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Immunization campaign targets urban children | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 16, 2012
(From left, rear) Parent Doris Rodgers, CHIMC Project Coordinator Katie Swank Watt, Community Outreach Specialist Tiffanie Henderson, and parents Darrel Tate and Lakima Moore discuss goals in a Planned Behavior Change class at Neighborhood House. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Karonda McGee knew something about immunizing her two small children from talking to their pediatrician. Then, the Lindsay Heights mother took a class at Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, which opened her eyes to a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of immunizations.
“They taught us about the importance of getting immunizations, about how many people don’t get their kids immunized and about how those who don’t get the immunizations affect the rest of us,” McGee said. “It’s especially valuable for young parents because it’s very important to keep our kids healthy so we can go to our jobs and our schools and it’s also important for our kids to go to school,” added McGee, 22.
McGee learned important lessons similar to those espoused by the Community Health Improvement for Milwaukee Children (CHIMC) project, which is part of an eight-year effort by the Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children to improve vaccination rates in central city neighborhoods.
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The effort is working. For example, when the program began, only 39 percent of children 19- to 35-months old in four central city zip codes were immunized on time. In 2011, that number increased to 67 percent (see graph). The goal is to reach 77 percent — the immunization rate for 19- to 35-month-old children in Wisconsin as a whole — by next year.
In 2005, the Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children, a cooperative endeavor between Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin, launched the CHIMC project in two central city neighborhoods. Although research showed that parents perceived that their children’s immunizations were up to date, “available data indicated that central city children were immunized on time at much lower rates than the state average,” said Center Director Earnestine Willis, M.D.
“A lot of parents have a terrible fear that something bad is going to happen to their children if they get immunizations,” said CHIMC volunteer Dorothy Smith. She believes this misinformation is a product of “old wives’ tales.” In addition, some high-profile celebrities have publicized the assertion that vaccinations can cause autism, which scientific research disproves.
CHIMC began with a three-year pilot program funded through a National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant. Its goal was to identify the main child health issue in children under 3 years old in the Concordia and Metcalfe Park neighborhoods, the 53208 and 53210 zip codes, and design an intervention plan to address the issue.
Willis stressed that a key aspect of the project is its community-based participatory research approach. This means that neighborhood residents such as Smith are invited to become active researchers and decision makers as part of the Community Forward team. Some volunteers are trained in research methodology at the Medical College.
“You have to incorporate some capacity building, some co-learning, some power sharing,” Willis said. “I see that as one of the sustaining components of this (program).”
During the pilot project, Willis and her team of staff colleagues and community partners identified 42 factors that contribute to health disparities in the targeted neighborhoods. They narrowed the list to the top five: poor education, adverse birth outcomes, mental health, violence and immunizations. In the end, they chose to focus on immunizations because “we wanted to select something that we could demonstrate some benefit in the short term,” said Willis.
In partnership with neighborhood residents and several community organizations, including Neighborhood House of Milwaukee and Next Door Foundation, the center sought to determine what was keeping parents from complying with recommended immunization guidelines. They focused on children between 19 and 35 months, the group with the lowest immunization compliance rate. Since knowledge about immunization requirements was clearly a barrier, an education program for parents of young children was the first intervention they designed.
Parent participant Lakima Moore makes a point during a class at Neighborhood House. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
“With every parent that we enroll in our study, we do a 20- to 40-minute education session covering the immunizations that are used and the diseases that they protect against. We get into a lot of detail with the parents and answer a lot of questions,” said Katie Swank Watt, CHIMC project coordinator at Neighborhood House. “Parents often have not heard of these diseases before because widespread immunization has made them less prevalent,” she said.
Community Forward Team member Janice Harrell said the young parents’ knowledge is tested before and after these sessions and “they are so full of joy when they see how much they’ve learned.”
“We tell them that when they take their kids in to be seen by the physician they should already have their questions prepared. That way they can get more information in the 15 minutes that they have with the doctor,” Harrell said.
One long-term goal of CHIMC is to mobilize and empower neighborhood residents by helping them acquire knowledge and skills that enable them to participate more actively in their own and their children’s health care.
The project also created two other interventions: a marketing campaign with a “Take Control” message to raise awareness and a “Planned Behavior Change” class such as the one McGee attended to help small, targeted groups of parents of children under age 4.
The parents attend a series of seven classes that provide training about immunizations and general health issues such as how to talk to your healthcare provider, how the healthcare system works and how to check the Wisconsin Immunization Registry for immunization requirements.
“All of the interventions are designed to address changing behavior in positive ways, but we do it through different strategies,” said CHIMC Program Manager JoAnn Gray-Murray.
In 2008, CHIMC’s “Save Lives – Immunize” program received a five-year grant from NIH that expanded the neighborhoods covered to two more zip codes, 53205 and 53206, and added children between 3 and 14 years old. Its primary goal is to eliminate the immunization rate disparity between these children and those throughout the state. To date, 565 families living in the four zip codes have participated in the program.
Willis plans to seek grant money for a third phase of the project next year.

author: Andrea Waxman


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7526509864_ff5fd58f21_z | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 15, 2012

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


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Immunization-carousel | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 15, 2012


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Adam Carr
July 15, 2012


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Immunization-graph | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
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Adam Carr
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Art event showcases women artists, raises money for scholarship | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
July 20, 2012
The second annual “Hecho en Milwaukee” art showcase will be held at Walker Square Park on July 28. The art-themed benefit raises funds for the Mariposa Scholarship, which is awarded to a young woman pursuing a degree in the arts.
Hecho, which runs from 12-5 p.m., will showcase local artists in fields including airbrushing, painting, music and dance. According to Nicole Acosta, whose XICA MOVEMENT group is hosting the event, artists of all disciplines and especially women are welcome to show and sell their work at the park, located at 1029 S. 9 St.
Acosta said the scholarship program is a way to support woman artists who now have more opportunities than ever in Milwaukee to work in an art scene historically dominated by males.
Back when she began her career as a fine art/ professional photographer in 1997, she had mentors but lacked the support from the local art community she desired.
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“In Milwaukee’s past there haven’t been a lot of opportunities for us to go out there and show our work, but now the scene for women is flourishing,” Acosta said.
She cited the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Arts at Large and the Milwaukee Art Museum as some of the local organizations that have been supporting local female artists by exhibiting their work.
The event will also feature raffles and various food and art vendors, with all proceeds going to the scholarship for a recipient who has not yet been chosen.
Acosta is glad to be able to expose female artists and their various talents to the community.
“We’re letting everybody know that we’re here; here as mothers, daughters, sisters and friends but we are also artists and this is who we are.”

author: Edgar Mendez


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United Way seeks 3,000 readers, tutors and mentors to keep kids in school | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jennifer Reinke
July 20, 2012
A 5-year-old from Carver Academy Community Learning Center discusses Pocahontas with MillerCoors intern Blaine Kaehr. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Marquette University student Lauren Diaz, 21 is an intern at Rockwell Automation. (Photos by Jennifer Reinke)
Monsters, dinosaurs, Pocahontas and Pinocchio were all part of the conversation as 200 Boys & Girls Club youth participated in United Way of Greater Milwaukee’s Brewer’s Hill Literacy Day at Carver Academy.
Volunteer college interns from nine Milwaukee companies were paired with youth ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade for reading, theater activities with First Stage and playground activities at the new “Born Learning Trail” installed by United Way.
The event, which also took place at COA Youth & Family Centers, 909 E. Garfield Ave., was the official launch of United Way of Greater Milwaukee’s effort to recruit 3,000 volunteer readers, tutors and mentors by 2015.
“We wanted to do something locally in our neighborhood to kick off the effort,” said Maressa Sullivan, United Way public relations specialist. United Way of Greater Milwaukee is headquartered in Brewer’s Hill.
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Marquette University student Lauren Diaz, 21, decided to volunteer for the day because, she said, childhood education and literacy are things “that not only Rockwell cares about, but I’m interested in as well.” Diaz is an intern at Rockwell.
Diaz was paired with a 4-year-old kindergartener who “was a little quiet at first, but then very active and very fun,” she said. The two read “Pinocchio” together. “She thought it was funny when the nose grew,” said Diaz. “She had a great time. I had a great time helping her out.”
The initiative was created in response to United Way Worldwide’s 2008 Campaign for the Common Good. The campaign’s goal is to cut in half the number of young people who drop out of high school by 2018 by recruiting one million volunteer readers, tutors and mentors.
Locally, United Way of Greater Milwaukee is partnering with 15 agencies, including Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Interfaith and Next Door Foundation.
“They are agencies that can take on a large capacity of volunteers,” said Karissa Kleven, United Way marketing and communications specialist. “What’s unique about this initiative is it’s very much a collaborative effort,” she said.
United Way volunteers read with Carver Academy Community Learning Center participants. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Next Door Foundation will oversee volunteer readers, Interfaith will oversee volunteer tutors and Big Brothers Big Sisters will oversee volunteer mentors, said Julie Rothwell, United Way health portfolio manager. Each of the volunteer opportunitieshas a different time commitment.
“Whether you have an hour a day or an hour a week or an hour a month, you can significantly impact a child’s reading ability and academic performance and instill a lifelong love of learning,” said Nicole Angresano, United Way vice president of community impact.
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Milwaukee’s fourth- and eighth-grade students’ reading, mathematics and science scores ranked below the average score for 21 large cities.
“Research proves that caring volunteers working with students of all ages have the power to help kids boost academic achievement and put young people on track for a bright future,” said Angresano.
“The Reader-Tutor-Mentor Initiative is an opportunity for everyone in the community to make a difference in the life of a child. When more young people enter school ready to learn, read at grade level and graduate from high school, the entire community benefits,” she said.

