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La Causa Charter School lays foundation for skills students will need as adults | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
March 11, 2014
A student tests his robot at a recent open house at La Causa Charter School. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
Nine years ago, Andrew Hurie, then a teaching assistant, showed up for his first day at La Causa Charter School, 1643 S. 2nd St. in Walker’s Point, and stepped into a building nothing like the one he sees today.
“There was no library; no developmental program,” recalled Hurie.
A decade later, the striking red, cream and blue-hued building is home to a state-of-the-art K4 through 8-grade MPS charter school with a sprawling third-floor library and much more.
Nowadays, a visitor walking into classrooms at 2 p.m. might see students creating bomb-defusing models in an engineering class, teens in a music class performing a composition they wrote, or seventh graders creating 30-second commercials with i-Movie video editing software in a production lab.
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There are also language and math labs, most stocked with Macs, Smart Boards and other modern technology that even some college students have limited access to.
When the school, which celebrated its 10 anniversary recently, first received MPS charter status, the focus was entrepreneurship, according to Maria Ayala-Smith, director of education. But, as the needs of the community and society have changed, so did the school, she said.
Building robots is part of a STEM class at La Causa. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
“It’s been a gradual growth,” said Hurie, now the fine arts and vocational education administrator.
Grants have allowed administrators to lay foundations in fine arts, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and other fields that are helping students gain skills to prepare them for the 21 century workplace.
“They’re developing teamwork and collaborative skills that they will need as adults,” Hurie said.
One need in the community that hasn’t changed is bilingual education.
The school, which has grown from 300 to more than 800 students, is still largely based on the principle of allowing students to retain and continue learning in their native language — Spanish.
Ninety-four percent of La Causa students are Hispanic and 55 percent speak English as a second language, according to Ayala-Smith. The school utilizes a developmental  approach to language instruction, which entails an initial focus on the native language with English instruction gradually increasing at each grade level.
The model used at La Causa retains more native language instruction than most bilingual models, which phase in English in increments until the ratio is 90-10 English to the native language. At La Causa, it’s common for a class to be reading both the English and Spanish versions of a novel by the upper grades, said Hurie.
The school also introduces English at a quicker rate than traditional developmental models as a result of state assessment tests. The tests, which affect funding, are given in English only to third and eighth graders each year.
La Causa, like many schools in the district, has generally tested below the state average in math and reading. However, scores for student growth, a measure of improvement over time, are above the state average in reading and just below the average in math, according to 2012-13 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction data.
A previous NNS report found that English language learners (ELL) outperform their non-ELL peers, with the disparity growing as ELL students increase their level of English proficiency. Ayala-Smith sees the same pattern at her school.
“We see the improved results in the higher grades but with the stakes being so high in testing it’s one of the biggest challenges we face,” Ayala-Smith said. She added that educators will continue being proactive about improving scores and helping students overcome the disadvantage of being tested in a language many are still learning.
Ayala-Smith, who spent 13 years at Milwaukee Public Schools as a bilingual teacher, believes that maintaining fluency in Spanish not only benefits students in the classroom but helps them maintain communication at home as well.
Maria Carmona, who has two children at the school, said when her kids started there they spoke only Spanish. Carmona, like many parents, speaks limited English and said she’s learning the language along with her children.
But, Spanish continues to be the primary language spoken in their home. “We don’t want to lose that communication with our kids,” said Carmona, in Spanish.
Carmona, a member of the Parent Teacher Organization, said communication challenges still arise, particularly when her kids need help in subjects such as science, but that teachers are always available to help overcome those challenges.
Teaching ESL students involves a high level of coordination, according to Ayala-Smith, and five academic coaches, teachers and parents work together to chart out a plan to identify areas in which students need additional help in school and at home.
“I talk to the teachers and they let me know if there’s a problem; they do their part at school and we have to do ours at home,” Carmona said.
Another challenge the school faces is poverty. Ninety-five percent of La Causa students are classified as disadvantaged, according to the state. But, because La Causa provides a variety of social services including crisis stabilization, shelter and substance abuse treatment, the school learns about problems and offers help immediately, according to Ayala-Smith. She said many parents have had to place their child in La Causa’s emergency nursery when they weren’t able to care for them.
“It helps because we don’t have to reach outside; we can get someone to help from within,” Ayala-Smith said.
The school has a waiting list of about 75 students each August. A lottery process is now employed to select new students each year.
Those who enroll can expect to read “La Casa en Mango Street” (The House on Mango Street), or perhaps compete in a robotics challenge at Rockwell Automation, something Hurie didn’t foresee when he walked in the door nine years ago.
“This has been a school that has truly been transformed,” he said.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 10, 2014

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


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Free dental care available to MPS students at 46 schools | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
March 12, 2014
Arielle Williams observes the proper brushing technique demonstrated by Smart Smiles dental assistant Calandria Duncan. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Two tiny kindergarten students reclining in portable dental chairs set up in the art and music classroom at the Henry David Thoreau Elementary School received free dental hygiene services one morning last week.
Dental hygienists taught them how to brush and floss, gave them a professional cleaning, sealed healthy molars and coated their teeth with the second of three fluoride treatments they will receive through the Smart Smiles program this year.
Parent Corey Wilson Sr. said he signed his son up for the program because he hasn’t been able to get a dentist to take him. “I wanted him to at least be able to see a dentist in some capacity,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s son Corey and fellow K5 student Arielle Williams are two of 200 K5 through eighth-grade students at Thoreau whose parents signed them up to participate in Columbia St. Mary’s dental care program. The forms were sent to all 560 students at the school, located at 7878 N. 60th St.
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Smart Smiles teams visit schools two or three times per year. During the first visit, the children typically sit in chairs around a table in front of their own little station, which includes fluoride, gauze, a q-tip and screening mirror. The dentist moves around the table from child to child, examining their mouths as a hygienist records the number and condition of each child’s teeth. The children also get a  fluoride treatment to strengthen and protect tooth surfaces.
Dental hygienist Geri Travia cleans Corey Wilson’s teeth. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
If a child has pain, infection, swelling or an abscess, Smart Smiles sends a letter to the child’s parents that day, followed by a phone call offering free restorative care at Columbia St. Mary’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Dental Clinic, 1730 S. 13th St.
“If they go through the Smart Smiles program, even if they just have cavities that need to be filled, they can go to (the Seton Clinic). It doesn’t have to be urgent,” explained Lisa Linz, Smart Smiles supervisor. For most other patients, the clinic only offers urgent care, which does not include fillings or other restorative work.
Smart Smiles enlists a moving company to take dental chairs, compressors and other equipment from school to school for the dental hygienists and their assistants’ second visit. After performing a complete cleaning, they apply sealants and fluoride and the assistants demonstrate proper brushing and other care techniques to each child.
Hygienist Pam Prenger explained that sealants placed on the horizontal surfaces of molars, if applied when the teeth first come in, can last until children are in their 20s, when the incidence of tooth decay declines, she said.
For schools where a Smart Smiles team is able to start in the first half of the school year, students receive a third fluoride treatment.
Columbia St. Mary’s launched Smart Smiles in 2001. This year, the program will operate in 46 schools in which more that 90 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. It will provide dental services to 7,000 children.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the greatest cause of absences from school is dental disease,” said Bill Solberg, director of community services at Columbia St. Mary’s. “We’ve found that 40 to 50 percent of the children we see have untreated cavities.”
Milwaukee and Wisconsin aren’t unique in that. Public health data for major cities usually show the number one deficit is oral health, Solberg added.
Linz noted that people often don’t associate the health of the mouth with that of the body overall. But tooth and gum disease can lead to many other health problems, she said.
Infections caused by bacteria that get under the gum tissue can cause loose teeth, difficulty chewing and tooth extractions. Recent studies link oral infections with diabetes, heart disease, stroke and low-weight births,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.
While students can participate in the Smart Smiles program whether or not they have insurance, the program bills BadgerCare for children who are covered. In addition, Smart Smiles receives financial support from United Way of Greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin Seal-A-Smile, Delta Dental and the Columbia St. Mary’s Foundation.
Thoreau parent Christopher Williams said he wanted his daughter Arielle to participate in the Smart Smiles program to “make sure her teeth are healthy,” even though she recently saw a dentist. Arielle has no cavities and her teeth are coming in just fine.

