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Ex-convicts advocate for restored rights, prison system reform | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wyatt Massey
December 7, 2015
Talib Akbar’s drawing of a solitary confinement cell helped spur a statewide campaign to raise awareness about the prison practice of isolation. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
Talib Akbar stepped out of Waupun Correctional Institution on Oct. 10, 2013, with a mission. Having served 20 years for sexual assault, he was determined to become an advocate for incarcerated individuals. With the help of a simple pencil drawing, he began changing public perceptions about prison.
“The things that I have gone through, I will never forget them,” he said. “When I was released, I was thinking, ‘what could I bring to the public that could help them understand what prison was like, what it looks like in a cell.’ ”
Akbar first sketched a solitary confinement cell while he was in prison, but it was confiscated, so he made a second drawing and mailed it to his lawyer. Since Akbar served 10 stints in solitary, he knew the cell brick by brick, inch by inch.
“It was a place that I could never forget. On many occasions I had nothing else to do but think about the walls and the dimensions of it,” he said. The Department of Theatre Arts at Edgewood College in Madison used his drawing to construct a full-sized replica of the cell. The faith-based advocacy group WISDOM transports the cell across the Midwest as part of its effort to end solitary confinement.
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EXPO members Jafar Banda (left) and Charles Hampton shared their advocacy work during a panel discussion. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
Solitary confinement can be considered torture, according to a United Nations Human Rights Council. Some of the psychological effects of physical and social isolation are irreversible after 15 consecutive days, the report stated.
After he was released, Akbar became a prison reform advocate with MOSES an interfaith organization that supports public policy reforms around issues of social justice.
Akbar said the public has a right to know what goes on behind cell doors. His work is making a difference, he said, even if it makes him unpopular with some people. “I make the Department of Corrections mad when I wake up in the morning and glad at night when I go to bed,” he joked.
Akbar, a member of Ex-Prisoners Organizing, participated in a recent panel of six formerly incarcerated individuals who discussed their work to ease re-entry for ex-convicts and reduce solitary confinement. EXPO has chapters in Milwaukee, Madison and Eau Claire, with groups forming in Wausau, Green Bay, Racine and Kenosha. According to members, the group holds leadership training seminars and works to educate, organize and mobilize Wisconsin communities.
Individuals with a felony in Wisconsin are not allowed to vote until they have completed their sentence, probation or parole. More than 62,000 state residents cannot vote because of a criminal record, according to the ACLU. Nationwide, African-Americans are four-times more likely to be disenfranchised than non-African-Americans, part of what author Michelle Alexander calls “the new Jim Crow.”
Jafar Banda, a student at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said he felt like an alien trying to get a job and finding a place to live after he was released from prison. “I was subjected to unfair and unequal opportunities,” he said. “When you have a felony or a conviction, you are automatically denied housing.”
A 2015 study by the Public Policy Forum found that 42 percent of unemployed jobseekers in Milwaukee have a criminal history. This is why EXPO is participating in the “ban the box” campaign, an effort to persuade private and public employers to remove questions about criminal history from job applications.
The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution in 2011 to remove these questions from initial applications for Milwaukee County jobs. Various counties and cities in Wisconsin have also banned the box, but the reform has yet to go statewide. In November, President Barack Obama issued an order to remove the box from federal job applications.
EXPO also seeks to end “crimeless” revocations, which it defines as incarceration for violating a rule of supervision that does not involve a new crime. Revocation of probation or parole can result from technical violations or a new offense. Probation occurs prior to jail or prison time, while parole is an early release from prison.
EXPO President Mark Rice, who said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, experienced symptoms of his mental illness in 2007 and was charged with disorderly conduct, which violated his probation. He was eventually sent to the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility for six months before the judge dismissed his disorderly conduct case.
“Imprisoning people for rule violations destroys lives, adds nothing to public safety and it’s a huge waste of money,” Rice said. Each inmate costs Wisconsin $37,994 per year, according to the VERA Institute of Justice, and nearly 43 percent of state prison admissions in 2014 were due to revocations only.
Expungement, the full restoration of an individual’s rights by the sentencing judge, is the only option ex-convicts currently have to restore all their rights. However, the process can be daunting. Clean Slate Milwaukee specializes in expungement for young adults with non-violent criminal backgrounds to help them achieve equal access to housing, employment and education.
“Expungement is the only chance we have right now for second chances,” Banda said. “Expungement equals jobs.”

author: Wyatt Massey


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 5, 2015

source: news-milwaukeenns

created: December 5, 2015

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

author: Adam Carr


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Guidelines Give A Boost To Diabetes Screening For Overweight Adults | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 7, 2015
National Public Radio

created: December 7, 2015

author: Andrea Waxman


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Racial Justice and Health Equity Meet in Everett | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 7, 2015
The Atlantic


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Report: Wisconsin Ahead Of The Curve In Preventing Assault Of Youth Inmates | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 7, 2015
Wisconsin Public Radio


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Social Development Commission moving to Walnut Way neighborhood | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 7, 2015
Milwaukee Business Journal


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Laura Bray resigns unexpectedly as head of LISC Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
December 8, 2015
Laura Bray speaks last week at an event to announce finalists for the Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDIs). (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Laura Bray, hired less than four months ago as the executive director at LISC Milwaukee, resigned Friday, according to a note from Susan Hatch, chair of the organization’s Advisory Board.
Chuck Vliek, program vice president of the national LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), will serve as interim executive director.
Dawn Hutchison-Weiss has been named interim deputy director, according to the note, which Hatch sent to key LISC stakeholders. Hutchinson-Weiss has been serving as the organization’s director of communications.
Laura Bray has resigned from LISC after serving less than four months as the organization’s executive director. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
“Hutchison-Weiss will lend her six years’ experience… to insure local continuity and decision-making until the search process is concluded,” Hatch wrote.
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According to Hutchison-Weiss, Bray left the organization to dedicate more time to her family.
“We appreciate the time and effort Laura has contributed, and we look forward to new leadership to continue down the path of renewed and focused impact in our neighborhoods and the community,” Hatch said in the statement.
Calls to LISC board members were not immediately returned.
Bray was hired in August to replace longtime LISC executive director Leo Ries, who retired from the organization he ran for 15 years. Prior to joining LISC, Bray was executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners (MVP) for 10 years, where she oversaw completion of the Hank Aaron State Trail, the building of Three Bridges Park and the Menomonee Valley branch of the Urban Ecology Center. After leaving MVP, Bray became CEO of life sciences company BioForward Inc., a position she held for seven months before joining LISC, an organization she often partnered with while at MVP.
Her resignation will not affect current programming at LISC, according to Hutchison-Weiss. “We’ll still be working on community safety, the ACRE program, the MANDI awards and all our other projects,” she said.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to spell out LISC.

created: December 8, 2015

author: Edgar Mendez


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 8, 2015


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Mobile fitness team helps city residents improve health | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 8, 2015
Though Fit 4 You traveling trainers Robert and Jolie Brox were still setting up their equipment in the community room at the Urban Ecology Center in Washington Park and the “community boot camp” wouldn’t start for half an hour, participants were already arriving.
The women and men of varying ages seemed familiar with the space and the routine. They greeted each other and began walking or running slowly around the room to warm up on a recent evening.
The Broxes’ daughters, Mulaja, 4, Ndaya, 3, and Nyemba, 2, hopped and danced through a “ladder” laid out for an exercise routine on the floor.
In addition to improving health, the class provides a community and “many networking opportunities,” said Wendy Winston, a college friend of the Broxes and Fit 4 You class participant “since the beginning,” she added.
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Robert Brox (left) assists fitness class member King Ali during the circuit-training portion of the weekly class at the Washington Park branch of the Urban Ecology Center. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Committed to bringing low-cost professional physical training and knowledge of good nutrition to the central city community where Robert was raised, he and Jolie started Fit 4 You five years ago.
In addition to the total body workout session they offer in Washington Park at 6:30 every Tuesday evening, they also take their knowledge, experience and equipment to people’s homes and offices for personal and small group fitness training and injury rehabilitation. “We bring the gym to you,” is their company tagline. Making and selling fruit and vegetable juices also is part of their program.
Robert, 33, a health promotion and wellness graduate of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, met Jolie, a journalism major, when both were college students. He played football and ran track and after graduation worked as an assistant football coach at his alma mater. He then spent three years working for a fitness consulting company in Milwaukee.
But Robert grew up “in what is considered to be the worst neighborhood in the state, 53206,” he said. Noting that that characterization arises from the deficits in the 53206 ZIP code on the city’s North Side, Robert said Fit 4 You is intended to bring health and wellness education to the couple’s own North Side community.
Jolie’s family emigrated from Congo when she was a just one year old. After a brief stint in Madison, they settled in Milwaukee.
Each community boot camp class begins and ends with a 10-minute warm-up and cool-down period consisting of walking and stationary stretches. This is followed by a 35-minute circuit-style training session that targets lower body, upper body and abdominal/core muscle groups, Jolie explained. Classes cost $5 per session and package deals are available at discounted prices.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 7, 2015