author: Jennifer Reinke


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Adam Carr
July 19, 2012


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Adam Carr
July 19, 2012


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Adam Carr
July 19, 2012


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4th Annual Clarke Square National Night Out | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Journey House
July 23, 2012
The 4 annual Clarke Square Weed & Seed National Night Out will take place Friday, August 6, 2010. Residents are invited to Clarke Square Park, 2330 W. Vieau Place (23 & Mineral), from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. for complimentary refreshments, music and entertainment, and to learn about available community and crime prevention resources. Evening highlights will include the unveiling of the new Clarke Square neighborhood logo. A rain date has been set for Thursday, August 13, 2010.
The theme chosen by the Clarke Square Weed & Seed Initiative for this year’s event is “Working Together Works.” The theme ties together the purpose of National Night Out with the program’s focus, to “weed out” violent behavior and criminal activity through law enforcement and effective community policing while “seeding” the community and empowering its residents through crime prevention, intervention, economic revitalization and neighborhood restoration.
National Night Out is a day designed to heighten crime prevention awareness, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. The event is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW).
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Journey House serves as the financial agent for Clarke Square’s Weed & Seed Initiative. For more information about Journey House, visit www.journeyhouse.org.

author: Journey House


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TRUE Skool Block Party rocks the south side | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mark Doremus and Karen Slattery
July 25, 2012
Local and national recording artists, poets, DJs and dancers performed on stage at TRUE Skool’s 2012 Community Block Party.  Off stage there was a live graffiti battle, skateboarding and free breakdancing workshops for all ages.
TRUE Skool’s mission is to create positive change in the lives of youth through arts education and community service, inspired by the elements of Hip Hop culture, according to the organization’s website.
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author: Mark Doremus and Karen Slattery


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Adam Carr
July 25, 2012


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Banner flies for south side baseball team’s first-ever championship | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
July 27, 2012
Team photo of the District 6 champion, Felix Mantilla All Star team. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
No Felix Mantilla League baseball team had won a District 6 championship in the 39-year history of the league—until now.
The Felix Mantilla Juniors All Star Team, managed by Julian Haliga, and featuring mostly players from his Milwaukee South Side Baseball Club, are district champions, and will now compete in the statewide tournament in West Bend.  At stake is a trip to the regional championship tournament in Indiana and possibly even a berth at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
In May, at the start of the season, Haliga bemoaned the fact that the outfield walls in Baran Park, 2600 S. Chase Ave., unlike most suburban ballparks that the Mantilla league visited, were bare and had always been so: No banners, no flags, no championships.
But last year, Haliga’s team came up one victory short of a championship, and their collective confidence grew.
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On July 24, as the first flag in the history of the league was hoisted to its temporary spot on a flagpole beneath Old Glory and the setting sun, Haliga stood about 50 feet away. He watched as his team, assistant coaches and league representatives celebrated.  It was a moment of reflection for Haliga, who wasn’t even on the field for the clinching game.
On July 12, the night before the championship game, his team was trailing 6-2 against an undefeated South Milwaukee All Star squad that had pummeled them 19-2 in the opening game of the double-elimination tournament. The umpire made what Haliga described as a rally-killing bad strike call that ended the seventh inning.
The heated discussion between coach and umpire ended with Haliga’s ejection, and also meant he couldn’t coach his team should they come back to win. Haliga considered the ejection unfair, explaining that he had already backed off and agreed to discuss the matter at another time before being ejected. For him it seemed like just another obstacle city teams such as his always are forced to overcome.
Julian Haliga, manager of the Felix Mantilla All Star team. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
But he didn’t give up and neither did his team. Taking on the hard-nosed, focused and unrelenting mentality of their coach, the team rallied. “He got kicked out for us so let’s do it for him,” said John Anthony Caban, who pitched in the championship game.
Scoring the final nine runs of the game, the team won 11-6, setting up a rematch with the same South Milwaukee team; the long-elusive title at stake.
Assistant coaches Victor Cortes and Jorge Olmo, both of whom played in the Mantilla League as youngsters in the 1980s, coached the final game and the team won 6-2, capping off a run of five straight victories in elimination games.
Cortes called the last game the finest the team played in the tournament. Through adversity, the team showed steel resolve, according to Cortes. And finally, its hard work led to a tangible result.  “All that time, the winter workouts, the fall ball, the practices and the offseason training paid off,” Cortes said.
Olmo, who called each pitch during the championship game, said that from start to finish, the focused team played with heart and intelligence.  “They were motivated, they weren’t afraid and they weren’t going to quit,” Olmo said.
Andrew Tapiz, the team’s catcher, admits that before the game started players had  butterflies, especially considering they were without their manager.  But, Tapiz said, once you see the ball coming, “you forget all that and focus on the game.”
That ability to focus is an attribute Haliga preaches about often.  As he sat in a parking lot during the championship game, barely within shouting distance of the field, he stared at the scoreboard and zeroed in on the sounds of the game, such as cracks of the bat and cheers from the crowd.
He knew precisely what was going on in the game. It was what he’d been coaching his team to do all year.  “I could picture in my head exactly what they were doing,” Haliga said.
He doesn’t regret not being able to coach the district championship game, explaining that it’s his job to defend his players. But he’ll be there to coach his team in West Bend this week as the statewide tournament begins.
Still, aside from the flag-raising ceremony, he’s had little time to savor the team’s success. Others have, though.
Jerad Luedtke, vice-president of the Mantilla league, considers the All Star team’s accomplishment an inspiration to the league’s younger players, who look up to the older ones. “We’re really excited about where the league is going,” Luedtke said.
Not completely satisfied, Haliga considers the Division 6 championship as a step, albeit a giant one, toward his ultimate goal of creating a baseball powerhouse; a dynasty right in the heart of the south side.  “I want suburban teams to say ‘Uh-oh, we’re playing the Mantilla League,’ ” Haliga said.
He insists that he never tried to instill a “me against the world” mentality on his team. He just told them the truth: “We’re playing for the south side, and we ain’t never won nothing.”
Now they have, but Haliga says they’re not done. “Our story is to be continued.”


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Adam Carr
July 26, 2012


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Adam Carr
July 26, 2012


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Journey House welcomes community to new facility | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
July 27, 2012
Adults who have been crowded into a small space to learn English, Journey House staff members who have been dispersed in dozens of small offices, and Longfellow School students who have taken classes in hallways all came together recently to celebrate the grand opening of the Journey House Center for Youth and Family Athletics.
The 34,000-square-foot multipurpose building alleviates a space crunch that has hampered Journey House and Longfellow for decades.
The event, held at 2110 W. Scott St. in Clarke Square, featured dancing, music, free food and book giveaways along with other activities for the hundreds in attendance. The striking new building features amenities such as a dance studio, state-of-the-art computer lab, teen lounge, large cafeteria, gymnasium and classrooms. Journey House administrative offices are also consolidated at the facility.
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Steve Stanislawski, director of operations at Journey House, said that it took years of hard work to bring the organization’s programs into one building.
“Participants can now see how the youth and adult programs work together and complement each other,” Stanislawski said.
Tim Cherry, who sits on the Journey House board of directors, hailed the opening of the center as a tremendous opportunity for neighborhood residents.
“These are people who’ve not had access to facilities such as these,” he said. “Now they can take ownership because (the center) is theirs.”


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Adam Carr
July 26, 2012


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Milwaukee County Board supports minimum wage increase | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
July 31, 2012
A resolution calling on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $9.80 per hour was passed by the Milwaukee County Board.
The campaign to increase the minimum wage is backed by a coalition of community, faith, and labor organizations including Citizen Action of Wisconsin, 9 to 5, We Are Milwaukee, SEIU, MICAH, Voces de la Frontera, AFT Local 212, and Wisconsin Jobs Now.  County Supervisor Nikiya Harris introduced the resolution.
The minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour, or $15,080 a year for full-time work, for three years. The current minimum wage is almost $9,000 below the federal poverty line for a family of four.
The bill before Congress would increase the minimum wage 85 cents a year over three years, from $7.25 to $9.80 per hour. The rate then would be indexed to inflation each year thereafter.
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author: Sharon McGowan


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Volunteers needed on August 4th at Alice’s Garden | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Venice R. Williams
July 31, 2012
During the morning of Saturday, August 4, 9am to 1pm, the water harvesting system will be installed at Alice’s Garden… and volunteers are needed!
In partnership with the Water Harvesting Cooperative of Milwaukee, and with financial support from Fox Point Lutheran Church, several rain barrels and large water totes will be added to the pavilion and each tool shed to gather the rain (whenever it decides to return) to help water the gardens. Alice’s Garden is also working with UW-Milwaukee to install a new cistern/tote design, that will be piloted at Alice’s Garden.