author: Andrea Waxman


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 11, 2014


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Milwaukee’s poor feel the pinch of food stamp cuts | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
March 13, 2014
Gwendolyn Weathers-Ford, a FoodShare recipient, shops at City Spirits & Liquor, a convenience store at 1535 W. North Ave. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
This is part of an ongoing series of articles that put a face on the poor in Milwaukee, 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty.”
Gwendolyn Weathers-Ford’s hands and back no longer work. The 37 years of physical labor, first as a dishwasher in a Gary, Ind. restaurant when she was 12, and then a career spent as a nurse’s aide, has left her with braces on her hands and back.
“I had to lift people 400 pounds in the middle of the night, making sure that (they were) dry and … clean,” she said, standing near the condiments at City Spirits & Liquor, a convenience store at 1535 W. North Ave in Lindsay Heights.  “Baby, I’ve paid my dues.”
The 51-year-old is unable to work. To feed herself, her husband and a grandchild she cares for, Weathers-Ford relies on FoodShare, the state’s food stamp program.
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But like many FoodShare recipients, Weathers-Ford is feeling the effects of two waves of cuts to the federally funded program. Weathers-Ford used to get about $240 a month from the program. Now she gets about $190.
“Point blank, we’re not going to make it,” she said.
The first wave came last November, when stimulus funding for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ended. The cut to SNAP, which funds state food stamp programs, decreased FoodShare benefits from a maximum of $668 to a maximum of $632 for a family of four.
A sign outside of Supreme Foods, 3432 W. Lisbon Ave., advertises that it takes Quest, the FoodShare debit card. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
The second wave comes in the form of a new federal Farm Bill that President Barack Obama signed into law on Feb. 7. The Farm Bill cuts $8.7 billion during the next decade from SNAP.
The Farm Bill cut will hit hardest in 15 states, including Wisconsin, that use “heat and eat” provisions through the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The Farm Bill ends the provision that allows families receiving utility assistance to also get a standard $90 a month in food stamps.
The FoodShare cuts are especially unsettling to Weathers-Ford, who does not drive and thus must rely on public transportation to get to and from one of the few big box grocery stores in the impoverished parts of the city. As a result, Weathers-Ford regularly shops near her home at small corner grocery stores, where prices are higher and there are fewer nutritional whole foods than she would find in chain grocers, she said.
“We eat worse already. Do you look at the prices? This is overpriced, but we just can’t always get to the store so we have to compromise,” she said as her 62-year-old husband, Willie, manned the couple’s grocery cart outside of the store.
Poverty expert and registered dietitian Amber Canto looks at food security through the lens of access and availability of nutritious foods as well as whether poor families have the skills and tools, such as pots and pans, to be able to prepare healthy meals.
“Having less overall for food is going to be problematic for many people,” said Canto, who works at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. “It will put a strain on these households to meet their food budget.”
Research shows people who are on food stamps are more “food secure” than those who live in poverty and choose not to take advantage of the program. Overall, food stamps also alleviate poverty, Canto said. During the stimulus, an even greater effect was seen in the protection food stamps provided against poverty and food insecurity, said Canto.
“High rates of food insecurity are associated with poorer overall dietary quality. We also know that higher rates of food insecurity are associated with overall poorer rates of health,” she said.
SNAP benefit levels are determined by employment, income, family size and by the United States Department of Agriculture’s thrifty food plan, based partly on the lowest possible prices for whole food items.
However, SNAP program benefit levels do not adjust for different food prices in different locations, or for the eating habits of Americans, who tend to choose processed foods over making meals from scratch because of convenience.
“It takes a lot of time, effort and knowledge” to make it on food stamps, Canto said.
Milwaukeean Monica Lambert, 46, who works part time and goes to school full time to become a teacher, tries to feed her five children a healthy diet on a limited, fixed income.
Lambert and her son receive Social Security disability benefits. That, along with her income, amounts to about $1,400 a month. She also gets a “couple of dollars” from her children’s father each month.
After paying her $1,000 rent, Lambert has about $400 left over to pay bills and put food on the table.
“Every month I have a big giant headache, because I don’t have enough to pay for it,” she said. “I don’t live in the greatest neighborhood, but we make the best of it.”
A few months ago, Lambert was receiving about $100 a month in FoodShare benefits. Now that amount has shrunk to $80 a month, which helps her purchase canned fruit, vegetables and pasta meals. Her grocery list, which she makes out every two weeks, also contains crackers, peanut butter and hot dogs, but fewer fresh foods now that her food stamps have been cut.
“There are a lot of things at the (grocery) store I can’t get. I have to get what I can to stretch it,” said Lambert as she made bacon and eggs for a Sunday morning breakfast. “I do a lot of praying.”
The cuts in the federal food stamp program put pressure on organizations such as Hunger Task Force, which helps feed the poor by distributing food to pantries throughout the metro area.
“(Congress) is asking the citizens of the United States to go without food, which is pretty darn un-American,” said Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the Hunger Task Force.
She predicts the need for food will increase over the next several months as those who live in poverty will choose between meals and staying current on their utility bills.
Tussler said her organization is bracing for the end of the We Energies winter shut-off moratorium on April 15.
“It’s just like cut after cut after cut at a time when we are facing the frostiest winters we have ever been through and many people are worried sick about paying their utility bills,” Tussler said. “People are scraping corners and doing their best to get by.”

author: Brendan O’Brien


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 13, 2014


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Renters move in to vacant properties through ‘Rent to Own Homes’ project | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
March 14, 2014
The Marcheses are among the first families to move into the Layton Boulevard West neighborhood’s affordable Rent to Own Homes. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
Most tenants would rather not hear from their landlords. But Kelly Marchese is not one of those renters. She says she emails or is on the phone with her landlord regularly, to talk about things such as the chain-link fence that will be installed in her backyard this summer.
Marchese rents a house on the city’s South Side that was formerly in foreclosure and vacant, through the Rent to Own Homes program. The program was made possible by a partnership between Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, Inc. (LBWN) and Impact Seven, Inc., a private, nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that serves as Marchese’s landlord.
The home is one of 24 foreclosed properties that these co-developers have purchased and are rehabbing to give people such as Marchese access to affordable housing in the city.
Applicants interested in renting the homes, with the idea of eventually owning them, are screened. The monthly rent is based on income.
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Tenants who live in the homes for 15 years will be given about $37,000 in credit toward the purchase price, according to LBWN Executive Director Charlotte John-Gomez.
Marchese said that once she was approved to move into the home at 2030 S. 37 St. last summer, she had a hand in making decisions about the renovations. She said she chose the yellow color of the siding, for instance. “They want you to be happy with the house,” she said.
Kelly Marchese is settled in at one of the Rent to Own Homes made available through a partnership between Layton Boulevard West Neighbors and Impact Seven, Inc. (Photo by Karen Slattery)
The Rent to Own Homes development helps bring stability to the Layton Boulevard West area, according to John-Gomez, and helps stave off some of the havoc wreaked by the foreclosure crisis.
LBWN, a nonprofit organization created two decades ago by the School Sisters of St. Francis, is charged with stabilizing and revitalizing the Silver City, Burnham Park and Layton Boulevard neighborhoods.
The agency has operated the Turnkey Renovation Program for several years, in which it buys, renovates and sells foreclosed homes in the neighborhood at affordable prices, one at a time. John-Gomez said the Rent to Own Homes program resulted from taking the Turnkey project “to scale a little bit more.”
She said that LBWN receives a list of foreclosures twice a year, adding that she “doesn’t see the trend waning at any point.”
LBWN’s co-developer, Impact Seven, Inc., was founded in northwestern Wisconsin in 1970 to aid development in low- and middle-income communities.
Todd Hutchison, who oversees the real estate development branch of Impact Seven, Inc., said that his organization and LBWN pored over lists of foreclosed homes in the area that were owned by the city of Milwaukee or by banks to find places to buy. Not all of the properties they looked at were salvageable, according to Hutchison.
Those they purchased got new roofs, windows, furnaces and wiring. New plumbing was included where needed. “We are breathing another 100 years of life into these homes,” said John-Gomez.
Foreclosures occur because people are no longer able to pay their mortgages, the upkeep or the property taxes. Abandoned buildings create problems for the neighborhoods because they fall into disrepair over time, attract vandals and drug dealers, and become a danger to children, according to Hutchison.
As the foreclosed building loses its value, so do the buildings around it, he said.
Vacant houses are not the only problem for neighborhoods such as Layton Boulevard West. So are vacant storefronts. For that reason, two foreclosed commercial buildings, located at 3513 and 3519 W. National Ave. were included in the project, in an effort “reactivate those storefronts,” according to John-Gomez.
John-Gomez said that tenants have leased 11 of the homes to date. Negotiations are in progress with others, including tenants that will move into the storefront buildings.
The nearly $6 million project was made possible with loans and tax credits from organizations including the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), Town Bank, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, the National Equity Fund, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the city of Milwaukee.
The project is one of the finalists for this year’s Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Initiatives (MANDI), in the State Farm Building Blocks Award category, which recognizes a real estate project that improves the community.
John-Gomez described the news as “great.” Hutchinson added that he is pleased to “celebrate that we have had a little bit of an impact, even though there is a long way to go.”
According to John-Gomez, the tenants seem to like the idea of being part of a program nominated for an award.
Marchese said she is very happy in her new home and will begin painting her inside walls this spring. She said that she plans to choose earth tones and is anxious to get started.
The landlord will send a representative to her home for an inspection once a year.
Said Marchese, “I want him to say ‘wow.’”