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MPS students get free books; chance to create their own home libraries | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Public Schools
December 8, 2015
On December 9, more than 3,400 MPS students will get free books to start their own home libraries and build their reading skills thanks to My Very Own Library (MVOL), a literacy initiative dedicated to putting books into the hands of children in need. Milwaukee is one of six communities selected to take part in the MVOL program, which is supported by the Feeley Family Foundation, Scholastic Book Fairs, Milwaukee Public Schools and the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. United Way and MPS have partnered to match the $250,000 grant award, dollar for dollar.
Ten MPS schools selected to take part in the program include: Richard Kluge Elementary School; Auer Avenue School; Brown Street Academy; Hopkins Lloyd Community School; Gwen T. Jackson Early Childhood and Elementary School; Kagel School; Lancaster School; James Whitcomb Riley School; Townsend Street School; and Clement J. Zablocki School.Throughout this school year, the My Very Own Library program will distribute 34,200 books to students in 10 MPS schools. Participating students in the chosen schools will have the opportunity to select ten new children’s books over the course of three book fairs to create their own home library.
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“My Very Own Library is an incredible gift for our students and families,” said MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver. “We are grateful to Scholastic Book Fairs and our good friends at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County for providing the support needed to help our young people grow a lifelong love of reading which improves their opportunities for success.”
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“Books matter. United Way is proud to be a partner in this great initiative to get books into the hands of children who need them the most.” said Nicole Angresano, vice president of community impact at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “United Way is committed to promoting year-round literacy through its Readers United initiative.”
“At Scholastic, we know how critically important it is for all children to be able to choose the books they want to read and to have access to a broad selection of the very best children’s books  in order to encourage more independent reading,” said Alan Boyko, President of Scholastic Book Fairs. “By working with literacy programs like My Very Own Library and organizations like United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, Scholastic is able to ensure that more children are given the chance to become book owners, build their own home libraries and discover the power and joy of reading.”
About My Very Own Library: The My Very Own Library program is unlike any other book distribution program because it incorporates the critical component of choice, parental engagement and school partnerships. It was founded in 2011 by the late Anne Feeley. It was first implemented in Newark, NJ where the program has provided more than 500,000 books to students. By the summer of 2016, My Very Own Library will have provided nearly one million books to students across all six program locations – Milwaukee; Newark; Richmond, CA; Chicago; Wilmington, DE; and the Dominican Republic.
For more information on My Very Own Library, or for details on making a donation, please visit www.myveryownlibrary.org.

author: Milwaukee Public Schools


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Community Advocates Public Policy Institute awarded 5-year federal grant to help create drug-free communities | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Community Advocates
December 9, 2015
A new project seeks to prevent substance use by youth in Milwaukee’s highest-need zip code. The Community Advocates Public Policy Institute (PPI) was awarded the Drug-Free Communities grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. The effort is a new project of the Milwaukee County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (MCSAP), which PPI administers. For the first time, MCSAP will zero in on a particular area in Milwaukee County, the 53206 ZIP code, to implement specific Drug-Free Communities projects. The grant is expected to continue for at least five years, with the potential for a 10-year commitment.
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) project will specifically work to reduce youth alcohol and marijuana use in 53206 by middle and high school-age students. The 53206 zip code includes Milwaukee’s Amani and Lindsey Heights neighborhoods. The zip code is bordered by Capitol Drive to the north, Highway 43 to the east, North Avenue to the south, and 27th Street to the west. Middle and high school students from the area have rates of alcohol and marijuana use well above the state and Milwaukee Public Schools averages. The coalition will recruit community members, including youth and parents, to participate in a broad variety of prevention strategies and projects including retailer compliance checks, community projects for youth, and public outreach and education.
Tarvus Hawthorne, Program Coordinator for PPI’s MCSAP Drug-Free Communities project, said, “We are excited to be involved in tackling these issues and helping all young people in the area to reach their full potential. We know 53206 is an area of Milwaukee where a lot of issues converge to impact youth substance use. We plan to identify and then address as many of the community’s needs as we can.”
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Background on the Drug-Free Communities Support Program
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth substance use. Directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use.
The DFC Program provides grants of up to $625,000 over five years to community coalitions that facilitate youth and adult participation at the community level in local youth drug use prevention efforts. According to data for 2013, an estimated 3,700 young people per day between the ages of 12 and 17 used drugs for the first time in the preceding year.1 Additionally, high school seniors are more likely to be current smokers of marijuana than cigarettes and non-medical use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs remains unacceptably high. 2 Parents should also know that 19% of high school seniors in 2014 reported binge drinking (i.e., 5 or more drinks in a row) in the past two weeks.3
Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and employ a variety of environmental strategies to address local drug problems. Coalitions are comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and media.
The DFC’s 2014 National Evaluation Report showed a significant decrease in past-30-day use between the first and most recent data reports for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use among middle school and high school youth in DFC communities.

created: December 9, 2015

author: Community Advocates


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How to volunteer in December | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee
December 9, 2015
Holiday giving tree party at the Burmese Immersion Project (Photo courtesy of Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee)
Give the gift of volunteering during the holidays! Volunteer Milwaukee, a service of the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee features a calendar full of events for volunteers, both one-time and ongoing. Here are a few of the opportunities in December.
Make a Gingerbread House
Prepare materials and help families decorate a gingerbread house, help with snacks and clean up on weekdays and Saturdays through Dec. 19 at various times and Milwaukee Public Library locations.
Contact: Deidre Steward at (414) 286-3077
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Holiday Toy Shop
Help sort, stock or distribute 100,000 toys to families at The Salvation Army of Milwaukee County Distribution Center Dec. 10-11, 14-18, and 21, morning or afternoon hours.
Contact: Faithe Colas at (414) 302-4300
Santa’s Helpers Needed
Help people served by Capuchin Community Services select toys, books and clothing as Christmas gifts for their children Dec. 16-23 for two or more hours between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Contact: Brigid Rush at (414) 933-1300
Family Winter Weekend
Assist with family activities at Discovery World such as dog sleds, train rides and creating snowflake pop-ups, talk about the science of snowflakes or monitor foot traffic Dec. 19 and 20 between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Contact: Kelly Christman at (414) 765-1978
Holiday Luncheon
Greet seniors and serve lunch Dec. 23 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.at the Washington Park Senior Center, a service of Interfaith Older Adult Programs.
Contact: Samantha Glocka at (414) 933-2332

author: the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee


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Children’s Hospital to open clinic at Milwaukee’s Midtown Center | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 10, 2015
Milwaukee Business Journal

created: December 10, 2015


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In Milwaukee, evidence is weak for the ‘Ferguson effect’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 10, 2015
The Washington Post


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International prize awarded to Milwaukee’s own Serve2Unite program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Arts@Large
December 10, 2015
Serve2Unite and The Pluralism Project at Harvard University will share Hofstra University’s 2016 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize.
Serve2Unite is a Milwaukee-based organization created by Pardeep Kaleka after his father and five others were killed in a shooting at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012.
Under the direction of Arts @ Large, an umbrella arts-education non-profit organization, Serve2Unite helps young people address the pressing issues of violence in their communities through service learning, artistic projects, and guided dialogue.
The $50,000 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize was established in 2006 by Ishar Bindra and family and named for the founder of the Sikh religion. Guru Nanak believed that all humans are equal, regardless of color, ethnicity, nationality or gender. Bestowed every two years, the first prize was awarded in 2008 to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
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Pardeep Kaleka is an inner-city school teacher and former police officer who coordinates the Serve2Unite program. In just three years, Serve2Unite has expanded its programming from two Milwaukee schools to 20, with more than 600 active participants in its student leadership chapters.
“Now more than ever, I can think of no work that is more important,” said Stuart Rabinowitz,
President of Hofstra University. “[Serve2Unite’s] unwavering commitment is a testament to the principles Guru Nanak represents.”
“We at Serve2Unite are extremely honored and humbled by the award,” Kaleka said.