author: Venice R. Williams


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Young moms organize to strengthen their community | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 31, 2012
Bigg Rick Ferguson (front), CEO of Dun Did Dat Records, plays football with other participants in the Team Dun Did Dat charity flag football game at King Park to benefit Community Advocates. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Lakima Moore grew up in the Henry Horner Homes housing project on the west side of Chicago. Her mother was murdered when Moore was 9. Her father was jailed for defending himself, she said, and was absent since she was 6.
Now 25 and the mother of three young children, Moore, her fiancé Paul Johnson and other young parents on Milwaukee’s North Side are taking the initiative to work for a safer community and better lives for their children and other children in their neighborhood.
“We’ve got a lot of mothers out here losing their kids. We’ve got a lot of things out here that need to stop or we’re not going to have a future. That’s where we come in,” said Moore’s friend and fellow activist Jessica Wilson.
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Both women are part of a circle that includes the owners of the locally owned hip-hop recording company Dun Did Dat. While reaching out to area residents to promote the company and its rapper artists, Wilson observed that people in the neighborhood need a lot more than music; they need help feeding their children and keeping them safe.
“We believe in giving back and we believe it’s important to come together and help each other or we won’t succeed,” Wilson said.
Wilson, an energetic 29-year-old mother of four, founded Team Dun Did Dat. Enlisting the financial help of the company whose name it shares, as well as the time, effort and passion of six other mothers in their 20s and 30s, the team is organizing fundraising programs, food drives, activities for children and social events to build community and encourage kids to stay in school.
Lakima Moore with her youngest daughter, Kamia. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
What the team lacks in numbers its members make up for in enthusiasm and hard work. Last fall, they kicked off their activities with a neighborhood cleanup on 28th Street between Burleigh Street and North Avenue. “Our whole group, at least 35 kids and adults, including rappers and people we didn’t know, cleaned the neighborhood and people came from out their houses to help,” Wilson said.
In January the group collected 80 pounds of food for the Hunger Task Force. Since then, it has sponsored a “Feed the Kids” day in Carver Park and a flag football charity event to benefit Community Advocates. More than 40 adults and children attended the event in King Park, located south of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center at 1531 W. Vliet St. They collected money from attendees including football players and raised $100, according to Moore.
Wilson, who works full time at a day care center, is on track to complete a degree in human services at Milwaukee Area Technical College in December. She is using the skills she learned at MATC to research, plan and promote Team Dun Did Dat’s events. She is also in the process of writing a business plan.
Her personal goal, she said, “is to open a transitional living home for troubled youth and pregnant teens [who] can’t go and work or go to school because they have nobody, no support system, to watch their children while they go take care of business.”


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Adam Carr
July 30, 2012


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Adam Carr
July 30, 2012


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Peace rally and parade inspire a day of non-violence | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jennifer Reinke
August 1, 2012
A float in the All City Parade symbolizes the power of bullying to silence young voices. It was created by artists Chloe Smith, Andrew Parchman, Katie Jesse, Emilio De Torre, Stacia Van de Loo, Amparo Rodriguez, with members of the ACLU Public Art Student Alliance from Alliance High School, COA Youth and Family Center and interns. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Rain could not keep 1,300 youth, adults and community leaders away from the 10 annual Summer of Peace Rally at Washington Park. The event was begun by youth development workers Tanya Byrd and Fidel Verdin 10 years ago in Gordon Park with a $200 budget.
According to Byrd, Summer of Peace 365 “provides a platform for youth and teens to express their thoughts about their city, train as junior community organizers and produce awareness campaigns around violence, racism and social responsibility.”
Year-round, the organization works with students in after-school programs to teach peace through the creative arts.
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“Our approach to inner-city youth is to use music, dance and hands-on art as a means of opening up conversations about violence, character and leadership,” said Byrd.
The rally is an opportunity for the community to come together and share messages of peace, Byrne added.
“If you give youth and teens something to rally around that’s positive and where they can have a part in it and express how they feel…you’re planting a seed,” she said. “Over 10 years we’ve seen kids we’ve worked with become involved in the League of Young Voters and the ACLU because that seed was planted,” she said.
Some of the performances, such as a song by youth from the Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club, explicitly mentioned peace. Others, such as hip-hop dance routines, said Byrd, showed “working together for a great outcome.”
“The element of inclusion – being a part of the process – is really a core component of building and practicing peace,” said Arno Michaelis, co-founder and executive director of Life After Hate. A former self-described white power skinhead, Michaelis works with Summer of Peace to share his story of healing from violence and hatred.
Michaelis spoke at the rally, along with County Supervisor David Bowen and former Summer of Peace youth leader Tommy Walls, Jr., 20. Walls explained what the program had done for him and other former youth leaders and how it helped them get where they are today. Walls is now a junior at Marquette University studying social welfare and justice with a minor in family studies.
“I think young people know for a fact that when we see injustice we know it’s not right and we want to… do something about it. So I’m encouraging these young people to get out in their own neighborhoods…and actually take action,” Bowen said in an interview.
Fourteen organizations made up the Summer of Peace Coalition, and many set up tents with information and resources. TRUE Skool encouraged attendees to sign a Peace Treaty and promise to be peacemakers.
A makeshift cemetery memorialized Milwaukee’s homicide victims and was a somber reminder of the reason for the Summer of Peace Rally. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Between the bandshell and colorful, inflatable bounce houses, a makeshift cemetery offered a somber reminder of the reason for the event. Each year, Summer of Peace organizers keep track of the number of homicides in the City of Milwaukee beginning Jan. 1 and create gravestones in memory of the victims. As of July 24, there were 46 homicides, according to a database maintained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“It’s a beautiful, fun day, but we want people to understand why we are doing this. People are dying in the streets and that has to stay present in everybody’s mind,” said Byrd.
The gravestones were carried to the rally in Milwaukee Public Theatre’sSummer of Peace All City Parade, which marched from Sherman Park to Washington Park the morning of the event.
Youth from North Division High School, Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club, the ACLU Public Art Student Alliance from Alliance High School, COA Youth and Family Center, Urban Ecology Center and Our Next Generation created colorful floats inspired by the theme “finding your voice” with help from artists and community volunteers.
The theme emerged from focus groups held around the community, said Barbara Leigh, Milwaukee Public Theatre co-founder and artistic/producing director. “We talked with people about their greatest hopes and fears. We talked with a lot of youth and one of the things that kept coming up was, ‘people aren’t listening to us; why aren’t they listening to us,’ ” she said.
A giant red fist squelching a small person symbolized the power of bullying to silence young voices. It conveyed, said Leigh, “Keep listening to us. Don’t stop hearing us.”
Six giant puppets portrayed musicians from different decades: a 1950s jazz saxophonist, rock- and-roll legend Janis Joplin, a 1990s punk rocker and even Lady Gaga made the stage. “It was really an effort to bring a lot of the generations together around music,” said Leigh.
Drums painted to look like significant works of art or to display the artist’s own expression, represented individualism or, as one float’s title suggested, “Moving to the beat of your own drum.”
Other floats referred to community places. One showed the school-to-prison pipeline. “There are a lot of kids that if they drop out of the school system, they are headed to prison,” said Leigh.
“There’s no place like home” explored the meaning of home through miniature houses and facades mounted on a float and on shopping carts. Positive messages about home were distributed to spectators.
“It’s very rare for a lot of the peace organizations to actually come together and this is a real opportunity for people to do that,” said Leigh. “That’s the biggest thing that this kind of event can do: pull people together,” she said.

created: August 1, 2012


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July 31, 2012


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Adam Carr
July 31, 2012


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July 31, 2012


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“A Brush With Kindness” blitz saves homeowners thousands in repairs | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
August 2, 2012
James Atkins, volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, measures the siding on a house. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Aaron Helt, project coordinator for Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, and Veronica Ortiz, housing coordinator for the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, review repairs to a house on S. 22nd Street. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Continuing a tradition of rehabbing houses in Clarke Square, a Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity crew of more than 75, including tradesmen, homeowners and volunteers from as far away as Missouri and Indiana, repaired five homes during “A Brush With Kindness” (ABWK) blitz week.
The ABWK program helps bring homes up to code by providing improvements and repairs at no cost to eligible homeowners, according to Aaron Helt, project coordinator. The program is funded by the Zilber Family Foundation and the Margaret S. Chester Revocable Trust with paint donated by the Valspar Corporation.
The houses, all located on S. 22 Street, needed varying degrees of repairs ranging from painting to new porches, roofs and gutters.
If contracted out, the repairs for each house would cost homeowners between $15,000-20,000, according to Helt.
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Those repair costs are prohibitive to many homeowners in the Clarke Square area, including Javier and Araceli Tejada, whose home was one of five repaired.
In their application to have their home included in the blitz, the Tejadas wrote, “We have five kids and are unable to pay for necessary repairs on the house including new doors, windows and siding.”
The Tejadas added that the timeworn windows had led to huge energy bills in winters past.
“There is always so much work that needs to be done to each home,” Helt said.
Helt considers the blitz week a way to not only help homeowners, but also for Habitat to reach out to communities that don’t typically see new construction projects in their neighborhoods, although they have many century-old homes.
Veronica Ortiz, housing coordinator for the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative (CSNI), says that the ABWK program also helps the CSNI meet its Quality of Life Plan goal of neighborhood beautification.
“Residents want their neighborhood to look good so we’re getting rid of the negative and making things new and better.”