author: Karen Slattery


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 14, 2014


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City touts redevelopment prospects for Bronzeville cultural and entertainment district | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mark Doremus
March 17, 2014
Plaques on North Avenue identify the “21st Century Bronzeville” redevelopment area. (Photo by Mark Doremus)
The old Garfield Avenue School, 2215 N. 4th St., may be the first of six recently identified Bronzeville sites to be offered up to developers, according to Rocky Marcoux, commissioner of the Milwaukee Department of City Development.
Marcoux said he expects the city to issue a request for proposals from developers who want to transform the old school using concepts that emerged at a December planning session, or “charette,” at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. One idea for the school included creating residential space on the upper floors, with room for the arts, culture, entertainment and other public uses on at least part of the ground floor.
Designs for the school and five other sites in the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District along west North Avenue in the Harambee neighborhood were recently unveiled to the public by Sixth District Alderwoman Milele Coggs at the Milwaukee Urban League, 435 W. North Ave. On display, perhaps to catch the eye of a suitable real estate developer, were concept drawings produced at the charette, which was coordinated by Carolyn Esswein of Community Design Solutions, a university service center.
One plan for the former Garfield Elementary School would create residential space on the upper floors, with room for the arts, culture, entertainment and other public uses on the ground floor. (Photo by Mark Doremus)
Six architectural firms also participated in the design process. According to Esswein, the planning exercise produced conceptual drawings that have been thoroughly reviewed and endorsed by community stakeholders.
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That’s an important step forward, Esswein said, because “the first question developers ask coming into a project is ‘Does the community support this?’” Without that assurance, developers are reluctant to invest time and money to put together a formal proposal for city approval.
Coggs has said that there must be a cultural component to any project that she would support in the Bronzeville neighborhood, and that current residents must not be pushed aside by new construction.
“This needs to be a redevelopment process, not a gentrification process,” Coggs told the 35 people who attended the recent event.
“We’ve done a significant amount of prep work,” Marcoux said. “The charette produced ideas that are real and doable. Now we’re looking for developers who want to embrace the opportunities” in the redevelopment zone, which straddles west North Avenue between North 7th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
“It’s up to me to pick up the phone and contact developers” to invite them to undertake projects in the district,” Marcoux said. “And that’s what I’m doing.”
The Milwaukee Department of City Development first rolled out a project plan for the area in March 2005, proposing “a year-round tourist destination celebrating a rich cultural heritage by offering authentic ethnic music, art and cuisine.” Since that time there have been further studies and at least two requests for proposals inviting developers to start projects in the area. So far, the only major project completed in the cultural and entertainment district is a $500,000 rehab of a classic building at 642 W. North Ave. that had been a firehouse, library and then a neighborhood arts center. That project was completed in February 2012.

author: Mark Doremus


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 16, 2014


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Few afterschool programs meet YoungStar staff education standards, study finds | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rick Brown
March 18, 2014
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee’s afterschool programs are among the few that generally meet or exceed YoungStar’s 3-star ratings in Milwaukee County. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
A new Public Policy Forum report is raising questions about the state of afterschool programming and YoungStar staff education standards in Milwaukee County.
The nonpartisan organization’s study, “Reaching for the Stars,” reveals that afterschool programs are struggling to meet staff education requirements set under YoungStar.
The resulting education gap is producing low ratings—and lowered state subsidies—for afterschool programs, fewer than 1 percent of which had received 4- or 5-star ratings as of June 2013.
YoungStar’s standards require afterschool staff to meet education requirements similar to those for early childhood care providers. According to the report, however, some afterschool providers who work with school-age children are questioning whether requirements designed for the early childhood setting should apply to their programs.
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The ratings are clear, according to researcher Joe Peterangelo, the study’s chief author, but their implications are not.
“Is it the case that these afterschool programs are of lower quality and their staff are not up to the standards we should expect?” Peterangelo said. “Or is this a case of a system based upon standards for a separate field that might need to be further calibrated for afterschool teachers?”
The report states that 72 percent of the 134 school-age programs in Milwaukee County evaluated by YoungStar received 2-star ratings. The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) considers “high quality” programs to be rated 3 stars and above, according to an emailed statement.
Programs must be evaluated by YoungStar to receive Wisconsin Shares child care subsidies, which are tied to ratings. Programs with 4 and 5 stars receive 10 and 25 percent base rate increases, respectively. Two-star programs receive a 5 percent reduction.
The lower ratings have led to an overall decrease in state funding for county school-age programs, according to Peterangelo.
The programs’ ratings compare poorly with those of group child care centers, 42 percent of which have 2-star ratings and 16 percent of which have 4- or 5-star ratings.
Staff education gap
YoungStar launched in 2010. Originally focused on early childhood care, the system began evaluating afterschool care providers in 2012. The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families established its school-age criteria through the Wisconsin Afterschool Network, which includes organizations such as Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. The criteria were based on standards for group childcare centers, according to the Forum’s report.
“The requirements are roughly the same, if slightly modified,” Peterangelo said. “At the 3-star level, the standards are the same.”
YoungStar evaluates programs in four categories, including staff education. To reach the 3-star level, half of the teachers in school-age programs must have earned six credits in early childhood education or child development, according to the report.
Those standards are necessary and important, according to DCF.
“Staff training and educational competencies have a dramatic impact on the quality of an educational program,” a department spokesperson stated. “For our children to receive the early education that they need to be successful in today’s global economy, programs must raise their standards.”
Staff education is the primary reason why many county afterschool programs cannot reach 3-star status, Peterangelo said. According to the report, more than 80 percent of all teachers in the 2-star programs do not meet the education requirements for higher ratings.
That disparity may be the product of low-quality afterschool programs, Peterangelo said, but it might also mean that the state should reconsider how it applies early childhood care-based standards to afterschool programming for older children.
The two fields are very different, according to Dr. Cheryl Baldwin, who directs the Youth Work Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “We know that achieving these kinds of expectations is often very challenging for afterschool programs,” Baldwin said. “I think that the credit requirements are a high bar for the afterschool program model.”
Unlike early childhood care services, afterschool programs typically rely on part-time, non-career workers with high turnover rates, according to Baldwin. The fields’ business models also differ, she added. Early childhood programs can bill for the entire day, whereas afterschool services can only charge for a few hours at a time.
“What it means is that it is very challenging for [afterschool] providers to invest in frontline workers for credit-based education,” Baldwin said.
The Forum’s report estimates that it would cost between $430,000 and $1.1 million to cover the tuition necessary to bring all of the staff in county school-age programs up to 4-star education levels.
Bridging the gap
There are multiple options available for area afterschool programs that seek to improve their staff education levels, according to DCF.
The department offers technical consulting and micro-grants to afterschool programs. Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) scholarships also provide assistance to qualified programs’ staff.
According to the Forum’s report, however, few of these options have been used for staff education in Milwaukee County. The report stated that none of the 111 county school-age programs that received $1,000 micro-grants between Sept. 1, 2012, and Sept. 1, 2013, applied the money to credit-based staff education, and only three teachers of school-aged children received TEACH scholarships during the federal fiscal year that started Oct. 1, 2012.
Despite those challenges, a number of programs across the state have improved their ratings. According to DCF, 46 afterschool programs improved from 2 stars to 3 between March 1, 2013, and March 1, 2014.
Researcher Joe Peterangelo of the Public Policy Forum authored the recent study of afterschool programs in the county. (Photo by Rick Brown)
In Milwaukee County, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (BGC) is succeeding. The majority of its afterschool programs have 3-star ratings and several are higher-rated—the result of “quite a bit of effort” on the organization’s part since 2012, according to Knutson.
BGC partnered with MPS, Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee to procure Workforce Advancement Training (WAT) grants for MATC. The grants “provided critical support” in creating a new school-age curriculum at MATC and funding staff tuition, Knutson said.
MATC trained approximately 125 BGC staff, allowing most of BGC’S programs to meet or exceed 3-star criteria, according to Knutson.
According to both Peterangelo and Knutson, however, BGC’s approach may not be easily reproducible, due to WAT eligibility restrictions.
Additionally, turnover remains a continual issue for BGC, Knutson noted. “There’s a constant churn of new training and staff” that incurs thousands of dollars in training costs, he said.
Other organizations, such as the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, face similar struggles. According to the study, the agency operates 33 afterschool and early childhood care programs, 29 of which are rated 2-stars.
For the organization’s four higher-rated programs, staff education “poses the greatest challenge,” according to the report.
The YMCA declined to comment on its programs. In an email statement, an agency spokesman said in part that it would “continue to focus on ensuring all of our licensed programming achieve high ratings according to YoungStar’s measurement criteria.”
However, those criteria potentially limit YoungStar’s usefulness to parents trying to select high-quality afterschool programs, according to Peterangelo. “If there’s only a single program [in Milwaukee County] that is rated as highest-quality, how helpful can the system be for a parent trying to find such a program for their child?”

author: Rick Brown


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 18, 2014


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Free child support workshop | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
March 18, 2014
Understanding child support can be a challenge but the Social Development Commission will partner with My Father’s House to help bring information on the potentially confusing issues surrounding the topic.
SDC and Al Holmes of My Father’s House will present a free financial wellness workshop focused on child support Wednesday, March 19 at SDC Richards Street.  The session will begin at 10am in the lower level of the facility located at 4041 N. Richards Street and is open to the public.
The workshop will show residents how to effectively use Milwaukee County Child Support Services, how to understand court orders, and how to request payment reductions.  The discussion will help expand participants’ understanding of child support payments and the system that coordinates them in Milwaukee County.
Free tax preparation will also be offered to attendees following the workshop.
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author: Social Development Commission