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INTERSECTION: 12th and Teutonia Needs Help | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 10, 2015
UrbanMilwaukee.com


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Public Allies – leadership training though nonprofit service | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 10, 2015
88NINE Radio Milwaukee


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County provides funds to renovate ‘cultural gem’ in Washington Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wyatt Massey
December 11, 2015
A crowd gathers for a performance at the Washington Park band shell. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)
When Washington Park Partners holds its annual gathering on Monday, residents are likely to celebrate the upcoming renovations to the park’s historic band shell at 1859 N. 40th St.
The county allocated $738,000 in the 2016 budget to repair the band shell, including the stage and ventilation system, as well as new paint and lights. The budget also provides $175,000 to replace the facility’s heaters and boilers and $210,000 to repair the park’s west baseball diamond. Bike racks will also be installed to attract cyclists to the park.
Martin Weddle, District 5 supervisor, proposed an amendment to the county budget after he toured the band shell and saw that it needed some serious work. “It’s very important that we keep that investment up for the quality of life for the community,” he said. “It’s a cultural gem of Milwaukee County.”
Washington Park draws people from across the county and hosts community events such as the 2015 NAACP resource fair. (Photo by Devi Shastri)
When Pat Mueller shows apartments to potential renters, she makes sure to discuss the attractions that draw people to the Washington Park neighborhood.
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“Part of my whole showing of the apartments is showing people fun things in the area,” said Mueller, a property manager at Heritage West Properties. Those include the Wednesdays at the Park summer concert series held at the band shell.
In the past five years, the park shifted from a place people avoided because it was dangerous to one of the area’s biggest assets, said Bess Earl,  sustainable communities coordinator. “People are really using it as a place to connect, not just in their community but with the area around them,” she said. The band shell concerts play an important part in drawing crowds, she said. “That energy being released into the community is huge.”
Jane Konkel, a member of the Washington Park Partners park committee, said the renovations are important, even if they are not immediately visible to audiences. “Any love that goes into this band shell is very much appreciated,” she said. “It’s really a step in the right direction.”
Konkel, who recruits the opening acts for the concert series, noted that the repairs will improve the park’s ability to attract entertainment. She said she likes to feature acts from local youth-serving organizations, such as Express Yourself Milwaukee and Running Rebels.
According to Weddle, “We need to invest more heavily in our parks systems as a whole. Over the past 20 years, funding for our parks has decreased.”
The maintenance is scheduled to begin as soon as the weather allows and should be done in the summer, Weddle said.

created: December 11, 2015


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 10, 2015


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Lindsay Heights Lens: Neighborhood Strengths | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council
December 11, 2015
There is a reason the youth saved the neighborhood strengths gallery for last: the pictures highlight some of Lindsay Heights’ most stunning and serene places to hang out and relax, and affirm what the youth have said all along: that there are a lot of strengths in the neighborhood, some immediately visible, and some where you have to look a little deeper. In this gallery of neighborhood strengths, the youth came up with themes of: community togetherness, resilience, “More life than I can see,” “keepin’ it clean,” beauty, healthy eating, indoor safe zones and outdoor safe zones.

author: Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council


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On the Block: School integration | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
December 11, 2015
Read more about Jonathan Groves at milwaukeestories.org.

author: Jabril Faraj


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 11, 2015


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It’s business as usual for LISC Milwaukee, despite CEO’s unexpected departure | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
December 12, 2015
LISC Milwaukee projects, such as the MANDI award competition, are proceeding as planned. Finalists were announced at a recent event. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
The work at Local Initiatives Support Corporation Milwaukee will continue as usual despite the unexpected and sudden departure of Laura Bray, who served less than four months as executive director.
That’s according to Chuck Vliek, program vice president of LISC’s national office, who will step in as the interim executive director of LISC Milwaukee. Vliek, who’s been at LISC for 20 years, said the organization is committed to the city and that the search for a new executive director will begin immediately, but could take some time.
“We may be two or three months out yet. I don’t want to suggest to anyone that we will have someone on board in weeks,” Vliek said.
Laura Bray resigned from LISC after serving less than four months as the organization’s executive director. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Some have speculated that Leo Ries, who served for 15 years as LISC Milwaukee executive director, might be interested in stepping back into the role he left earlier this year. Ries did not respond to a request for comment.
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Dawn Hutchison-Weiss, LISC director of communications, was named interim deputy director.
“Hutchison-Weiss will lend her six years’ experience… to insure local continuity and decision-making until the search process is concluded,” wrote Susan Hatch, chair of the organization’s Advisory Board, in an email Monday announcing Bray’s resignation to board members and other stakeholders.
In the meantime, Vliek said he plans to be more involved in the day-to-day operations at LISC Milwaukee while the search is carried out. He added that he had no prior knowledge of Bray’s impending departure, but said he’d spoken to her since and she said the position might not have been the best fit with her skill set, and that the time demands did not coincide well with her family’s needs.
Bray’s departure caught many of the organization’s board members off guard. Those who responded to requests for comment stated that they didn’t know anything until they received Hatch’s email Monday morning.
Ellen Gilligan, LISC Milwaukee board member and president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, was among those who were surprised by the news.
“I thought she [Bray] was very enthusiastic about the position and a great fit for the role,” Gilligan said.
Still, Gilligan said, as a mother, she understands the challenge of balancing professional and family responsibilities and commitments. Gilligan said she’s confident that LISC, as a national organization with breadth and depth, would work quickly to find a strong leader to replace Bray. “LISC programs go through transitions from time to time, so I don’t think it’s a huge setback for the local program,” Gilligan said.
Board member Bruce Keyes, a partner at Foley & Lardner, said he received a phone call from Bray over the weekend in which she told him she’d resigned. He said Bray made the correct decision by stepping away, despite serving only briefly as executive director.
“It’s never wise to belabor a decision you know you have to make,” Keyes said. “At the end of the day she decided she needed to reprioritize her time for her family.”
Keyes said that during her tenure Bray had been able to conduct a top-down assessment of LISC Milwaukee that would benefit the organization in the long run.
“Her assessments are helping us make decisions and recommendations that will continue to benefit the organization in the future,” Keyes said.

created: December 12, 2015


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500 Black Tuxedos hit streets of Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sue Vliet
December 13, 2015
Beginning with haircuts at Running Rebels, 1300 W. Fond Du Lac Ave., hundreds of black young people spent a day interacting with older mentors. The group took official photos at the Milwaukee Art Museum and dined at the Chic Café, where they were entertained by Cigarette Break featuring Joe Jordan and Adi Amour, and enjoyed a special performance by Lil Vic. The event was organized by Andre Lee Ellis as part of the “We Got This” campaign, whose mission is to “incorporate the ‘neighbor’ back into our ‘hoods’ and recreate a real sense of neighborhood,” according to the group’s website.

created: December 13, 2015

author: Sue Vliet


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City of Milwaukee Health Department selected to test new pandemic influenza helpline | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee
December 13, 2015
Mayor Tom Barrett and Commissioner of Health Bevan K. Baker have announced that the City of Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) has been selected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), to pilot a new toll-free telephone helpline called Flu on CallTM.
“We are honored that Milwaukee has been selected as one of two locations nationwide to test a system that will help our entire country respond in the event of a future public health emergency,” said Mayor Tom Barrett.
Flu on CallTM will establish a national network of call centers that provide information and free medical advice to callers during a severe influenza pandemic. Although there is no pandemic anywhere in the world at this time, the MHD has been selected to offer this service to residents of Milwaukee as part of a pilot project.
“In January, we will begin testing Flu on CallTM to provide our community with information and advice during this year’s flu season,” said Commissioner of Health Bevan K. Baker. “We thank our broad network of community partners working to make this project possible, including Wisconsin Poison Control at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and IMPACT, the local provider of 2-1-1 information and referral services.”
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Further information about the helpline will be released closer to the launch date.
As flu season continues, the MHD reminds all Milwaukee residents that it is not too late to get your flu vaccination. Flu vaccine remains widely available this year through local health care providers and retail pharmacies. City of Milwaukee Health Department clinics have a limited supply of flu vaccine available to Milwaukee residents on BadgerCare or those who are uninsured.
To find flu vaccine near you, use the Flu Vaccine Finder at www.milwaukee.gov/health.

author: City of Milwaukee


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California Expands Substance Abuse Treatment For Low-Income Residents | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 14, 2015
National Public Radio

created: December 14, 2015


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How a Family Allowance Could End Poverty | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 14, 2015
The Atlantic


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Milwaukee sells 501 tax-foreclosed properties, most since 2007 recession | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 14, 2015
jsonline.com