created: August 2, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 1, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 1, 2012


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Health promoters aim to reach ‘people on the margins’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jennifer Reinke
August 7, 2012
Diverse and Resilient community health promoters Martel Willis, 22, and Gregg Walters, 21, discuss outreach to the LGBT community. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Since the organization was founded in 1995, Diverse and Resilient has relied on volunteer health promoters who “stem from the community,” said Gary Hollander, Diverse and Resilient founder and chief executive officer.
For example, to reach young black men who sleep with men, the organization connects them with others just like them. “If we want to reach people on the margins, we have to find people to reach them,” Hollander noted.
If you’re LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), you’re on the margins. If you’re LGBT and African American, you’re doubly marginalized. It’s what Hollander calls the “intersectionality of minority status.” So then, if you’re LGBT and African American and poor, well, you get the idea.
To reach people on the margins, Diverse and Resilient sends community health promoters to conduct outreach and education at clubs, parties and events; facilitates health programming for specific LGBT populations; and collects survey data.
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What began as a group of seven health promoters has “increased exponentially over the years,” he said. Recently, more than 100 promoters have been involved each year.
Now, a $25,000 grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation will help to support the agency’s burgeoning program.
In addition to recruiting new promoters and strengthening the recruitment process, Hollander envisions systematizing the training program into units of study and taking full advantage of web-based technologies to educate and communicate with promoters around the state. Diverse and Resilient has offices in five other cities in addition to Milwaukee.
Diverse and Resilient Chief Executive Officer Gary Hollander founded the organization in 1995. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Community health promoters have been integral to Diverse and Resilient’s work with Wisconsin’s LGBT population since the organization began in 1995.
“It really was even in our first months that we used health promoters,” said Hollander.
A small cohort of LGBT youth determined the new organization’s name, conveying the community’s diversity in terms of race and age. And, he said, “They wanted people to know we’re a resilient and robust people.”
Promoters help to address health problems LGBT people face, including tobacco and alcohol use, HIV, mental health, depression, suicide and partner violence. Through Diverse and Resilient’s training, health promoters acquire skills in interviewing people to determine what would assist them in changing risky behaviors.
“When discrimination hits a population, this creates stress [that may be] managed through maladaptive coping,” said Hollander. “Whatever we do with the population takes into account that they can be powerful to improve their health, but we also acknowledge that there’s a stressor out there,” he said.
Milwaukee High School of the Arts senior Justice Bell, 17, is a community health promoter and serves on Diverse and Resilient’s Youth Advisory Board. She joined seven months ago after coming out to her mother because, she said, “I wanted to become more [involved] with the LGBT community.”
“Most people learn about us through health promoters,” said Hollander. Last year, they reached between 6,000 and 8,000 people, he said.
Bryant & Stratton College student Gregg Walters, 21, learned about Diverse and Resilient two years ago through friends who visited the agency to be tested for sexually transmitted infections. After getting tested himself, Walters became a community health promoter at Project Q, a safe space and leadership development center for youth at the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
Through Project Q, Walters talked to a group of teens who were having unprotected sex and using drugs. Now, he said, “They don’t do that anymore, come to Project Q every day and get tested on time.”
Many of Diverse and Resilient’s health promoters are either working class or low income and, said Hollander, “The cost of volunteering makes it prohibitive for them to [participate].”
Recognizing this constraint, the agency provides food and stipends to cover transportation. The stipends are usually issued through debit cards.
“For many people it’s their first introduction to banking,” said Hollander. “We also increase skills that make them marketable for jobs,” he said. About one-third of Diverse and Resilient’s 19 employees started as health promoters.
Martel Willis, 22, is a health promoter for the program, Be an African-American Building Lives of Empowerment (Be ABLE). He recruits African American men who sleep with men and facilitates groups and retreats where safe sex options, testing for sexually transmitted infections and relationships are discussed.
“I’ve learned how to approach people with different personalities,” said Willis. He recalled feeling successful when, after facilitating a group, two men thanked him for giving them a new perspective on HIV and risky sexual activities that they have now corrected.
“I love doing [this],” he said. “I want to make a career out of this.”

created: August 7, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 6, 2012

created: August 6, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 6, 2012


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Customers get taste of Growing Power at new market | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jennifer Reinke
August 8, 2012
Devin Hudson talks to Growing Power Founder and Chief Executive Officer Will Allen as Una Van Duvall looks on. In the background, Welford Sanders, executive director of the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp., talks to a customer. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
A new Deli & Food Market will bring healthy, locally grown foods to an area of the city that lacks nearby grocery stores.
“This is a food desert area,” said Growing Power Founder and Chief Executive Officer Will Allen. “There’s no grocery store within one mile,” he said. Growing Power opened the new market in collaboration with the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp.
The market is located in the King Commons Development, 2737 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr., in the Harambee neighborhood.
What was to be a grand opening was canceled due to the massacre at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek on Aug. 5. Still, Allen showed up, as did a number of community leaders, long-time Growing Power supporters, neighborhood residents and employees.
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“This is the most people who’ve been here,” said Growing Power Director Karen Parker. The store had already been open for three weeks.
Nimrod Allen, who lives in the area and is a candidate for U.S. Senate, stopped by to check out the new venture and have a snack. “I was looking forward to the produce and how it would positively affect the community,” he said, taking a bite of his apple. “The service is very good. They’re very polite and prompt,” he added.
Marvin Washington, 15, a staff member at Growing Power, stacks tomatoes at the new Growing Power Deli & Food Market. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
In addition to selling fresh, locally grown produce, the store stocks other Wisconsin agricultural products such as yogurt and has a deli that uses seasonal, local ingredients. Sweet corn, okra, green and red tomatoes, onions, garlic, potatoes and summer squash were available along with pure maple syrup, pasta, cereals, cheeses, cooking oils, condiments, jam and more. Growing Power specialties include honey, dehydrated oyster mushrooms, micro-greens and pickles.
Growing Power aims to produce 75 percent of the store’s products, while the rest will come from some of the 300 farms in a cooperative the organization formed, said Allen.
One customer who works in the area and regularly shops at natural foods stores complained about some of the prices he saw in the market. He asked not to be named.
“The prices are not marketed to the people in this neighborhood. I don’t think anybody in the neighborhood will be shopping here,” he said. “In many ways this is a developing neighborhood, so 5 to 10 years down the road residents might shop here. Middle-class residents in adjacent neighborhoods will, too,” he added. He did find the deli prices to be “market-competitive.”
Allen said that prices represent the wholesaler’s suggested retail prices. The market accepts farmers market WIC vouchers and will accept food stamps within the coming month.
The deli sells sandwiches, salads, bakery and daily specialties, such as jambalaya and chili.
“We try to keep everything Wisconsin-grown,” said Executive Chef DeShawn Parker, 25. The son of Director Karen Parker, he got his start as a farmer at Growing Power when he was 6, became interested in cooking and completed a culinary arts degree at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
“I cook from the soul and the heart. I’ve learned from the people I grew up with. If it’s something good, something interesting to me, I’ll use it,” he said. He said his biggest hits so far are the turkey sandwich and jambalaya.
“I want to bring healthier foods into this community. I want them to learn from us how to eat healthier, better. I’m just trying to spread my knowledge with other people,” he said.
Eventually, said Allen, the store will employ 10 full-time staff, in addition to the farm and food-related businesses and workers it supports.
Growing Power Director Karen Parker washes dishes with her son, Executive Chef DeShawn Parker, at the new deli. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
Marvin Washington, 15, a sophomore at Vincent High School, participated in Growing Power’s Youth Corps for three years before becoming a part-time staff member last year.
“I really enjoy working at the store and interacting with the customers,” said Washington. “I didn’t realize I knew so much. Working at Growing Power you learn something new every day,” he said.
The market is on the ground floor of a mixed-use development built by the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp. in 2010 to provide affordable housing to more than 20 families. Regular hours are 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The deli and market are closed Sundays.
“Our purpose with our development is to build community,” said Welford Sanders, executive director of Martin Luther King Economic Development Corp. “Our theme from the beginning has been wellness, fitness and health.”
Exercise facilities were integrated into the organization’s first two developments.
“Growing Power was a logical choice for the market,” said Sanders, who is also vice chair of the Growing Power board of directors. Even before the store opened, the location had been a drop-off point for Growing Power’s farm-to-city market basket program.
“As King Drive develops,” said Allen, “this is a very key piece of the food system puzzle.”
The organizers view the project as a model for cities nationwide to bring locally grown food to food deserts.
“It really is a good idea in urban areas to provide a source of fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy foods…to support urban agriculture,” said Sanders.
To do this, said Allen, “You don’t necessarily have to have multi-million dollar stores. We can’t wait around for them to come back.”

created: August 8, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 7, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 7, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 7, 2012