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Johnsons Park Initiative receives major gifts from two Milwaukee foundations | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rotary Club of Milwaukee
March 18, 2014
The boards of directors of Zilber Family Foundation and the Rotary Club of Milwaukee today jointly announced gifts totaling $350,000 toward the revitalization of Johnsons Park. With this announcement, the $1.23 million final capital campaign phase of the Johnsons Park Initiative, led by the Center for Resilient Cities, has reached half its goal.
The Zilber Family Foundation will be providing a $250,000 gift to the project. “The board of directors of the Zilber Family Foundation knows that safe and inviting parks and playgrounds enhance the quality of life for children, youth and families,” said Susan Lloyd, Executive Director of the Zilber Family Foundation. “Because Joe Zilber grew up in Lindsay Heights, where Johnsons Park is located, the board’s support is especially heartfelt.”
“Our $100,000 gift continues Rotary’s long-term involvement in the Johnsons Park area,” said Kathie Eilers, president of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee. “From our involvement with the founding of Feeding America, to our ongoing presence as volunteer tutors in Brown Street Academy and helping to renovate the school’s playground last year, Rotarians have long believed in this neighborhood. A revitalized Johnsons Park will help this area reach its full potential.”
Owned by Milwaukee County, Johnsons Park (1919 W. Fond du Lac Ave., 53205) is the only public park space in the 110-block Lindsay Heights neighborhood and was identified as one of 13 catalytic projects in the 2008 Lindsay Heights Quality of Life Plan, said Marcia Caton Campbell, executive director of the Center for Resilient Cities.
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Funds granted by the two foundations will be used to make improvements to Johnsons Park that promote a mix of recreational activities for youth and families, such as football and soccer on improved sports fields, and walking, running and bicycling on tree-lined pathways.  Energy-efficient lighting will allow extended hours of safe park use and pilot the new County standard for park lighting. A performance stage will facilitate community concerts, performances and other gatherings. A bioswale planned for the center of the park will help manage storm water on site.
Caton Campbell also noted these two gifts have generated significant interest among other potential project funders. “We expect to make additional announcements soon,” she said.
The Center for Resilient Cities has completed two phases of the Johnsons Park Initiative:  improvements to Alice’s Garden (Phase 1, completed in 2010, winner of the 2011 Brewers Community Foundation Best Public Space at the MANDIs), and the renovation of MPS’s Brown Street Academy Schoolyard (Phase 2, completed in 2012, 2013 MANDI finalist for Best Public Space). Both phases won Mayor’s Design Awards, in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

author: Rotary Club of Milwaukee


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Running Rebels community basketball program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Running Rebels
March 18, 2014
The Running Rebels Community Organization and the Milwaukee Public School system are once again collaborating to advance the opportunities of school-aged youth and adolescents. As an organization that believes every child deserves equal access to opportunities, RRCO formed their intramural basketball teams to capture those who may be ineligible to play due or attend a school without a team.
The participants generally come from the Violence Free Zone Program, the RRCO Monitoring Program, the Mentoring Program, and other programs for at-risk youth. Collaborating with MPS has afforded several youth the opportunity to reap the benefits of being a part of an organized team. Victor Barnett, the founder and executive director of Running Rebels Community Organization states, “When a student is involved in our teams, there is shared accountability and responsibility to others and themselves, and we engage them in positive activities during peak times where they may otherwise be exposed or engaged in negative behaviors or even worse, illegal or gang related activities. The players receive guidance and mentoring from volunteers and the dedicated staff of the Running Rebels, who truly want to see them succeed. ”
The league currently has 6 teams with youth from different area high schools. It is the third week of competition. At the conclusion, an awards banquet will be held to recognize the accomplishments both on and off the basketball court. The Running Rebels will also continue to assist players on perfecting their skills and being productive and active in their communities.
Although it is only the second year of the league, there are many success stories to be told. Some are smaller than others, but all are significant. Last year we worked with 2 athletes who are now eligible to play on their high school teams, Carl Thomas at South Division High School and Rodney Oliver at Washington High School. With continued success, we may have the next Kevon Looney in the making.
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author: Running Rebels


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Services provided in Amani neighborhood | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
March 18, 2014
Busy programs from the Social Development Commission (SDC) spent the day in a Milwaukee neighborhood.  The programs took part in an Integrated Mobile Monday at the COA Goldin Center at 2320 W. Burleigh.
The free tax preparation services of SDC, Energy Assistance and the Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance programs offered their services at the community center for area residents.  Carol Jan Modas was among local neighbors who participated in the services. She applied for Energy Assistance to help with her utility bills.
Integrated Mobile Mondays are held at locations in the community to make it easier for residents to get access to SDC programs.  The next event will be held April 7 from 9 am to 3 pm at Greater New Birth Church at 8237 W. Silver Spring Drive on Milwaukee’s Northwest side.
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‘Be Girl Project’ teaches leadership through urban arts | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
March 20, 2014
TRUE Skool teen Jaylen “DJaylen” Perez sets the mood with her music selections at the opening of the exhibit “Well-Behaved Women: Journeys to Fearlessness.” (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Seventeen-year-old Jaylen Perez values the lessons she and her peers are learning about building healthy relationships, avoiding the repercussions of unprotected sex and loving herself first.
Though she had heard something about these topics before participating in TRUE Skool’s “Be Girl Project” workshop, she said, she and the other participants didn’t know “exactly what could happen or what we should know.”
“(Program Director Shalina Ali) informed us of a lot of stuff and we don’t really get that knowledge (anywhere else) because we don’t have sex ed in school anymore,” Perez said.
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TRUE Skool’s Be Girl Project aims to nurture self-worth, social and emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills among girls age 14 to 19, according to its leaders. It teaches leadership skills, helps girls form friendships and matches them with mentors.
The Reproductive Justice Collective, located in a portion of TRUE Skool’s new Grand Avenue space, is a partner in the Be Girl Project.
Working with TRUE Skool on this project fits well with the collective’s mission to advance reproductive justice through helping youth to reach their full potential.
Launched last year, the project is expanding during TRUE Skool’s 2014 spring session, which started in mid-March.
The name “Be Girl” is a play on the Hip Hop term “b-girl,” a woman who has dance, art and music skills. “Be Girl” also alludes to one of the project’s goals, which is to give girls permission to “be girls” rather than internalizing the highly sexualized, unrealistically mature images prevalent in popular culture, commerce and media.
“Media tell us who we are supposed to be, what we’re supposed to look like, how we are supposed to act,” said project volunteer Katie Mullen. “We want to help these girls better understand how to look critically at that information that is bombarding them and not just take it at face value.”
Mullen, the founder and curator of the FROM HERE TO HER Artist Collective, has forged a connection between the two groups since she started volunteering at TRUE Skool in 2011. For the second consecutive year, the collective donated the proceeds of its annual Women’s History Month art exhibit to TRUE Skool. This year those funds will support the Be Girl Project.  The exhibit titled “Well-Behaved Women: Journeys to Fearlessness” explores similar themes of feminine norms and expectations and what it takes to grow beyond them.
FROM HERE TO HER Artist Collective founder Katie Mullen welcomes guests at Bay View’s Studio Lounge. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
A recent exhibit opening at the Studio Lounge, 2246 S Kinnickinnic Ave. in the Bay View neighborhood, also featured performances by two TRUE Skool b-girls. Perez, a junior at Escuela Verde whose DJ name is DJaylen, spun records as her TRUE Skool teacher, noted DJ Tyrone Miller (DJ Bizzon), hovered at a reassuring distance. And Savannha Pyatt, 17, a junior at Milwaukee Schools of Languages presented an original spoken-word poem.
Mullen announced the launch of the enhanced partnership between the artist collective and the Be Girl Project at the event.
Noting that the two groups share a commitment to explore social justice issues through art, Mullen explained that for each member of the collective, art has been a positive force in dealing with “heavy things in our personal lives and in the world around us. (It) has healed us, empowered us, made us more self-aware.”
Passing that knowledge and experience to “young women coming up behind us” is one goal of the collective’s involvement in the Be Girl Project as teaching artists and workshop co-facilitators. “We also want to show (the younger women) the power of female-to-female alliance, of how much more we can achieve when we help each other,” Mullen said.
TRUE Skool has a parallel program for boys. During its first year, workshops sometimes engaged boys and girls together and addressed difficult issues including the use of words such as “bitch.”
Both projects kicked off last spring with a daylong event at UWM called “You Be Boy and I Be Girl,” which featured a panel discussion, interactive art projects and breakout sessions on gender issues in music, media and entertainment. It included nationally known speakers and Hip Hop artists and was attended by more than 250 high school-age youth, according to Mullen.
TRUE Skool’s overall program engages teens in social justice, community service and civic engagement through urban arts.
In addition to the Reproductive Justice Collective, program partners include the YWCA, Urban Underground, No Condom No Way, First Wave/UW-Madison and Still Waters Collective.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 20, 2014