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The Rave, the Eagles Club and Red Arrow Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Margaret Rozga
December 14, 2015
Margaret Rozga, poet, civil rights activist and professor emerita of English at UW-Waukesha, writes that the history of a place changes how people perceive it. Two cases in point: the Rave and Red Arrow Park.
Molly Snyder’s Facebook posting simply read, “There really is a pool in the basement of The Rave.” Of course her accompanying photo was bound to attract attention. It shows a beautiful but empty six lane pool with a fully clothed person standing arms up, hands to head, in lane 3. But who could have expected the depth and variety of the response?
Within 12 hours, her photo of the empty swimming pool in the basement of what used to be the Eagles Club, now the Rave, prompted 248 Facebook likes and more than fifty comments. I might not have seen the posting at all, but some comments connected the empty pool to the Rave’s past as the Milwaukee Eagles Club, and two of those comments named me as someone who knows details of that history.
(Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society)
As a member of the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council in 1966, I participated in protests of the Whites only membership clause of the Eagles Club. The focus of those protests zoomed in on the Eagles Club membership of virtually every Milwaukee politician, especially judges, who claimed they could be impartial on the bench while belonging to a segregated club. The protests escalated, and that summer Governor Warren Knowles called out the National Guard to protect the Youth Council members and supporters when they marched to the Wauwatosa home of Judge Robert Cannon, a member of the Eagles Club.
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Many people who replied to Molly Snyder’s posting told of swimming in that pool as children. Some enjoyed the time spent in that pool, some not so much. One person saw the other swimmers, all men, as elderly and remembered them swimming naked: “We went there to swim one time and the place is packed with buck naked grandfathers. Never went back.”
Others remembered going to the Eagles Club to bowl or to use the gym. Some remembered family members boxing there as part of a boxing club open to young men of color, even though they and their fathers could not be members of the Eagles Club itself.
More than ten responses mentioned that the building was haunted or that they’d heard stories about its being haunted. Not having heard such stories before, this took me by surprise. But the mention of ghosts seemed to surprise others less than the fact that there had been an officially segregated club in Milwaukee and that what they knew as The Rave had been that place.
When I do presentations to groups of young people in Milwaukee, I often include as part of Milwaukee’s civil rights history the Eagles Club issue. I begin by asking those who know The Rave to raise their hands. Most do. I then ask if they knew that building was once the Eagles Club. Most don’t.
But once they know, then something interesting happens. Their experience of the space changes. It’s not that they’ll stop going to concerts there. But when they go, their knowledge of the history plays a silent counterpart to the music they hear. One person who knew the history of the building posted that once she learned of the civil rights struggle that took place there, “I’ve never looked at that building the same way.”
Everything that happens in a space helps to make of that space a meaningful place. This is true whether the happening was a happy or a tragic event. This is true whether what happened happened long enough ago for the memory to be dimmed or to take some nebulous form, or whether it happened recently enough to still be sharply focused in the public mind.
Current case in point: Red Arrow Park. Archival documents suggest that this was once the space where the Indians who lived here grew wild rice. With the coming of Solomon Juneau, it was a space visible from his trading post. It has since become a space surrounded by office buildings, and a Starbucks. In the winter part of it becomes an ice skating rink.
In April 2014 its meaning became forever altered. It is the place where Dontre Hamilton was shot fourteen times and killed by a Milwaukee police officer who did not follow departmental procedures. Red Arrow Park became a place that symbolizes Milwaukee’s racial divide. This is, I think, the ghost that haunts us. To schedule a civic celebration there, as happened with the recent Christmas tree lighting, however innocent the intention might have been, is to ignore this meaning, a meaning that the city has not yet come to terms with.
People often say we need to learn history so we don’t repeat its mistakes. We’d have an easier time learning what events have to teach us if we didn’t try so quickly to forget them. Every time I drive past The Rave/Eagles Club, I give a nod to my younger self, to my friends also younger.
Every time I walk or drive past Red Arrow Park, I remember a living human being, a young African American man, who did not need to die.

