean up the streets and alleyways from 26th Street toNinth, between Mineral and Scott streets. More than 1,000 people were served lunch at the event, and vendors from organizations such as Milwaukee Public Schools, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and the Zilber Family Foundation distributed information. Face painting, a bouncy house and music entertained the children.
“This is for the community, by the community,” said Ramon Candelaria, executive director of the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative. He pointed out that the project brought together people whose interests ranged from beautification to crime prevention.
Residents participating in the clean-up event said they have seen a change over the years in Clarke Square, now one of Milwaukee’s most diverse neighborhoods—illustrated by the fliers advertising the cleanup, which were printed in multiple languages.
Craig Wright, a resident of Clarke Square for 13 years, was just returning home from a stay in the hospital so he wasn’t able to help. However, he said he enjoyed seeing the clean-up effort. “This neighborhood isn’t ‘Leave it to Beaver,’ but it is very community oriented.”
He credited Journey House and Candelaria with “fairness and a passion … to bring the community where it needs to be.”

author: Raina J. Johnson


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 24, 2014


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On the Block: New mom, natural products | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 27, 2014
Lincoln Village resident Linda Serna learns about nontoxic home products in a program taught by Venice Williams at Alice’s Garden. (Photos by Sue Vliet)


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 27, 2014


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Popular health fairs to provide free vaccinations, backpacks for kids | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
July 29, 2014
Nurses at last year’s “Back to School Health Fair” explained the results of children’s lead tests. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Arrive early. Last year thousands waited in long lines to receive services during the fair at South Division High School, 1515 W. Lapham St. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
It’s almost “back to school” time for Milwaukee students, which means it’s time for “Back to School Health Fairs.”
The Milwaukee’s Health Department (MHD) will again host two events this year, on Aug. 8 at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St., and Aug. 15 at Bradley Tech High School, 700 S. 4 St. The fairs provide students with school-required vaccinations, vision and dental screenings and lead testing, among other health-related services.
“Our Back-to-School Health Fairs offer families an opportunity to get their children ready for a healthy school year,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
Sponsors include the United Way of Greater Milwaukee, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Molina Health Care.
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The fairs, which run from 10a.m. to 3p.m., provide vital resources to residents to a city in which 30 percent of residents live in poverty.
Free backpacks filled with school supplies will be given to children with an up-to-date shot record or to those who receive lead testing or vaccinations at the fair.
“Ensuring that families have access to required vaccinations and health screenings is essential to keeping schools and our community healthy year round,” said Bevan K. Baker, commissioner of health for the health department.
Only 72 percent of MPS students met the minimum state requirement for required vaccinations in 2010, the most recent data available. Parents whose children do not comply with immunization requirements maybe fined up to $25 per day, and their child may be excluded from childcare or school, according to MHD.
Children must be accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian to be eligible for free school supplies or health services provided at the fair.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 28, 2014


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Teen ‘bike hub’ interns shift gears for the summer | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Raina J. Johnson
July 30, 2014
Diana Gutierrez works on a bicycle as part of her internship with the Mobile Bike Hub. (Photo by Layton Boulevard West Neighbors)
Two teens have found a unique and challenging internship experience for the summer, repairing bicycles. Diana Gutierrez and Gabriel Manzanet, both 17, are interns for the Mobile Bike Hub, a project of Layton Boulevard West Neighbors.
Diana and Gabriel attend Escuela Verde, 126 E. Mineral St., where they learned of a nine-week winter training program from their advisor. The training focused on bike maintenance and repair of tires, brakes and gearshift. Diana and Gabriel also can teach basic bicycle repair to others.
They were chosen for the internship out of a group of seven students who completed the training.
Gabriel Manzanet has enjoyed learning how to repair different kinds of bicycles. (Photo by Layton Boulevard West Neighbors)
“Diana and Gabriel were the most well-rounded students from the winter training program. They weren’t necessarily the most skilled in bike repair but they were eager to learn,” said Jorian Giorno, Mobile Bike Hub coordinator.
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“This is a great opportunity to learn and teach people about fixing their bikes so they can do repairs themselves,” Gabriel said.
Diana and Gabriel have only been on the job for a few weeks but already enjoy all the internship has to offer – including the challenges, they said.
“There are so many models of bikes, Schwinn, Trek…I like how I can approach each bike differently with the repairs so I don’t damage it,” Gabriel said. He plans to attend college at either MSOE or UW-Milwaukee to study mechanical or electrical engineering.
Diana is a people person who plans to study nursing. “I like helping people, and this is a way for me to be more involved in the community,” she said, adding that it’s frustrating that she can’t do as much as Giorno.
“It’s an opportunity for me to try something new,” Diana said. “I’ve worked in customer service before but this is different. People are nice and they are happy to get their bikes fixed.”  Diana speaks Spanish, making it easier for her to communicate with many area residents.
The bike hub travels on a schedule throughout the Layton Boulevard West neighborhoods of Silver City, Burnham Park and Layton Park. LBWN plans to conduct a mobile bike hub internship program in 2015.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 29, 2014