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MANDI finalist helps make neighborhood a community | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
March 21, 2014
This is one in an occasional series of articles about finalists for 2014 Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDIs).
On a recent sunny Wednesday afternoon, Jan Christensen, 61, walked from the editorial office of the Riverwest Currents, the newspaper she edits, to the Riverwest Co-op & Café, a block away.
The air was cold so she moved briskly.
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Christensen reached the entrance to the alley at the middle of the 800 block of East Clarke Street as a car was fast approaching.
The driver braked hard, music blaring through the closed windows.
A pause.
Christensen broke into dance moves to the beat of the music as she passed the car.
The driver broke into a smile.
Christensen is an organizer in the Riverwest neighborhood. Her job is paid for through a community block grant to the city, through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Jan Christensen calls neighborhood organizing rewarding. “You get to see change happening all around you,” according to Christensen.
She helps neighbors bring to life the projects they dreamed about when they helped create a neighborhood strategic plan in the 1990s.
The list included a neighborhood association, a neighborhood newspaper, a food co-op, a trail along the river and a bakery.
All but the bakery are up and running. Said Christensen, “There’s a new bakery that might make it as a co-op bakery, so we might hit that one.”
She works on other projects as well. Passionate about urban agriculture, Christensen said she is excited that the neighborhood is involved in the Young Farmers of Milwaukee, a community-supported agricultural effort in the city.
High school students get clients who pay, up front, for them to plant and tend to a garden plot inKilbourn Reservoir Park in Riverwest for the summer. The young farmers then deliver the produce to the clients, according to Christensen. “By bike,” she added. “Kids earn money that way,” she said, and learn to appreciate urban agriculture.
Space is tight in Riverwest, which has 4,000 households. Whatever space is available, she said, “we try to convert into parks or gardens.”
Christensen is a finalist for a MANDI (Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation). She said she is thrilled, adding, “It feels like kind of a crowning glory to a really long career of hard work.”
At the Food Co-op and Café in a brick building at the corner of Clarke and Fratney streets, Christensen met with James Godsil, a Milwaukee activist and a finalist for the same MANDI award last year, at a table next to a window overlooking ClarkeStreet. They spent time spinning ideas for the neighborhood’s future. “Visioning,” said Christensen. “Visioning,” echoed Godsil with a grin.
Christensen’s father, a farmer, helped her develop her work ethic, according to Christensen. He told her to “see what needs to be done and do it.”
Her organizing philosophy is to identify the “gifts, skills and passions” of the people in the community and match them up with projects. She assists people in determining what needs to be done and figuring out what “we can do ourselves and how we can ask for the help we need for the things we want done.”
By help, she explained, she does not mean asking for money to throw at a problem.
For instance, in exploring co-op housing, she discovered a hitch “because there is an ordinance in the city that no more than three unrelated people can live together in the same building. So we need a little help to change that ordinance.”
Vince Bushell publisher of “Riverwest Currents,” said he respects her for putting down roots in the area. “This isn’t the kind of work you can do for three years and then move on.”
Christensen said she has spent her time over the years building the neighborhood in which she wants to live.
She is scheduled to retire from her organizing job next year.
Her dream for her own future, said Christensen, is “to grow tulips and have nice young farmers delivering fresh produce to my door.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had the wrong address for the Food Co-op and Café. It is at E. Clarke and N. Fratney streets. We regret the error.


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Free help preparing for ACT test | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
March 23, 2014
High school age students will get the chance to use their coming spring break to prepare for the test used to determine college admission and scholarships.
The Social Development Commission is offering a series of free ACT Wings workshops at its Richards Street facility.  The two-day sessions are available for April 14 and 15, April 16 and 17, and May 3 and 17.  The workshops run for two days between 9 am and 1 pm.
The workshop sessions include instruction on taking the ACT test, practice exercises in all five areas of the test, a book of practice tests and exercises, a Personal Study Plan that includes strategies and tips for success, and individualized follow-up.  The ACT test is given to high school students and is used by colleges and universities for both admission and determining scholarships for incoming students.  The ACT Wings workshops at SDC are designed to help high school students be ready for the test and to showcase their academic capabilities.
To learn more about the free ACT sessions at SDC or to sign up, call Rebecca Ross at 414-906-2763.
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Analysis: Impact of Obamacare on health care costs hard to diagnose | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
March 26, 2014
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)
Since President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law four years ago, conservatives and liberals have lived in two clashing realities.
Conservatives have preached gloom and doom, calling the landmark policy, also known as Obamacare, an abject failure, claiming it will drive costs for consumers through the roof while limiting access to health care.
Liberals, conversely, have been gleefully optimistic as they paint a rosy picture of Obamacare, saying it is a game changer that will hold costs in check while increasing access to affordable health care for millions.
But according to economists in Wisconsin, who use free market dynamics such as demand and supply to evaluate consumer prices, the reality of Obamacare is somewhere in the middle.
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“Both in the short term and long term, prices are very, very hard to predict,” said Marquette economist Joe Daniels, director of the Center for Global and Economic studies. “You can’t look at it like a refrigerator and talk about market dynamics like you might if it was a refrigerator.”
The typical economic interplay between supply and demand as they relate to prices is not entirely relevant to health care and insurance costs because of the pooling nature of insurance.
One of the basic tenets of the Affordable Care Act is that increasing the number of people who are insured will spread the risk and reduce the uncertainty associated with insuring health. As a result, some individuals will experience a decrease in their health insurance premiums while others will see an increase, Daniels said.
“You pool all that risk together over a wide range of individuals and you are diversifying that risk,” Daniels said.
One reason why advocates are pushing so hard for people, especially the young and healthy, to enroll is to combat adverse selection, Daniels said. Adverse selection means that more unhealthy individuals will enroll in health insurance to reduce their personal risk than healthy people, who feel they can do without it.
“Let’s suppose that the online system is not working well and you have to log on 15, 20 times and spend two days to sign up for insurance, who do you think will be the people who sign up? It’s going to be the people who have a preexisting condition and who most need insurance,” he said.
If healthy individuals do not offset the unhealthy who become insured, then insurers will bear the increased cost, which they will pass on in the form of higher prices to consumers.
Aging population
Another major difficulty in predicting prices is that the Affordable Care Act does not address the main price driver in the health care market in the foreseeable future, namely an aging population that will increase demand, Daniels said.
“Normally, if I was teaching Economics 101 and I was teaching undergrads about the supply and demand for potato chips, I would say there is going to be an increase in demand and perhaps some changes in supply (which would result) in an increase in the price of the chips,” said Owen Thompson, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “But health care isn’t really like potato chips.”
Fundamentally, when demand for a product such as potato chips in a free market increases and the supply stays constant, the price for that good will increase. But, what sets health care and potato chip pricing apart is who’s doing the buying, according to Thompson.
In general, the price for a bag of potato chips is the same for all consumers. But the price charged to an insured patient to have a triple bypass will be different than the price charged to an uninsured patient for the same bypass. (Ironically, the uninsured patient will pay significantly more.) Complicating the matter further, the price the federal government pays for the triple bypass through Medicaid and Medicare is different than the price an insurance company would pay for the same procedure, according to Thompson.
“So normally if you raise the price of potato chips, people will eat fewer potato chips to some extent, but if you raise the price of health care, that might not get through to the consumer in the (same) way,” Thompson said. “Price doesn’t play the role that it usually plays in markets because there are just a lot of complicated institutions standing between supply and demand.”
Compare and contrast
University of Wisconsin economist Barbara Wolfe believes health care insurance prices will generally be lower than if the Affordable Care Act did not exist because the act allows consumers to easily compare insurance packages. The consumer protections built into the law also create uniformity in terms of what insurance must cover and requires insurance companies to be more transparent, creating a savvier health care insurance consumer, she said.
“Competition will be greater and so prices should be lower,” she said. “Insurance companies may want to gain share in this market and reduce prices as a market strategy.”
For health care itself, prices may increase in the short run due to demand pressures on the market caused by more individuals with insurance and more coverage for pre-existing conditions, she added. But in the long run, that demand may be offset by added supply in the health care industry through the use of technology and more reliance on nurse practitioners and physician assistants, she noted.
According to Thompson, the Affordable Care Act will decrease preventative care costs for many people. The act requires many preventative measures such as checkups and mammograms to be covered by health insurance companies, making them more affordable for many consumers who have had to pay out-of-pocket for this type of care, he said. In the long run, an increase in prevention could decrease the demand for critical care, resulting in a drop in demand and thus a decrease in prices, he noted.
“But the relationship between health insurance and the health of an individual is not very strong,” he said. “You would think that if someone gets health insurance in the medium run to the long run, they would be healthier. That might be true, but there’s not strong evidence that they get a lot healthier.”
On the supply side, the Affordable Care Act will likely boost the amount of health care available to consumers, especially in underserved communities, through increasing training subsidies and scholarships for medical professionals and implicitly increasing the use of nurse practitioners, Wolfe said.
The supply of insurance available to consumers will also increase as a result of the online health insurance marketplace, which “makes it far easier” for insurers to enter the market or expand their offerings, Wolfe said.
“A company would be encouraged to expand the communities and states in which it offers coverage. In the longer run, companies offering coverage should want to be in additional states so (there will be) more supply of insurers, not less,” Wolfe said.
But many provisions of the Affordable Care Act have yet to be enacted, such as a requirement for large employers to offer insurance and a 40 percent tax on insurance companies that offer high-end insurance plans. This makes predicting supply and the resulting price of health care difficult, leading to uncertainty in the market, according to Daniels.
“There is an awful lot that we don’t know,” Daniels said.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 25, 2014