author: Margaret Rozga


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 14, 2015


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Former sex offenders left out in the cold by city residency restrictions | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
December 15, 2015
Raymond Rosa sits in the back of his van, which he outfitted with a makeshift electricity system. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
A City of Milwaukee ordinance passed by the Common Council in July 2014 is making it nearly impossible for former sex offenders to find housing. The ordinance restricts these ex-offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school, licensed day care center, park, recreation trail or playground.
As of Jan. 16, 2015, the city released a public notice listing 55 addresses — 117 units, according to a Department of Corrections (DOC) field supervisor — where released sex offenders can legally reside under the new law. The list includes private residences that are currently occupied and multiple-unit buildings that have refused to rent to sex offenders.
“We do not in any way represent that these properties are available to rent or live in,” said Milwaukee City Clerk Jim Owczarski, who noted ironically that the list is “the best reference document” for sex offenders trying to find housing.
He added, “It’s frankly not the city’s role … to find housing for sexual offenders.”
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Thomas Salter, a DOC field supervisor for sex offenders at Unit 330, said the city ordinance is “the most difficult thing that my agents have to deal with.” Salter said 40 individuals currently under his supervision are homeless.
“It’s not something that’s helpful, it’s not something that makes our community safe, it’s not something that’s even just decent,” he said. “But, it’s something that we have to deal with because of our city council’s decisions.”
One of the people affected by the ordinance is Raymond Rosa, 49, who was released on parole in June and is homeless. Rosa and his girlfriend Malina Oglesby, 52, who had a home together before Oglesby filed for bankruptcy, had been staying with her mother with the permission of Rosa’s parole officer.
At the end of June, the couple was kicked out because there were “too many people in one house,” according to Rosa. Since then, they’ve moved from place to place in a van Rosa jerry-rigged with batteries, which provide a small amount of electricity to power the couple’s breathing machines — both Rosa and Oglesby have sleep apnea — and the GPS bracelet he wears on his ankle. Rosa even installed an air conditioner during the hot summer months.
Oglesby said she has seen other homeless people with nothing more than a bag and a pillow. Rosa, who referred to himself as “a survivalist,” acknowledged they’re better off than some but he’s still unsure about what the Wisconsin winter will bring.
Rosa said he petitioned DOC to let him serve out his time on supervision, which goes through September 2016, in prison. Rosa received a letter in response stating a request for voluntary incarceration will not be approved if the offender “seeks to avoid supervision.”
“I don’t know if I’m gonna make it through this winter,” he said. “I don’t know if she’s gonna make it through the winter. Anybody that doesn’t take an insurance [policy] out on me is an idiot.”
Misconceptions
The preamble to the city ordinance that restricts where sex offenders can live calls them “an extreme threat to the public safety” who are “extremely likely to use physical violence and to repeat their offenses.” It says the cost to society is, “while incalculable, clearly exorbitant” and claims the intent of the ordinance is “not to impose a criminal penalty” but to improve the health, safety and welfare of citizens.
“That’s an awfully broad brush to be painting all sex offenders [with],” said Larry Dupuis, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin. “People who have been convicted of sex offenses are quite variable. Unfortunately, most of these laws treat them all as identical.”
In fact, nationwide, only 5.3 percent of sex offenders re-offend within three years of their release. More than nine out of 10 had not previously been convicted of a sex crime; most victims are known to the perpetrator; and treatment can have a significant effect on whether or not a sex offender will re-offend. In Wisconsin, sex offenders deemed to be at high risk of reoffending are confined to sex offender treatment facilities under a 1994 law.
Dupuis, who was involved in an unsuccessful challenge to a similar South Milwaukee ordinance, said residency restrictions on sex offenders “are largely driven by misconceptions.” Among them is the idea of the “lurking sex offender,” which Dupuis called “fiction,” and the assumption that sex offenders are more likely to commit an offense closer to their homes.
All 19 municipalities in Milwaukee County have some type of residency ordinance that restricts where sex offenders can live. “The biggest problem with many of them is that they’re actually counterproductive. They make people’s lives less stable,” said Dupuis.
Dupuis added, “They have to live somewhere.”
He noted that an unstable environment can make it harder to access treatment or keep a job; that instability can also estrange a person from family or social support systems.
“We have family,” said Rosa. “I’ve got a brother, I’ve got a mother … she’s got brothers, she’s got sons. I can’t [live] there (because of the ordinance).”
Dupuis said, “There’s no doubt that these ordinances have created a homeless population,” adding, “if people really want to be safe, the last thing you want is for [sex offenders] to be homeless.”
In limbo
Raymond Rosa’s van, at Gerry’s Dock off of South Water Street. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
On Monday, Sept. 28, Milwaukee police arrested Rosa on South Hawley Court, a dead- end street where he and Oglesby had been periodically parking to sleep. According to a complaint Rosa filed with the City of Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, he was taken into custody after a Hunger Task Force employee notified police of a suspicious vehicle. Rosa had an outstanding parole violation, stemming from a problem with the GPS tracking band he wears on his ankle; he said his parole officer had forgotten to remove the bogus violation from the computer system.
Rosa was released less than 24 hours later, and he returned to Hawley Court. According to the complaint, the arresting officer came back to check on the couple the next morning. Then, in the early morning hours of Oct. 1, a member of the police Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) drove Rosa to his brother’s house for water. By later that morning, however, another District 3 officer came to tell the couple they had to leave.
“We decided that we didn’t want him to be there any longer,” said Salter, adding, “we didn’t say anything to him about being in violation of the ordinance.”
Salter said Hunger Task Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler told him that Rosa had been using a water supply without permission, was bathing in public and had “some rude, inappropriate interactions with staff.” The fact that the couple was staying in the van together also factored into the decision, according to Salter.
Rosa disputes that account. “I showered every day at my mom’s or my brother Joe’s — every day,” he said. “That’s why I stayed there, because it was four blocks from my brother’s house and I could just go there and take a shower every day, and charge up.”
When contacted about the incident, Tussler was not available and Hunger Task Force Communications Manager Julie Frinzi declined to comment.
Rosa said that, after being arrested, he was given permission to return to Hawley Court by his parole officer. HOT coordinator Lt. Liam Looney and Rosa spoke over the phone, as well. “He asked me a specific question about [whether he could] park on the city street by the Hunger Task Force,” said Looney. “And, what I told him was that he can park on a city street just like anybody could.”
But he was picked up again on Friday, Nov. 20. This time, Rosa was held for a week. He said he had stopped on the block to eat. “I can’t even park on that street; my dad’s buried right there,” he said. “I can’t even go visit my dad.”
In general, Salter said Rosa has been “up and down” about following his rules of supervision, which include weekly check-ins with his parole officer and weekly treatment sessions. He said there have been some small missteps but that “they haven’t been really significant violations that required … long-term incarceration or anything like that.”
Salter added, “For the most part, he’s been pretty good about it. He’s been a little bit frustrated with things, which is totally understandable.”
Rosa is afraid DOC is building a case to revoke his parole and send him back to prison. Were that to happen, Rosa would most likely be required to serve the remaining 15 months and 22 days of his sentence.
Joy Staab, director of public affairs for DOC, said, “If an offender who’s on supervision breaks rules, then the Department of Corrections has the authority to proceed with revocation.”
Wisconsin law says sex offenders on parole are to be released to the county in which the person resided on the date of the sex offense, the county in which the person was convicted of the sex offense or a sex offender treatment facility. Salter and Detective Ann Golombowski, who oversees sex offenders in Oak Creek, where Rosa was convicted, said he should be able to go there. Golombowski said a number of sex offenders live in a trailer park near S. 27th Street and W. College Avenue.
However, Rosa said, “They won’t let me go.”
For now, all he can do is wait. “I’m paying my debt to society and I will continue to pay it … then I’ll be gone, then I’ll leave this place … try to start my life over,” Rosa said.
He added, “I’ll find somewhere where they’ll accept me [as] a human being.”
Banishment
Numbers provided by Milwaukee Police Department Sgt. Timothy Gauerke show that 713 sex offenders are on active supervision in the city. So far this year, 121 citations have been issued in violation of the residency ordinance. “When an individual is cited, offenders can pay the citation or dispute it in court,” he said.
But Gauerke added, “Since someone that is homeless technically does not have a permanent or temporary address, they cannot be in violation.”
Gauerke said MPD has been requesting the GPS coordinates from DOC so the department knows where homeless sex offenders are actually staying. All homeless sex offenders on supervision are GPS-tracked.
According to Dupuis, “The crimes that people have committed, nobody is excusing them. But there are other awful crimes where people get a second chance.” He called the residency law a form of banishment. “For some reason … people have decided that sex offenders can be treated as lifetime pariahs, even if they don’t offend ever again.”
He added, “That’s incredibly harsh. Unfortunately, it’s still, at least in Wisconsin, politically popular.”
Owczarski noted, “From a policy perspective … the interest was not to find housing for sexual offenders. It was to state those areas in which they could not live.” He added that he doesn’t think the Common Council would remove its restrictions except as part of a comprehensive, statewide solution.
Dupuis noted that in some states, courts are starting to recognize that sex offender laws and, in particular, residency restrictions are bad policy. “They just, essentially, continue the punishment beyond a person’s criminal sentence,” he said.
Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor’s office is in the very early stages of researching a possible legislative solution. “I think the state does have a responsibility and I know … my desire is to see legislation done,” she said.
Craig Trost, Taylor’s communications director, said the goal is to create a statewide, uniform policy to give sex offenders a place to live while keeping the community safe. He said the senator intends to introduce legislation some time in 2016.
Until then, Taylor said local governments have “a responsibility to figure out how to help to place those individuals.” She also said there needs to be more cooperation among departments and agencies so that communities know when and where offenders are being released and are prepared to accommodate them.
Taylor added, “I think that we could be more proactive.”

created: December 15, 2015


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On the Block: Hoping for a normal life | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
December 15, 2015
Randall Yocum, 21, said he spends some mornings panhandling outside of the Pick ‘n Save on West National Avenue in Clarke Square, hoping to rustle up enough change to buy some cigarettes and maybe a beer. He said he’s been struggling for a while, but in the future he hopes to have a car, a job and a girlfriend.


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From public housing to homeownership: “Make Your Money Talk” celebrates record graduating class and financial success stories | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee
December 16, 2015
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) and Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) hosted a ceremony for 129 graduates of the “Make Your Money Talk” financial education course on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at HACM Community Services, 650 W. Reservoir.
The event provided an opportunity for HACM, WWBIC, and family and friends to recognize the graduates’ commitment to setting and achieving budgetary goals and working towards self-sufficiency. The ceremony marked the largest graduating class since the program’s inception in 2004. More than 1,500 individuals have completed the four-class course since its beginning.
The event also featured a keynote speech from Mayor Tom Barrett and presentations from past graduates who have utilized the program to move out of public housing into homes they purchased.
“This program changes lives in dramatic ways, because it provides the education and tools people need to make those changes for themselves all throughout their lives,” said Mayor Barrett.
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Students learn to set and stick to a budget, how to protect and build their credit history, and real-world strategies for saving money on a tight budget. Graduates with employment income are eligible to open an Individual Development Account (IDA) that matches each dollar they save with up to eight dollars to be used towards the purchase of a home, education costs, or starting a business.
Tianna Woods and Shanay Anderson, both past graduates of the program, each spoke about how the education course and the IDA program helped them to become homeowners.
Woods closed on her home – a Habitat for Humanity home that she helped to build – in March of this year after living in public housing for 11 years with her son and daughter. By saving diligently through her IDA account, she was able to pay the closing costs, homeowner’s insurance for the first year, and some of the principal on the loan.
“I did this so that my kids and I could have a place to call our own,” said Woods.
Anderson also purchased her home this year after living with her mother for years in HACM’s Westlawn neighborhood. She utilized her IDA funds to purchase her home through HACM’s Homeownership Program, which rehabs abandoned and foreclosed homes and makes them available for sale to new owners.
“When they say this program can help you, believe me it can,” said Anderson.
A total of 793 graduates have opened IDAs since 2004.  Ninety-one IDA holders have used their IDA funds to purchase a home, 63 have invested in post-secondary education, and 42 have created or developed a small business.
IDA holders have saved over $460,000 that has been matched with over $1.3 million.
“We find inspiration in the ways our residents achieve great things for themselves, their families and their community by combining their commitment to a personal goal with opportunities like “Make Your Money Talk” and the IDA program,” said HACM Secretary-Executive Director Tony Pérez.
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee provides affordable housing options to more than 10,000 Milwaukee families. In addition, the Housing Authority works with families to achieve self-sufficiency through economic, health and social programs.

created: December 16, 2015


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How to travel safely this Christmas | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
FEMA Region V
December 16, 2015
Winter weather can make driving dangerous, so it is best to be prepared when traveling. (Photo courtesy of Ready Wisconsin)
While winter has been unseasonably mild so far, this is Wisconsin and snow and ice can appear with little or no warning. Remember to take these simple steps to help ensure safe travel for you and your family:
Know the risks before leaving home
Check the radio, television or your phone for the latest weather forecasts and road conditions. If bad weather is forecast, drive only if absolutely necessary.
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Keep your gas tank above half-full
Condensation can build up in a near-empty gas tank when temperatures get extremely cold. These conditions can freeze fuel lines and leave you stranded.
Check your vehicle or see a mechanic
Check your brakes for wear and fluid levels, the ignition system to ensure that it is functioning properly, car lights to safely signal other drivers and your tires to make sure there is sufficient tread for winter conditions.
Have an emergency supply kit for your car
A kit can help you or someone you encounter in an emergency situation. Be sure to have a set of jumper cables, flashlight, first aid kit, non-perishable food, ice scraper, shovel, blankets and a car charger for a cell phone. Also consider carrying cat litter or sand for better traction, and reflective triangles in case you need to pull over on the side of the road.
For more information to prepare for winter, click here.