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In Bronzeville, redevelopment still hasn’t turned the corner | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mark Doremus
August 9, 2012
Milwaukee Urban League President Ralph Hollmon displays a picture of the old “Bronzeville” commercial district on Walnut Street at a community briefing on the city’s effort to recreate Bronzeville by redeveloping North Avenue between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and 7th Street. (Photo by Mark Doremus)
The city of Milwaukee’s on again, off again Bronzeville redevelopment effort may take a step forward soon, if the right developer responds to the city’s offer to sell land along North Avenue at a discount price.
The city recently issued a request for proposal (RFP) inviting private companies to buy and develop 230 feet of frontage on North Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets, including a boarded-up brick building dating from 1925.
The asking price for the property is $30,000. The bidding window is closed and the city will now select a buyer for the parcel if a qualified developer has come forward.
The North Avenue property that’s up for sale is part of the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District — an ambitious effort to create an arts and entertainment zone similar to the old Bronzeville neighborhood along Walnut Street, which was once a hub of African American enterprise in Milwaukee. The boundaries of the original Bronzeville were 3rd Street (now King Drive) to 12th Street, and from Highland Avenue to North Avenue.
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As originally conceived, the Bronzeville redevelopment project was expected to both support and capitalize on the nationally known Black Holocaust Museum. At the time, the museum was located on 4th St. just off North Avenue and was drawing 25,000 visitors a year.  However, the museum closed in 2008 after the death of its founder, Dr. James Cameron.
With the museum’s demise as a brick-and-mortar facility (it retains an online presence at http://www.abhmuseum.org), the redevelopment project lost its anchor tenant — the attraction that the city had counted on to draw visitors to the area.
Other high-profile projects, notably a sports-oriented entertainment complex backed by former Milwaukee Bucks coach Terry Porter south of North Avenue  between 7th Street and I-43, have fallen through, and those setbacks were followed by the economic recession of 2009, which dried up capital and put the brakes on real estate development nationwide.
Looking for an Anchor
The Department of City Development is hoping to make the former Garfield Elementary School, at 2215 N. 4th St., into a community arts center that would draw visitors to the Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District. (Photo by Mark Doremus)
Bronzeville organizers continue to search for a centerpiece attraction to replace either the museum or the Terry Porter complex. The most active candidate is a proposed cultural center in the old Garfield Avenue Elementary School at 2215 N. 4th St. The Milwaukee Board of School Directors has approved sale of the school to the city of Milwaukee for redevelopment.
If the transaction goes through, a newer building on the south side of the school grounds would be starting point for comprehensive renewal of the property, according to Deshea Agee of the Department of City Development. The Garfield School main building dates from 1887 and would require elaborate and expensive rehabilitation, so it’s on the back burner for now.
The City’s Investment
To stimulate private development, the city promised to spend $1.2 million on streetscape enhancements (http://city.milwaukee.gov/CommercialCorridor.htm).  Concept drawings projected wide, tree-lined sidewalks along North Avenue.  Although the city has recently installed decorative crosswalks, trashcans and benches along the street, North Avenue remains far less attractive than the shady promenade in the city’s concept sketches.
Bargain Home Sites
In addition to commercial development, planners want to stimulate residential construction in the new Bronzeville. The city has offered to sell 20 vacant lots in the redevelopment zone for a dollar each to encourage new home construction. So far, according to Ald. Milele Coggs, who represents the 6th District where the Bronzeville project is located, the city has found six takers for the bargain home sites.
Louise Young-Benson is one of the newcomers.  She built a house four years ago at 2367 N. 5th St.  She moved into Bronzeville from nearby Brewer’s Hill.  She said she was attracted to the neighborhood because the location was convenient, and also because she saw the chance to do good by making a financial investment in an economically depressed part of the city.
Map of new redevelopment district:
(Photo from Department of City Development, City of Milwaukee)
Even before she moved in, Young-Benson recognized that crime in the area, most notably drug trafficking, was a threat to her investment as a homeowner, and she set out to tackle the problem head-on.  Since she arrived on N. 5th Street she’s been active in her neighborhood block watch, which she said has been making progress cleaning up the area and controlling crime.  Acting as the eyes and ears of the police, the block watch has been instrumental in shutting down drug houses.  As dealers, and their landlords, abandoned the buildings some of them became boarded-up eyesores, Young-Benson acknowledged, but she added, “It’s better to have boarded-up houses than places where drugs are sold.”
If enough middle-class residents like Young-Benson can be drawn into the new Bronzeville area, it might create customer demand for restaurants and shops, which in turn could further stimulate commercial investment, according to a local redevelopment expert. Young-Benson said she is confident that more homeowners will invest in Bronzeville in the years ahead.
“There are really good things going on here,” she said. “I think the future’s going to be bright. As the economy gets better, I think more people are going to be interested in moving here.”
Waiting for Results
Meanwhile, neighbors and area business owners watch and wait for the redevelopment project to produce concrete results along the commercial strip on North Avenue.
Una Van Duvall, who worked in the Milwaukee Department of City Development and is now associated with Cross Management Services, a developer’s consulting firm, lives near the Bronzeville redevelopment district and has watched its slow progress closely over the years.  She said that when planning began in 2004, people were  hopeful that the old Bronzeville’s spirit of unity and empowerment could be rekindled, and the freeway and urban renewal that destroyed the old neighborhood might not be the end of the story for Bronzeville.  Plans were laid for a business, entertainment and cultural center that would draw visitors and their money from across the region to work, play and perhaps even live there.
However, so far the Bronzeville renaissance hasn’t lived up to the optimistic projections of the original planning documents. Van Duvall said that community members have been hearing for a long time that that the area was going to be redeveloped and are impatient at the lack of visible progress.  She said that the arts community in particular would like to see more tangible outcomes from the redevelopment effort.
The city has installed plaques along North Avenue that brand the redevelopment area as the “21st Century Bronzeville.” (Photo by Mark Doremus)
The city claims credit for helping relocate the headquarters of the Milwaukee Urban League to an office building at 435 W. North Ave. It also lists a tavern, Garfield’s 502, among the “completed construction projects” on its Bronzeville Web site. But those projects were finished years ago. The Urban League move was in 2006; Garfield’s 502 was built in 2005, replacing a tavern called Boobie’s Place that was destroyed by fire.
The only recent development activity in Bronzeville was the renovation of the old Inner City Arts Council building (formerly a library and before that a firehouse).  According to published reports, the city contributed $171,000 to that project. The building, at 642 W. North Ave. (known for its mural on the 7th Street side), was reopened this spring as office space by the Vangard Development Group. There is another commercial enterprise next door — a nightclub called the Just Jazz and Blues Lounge, at 634 W. North Ave. — but that is not a product of the redevelopment effort.
While Bronzeville seems to have languished, redevelopment efforts elsewhere in the city have moved ahead. One reason, according to Van Duvall, may be that top-notch developers haven’t been attracted to Bronzeville.
“Where are the guys who made the Third Ward and Pabst Brewery projects successful?” Van Duvall asked. “Why isn’t their expertise being applied to Bronzeville?”
Lamarr Franklin, a partner in the Garfield 502 tavern on the edge of the new Bronzeville, is another close observer of the redevelopment effort.
“They’ve been planning this for 20 years,” Franklin said.  “The city ought to start putting some money into these properties. They’re just wasting everybody’s time unless they invest here.”
An obvious first step for the city, according to Franklin, would be to address the lack of parking in the redevelopment district.  In his view, the parking shortage puts a damper on business for the few clubs and restaurants that have managed to get a toehold in the area, including along King Drive.
The Next Step
Coggs, who was elected in 2008 after the Bronzeville plan was published, has publicly acknowledged that the lack of progress since 2005 has disappointed some of her constituents. She insisted that the rehabilitation of the Inner City Arts Council building is just the first of many exciting projects yet to come. But first, she argued, the city needs to find developers who appreciate the neighborhood’s potential.
Before new projects can be implemented “there is a political process that proposals will have to go through with approvals,” she said at a recent public meeting on Bronzeville, “but the first thing is just to get people to believe.”
The city will know whether any developers are interested in investing in the 600 block of North Avenue after the bids are opened and evaluated by the Redevelopment Authority.
The published request for bids does not specify when the evaluation process will be completed.

created: August 9, 2012

author: Mark Doremus


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Adam Carr
August 8, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 8, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 8, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 8, 2012