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Solidifying leadership at SDC | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
March 28, 2014
Leadership at the Social Development Commission has been solidified.  George P. Hinton was named at a special meeting of the SDC Board as permanent CEO of the agency.
George Hinton was hired in October to be Interim CEO at the anti-poverty agency that serves Milwaukee County. He came to the agency from a management background that includes founding the Hinton Group, a healthcare and business consulting firm, and serving as President of the Aurora Sinai Medical Center.
Board Chair Gerard Randall said “The Board is enthusiastically committed to supporting Mr. Hinton as he continues to guide SDC”.  In accepting the permanent CEO position, Hinton stated he is looking forward to working to make SDC one of the best anti-poverty agencies and to continue into the future its 50 year legacy of helping the low-income community.
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The Bridge Project Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Running Rebels
March 28, 2014
The Bridge Project is a campaign to inspire Milwaukeeans to unite for violence prevention. Bridges have long been symbols of making connections; not just connecting two masses of land, but also connecting people. The launch of the Bridge Project is meant to do just that, connect people of goodwill – youth and adults – who are working on activities all across Milwaukee to build bridges of peace and non-violence
On April 12, Milwaukeeans will descend on the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge (16 Street Viaduct)  to march for a safer Milwaukee.  The march will culminate with entertainment, speeches, and resources.
Ways to get involved in the Bridge Project:
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$250,000 Bucyrus Foundation gift will expand welding lab at MPS’ Bradley Tech H.S. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Public Schools
March 30, 2014
The welding lab at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Harry and Lynde Bradley Technology and Trade High School will be expanding thanks to a $250,000 gift announced Wednesday from the Bucyrus Foundation to the Bradley Tech Foundation. The Bucyrus Foundation is a donor-advised fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
“We’re proud to offer welding in a number of our high schools including Bradley Tech,” MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said. “This generous donation to expand the welding lab at Bradley Tech helps more students explore this career pathway as we seek to prepare graduates to be college and career ready.”
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Milwaukee Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education offerings – which include welding – are based in part on current labor market information. CTE programs of study are offered in 12 MPS high schools and the district offers welding in four high schools: Bradley Tech, Casimir Pulaski High School, the School of Career and Technical Education and Harold S. Vincent High School.
Bradley Tech students working with instructor Mark Hoedel designed and created a fabricated metal sign marking the welding lab’s new name: the Bucyrus Foundation Welding Lab.
“The Bucyrus Foundation is committed to keeping the Bucyrus name associated with efforts to promote manufacturing in the Milwaukee community. In this spirit, the Bucyrus Foundation’s trustees are thrilled that Bradley Tech is expanding its welding facilities to meet new student demand,” said Tim Sullivan, Bucyrus Foundation director and president/CEO of Gardner Denver. “We are particularly enthused that student demand has created the impetus for this expansion.  The message that manufacturing is a good and noble profession providing family sustaining income is finally getting through to the youth in our community.  These young people will become tomorrow’s welders throughout Greater Milwaukee. I welcome them to a great future in our industry.”
Greater Milwaukee Foundation President and CEO Ellen Gilligan said the GMF and its donors have invested in programs to help students achieve success in education and life “throughout our history. We are pleased to join with our partners, the Bucyrus Foundation, in investing in Bradley Tech’s goal of helping young people identify and pursue career paths critical to their future employment opportunities.”
The gift will add four welding stations to the lab to accommodate the “ever-growing student demand for welding instruction,” said Susie Stein, philanthropic counsel for the Bradley Tech Foundation.
“On behalf of the Bradley Tech Foundation board of directors, I want to thank Tim Sullivan and his co-trustees at the Bucyrus Foundation for this outstanding gift of $250,000 to name the Bucyrus welding lab,” she said.
In addition to adding four welding stations, Bucyrus will contribute to the operations of the welding department during 2015 and 2016.
“This is the largest gift received by Bradley Tech Foundation in a decade and portends well for the Foundation’s ability to support the needs of continued student achievement at Bradley Tech,” Stein said.
In addition to being supported by the district and the Bradley Tech Foundation, Bradley Tech High School receives operational oversight from the Bradley Tech Commission, which includes post-secondary education leaders, business representatives, the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association and workforce development groups.
Earl Buford, a Bradley Tech commissioner and CEO of WRTP/BIG STEP, said the commission is “honored by the generosity of the trustees of the Bucyrus Foundation and their foresight in expanding the welding lab to meet student demand. We all believe strongly that our students at Bradley Tech are the future for Milwaukee’s re-industrialization. The Commission is pleased that the Bucyrus Foundation has set the pace for others in the community to help Bradley Tech and its Foundation continue to improve upon the programs and facilities available to more than 1,000 students and 81 faculty members.”
Bradley Tech Principal Jody Bloyer said she is “humbled by the generosity of Tim Sullivan and the Bucyrus Foundation. Their gift will help provide more educational opportunities for our students. Words cannot express how much this support means to our students today and for the future. I also want to thank Mark Hoedel for providing so much time, effort and leadership in this, his first year as welding teacher at our school. His perseverance is helping to transform our welding program.”
Once students recognize their talent for welding and understand the demand, more students become interested in a possible career in the field, Hoedel said.

author: Milwaukee Public Schools


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 30, 2014


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Three employment opportunities at Walnut Way | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Walnut Way
March 30, 2014
Walnut Way Conservation Corp. (Walnut Way) is the lead agency for a project sponsored by the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative (ZNI) that aims to support the design and implementation of a comprehensive neighborhood driven quality-of-life plan in the Lindsay Heights neighborhoods. Walnut Way is a neighborhood association with a mission to sustain economically diverse communities through civic engagement, environmental stewardship and ventures for community prosperity.
Position Title: The Neighborhood Engagement Specialist
POSITION SUMMARY: The Neighborhood Engagement Specialist supports implementation of a collaborative and comprehensive Lindsay Heights Quality of Life plan. This position is responsible for inspiring a vision of quality communities that embrace a love of diversity, and the common good. The Neighborhood Engagement Specialist implements programs and events to support resident engagement in the eight strategies with a particular focus on resident engagement, leadership, and events (Report to the Community, Spring Lift-up, Neighbor Nights and Harvest Days). Perform other duties as assigned.
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ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES include the following:
1. Community Engagement and Neighbor Engagement
2. Reporting:
QUALIFICATIONS:
An individual must demonstrate a passion for collective action and be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:
Position Title: Men’s Wellness Project Community Navigator
Reports to: Neighborhood Program Coordinator for the Lindsay Heights Initiative
Full Time: Up to 32 hours per week (.8 FTE)
Limited Term: March 2013 – July 2016
Position Summary: The Community Wellness Navigator (CWN) assists with the coordination of activities for the “No Longer an Island: Creating a Men’s Place-based Peer Outreach and Social Support Network” project, a Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families funded grant, to ensure deliverables are met. The project is a community-academic partnership designed to implement a peer outreach and leadership network in the Lindsay Heights Neighborhood to strengthen social support of African American fathers and men and increase community and family engagement. The CWN will support grant implementation with the aim of reducing stress in African American men to increase their ability to engage with their families and ultimately improve birth outcomes.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Community Wellness Navigator will work with project team members with the following.
Core Responsibilities:
Other Responsibilities:
Learn more about becoming a Blue Skies Crew Member at Walnut Way

author: Walnut Way


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NNS named finalist in Milwaukee Press Club journalism competition | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
March 31, 2014
Plaques are at the ready at the Milwaukee Press Club Gridiron Awards Dinner in 2013. (Milwaukee Press Club photo)
For the second year in a row, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a finalist in the Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Competition sponsored by the Milwaukee Press Club. The entries were judged by professional journalists and journalism scholars from across the country, according to the press club.
Other finalists for best local news or feature website are
 WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and
88Nine RadioMilwaukee.
“We are proud to be in the company of these fine news organizations,” said Sharon McGowan, editor of Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, which marked its third anniversary last week.
NNS intern Kelly Meyerhofer, a journalism student at Marquette University’s Diederich College of Communication, is a Collegiate finalist for “Best Blog” for her work at the Marquette Tribune. Former NNS interns Tessa Fox, Eric Oliver and Aaron Maybin also are Collegiate finalists.
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Finalists will learn whether they have won a gold, silver or bronze award at the club’s Gridiron Awards Dinner on May 16 at the InterContinental Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn.
“We received hundreds of entries for the contest from news organizations and individuals throughout Wisconsin,” the press club said in a news release. “The judges [expressed] pleasure at the high quality of work done by Wisconsin journalists,” according to the release.
Reporter and NBC News political analyst Jonathan Alter will receive the club’s 2014 Sacred Cat Award, which recognizes excellence in journalism at the national level. Alter spent 28 years at Newsweek, where he was a senior editor and columnist.  He is the author of three New York Times best-selling books.
In 2013, veteran journalist Cokie Roberts received the award, which has been given annually since 1973.
The Milwaukee Press Club also will honor Michael Pink, Milwaukee Ballet artistic director, and Steve Roell, recently retired CEO of Johnson Controls.