author: FEMA Region V


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 15, 2015


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Meet therapist Zelodius Morton, ‘role model’ for at-risk girls | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 16, 2015
Zelodius Morton (left), chair of the Borchert Field C.A.R.E.S. community association, and Charles Robinson Sr. listen as Alderwoman Milele Coggs (right) speaks at an association meeting. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Zelodius Morton is concerned about sex trafficking in Milwaukee. As a psychotherapist who has focused on the welfare of underprivileged children for most of her adult life, Morton sees clearly how vulnerable children in her community are.
“(Considering) what the traffickers are looking at, low self-esteem, it’s really important that (young girls) learn how to feel better about themselves,” said Morton, who meets weekly with female students at Robert M. LaFollette K-8 School, 3239 N. 9th St.
Most of the students there come from low-income homes, and are both innocent and hungry for attention, according to Morton.
“The first day I met those girls they were so eager to give me so much of their information,” she said. “They were clinging to me and they didn’t even know me,” added Morton. She noted that traffickers often use women to disarm the girls they target, who are about 11 years old.
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Morton lives several blocks south of LaFollette, in the home that her mother bought when Morton was 16. Since her own children were in high school in the early 1990s, she has dedicated herself to improving life for young girls and others in need, first as a foster mother, and then as a therapist and neighborhood leader.
Zelodius Morton (third from right, in black) helped organize a Halloween party for neighborhood children in the garden lot at 9th and Burleigh streets. (Photo courtesy of Zelodius Morton)
Morton’s longest-running project is “Dream Girls,” a mentoring program for pre-teen and teen girls in which she provides a safe, inclusive environment to build relationships, knowledge, skills and emotional health. Morton’s work with LaFollette students is her most recent version of the program. She started there last spring after a several-year hiatus to recover from knee surgery.
“These young girls who don’t have guidance, who don’t have proper clothing, come together and talk with us about their issues and they feel like they’re a part of something that is theirs, something they can connect to,” said Suzette Allen, who has worked with Morton as a group facilitator since the beginning of Dream Girls.
According to Allen, Morton is a wonderful role model for young girls, “and even for me and I’m 48.” She cited Morton’s generosity, passion, energy and persistence. Allen, a parent coordinator at James E. Groppi High School, 1312 N. 27th St., has been so inspired by Morton’s work for positive change in the community that she moved into Morton’s neighborhood of Borchert Field, she said. Morton is chair of Borchert Field C.A.R.E.S., a neighborhood association.
In October, Morton and Allen organized a Halloween celebration for neighborhood children in an empty lot where Morton helped to establish a small park. Last summer, the Dream Girls gathered there to talk and work on art projects.
Morton hopes Dream Girls will do for the community’s girls what her neighbor Andre Lee Ellis is doing for boys through “We Got This,” a grassroots mentoring program. Like Ellis, Morton encourages her young protégées to envision their future.
Dream Girls evolved from Morton’s guidance of four teen girls who lived with her as foster daughters 20 years ago. These “goddaughters” as she calls them, were hurting from the rejection of mothers struggling with drug addiction, according to Morton.
She said she would talk to them about how to deal with their disappointment and hurt after their mothers stood them up on the weekend, and they would encourage each other. Listening to them, she understood the depth of the girls’ pain.
Angel Hull, who came to live with Morton at 11 years old and stayed for about four years, said, “Zelodius was as loving as if I was her own child.”
Hull, now 32 and a successful Atlanta business owner, said Morton taught her everything she knows about how to behave, present herself and speak.
Tomika Woods, a cousin, helped Morton mentor young women who were first-time offenders in the criminal justice system. “Zelodius always had a heart for the underprivileged and the voiceless,” Woods said. “Her motto is, as long as you have life you have hope.” Morton always tries to encourage young women not to give up, she added.
A Rufus King High School graduate, Morton studied criminal justice and psychology at Springfield College Milwaukee and in 2005 earned a graduate degree in adult education from University of Wisconsin Platteville. Over the years, she has taken many additional courses to help her better address specialized mental health issues. In addition to alcohol and drug abuse counseling, parent education, anger management and conflict resolution training, Morton assists families of homicide victims through grief counseling.
One of those she has helped is Larry Dean Jones, a long-time neighbor. Jones was devastated by the murder of his son, Demario, 25, who was shot to death in a fight on May 1.
“After it happened, she always was there to talk with me and make sure I’m alright, and to help me find help,” Jones said. “She even took up a collection from people in the neighborhood for flowers (and) to help out with the funeral.”
Recently, Morton initiated “Teddy Bear Sunday,” an upcoming event where she will present teddy bears she has collected to grieving children.
This fall Morton completed the Salvation Army Chaplaincy Training Program and expects to work with the Milwaukee Police Department to help victims’ family members at crime scenes and in the aftermath of tragedies.
Morton continuously finds ways to improve life in her community, said Woods. “She believes every child deserves to be loved,” adding, “If she sees a need, she steps in and helps.”


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60 Students receive high school equivalency diplomas at SDC graduation | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
December 17, 2015
(Photo courtesy of SDC)
Men and women ranging in age from 19 to 50-plus bore big smiles and carried an aura of pride as they walked across the stage to receive their High School Equivalency Diploma as part of the Social Development Commission (SDC) education and training service program. Graduation was held the afternoon of Thursday, December 17, at the National Guard Armory in Milwaukee.
Students received instruction from educators from the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and the Social Development Commission over the course of 16 weeks. The degree program focuses on math, communication, and pathways. “To see the growth of the students over the past four months and to witness the level of pride they have in their accomplishment, along with the excitement of their friends and families, underscores that what we are doing at SDC has a positive impact on people’s lives,” stated SDC CEO George Hinton.
The graduation’s keynote speaker, Alderwoman Milele Coggs, shared her educational journey and the path she took to fulfill her passion for public service. She stated that while this achievement was their own, it also belonged their families. To students, Coggs said, “Discover your purpose and follow the path that leads you to your purpose.” She closed with her motto, “It is the responsibility of us all to give back to the community that makes us who we are.” The audience responded with thunderous applause.
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The Social Development Commission’s HSED program is one of the largest in Milwaukee County.
Alderwoman Milele Coggs was the graduation’s keynote speaker. (Photo courtesy of SDC)
(Photo courtesy of SDC)

created: December 17, 2015

author: Social Development Commission


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 17, 2015


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Burke Foundation makes gift to Milwaukee Public School teachers | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Burke Foundation
December 17, 2015
The Burke Foundation will make a one-time gift to DonorsChoose.org to fund all of the open requests listed by Milwaukee Public School teachers as of December 15, 2015. DonorsChoose.org is a web-based platform that allows teachers to post their wish lists for teaching materials, and connects them to individuals and organizations that help fund their requests. Requested items listed by Milwaukee teachers included projectors, microscopes, sporting equipment, room dividers, whiteboards, and supplementary curriculum, among others.
“Milwaukee teachers work incredibly hard every day to make a difference in the lives of young people in our city. We want to do something to directly support them.” said Kathy Burke, Burke Foundation Board Director and Dick Burke’s daughter. “We hope that this gift will inspire others to consider helping teachers through the DonorsChoose.org platform in the future.” The total of all Milwaukee projects listed on the site on December 15, 2015 was $40,457.
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author: Burke Foundation


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On the Block: Friends for life | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
December 17, 2015