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Liberty Mutual Facebook campaign to benefit Milwaukee nonprofits | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jennifer Reinke
August 10, 2012
Liberty Mutual Insurance, which has two offices in Milwaukee and one in Brookfield, has launched its “Like My Community™ Project” here for the second time. The Facebook-based campaign will provide $100,000 in support to seven local nonprofit causes identified by Liberty Mutual’s Milwaukee-area employees.
Nominated organizations include: COA Youth & Family Centers, Hope House, Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, One Heartland, Pearls for Teen Girls (PEARLS), Repairers of the Breach and Running Rebels. The top three charities will each receive $30,000 and the four runners-up will each earn $2,500. This year’s nominees are all new to the contest.
Milwaukee residents can cast one vote daily for their favorite cause now through Aug. 20 at facebook.com/libertymilwaukee. An additional daily vote may be cast by texting “LMMIL” to 61698 and selecting the preferred cause. Liberty Mutual will announce the winners in late August.
The Liberty Mutual Milwaukee branch offices nominated this year’s causes for their immense impact on the local community. “Our employees and agents are committed to helping customers protect their cars and homes, and are equally passionate about this community as a great place to live and work,” said Adam Boston, area manager for Liberty Mutual Insurance, the nation’s eighth-largest auto and home insurer.
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Alice’s Garden honored at Miller Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
August 14, 2012
(From left) John Harrigan, Fatuma Emmad, Venice Williams and Demetrius Brown of Alice’s Garden prepare to receive their award on the field at Miller Park. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Alice’s Garden was recently awarded a Brewers Community Foundation and State Farm Insurance “Go-To-Bat” award for its community programming and outreach.
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Alice’s Garden won the first-ever Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award at the MANDI awards dinner on March 30 sponsored by LISC.
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The organic garden, built over vacant parcels of land on N. 20th Street and W. Garfield Avenue, spans a two-acre section of Lindsay Heights and serves more than 90 families and a dozen community organizations.
The goal of the garden is not just to provide fresh food but also to make the idea of growing your own food accessible to families in the neighborhood, according to Fatuma Emmad, urban farm manager of the garden.
“People really buy into the idea of growing good, fresh food for their families,” Emmad said.
The family garden program also teaches residents how to cook, grow and store healthy foods.
Venice Williams, director of Alice’s Garden, called the award an affirmation that the program is doing much needed work in the community.
“We’re honored that the Brewers and State Farm recognize the work we do,” Williams said.
Alice’s Garden received a MANDI (Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation) in 2011.
Jim Camoriano, spokesman for State Farm, said that Alice’s Garden was chosen to receive the Go-To-Bat award because the program helps people reach a better state in their lives.
Said Camoriano, “This is one way we can give back to community members for dedication to their own neighborhoods.”


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Alice’s Garden honored at Miller Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
August 13, 2012

author: Dwayne Burtin


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New coordinator provides one-stop-shop for MPS volunteers | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
August 15, 2012
Heather Aschoff, MPS volunteer coordinator (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Heather Aschoff, a self-described “volunteerer,” has landed in a job that fits her to a tee. The Rufus King graduate was recently selected as Milwaukee Public Schools’ volunteer coordinator. Once a volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Aschoff knows first hand the positive impact volunteers can have on kids.
“As an MPS student, I remember volunteers always being in the classroom. When I learned about this position I thought, ‘that needs to keep happening,’” Aschoff said.
The new position was created by MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton, according to Denise Callaway, business and community partnerships coordinator at MPS. Based on his experience in other school districts, Thornton sees volunteers as a critical component of successful schools, she said.
Having a “one-stop shop” for volunteers makes it easier for parents and community members to get involved. And the position ensures that the district can fix its attention on helping volunteers be successful.
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“The volunteers really are very precious to us and we want to make sure we have every opportunity to connect to them and respond to them quickly when they have questions or concerns. We’ve got to have somebody who’s coordinating that work as their focus in order for that to happen,” Callaway said.
Volunteers are important on many levels according to Aschoff and Callaway. In addition to putting additional positive role models in classrooms, caring adults can support children socially, emotionally and intellectually.
“I see the importance in helping kids succeed academically as well as have a good attitude toward their schools. And I think volunteers have the ability to make school a fun place to be. Having volunteers in the classroom gives a more textured education … provides more perspectives, more background …” Aschoff said.
Callaway emphasized the much-needed practical assistance volunteers can bring to teachers and students,  “… an extra set of hands that can help us … bring to a little bit higher level the work that we’re doing with kids,” she said.
Denise Callaway, MPS director of business and community partnerships (Photo courtesy of Denise Callaway)
Initially, Aschoff is concentrating on creating more structured procedures for enrolling volunteers, who must fill out an application and pass an annual background check.
In addition to developing training and a handbook, she is writing volunteer opportunity descriptions, similar to job descriptions, “so that people know what they’re signing up for and that they have guidelines to work within … and everybody knows what they are here to do,” Aschoff said.
The school district’s largest volunteer partnership has been the Interfaith Older Adults’ RSVP program, which matches students with tutors. It includes training for volunteers who commit to a minimum of 90 minutes each week.
Next, Aschoff plans to work on recruitment. Last year MPS had 182 volunteers at 28 elementary schools. With 175 schools in the district (in 2011-12) there is clearly a need for more volunteers.
Sherry Bentz, a retired software developer who tutors math in a fourth-grade classroom at Luther Burbank Elementary School was one of Aschoff’s first volunteer contacts. Bentz was struggling to find a school where she could continue volunteering through the summer when she met Aschoff at an RSVP event. Aschoff set her up to volunteer at Hi-Mount Community School. “The best thing I got out of RSVP might have been meeting Heather,” Bentz said,
Aschoff, who grew up in Washington Heights, brings many personal strengths, as well as her connections and success as a volunteer and staff person at Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee, according to Callaway.
“Most importantly, Heather has a true passion for this work. She has a true passion for connecting people who care with needs that we have in the district. And she is always, always keeping that at the forefront of her mind,” Callaway said.


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New coordinator provides one-stop-shop for MPS volunteers | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dwayne Burtin
August 15, 2012


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Walnut Way hosts drought gardening seminar | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
August 17, 2012
Walnut Way Conservation Corp’s fruit orchard and vegetable gardens are bursting with produce despite this summer’s heat and lack of rain. According to the organization’s environmental specialist Jeremy Davis, more than 300 pounds of peaches were harvested from the orchard. The entire crop sold out in one day, he said.
To help other city gardeners deal with the challenges the weather has posed, the organization recently hosted Summer Gardening 101, a workshop dedicated to caring for a garden during a hot, dry summer. Workshop presenters and participants shared their knowledge of mulching, composting, watering, crop selection and placement, and pest control.
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7719882320_3ab881dcd4_z | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
August 16, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 17, 2012


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Hundreds seeking legal immigrant status pack local church | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
August 21, 2012
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces, stands beside the capacity crowd. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
The steady stream of “Dreamers” began filing in early Sunday morning. By the time the procession ended, the dank and steamy basement at St. Adalbert Catholic Church, 1923 W. Becher, was packed with people waiting patiently for their chance to apply for the Obama administration’s new deferred action immigration policy.
The DREAMer application drive, organized by Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) and Voces De La Frontera, 1027 S. 5 St., featured a presentation that walked attendees through the complicated application process. The program allows non-U.S. citizens who meet certain qualifications to temporarily work and attend school in the United States with legal immigrant status.
That opportunity drew Ruben Esquivel, 18, to the event.
Esquivel, who recently graduated from Horlick High School in Racine, said his mother is struggling to raise her two sons on her own, and he wants to help her by getting a work permit and then a job.
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“She wants me to go to college but I need to help her first,” Esquivel said.
Though Esquivel knows that the change in his legal status may only be temporary, the new policy still has improved his outlook.
“I didn’t really think about a future, I just lived on a day-to-day basis, but now I have new hope,” Esquivel added.
He was one of hundreds of youth, many accompanied by their parents, who despite the commotion of a packed house, sat patiently through a series of presentations by youth and lawyers, explaining the tedious process of filling out the government-issued form. Organizers estimated that 1,000 people attended.
Lawyers provided free legal advice to those attending the event. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
To be eligible, applicants must be between the ages of 15-30; have come to the U.S. before age 16; continuously lived here for more than five years; graduated from high school or obtained a GED, among other requirements.
They must also pass a background check.
The scene at the church mimicked what’s been occurring at registration drives across the country, including Chicago, where more than 10,000 people showed up for a recent event, according to Kate Werning, youth organizer at Voces.
Werning, who coordinated the Milwaukee event, said the huge crowd was an affirmation that the policy is crucial for undocumented locals.
“Our community needs help in their struggle for respect, dignity and equality,” Werning said.
Filling out the application, which was provided to all who were allowed into the jammed church (hundreds were turned away), is the first step of a process that will eventually cost applicants $465. Applicants will submit their applications and pay the fees via mail. But, the price was not a deterrent to those who attended.
Israel Sanchez, whose son, also named Israel, is a senior at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, 2300 W. Highland Ave., and plans to attend college upon graduation. Sanchez said that he brought his son there to take advantage of a great opportunity, and that the high price tag was more than well worth it.
“It’s fine,” Sanchez said. “I’d pay $1,000 for this opportunity for my son.”
For those who were turned away as well as others interested in applying, Voces will be hosting another event in Racine this week, as well as sessions in Milwaukee each Thursday in which applicants will be guided through the process, according to Werning.
She urged those interested to call Voces at 414-643-1620 to schedule an appointment.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces, said that the policy is proof that community organizing and activism works.
“It wasn’t a gift that came from nowhere,” Ortiz said.
She added that the policy, like others that help immigrants, cannot be taken for granted, and urged the community to become even more involved in the movement for immigrant rights. For those who aren’t involved, she said, “now is the time.”
“Everything we’ve achieved can all be taken away unless we show a collective urgency and get out and vote for our supporters come November,” Ortiz said.