author: Edgar Mendez


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Resources to southside fair | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
April 1, 2014
A program that is identifying and fixing up homes contaminated by lead reached out to neighbors of a Milwaukee Community.
The Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance Program at the Social Development Commission (SDC) took part this past Saturday in the Southside Organizing Committee’s Spring Maintenance and Home Improvement Fair. The daylong event was held at St. Anthony’s Keyser Hall on S. 9 Street.
Staff from the SDC Lead program explained to the many attending residents how the effort works as well as how to participate in it.  The program is identifying and renovating homes that have a high risk for lead poisoning and which have young children living in them.  Lead poisoning of children can occur when living in older homes that contain lead-based paints. It has been shown to cause learning, behavioral, growth and health problems, especially in children.
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To learn more about the Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance Program, visit www.cr-sdc.org/index/Programs–Services/VITA/Asset-Development/Lead-Hazard-Reduction-Assistance-Program.htm or call 414-344-9010.


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Washington Park multicultural event highlights immigrant cultures | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rick Brown
April 2, 2014
Sahara Aden wore traditional dress to perform a Somali Bantu spiritual dance. (Photo by Rick Brown)
Sahara Aden swayed and pirouetted in her bright red traditional dress, enacting a spiritual dance of her Somali Bantu people.
The dance was Somali, but the venue was Milwaukee’s Washington Park.
Having traveled thousands of miles from a Kenyan refugee camp to build a new life in Milwaukee, Sahara was one of several presenters representing their culture and building community networks at a recent Multicultural Exploration Night at the Our Next Generation (ONG) center.
Approximately 50 residents and visitors attended the event, a collaboration between Washington Park Partners (WPP) and ONG to spotlight the cultures of the neighborhood’s diverse communities.
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Somali and Hmong presenters danced and spoke of their national history at the event, which also included a local history presentation and urban line dance.
Such gatherings play a key role in uniting and assisting families, especially those from first-generation immigrant families, according to Bob Dunn, ONG president and CEO.
Hmong-American children perform with qeejs, reed pipe instruments. (Photo by Rick Brown)
“It’s an important part of community building to have these activities,” Dunn said. “You can’t get that in a lecture.”
That is particularly important in a multicultural community, Dunn added. Washington Park has always been diverse, according to local resident and business owner Dave Boucher, who gave a neighborhood history presentation.
“We’ve been doing the dance of blending cultures and ethnicities all these years,” Boucher said, adding that Washington Park residents probably speak five or more languages.
At least three of those languages were represented at Our Next Generation, 3421 W. Lisbon Ave., which provides tutoring, academic enrichment, career planning and other services to area children.
Sahara, a junior at St. Joan Antida High School and a participant and volunteer at ONG, organized students to dance and presented a brief history of the Somali Bantu people.
Born in Kenya to Somali parents, Sahara traveled to the United States in 2003. Now an aspiring electrical engineer, she has been accepted to the Milwaukee School of Engineering and plans to attend after graduating from high school next year.
Sahara presented to build stronger networks in her community, which is “very separated,” she said.
“Our people are scattered about in the United States and don’t have a strong bond with each other,” Sahara noted. “Our history and culture aren’t often shown.”
Somali children often are afraid to explore new educational and social opportunities because of cultural and language issues, she added.
“Many have spent their earlier years in refugee camps, and that exposure has a profound impact,” Dunn said, adding that many children at ONG have experienced violence.
Activities such as the multicultural exhibition help children gain a shared sense of community. Building confidence is particularly critical for first-generation children, according to Dunn.
Sahara agreed. “‘The sky is the limit,’ I tell children,” she said. “But fear can take away [their] opportunities to excel.”
Abdi Abu, 17, is a Somali Bantu who journeyed to the United States in 2004. Abdi came to “pay respect to the culture.”
It was difficult to adjust to Milwaukee, Abdi said, adding that he didn’t speak English when he first arrived. Now a student at Clara Mohammed School, Abdi receives help from ONG with academics and English. Language assistance has been particularly important, he noted.
“My family speaks half-English,” Abdi said. “I go home and teach them what I’ve learned.”
Abdi now hopes to go to college and “achieve great things” with the help of ONG, adding that he is considering attending Marquette University.
Other events included a poetry reading by Genesis Renji and a historical skit by Westside Academy seventh-graders Shawanda Blackmon, VeAndre Humphrey and Darius Gray.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 1, 2014


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Home improvement fair draws a crowd of eager homeowners | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
April 3, 2014
Ofelia Mondragon of the Social Development Commission’s Lead Hazard Reduction Assistance program, explains the program to a group of homeowners. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
Stephanie Carter blames her porous windows for the frigid drafts that blew through her house this winter.
“You can sit in the house and actually feel the wind come through the windows,” Carter said. “The plastic on the windows really didn’t do much.”
To stay warm, the 42-year-old mother of three cranked the furnace until it stopped working.
“I had to wait until I got paid to get it fixed. We were all sleeping in the same bed, bundled up,” said Carter, who has owned her home for five years.
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The problem drove her to go to the fourth annual Layton Boulevard West Neighbors Improvement Fair, where she was one of about 200 Milwaukee homeowners who learned about programs to help defer the cost of interior and exterior home projects, such as window and furnace replacement.
Stephanie Carter, a 42-year-old mother of three, asks for information about replacing her windows. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
“The fair has been a real successful way to get out the word. It creates a strong place where people can get a better idea of the different programs that are available,” said Kate Wolf, the home improvement coordinator at Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, before the event, held at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1236 S. Layton Blvd.
The Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative and the Southside Organizing Committee also sponsored the fair, which consisted of 16 local organizations that offer assistance such as low-interest loans and grants.
One of the organizations that took part was Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee, which offers free home repairs and accessibility upgrades to elderly homeowners.
“People want to be in their homes. That’s where their memories are and that is where they have raised their families. That’s where they are going to do better and age better,” said Erin Goff, a project and logistics manager, as she manned the organization’s table filled with devices such as a sturdy hand rail and an extendable shower head.
“They’re the cornerstone of these neighborhoods. They have been in these neighborhoods for 40, 50, 60 years and are the example of responsible home ownership,” Goff said.
Select Milwaukee also had a table at the fair, where participants learned of the financial services and assistance the organization provides, including a $14,500 grant that can be used to bring newly purchased foreclosed houses up to code and to make roofing and energy efficiency improvements.
“We heard from a lot of people who need loan modifications because their home is underwater,” said Elizabeth Ferber, a rehab specialist with the organization, who added that the event provides a forum where organizations can gauge the housings needs of the community.
For Kim Rodiez, 42, the event was an opportunity to learn what assistance is available for her dad, who needs to repair a rotting second-floor porch on his century-old duplex.
“Even if we could find just $200 towards it, that would be something,” said Rodiez, who lives in the upstairs apartment.
“We plan on staying there for a long time,” added Rodiez, who went to the fair with her sister Tracy. Tracy Rodiez lives in the downstairs apartment with her four children.
“I’m really surprised at all that is out there,” said Tracy, as she left the event with a fistful of pamphlets and applications.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 2, 2014


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Applications for summer jobs through Earn & Learn now available | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
April 7, 2014
Adrianna Carter worked at a Veterans Affairs office last summer through the Earn & Learn program. (Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board)
Earn & Learn, a popular summer jobs program that helps young people prepare for employment, is now accepting applications, the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB) announced. The program runs from July 1 to Aug. 24.
Although teens as young as 14 are eligible to apply, priority will be given to those 16- to 21-years old due to limited funding, according to MAWIB. The program is funded through the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA).
The Earn & Learn Summer Youth Jobs Initiative is designed to introduce participants to a potential career and help them build their resumés. The jobs pay $7.50 per hour.
Dyrell Minor worked for the Center for Resilient Cities at Alice’s Garden last summer as part of the Earn & Learn program. (Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board)
Alisse Sinclair, who worked at Discovery World in summer 2013, said that the Earn & Learn program taught her that, “there’s nothing you can’t do.” She plans to have her own clothing line and “pursue my passion of becoming a model.”
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The deadline to apply for the program is April 24 at 4 p.m. Applications can be downloaded at www.milwaukeewib.org or picked up in person at MAWIB, 2342 N. 27 St. Applicants must submit proof of their date of birth, address and income, and a copy of the front and back of their Social Security cards.
Males 18 years of age or older must be registered with the Selective Service.
For more information, contact the Earn & Learn program at (414) 270-7550.

author: Sharon McGowan


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 6, 2014


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MPS’ Rufus King in state’s top 3 on Washington Post list of top high schools | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Public Schools
April 8, 2014
Milwaukee Public Schools’ Rufus King International High School is among the three best high schools in Wisconsin and the 50 best in the Midwest, according to rankings released Monday by The Washington Post.
The ranking is based upon the school’s efforts to challenge students to grow academically and joins a long list of national accolades for the school, including a #2 in Wisconsin ranking from U.S.  News and World Report in 2013 and winning ACT’s national College and Career Transition Award for High Schools.
Rufus King High School’s #3 in Wisconsin ranking by The Washington Post makes it the highest-rated public school in all of southeastern Wisconsin.
“This honor is a testament of the hard work of the students and educators at Rufus King,” MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said. “Congratulations to the school on yet another national recognition.”
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Rufus King High School Principal Jennifer Smith, who is also a Rufus King alumna, said she is “constantly amazed at talent and dedication of our students and staff.  This recognition by The Washington Post is an affirmation of their efforts and an encouragement to continue to strive for excellence.”
The Post ranks schools through a formula that examines “the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year,” according to the newspaper’s website.