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Funding shortfall could lead to big cuts in SDC free tax prep program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
December 18, 2015
The Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, 1032 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr., has served as an SDC VITA program site since 2013. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Unless the Social Development Commission can raise $40,000 by Dec. 31, there will be major cuts to its popular Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, according to Patrice Harris, director of community relations and marketing for the organization.
Last year, SDC’s team of volunteer tax preparers served 13,800 people in Milwaukee. Since the program began at SDC in 2001 it has served more than 162,000 low- to middle-income households in Milwaukee, according to Harris.
“More than $174 million has been returned to the Milwaukee economy through the program,” Harris said.
Unless the hole is filled, SDC would likely reduce the program from five sites to three in 2016, said Harris. Residents have been known to brave the cold and form lines outside SDC sites as early as 7 a.m. to receive free tax preparation services.
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A volunteer tax preparer works with a client at SDC’s Teutonia site. (Photo courtesy of SDC)
According to LaToya Jones, VITA program manager at SDC, individuals who don’t have access to free tax services will likely have to pay tax preparers.
“They’re going to charge them a few hundred dollars and that money is really going to reduce what they could be bringing back home to their families,” Jones said.
Nathan Tritt, technology team lead at Northwestern Mutual, has been a volunteer VITA tax preparer for 11 years and is the site coordinator for the program’s Sixteenth Street Community Health Center location at 1032 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive.
Tritt agreed that a reduction in free tax services could push people to utilize expensive services, but it also might result in residents filling out their own tax returns. “They might miss out on valuable tax credits without even knowing it or make mistakes that could lead to them getting audited,” he said.
The volunteer SDC preparers also help clients file for Homestead, Child Tax and other credits, in addition to connecting them with financial literacy services, said Jones.
Tritt said residents in the community surrounding the health center have a great need for the service.
“Helping people in this community do things that they’re not able to do themselves is really important,” Tritt said. If they’re not able to access the VITA program through the clinic or a different site, residents could be hurt, he added.
The VITA program operates at several other sites in the city including Journey House, 2110 W. Scott, and at MATC’s downtown campus, 700 W. State. SDC’s sites serve, by far, the most residents.
It’s not yet known whether the Sixteenth Street VITA site would be eliminated if the program is downsized.
The Internal Revenue Service matches funds raised by SDC for the VITA program. Because SDC lost a $40,000 grant this year, total funding for the $300,000 program would drop by $80,000.
Earlier this year, SDC lost its county contract to provide energy assistance services. The organization is in the process of moving its headquarters to the Lindsay Heights neighborhood.
SDC is reaching out to the community in hopes of raising the money before the Dec. 29 deadline. “We’re hoping for individual donations of $5, $10 or even $100 or more from a business that wants to support services for low-income families,” Jones said.

created: December 18, 2015


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Low-income seniors start early on college applications, beating the odds | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
College Possible
December 18, 2015
Milwaukee student Mahmoud Hasan didn’t have much hope of attending college until, one day during his sophomore year, a College Possible coach came up to him and his friends at their lunch table at Alexander Hamilton High School and asked if they were interested in college. Mahmoud said yes, found paperwork to sign up for College Possible in his hands the very next moment, and the rest is history. Now a junior, Mahmoud’s applied to six colleges and received word of his acceptance by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Cardinal Stritch University. He is also in the final interview round for Marquette University’s Educational Opportunity Program. Mahmoud is one of 217 low-income high schoolers in the state who have already earned admission to college with the help of College Possible. The success of these students offers a stark contrast to the general statistics, showing upper-income students to be nearly ten times more likely to earn a degree than their low-income peers. College Possible invites you to get to know Mahmoud and the rest of his cohort as they celebrate their growing list of college possibilities, choose a college and gear up for their freshman year.
“As the first in my family to go to college, I needed a little more help than what my mom could give me,” said Koren, a senior at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. Koren’s mother instilled in her the drive to go to college, not having had the opportunity herself. “I cannot stray from my goal to become a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I know education will take me places. Because of College Possible, I don’t have anything hindering me from going on to my next step – college.” Koren has been accepted to six colleges, and was awarded two fly-in visits to campuses across the country.
College Possible, an organization working to coach low-income students to and through college, encourages students to apply early for their top choice colleges. “My coach helped me understand that applying early makes a big difference. I am so proud that I’ve already been accepted to six great schools and have time to consider my options” Mahmoud said. “Before College Possible, I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity to be prepared for the ACT. I might have attended a tech school, but never would have considered going to Marquette or another prestigious school. Now, I know I could be an engineer, and that’s what my coach Luke and I are working toward.”
“Most low-income students don’t know that starting early means starting the fall of their senior year and that it can lead to many more college choices,” explained Edie Turnbull, Executive Director of College Possible Milwaukee. “In many cases students’ chances for admissions are higher early on because of rolling admission deadlines. In all cases, it’s worth starting early so students can spend the winter and spring focusing on earning the scholarships and financial aid needed to bring their top choice schools within reach.”
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Each member of College Possible’s 2016 cohort was encouraged to apply to at least five colleges by mid-December, making them highly competitive applicants and allowing them multiple options when deciding where to ultimately enroll. This year’s 354 seniors have already submitted 1,726 applications.

author: College Possible


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Refugees welcomed at annual International Learning Center holiday party | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sue Vliet
December 19, 2015
International Learning Center, at 639 N. 25th St., held its annual International Holiday Party on Thursday, Dec. 17. Highlights of this year’s event included homemade food and performances by refugees from Burma, Somalia and other countries.
International Learning Center, a program of Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, is an adult education center serving more than 600 refugees and immigrants annually through English language instruction, citizenship instruction, job readiness, life skills, math and computer literacy.

created: December 19, 2015


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SDC and NAMI provide help to individuals & families living with mental illness | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Social Development Commission
December 20, 2015
(Photo courtesy of Social Development Commission)
The Social Development Commission (SDC) and NAMI of Greater Milwaukee partnered on Saturday, December 19, to offer a Mental Health Resource Fair providing free resources to individuals and families living with a mental health diagnosis. The event, which also featured the play PIECES “In My Own Voice,” was held at SDC’s offices.
Several providers of free mental health resources that include individual and group counseling, outreach and prevention, suicide prevention, information on housing and shelters, clinics and more participated in the resource fair. In addition to SDC and NAMI of Greater Milwaukee, Mental Health America of Wisconsin, Families Moving Forward, and the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network were among resource agencies and organizations offering education and materials about available services for attendees.
The theatrical production PIECES “In My Own Voice,” depicted the lives of people living with a mental health diagnosis and the light of recovery. The play, written and directed by Brenda Wesley the education and outreach coordinator for NAMI of Greater Milwaukee, has been presented across Wisconsin, and recently nationwide, and has been viewed by more than 10,000 people.
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The performance addressed the symptoms and daily challenges of those living with bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, schizophrenia and PTSD. The stigma of mental health diagnoses and how individuals are treated versus someone with cancer or heart disease was communicated through the stories portrayed by the actors representing each mental illness. The play also shared a message of hope and healing with the support and love of those in their lives in addition to medication and proper treatment.
“Did you know?” facts were displayed throughout the production, including the startling fact that suicide is the number one cause of death in teens in Wisconsin.
The event was made possible through a grant to SDC from Families Moving Forward.
(Photo courtesy of Social Development Commission)

created: December 20, 2015


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 20, 2015


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Index ranks Milwaukee in top third of cities for fostering black male achievement | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
December 21, 2015
Young men wait their turn to play basketball during the opening day celebration at Moody Park. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Milwaukee ranks in the top third of major U.S. cities in its effort to create an environment for black males to meet their educational, work and personal life goals, according to a recently published national index that measures black male achievement.
Milwaukee scored 63 out of 100 points, ranking it 16th out of 50 U.S. cities, right below Chicago and just above Newark, N.J. in the Campaign for Black Male Achievement City Index. Detroit, Oakland and Washington, D.C. were the top three cities.
The national Campaign for Black Male Achievement created the new index that measures such factors as the presence of national initiatives to support black men and boys, and funding to support this demographic group in 50 major cities.
Andre Lee Ellis (left) runs “We Got This,” a grassroots mentoring program for young black men in Milwaukee. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
The index also measured city-led commitment to black men and boys and the presence of leaders and organizations working toward black male achievement. The 50 cities in 29 states are home to more than 5.5 million black men and boys, representing more than 30 percent of black males in the United States, according to the report.
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What the city as a whole does well “is look across sectors, whether it is the philanthropic community, the non-profit sector, the faith community or the different levels of government. We are really engaged in those levels of perspective and we do that better than most cities,” said Jeffery Roman, benchmark coordinator of minority male achievement at Milwaukee’s Public Policy Institute.
Milwaukee fared relatively well in terms of the number of organizations and initiatives that are involved with black male achievement in the city, the index showed. It made special note of the city’s Earn and Learn program, which has employed more than 22,000 teens — 83 percent of whom were minority — and raised more than $4.5 million since 2005. It also mentioned Compete Milwaukee, a new program that bridges private sector employer demand with workforce supply. The city funded 135 transitional jobs in 2015 under this program.
But, according to Roman, while there are many voices and perspectives at the table, Milwaukee struggles to create a united front and infrastructure where ideas and solutions can flourish.
For example, Milwaukee has several organizations such as the Lifecourse initiative for Healthy Families, Beyond the Bell and the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative that work in different ways to improve the lives of young black men, but they do not coordinate their efforts to create an environment for black male achievement, Roman said.
“We don’t lack any services, any programs or any resources in this community. What we lack is a vision … to connect those dots,” he said.
Dell Williams, a project coordinator at the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, said he sees the lack of coordination play out in the low number of safe recreational places for children in Milwaukee.
“There are a few structured things that go on … but there are not enough. There are a lot of playgrounds and buildings that could be utilized by programming for kids to have a safe environment,” he said.
Williams, however, said has seen progress in creating an environment for black male achievement in public education, namely at schools such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School, 3275 N. 3rd St., where black male teachers and community members play an active role in setting a positive example for young men.
“That’s where it starts and then it has to spill over into the community as far as jobs are concerned,” he said.
According to the index, Milwaukee lags in educating black boys. For example, only 5 percent of eighth- grade black males are at or above proficiency in reading, compared to 12 percent nationally. That spells trouble later in life for black men in Milwaukee, who earn an average of $33,000 a year, compared to the $44,000 on average made by black men nationally, the index showed.
“If there aren’t family-sustainable jobs, then there is going to be a problem with crime like we see in Milwaukee right now,” Williams said.
Williams said that while the index shows Milwaukee has a lot of work to do, he finds hope in the kind of engagement that exists in the city.
A lot of organizations “are doing a phenomenal job at trying to set an environment where black males can be nurtured to become productive members of society,” he said.