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Adam Carr
August 20, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 20, 2012


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Giant puppets, floats to grace Labor Day parade | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
August 24, 2012
Giant puppets suspended from the City Hall atrium ceiling this month will be on display at the Labor Day parade. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
Masks and other papier maché objects were shown at City Hall. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
Milwaukeeans will soon have another opportunity to view super-sized puppets, drums, masks and other float decorations displayed at this summer’s All-City People’s Parade.
The art creations will again travel city streets in the Milwaukee Area Labor Council AFL-CIO Labor Day Parade slated to begin at Zeidler Union Square Park (between 3rd and 4th Streets on Michigan Avenue) at 11 a.m., Monday, Sept. 3. It will culminate at a free festival on the Summerfest grounds.
Hundreds of children, teens and their parents worked with Milwaukee Public Theatre artists to create the giant puppets and floats. MPT produced the summer parade in collaboration with Milwaukee Mask and Puppet Theatre. The items are decorating the City Hall atrium in August.
Among the items in the Sept. 3 parade will be giant “Musicians-from-the-Decades” puppets, including a 50s jazz sax player, 60s rock diva, 70s cult band leader, 80s disco diva, 90s punk rocker and a pop icon from the first decade of the 21 century.
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Other puppets and floats exploring the theme “Finding Your Voice,” generated by youth throughout the city will also be featured at the parade.
Activities at the Labor Day festival include dancing, a supervised children’s area with clowns and magic shows, pro wrestling exhibitions, adult bingo and union industry displays.


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Adam Carr
August 24, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 24, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 24, 2012


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Journey House board member wins prestigious award | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
August 27, 2012
Timothy Terry, and his sons Jayden (left) and Timothy II relax in the lounge at the Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics, 2110 W. Scott St. (photo courtesy of Journey House)
Timothy Terry, 38, grew up in a New York neighborhood facing similar challenges to those in Clarke Square. He decided to get involved, joining Journey House’s board of directors in February. Recently, Terry was named one of The Network Journal’s 40-Under-Forty Achievement Award winners for his impact on his profession as well as his contributions to the community.
The award honors men and women under 40 years of age, whose professional accomplishments have significantly impacted an industry or profession, and who’ve made an important contribution to their community, according to The Network Journal’s website.
Terry, who is the assistant director of pro personnel for the Green Bay Packers, joined the Journey House board in February, after completing his master’s thesis at UW-Green Bay. He titled his thesis project, “Endangered Species: a Study of the Black Male in Wisconsin.”
A former professional football player who retired from the NFL in 2003, Terry played with the Bengals, Chiefs and Seahawks.
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The study examined African American poverty rates and other disparities in Milwaukee and nearby cities. He became intrigued with the way Journey House utilized academics and athletics to help promote change in the community. Terry said the Clarke Square community where Journey House is located is very reminiscent of the Long Island, N.Y. neighborhood where he grew up.
“The multi-racial culture and climate of the neighborhood, as well as the challenges, financial and academic, were similar,” Terry said.
Those commonalities and the fact that he saw a team of dedicated community members, professionals and organizations working together to bring change to Clarke Square drew him to become more active in the community.
Terry envisions the Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics as a catalyst for positive change in the Clarke Square neighborhood. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
“The fact that there were so many champions for their cause doing work there with the best interests of the community in mind assured me that I could learn a lot from them by working there,” Terry said.
Michele Bria, Journey House CEO, considers Terry, with his experience and desire to spark change, an invaluable addition to the Board.
“We look forward to the unique perspectives he will bring to our youth athletics programs and the energy he brings to everything else he’s involved in,” said Bria in a press release.
Terry believes that the sky is the limit for Clarke Square, referring to the newly opened Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics as a beacon of change and hope for the neighborhood.
“The center provides the same things you see in more affluent neighborhoods, and also is something that the community can take ownership of,” Terry added.
He considers community geared programming, such as that provided at the center, crucial in helping individuals go beyond their usual borders to break some of the negative cycles and divisions that are often found in high-poverty communities.
Terry also views the center’s emphasis on athletics as a key part of the shift of attitudes. He said that athletics benefit people by providing lessons on structure, discipline, teamwork and commitment through adversity, among other life lessons.
“I still carry with me lessons and other positive messages that I heard from coaches and other mentors as a kid.”


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Adam Carr
August 26, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 26, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 27, 2012


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Seven Milwaukee nonprofits reap $100,000 from Liberty Mutual | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jennifer Reinke
August 29, 2012
Volunteers at COA’s Riverwest Youth & Family Center distribute dinner to teens. COA Youth & Family Centers won a total of $31,000 in Liberty Mutual Insurance’s 2012 “Like My Community Project.” (Photo by Tessa Fox)
Liberty Mutual Insurance, which has two offices in Milwaukee and one in Brookfield, has awarded more than $100,000 to seven local nonprofit organizations through its “Like My Community Project,” a Facebook-based campaign. Milwaukee residents supported the causes by casting more than 42,000 votes on Facebook and through mobile texts from June 25 through Aug. 20.
The top vote-getters, COA Youth & Family Centers, One Heartland and Running Rebels will receive $30,000 each. In addition, One Heartland and COA Youth & Family Centers earned an additional $4,000 and $1,000 respectively for generating the most votes on designated bonus days.
Of the contest, COA Executive Director Tom Schneider said, “COA is grateful to Liberty Mutual Insurance for illuminating the significant impact COA has had on children and families in our community since 1906.”
The organization will use the funds to support educational, recreational and social work programs that help 15,000 low-income Milwaukee children, teens and families reach their greatest potential.
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Young campers canoe at One Heartland, which won $34,000 in Liberty Mutual Insurance’s 2012 “Like My Community” Project.’ (Photo courtesy of One Heartland)
At One Heartland, an additional 68 children affected by HIV/AIDS and other health and social challenges will be able to attend summer camp in 2013 thanks to the $34,000 donation.
As the nation’s largest HIV/AIDS camp, the program “brings kids together who are going through the same thing to show they’re not alone,” said Nick Boerum, One Heartland development manager.
Liberty Mutual’s donation of $30,000 to Running Rebels will help the organization expand its impact on Milwaukee youth by providing college scholarships, vocational and educational enrichment programming, and assistance to youth and families who use the Running Rebels facility during its after-school and summer programs.
“Our youth and staff are deeply humbled by the generosity of Liberty Mutual Insurance in assisting our agency’s grassroots efforts to provide underserved youth and young adults with resources to succeed mentally, physically and spiritually,” said Victor Barnett, Running Rebels founder and executive director.
Four runner-up causes were each awarded $2,500 by Liberty Mutual Insurance to support their missions. These include Hope House, Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Pearls for Teen Girls (PEARLS) and Repairers of the Breach.
This marks the second year Liberty Mutual Insurance has hosted the Like My Community project in Milwaukee, as well as in the Baltimore and Dallas-Fort Worth communities. Over the two years, the contest has contributed more than $600,000 to more than 40 local nonprofit causes in these cities.
The Liberty Mutual Milwaukee branch offices nominated this year’s causes for their immense impact on the local community.
“We are thrilled that Like My Community shined a spotlight on these inspiring causes and activated Milwaukee residents to help us provide this funding that will be used for important programs and services throughout our community,” said Adam Boston, area manager for Liberty Mutual Insurance, the nation’s eighth-largest auto and home insurer.


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Adam Carr
August 28, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 28, 2012


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Ground broken for 24-acre park in Menomonee Valley | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
August 31, 2012
Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron (left) and members of the community prepare to break ground on a park along the Hank Aaron State Trail.
According to Ken Leinbach, executive director of the Urban Ecology Center (UEC), the polluted, vacant land in the Menomonee Valley was too close to the river and train tracks for industrial use. So, for decades, the unused land served as little more than a barrier for residents of the Clarke Square and Silver City neighborhoods on the south side from jobs and other opportunities in the valley.
But in 2010, a comprehensive effort spearheaded by the UEC and Menomonee Valley Partners (MVP), along with the City of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, a dozen other community-based organizations and countless individuals, began repurposing the land, “From the Ground Up.”
The “From the Ground Up” initiative has resulted in the soon-to-open UEC Valley Branch, 3700 W. Pierce St., and now, a 24-acre park built along the Hank Aaron State Trail and connected to the south side via the Valley Passage walkway. It’s the latest project in an extensive effort to reconnect the surrounding neighborhoods to economic and environmental resources in the Valley.
The marsh-themed park, which will feature 50 community plots, 400 acres of natural environmental space, local art installations and countless educational opportunities for area youth, is within three miles of 400,000 Milwaukee County residents, according to Cecelia Gore, executive director of the Brewers Community Foundation.
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“One hundred thousand of those residents are under the age of 18,” Gore said.
Ken Leinbach, executive director of the Urban Ecology Center, tosses around a baseball with the Journey House youth baseball team. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
The groundbreaking ceremony, held on a picturesque late summer morning, was highlighted by a visit from trail namesake and baseball legend Hank Aaron, who praised those in attendance for pushing the many young people in area in the right direction.
“You’ve given them something to do,” said Aaron to the enthusiastic crowd.
The park and center also fit within the Layton Boulevard West neighborhood’s Quality of Life objectives for increased space and programming for youth, according to Dan Adams, neighborhood plan coordinator for Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, a nonprofit serving the area bordering the park.
“What we want to do is connect with schools in our area and bring students to the UEC and the park to learn during and even after school,” Adams said.
Following the model of the UEC branches at Washington and Riverside parks, Pierce will use the park as an outdoor environmental classroom.
Miriam Miranda, who grew up in Milwaukee and is a social worker for the nearby St. Rafael the Archangel School, 2251 S. 31 St., said that the park and the opportunities it will provide has given her a new sense of excitement not just for her students, but even her own child.
“There will be canoes on the rivers, snowshoes and outdoor classrooms… things they’ve heard about but not many have had access to them,” Miranda said.
The initiative will also eventually include a bridge connecting the park in the Valley to the Mitchell Park Domes in Clarke Square.
Michele Bria, CEO of Journey House in Clarke Square, looks to the park as another opportunity to build upon her organization’s strong relationship with the UEC and MVP.
“We’re all about finding places for the youth in our neighborhood to worship, learn and play,” said Bria, flanked by members of the Journey House youth baseball team.
To date, the “Ground Up” initiative has raised $22.4 million of its proposed goal of $26 million, according to Laura Bray, executive director of MVP, who said the Menomonee Valley will continue to come to life in different ways.
“It will meet needs of public health, improve job access and improve the quality of life for people in Milwaukee.”