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Youth and poverty task force | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
April 8, 2014
The Social Development Commission (SDC) has appointed a task force to focus on the impact of poverty on youth in Milwaukee County. The task force will hold two community town hall meetings to gather input from community stakeholders on this issue, and its two co-chairs will meet with local policymakers and government officials to gain a greater understanding of the youth advocacy work already being done. The task force intends to complete its work by July 1.
“The cyclical theme of poverty in our community is having an adverse impact on the lives of our youth,” said Dr. Demond Means, task force co-chair. “ It is imperative that we reevaluate our collective efforts as a community to ensure we are effectively closing the opportunity gap for the children of Milwaukee County.”
The task force has been charged with analyzing the impact of poverty on youth in Milwaukee County, identifying root causes of poverty, creating sound recommendations and practical strategies related to the root cause of poverty and developing recommendations for policy changes at the city, county and state government levels. “The plight facing children in Milwaukee is something that impacts all of us,” said Dr. Gary Williams, co-chair. “If children do not see hope in their future, then as elders we are failing them and failing ourselves.”
Dr. Means is the superintendent of schools for the Mequon-Thiensville School District and a Milwaukee resident. He was elected to the SDC Board of Commissioners last fall, and he is known statewide for his advocacy in the area of closing the achievement gap for students. Dr. Williams is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and is also the director of the Institute for Intercultural Research.
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Dr. Williams was appointed to the SDC Board last fall and serves his home community of Brown Deer as school board president. “The need for the task force was something that SDC Board President Gerald Randall and I felt was necessary for SDC to truly meet the needs of the community,” said George Hinton, CEO of the SDC. “As poverty continues to infiltrate every element of life in Milwaukee County, it is important for SDC to take a stand and figure out where we can help our constituents.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 8, 2014


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MANDIs celebrate ‘better future’ for Milwaukee neighborhoods | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jim McGowan
April 9, 2014
Several hundred people came to celebrate the grand opening of Three Bridges Park last summer. The project won a MANDI. (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
A new city park, a program that collects surplus food for the hungry, a North Side redevelopment project and a health-conscious affordable housing project were honored at the annual MANDI dinner at the historic Pfister Hotel.
The Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDI) are presented annually by LISC Milwaukee and sponsored by US Bank. The awards are intended to recognize those working to improve the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
“Since its inception 15 years ago, the MANDI program has evolved into a celebration of everything that is right about Milwaukee—passionate, committed residents working together with optimism and tenacity to create a better future for themselves, their families and their neighborhoods,” said Leo Ries, LISC Milwaukee’s executive director.
Menomonee Valley Partners Executive Director Laura Bray and Palermo Villa Chief Operating Officer Angelo Fallucca wave their business cards to enter a raffle at the MANDI celebration. Menomonee Valley Partners won the Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award for Three Bridges Park. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
The Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award went to Three Bridges Park in the Menomonee Valley, a product of partnership among Menomonee Valley Partners, Menomonee Valley Branch of the Urban Ecology Center, State of Wisconsin, and the City of Milwaukee. The 24-acre site offers access to the Menomonee River for fishing and canoeing, a native landscape for wildlife, and two miles of walking and biking trails (part of the Hank Aaron State Trail). Other finalists were the Journey House Football Stadium and the Centennial Arboretum of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee.
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Welford Sanders, executive director, Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation, accepts the BMO Harris Bank Cornerston Award for transforming King Drive block by block. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
The BMO Harris Bank Cornerstone Award was given to the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp., which has focused more than $30 million in investments on a three-block area in the Harambee neighborhood. The development, based on community input, includes affordable housing, retail shops, offices and a Growing Power, Inc. location. Other finalists were Havenwoods Economic Development Corp., Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity and United Methodist Children’s Services.
The PNC Trailblazer Award was awarded to Just One More Ministry for its outreach program to aid the hungry. The organization employs more than 100 volunteers a week to retrieve unused food from caterers, grocery stores, bakeries and wholesalers. The group repackages and distributes the food in the community, serving 1,500 meals per week. Other finalists were the 16th Street Community Health Center’s Kinnickinnic River Corridor Initiative and IndependenceFirst Mobility Store.
Northwest Side Community Development Corporation Executive Director Howard Snyder and his wife, Janice Wilberg, share a moment after he was chosen as the winner of the Northern Trust Navigator Award at the Pfister Hotel. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
The Northern Trust Navigator Award went to Howard Snyder, founder and executive director of the Northwest Side Community Development Corp. Since he began the CDC in 1983, Snyder’s organization has been involved in community development activities including the reclamation of an abandoned city fire station, the Villard Avenue Business Improvement District, MetroWorks Small Business Incubator, the Northwest Industrial Council and the Villard Avenue Library. Other finalists were Journey House Youth Programs Director Charles Brown and Community Organizer Jan Christensen.
The State Farm Building Blocks Award was presented to Westlawn Gardens, a project of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. The project, which residents helped to design, includes 250 affordable apartments and homes, green space, and 30,000 square feet of community gardens. It also features 14 homes built to reduce risks for respiratory-related illness, 45 units of dedicated senior housing and 12,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail space. Other finalists included King Drive Commons IV by Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp. and Layton Boulevard West Neighbors Rent-to-Own Homes.
The Vision Award, chosen by LISC Milwaukee’s advisory board, was awarded to Northwestern Mutual. Northwestern Mutual has given $16.9 million to nonprofits nationwide. In 2012, more than 1,000 of the company’s employees donated 25,000 hours to volunteer efforts, and last year, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation committed more than $725,000 to three Milwaukee neighborhoods—Amani, Metcalfe Park and Muskego Way.

author: Jim McGowan


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13770474535_8bb7544d84_z | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 15, 2014

author: Dwayne Burtin


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13770487195_d85f830e41_z | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 15, 2014


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13770821864_51ee03c1b8_z | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 15, 2014


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MANDIs celebrate ‘better future’ for Milwaukee neighborhoods | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
April 9, 2014


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Walk with a Doc in Washington Park paves path to better health | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Karen Slattery
April 9, 2014
Fresh air, lots of sun and free medical advice.
Those are just three reasons why walkers took to the paths in Milwaukee’s Washington Park Saturday morning.
The walkers trekked through the park with Dr. Jess Kuester, an internist and geriatrician affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee VA Medical Center.
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The walk was the first in this year’s “Walk with a Doc” program, co-sponsored by the Progressive Community Health Centers, Froedtert Health and Washington Park Partners (WPP).
Rosalind Cox, a Washington Park neighborhood resident, said that good health was only one reason for turning out for the event. She said that the walk also promoted community. “People are out walking and chatting,” Cox observed.
Ben Tiedge was the youngest walker to participate in Washington Park’s “Walk with a Doc.” (Photo by Karen Slattery)
Before starting through the park, Kuester gave a short lecture on the importance of calcium and Vitamin D. She told walkers that people need calcium each day so that their heart, muscles and nerves work properly.
Kuester encouraged walkers to get calcium through food such as yogurt, fortified orange juice and cottage cheese. She pointed out that people can get calcium through supplements, but medical studies are mixed about whether they can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
People need vitamin D to help absorb calcium but the vitamin is naturally present in only a few foods. Kuester cautioned not to take too much vitamin D in supplements, but rather get it by spending some time in the sun, although not too much time without sunscreen.
She also noted that engaging in weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, helps build strong bones.
Following her own advice, Kuester walked briskly around the park with nine other people. The walkers were enthusiastic about the doctor’s participation. “It is a good thing for people to walk with doctors. Doctors promote exercise,” said Rochelle Parker, a member of the group.
Organizers said they hope more people will show up for the “Walk with a Doc” program on the first Saturday of each month.
The program began last year but walks were canceled when the weather got cold.
Bob Hershey, who has walked for exercise for 15 years, was already striding through the park when the event began. He joined the group, saying he appreciated the effort because it “promotes using the park.” Hershey said he logs 20 miles a week in the park when the weather is not too cold and the walkways aren’t icy.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 9, 2014