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Adam Carr
August 31, 2012


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Adam Carr
August 31, 2012


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Milwaukee Succeeds might be ‘best hope’ for schools, exec says | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 4, 2012
Sixth-grade students at Greenfield School learn algebra skills. (Photo by Tessa Fox)
Mike Soika’s coal miner grandfather was killed in a West Virginia mine disaster. The mining company evicted his widow and their five children and cut off their credit at the company store. They survived on union benefits and her work as a night-shift janitor, with Soika’s father, the eldest, helping to raise his younger brothers and sisters.
The legacy of this injustice, together with the Catholic values Soika was raised with, planted in him a keen sense of right and wrong and led him to a life dedicated to social justice. In June, Soika became the first director of Milwaukee Succeeds, the year-old community partnership for education reform launched by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and housed in its offices.
He has had a 30-year career working in nonprofit and government management, including serving as chief of staff to former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist.
“I joined VISTA after I graduated college. When I learned that you could get paid to be a community organizer, I thought, ‘Whoa, that’s for me.’ It’s truly part of the fabric of who I am,” Soika said.
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Soika found a job as a neighborhood-based community organizer in Rhode Island and then in Connecticut and Massachusetts. He led a community organization in Indianapolis to national recognition for its crime fighting initiatives. In 1982, a job at Environmental Decade brought him to Milwaukee, and two years later he began directing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s social justice advocacy efforts.
Soika spent the last seven years as vice president of social responsibility and mission impact at the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.
Modeled on a Cincinnati initiative called Strive Partnership, Milwaukee Succeeds aims to improve educational outcomes for all Milwaukee children, from cradle to career.
Mike Soika is excited by the mix of people involved in Milwaukee Succeeds. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Soika was co-chair of Milwaukee Succeeds’ first operations team. In that volunteer role, he “was a great resource from the beginning and he was up to speed on Milwaukee Succeeds,” said Rob Guilbert, Greater Milwaukee Foundation vice president for marketing and communication.
Education is one of the most fundamental problems facing Milwaukee, Soika said, and Milwaukee Succeeds might be the best hope to make the big changes that are needed. He said the skills he has developed working toward systemic change at large institutions and small neighborhood organizations would benefit this effort.
Soika thinks Milwaukee Succeeds’ biggest challenge is the variety of school options that exist here.
“It’s no secret that it’s been fairly contentious. There are people who are ardent MPS supporters, and there are people whose mission in life is to make sure MPS goes out of business. That’s a struggle here in this city and it’s a struggle for [Milwaukee Succeeds] because we support all schools and all kids,” Soika said.
In its first year, Milwaukee Succeeds has forged a leadership council comprising representatives from more than 40 educational, business, philanthropic, religious, healthcare, government and social service organizations.
The mix of people who are actively engaged in the initiative excites Soika. “Milwaukee Succeeds seems to be the one place where the people around all factions come to the table and leave their swords at the door,” he said, quoting Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Tim Sheehy.
Because Milwaukee — “a school system that only educates 69 percent of the kids” — may have the worst educational outcomes in the nation, with the possible exception of New Orleans, Soika thinks the stakeholders may be ready to put maximum effort into the initiative.
During its first year, Milwaukee Succeeds established four main goals and the criteria it will use to measure progress in its Students’ Road Map to Success. Goals are for all children to be prepared to enter school; to graduate prepared for meaningful work and/or college; to utilize post-secondary education or training to advance their opportunities beyond high school and prepare for a successful career; and are healthy, supported socially and emotionally, and contribute responsibly to the success of the Milwaukee community.
Milwaukee Succeeds advocates a “continuous improvement process” utilizing facilitators or “coaches” from GE, Rockwell Automation and other corporations, to work with “collaborative action networks,” Soika said. “Those are really where the big changes happen.”
Most of the coaches are “black belts” in the Six Sigma corporate quality improvement strategy. The Six Sigma philosophy is that “you can improve any process as long as you are dealing with the people who are most intimately involved and you are data driven. And it’s the data that makes the difference,” Soika said.
During network meetings, coaches follow a detailed problem-solving and consensus-building process that concludes with a review of progress made. Finally, the team, whose members are education, healthcare or other service providers, considers who else should be invited to the next meeting.
Six networks are now operating. The original three networks are focusing on helping third-graders succeed academically by promoting literacy in the home, schools and after-school programs.
The newer three networks will work to ensure that all children are prepared to enter school by increasing the number of preschoolers who go to high-quality day care and making sure they are healthy when they come to kindergarten. Two have already met, and the health network will meet for the first time in September.
Milwaukee Succeeds expects to publish its first baseline report, from which all future progress will be measured, by late fall. That report will be updated annually, Soika said.
Eventually, the networks will distill the potential solutions down to “one practice that makes sense, that makes a difference” and everyone will adopt it and agree to measure how well it is working. “And then,” Soika said, “we’re going to use the continuous improvement process to tweak it as we go along.”
Soika sees the network model as “democracy at its core. You get people who are practitioners. You tap into their expertise. You do it in a way that is empowering and inclusive, and you use the strength of the collective to achieve your goal.”

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Adam Carr
September 3, 2012

created: September 3, 2012


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Adam Carr
September 3, 2012


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New Urban Ecology Center ‘big shot in the arm’ for Valley | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
September 10, 2012
The new Menomonee Valley branch of the Urban Ecology Center is located at 3700 W. Pierce St. in Silver City. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Less than a year after breaking ground, the Menomonee Valley branch of the Urban Ecology Center (UEC), 3700 W. Pierce St., is open to the public. The center is part of a major transformation taking place in the Silver City neighborhood.
Just 10 years ago, Silver City was rife with shuttered storefronts along West National Avenue. Outdoor places for residents to congregate and children to play were few and far between. But things have changed.
The two-floor, 6,500-square-foot center, built on the lot of an old tavern, features classrooms and a green roof among other amenities, but its main asset is the natural environment that surrounds it.
Laura Bray, executive director of the Menomonee Valley Partners (MVP), calls the center the door to the Valley, opening up countless opportunities to play and learn hands-on about nature.
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Bray sees parallels between her experience growing up in the Riverwest neighborhood with that of children living in the area surrounding the new UEC.
Michael Bean and his daughter Abigail check out a map in a second floor classroom at the Menomonee Valley branch of the Urban Ecology Center. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
“I grew up near the Milwaukee River but was told to stay away,” Bray said.
Like the Milwaukee River, the Menomonee River, which runs just south of Silver City in the Valley, had been polluted and neglected for decades, and was also off limits to neighborhood children.
Nearly in tears, Bray said that now kids in the area will be able to explore and to really know what it means to have nature in their own backyard.
The neighborhood recently hosted a groundbreaking for a new 26-acre park in the Valley, which the UEC will use as a key teaching tool. The park connects the neighborhood to the Hank Aaron State Trail through the Valley Passage.
The developments in the Valley are all part of a $26 million “From the Ground Up” initiative, created by the UEC and MVP, along with the City of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin and a dozen other community-based organizations, to connect surrounding neighborhoods to educational, environmental and economic opportunities in the Valley.
Alderman Bob Donovan, who represents Silver City, called the neighborhood the new Riverwest. “This center is another big shot in the arm,” Donovan said.
Local residents also were impressed.
South Side resident Dennis Martin said that he’d been taking his granddaughter to the Riverside branch of the UEC since she was 4, but now he will bring her to the new center since it’s much closer.
He said it provides a great outlet for his granddaughter as well as other children to get out and learn about nature.
Betty Ho, who lives three blocks from the center, said that it also is a good way to keep neighborhood kids out of trouble. “It’s nice that they will have something to do that will keep them off of the streets,” Ho said.
Living in urban environments such as Milwaukee often keeps people from noticing the natural world that surrounds them, according to Ken Leinbach, executive director of the UEC. But, the new center will help change that for those who visit.
“That’s what this center is all about.”

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Adam Carr
September 9, 2012

created: September 9, 2012


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Adam Carr
September 9, 2012