created: December 21, 2015

author: Brendan O’Brien


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Journey House hosts annual Winter Wonderland celebration | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Emmy A. Yates
December 21, 2015
Journey House, 2110 W. Scott St., hosted its annual Winter Wonderland celebration Saturday, attended by nearly 700 children from more than 234 families. Families from the community registered for the free event, where children had the opportunity to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, do crafts, eat cookies and refreshments, and receive clothing. The Young Milwaukee Charitable Organization provided about 2,000 toys to be given away.
A gift of $25,000 check was presented by the Coca Cola Foundation to support Journey House’s youth baseball and football leagues. Boxed cans of Coke products served as a throne for Santa and Mrs. Claus to sit on while they took their picture with neighborhood children

author: Emmy A. Yates


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Lindsay Heights Lens: The Rebels behind the cameras | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Running Rebels Youth Advisory Council
December 21, 2015
The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is made up of eight bright and creative youth leaders from Running Rebels Community Organization in Lindsay Heights. Through a Community-Based Participatory Research partnership between Rebels and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), the YAC is helping to create, analyze and share the findings of a study exploring youths’ environmental health perspectives and priorities. Started in spring 2015 and ongoing through the summer of 2016, the YAC focuses on building youth research and problem-solving capacity through four core modules:
The YAC would like to thank Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service for lending us their wonderful cameras and publishing their mini photovoice project, with a special shout out to Adam Carr for his beautiful compiling of the photo galleries. Stay tuned for news on the YAC’s final presentation, and watch for our monthly updates on the Running Rebels Facebook page!


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On the Block: Street dreams | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
December 22, 2015
Born and raised in Belzoni, Miss., Sylvester Rucker has lived in Milwaukee for more than 25 years. When he moved to 13th and Burleigh, he hoped that the streets there would be repaired. He has been disappointed.

created: December 22, 2015


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
December 21, 2015

author: Adam Carr


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COA’s new Holton Youth and Family Center is opening teen programs December 28th | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
COA Youth & Family Centers
December 23, 2015
After being closed for 4 months, the Holton Youth Center (510 E Burleigh) will reopen on December 28, thanks to a new partnership with COA Youth & Family Centers.  Youth throughout the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods will have a safe and supportive place to go with COA providing after school and summer teen (ages 13-19) programming at the Holton Youth Center, and preteen (ages 6 – 12) programming at COA’s Riverwest Center. Programming will include homework help, college/career prep, visual and performing arts, recreation, field trips, driver education, and community service projects.
Tom Schneider, Executive Director of COA, noted that the COA Holton Center is located next to the corner of Burleigh and Holton and “there is a critical need to provide daily programming that attracts and engages area youth.” At the end of August, the Holton Center ended programming for youth, leaving a void in services for youth in the north end of Riverwest.  The new collaboration between COA and Holton will again provide and expand daily youth services in this area.
Schneider stated that he hopes to engage residents as participants and as volunteers, and he stated, “With 109 years of history, families have come to trust COA’s Family Resource Centers, early child education centers, and youth programs. Our experience is that quality every day youth programming increases neighborhood safety and academic performance.”
“The Riverwest neighborhood has improved steadily since 1989 as a result of the great work done by COA and the Holton Youth & Family Center” said Mario Costantini, Board President of Holton Youth Center. “We are thrilled that these two very successful organizations will now join forces to provide desperately needed services to Riverwest and Harambee children and families.”
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COA Youth & Family Centers, founded in 1906, currently serves more than 10,000 children and families at 11 locations in Milwaukee and at Camp Helen Brachman in central Wisconsin. Riverwest is home to COA, with its administrative offices on North Ave, its Riverwest center on E Garfield, and Kilbourn and Kadish Parks operated by COA overlooking the City’s skyline on North Ave.

created: December 23, 2015

author: COA Youth & Family Centers


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Milwaukee Turners call for U.S. to admit refugees and reject fear and isolation | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Art Heitzer
December 23, 2015
Milwaukee’s oldest civic organization cited the early settlement of Milwaukee by refugees from Germany in support of a public statement calling on the U.S. and Wisconsin to welcome their proportional share of Syrian and other refugees. The Milwaukee Turners was founded by refugees who fled Germany after the failed democratic revolution in 1848, the same year Wisconsin became a state.
Noting the significant support that these German immigrants provided to the early years of the Republican party, including the election of Abraham Lincoln, the statement also briefly cites examples of fear and prejudice in the U.S. against German Americans during World War I, the denial of rights to newly freed African-Americans starting right after the Civil War, and the exclusion of Jews and other refugees from Europe during the Holocaust.
The statement contrasts the current position of Germany, which has welcomed one million refugees this year, including many highly educated Syrians, with the “the unconstitutional and xenophobic pronouncements which are being accepted as part of mainstream U.S. political dialogue.” It cites the powerless pledges of numerous governors including Wisconsin’s, to block refugees from Syria, and the fact that “multiple leading presidential candidates—not just one–have suggested a religious test” to exclude Muslims “or admit only those who can prove themselves to be Christian.”
Turner Board President Art Heitzer noted reports showing a sharp rise in attacks on Muslims in the U.S. as one reason the statement was important. I am gratified that the Board passed this unanimously, he added, “including our commitment to support the full civil rights of all of our neighbors.”  The statement concludes, “We call on all Wisconsinites, including the vast majority of us who are of immigrant stock, to support humane and safe admission of our proportional share of refugees from Syria and other nations. They will make our nation stronger, and to do otherwise is to play into an atmosphere of fear and isolation, and to fuel the flames of intolerance both at home and abroad.”
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The full statement is below, and can also be seen at the Milwaukee Turners website, www.milwaukeeturners.org.
MILWAUKEE TURNERS SUPPORT THE U.S. DOING ITS FAIR SHARE IN WELCOMING REFUGEES
As the oldest civic organization in Milwaukee, founded by progressive German refugees escaping from repression in the late 1840’s, the Milwaukee Turners can no longer ignore the unconstitutional and xenophobic pronouncements which are being accepted as part of mainstream U.S. political dialogue.
Our founding members, along with many other German Americans, were early supporters of the Republican Party of the U.S.; they helped elect Abraham Lincoln, and pushed him towards abolition of slavery. On the landing up to our historic ballroom at Turner Hall, there is a monument to over 20 members of the Milwaukee Turners, Gentile and Jew, believers and freethinkers, who gave their lives to defend this republic and to abolish slavery once and for all. At least six American Turners served as Generals in the Union army, including Carl Schurz who later headed a commission investigating the plight of newly freed African Americans; its findings that their rights were consistently being denied in the former Confederacy was a key justification for continued U.S. military occupation as a necessity to protect the rights of all citizens under Reconstruction.
During the WWI era, U.S. citizens of all nationalities questioned that war, which led to massive attacks on our civil liberties, and even the refusal by the U.S. Congress to seat Milwaukee’s twice-elected U.S. Representative, Victor Berger. From the renaming of private clubs and foods like sauerkraut, to the suppression of multi-language education, xenophobia and hysteria dominated and distorted our popular culture.
With the rise of the Third Reich in Germany, the Milwaukee Turners opposed Nazis and their anti-Semitism, while some Americans who claimed to be more “patriotic” actively opposed allowing Jewish and other refugees from the Nazis to reach safe haven in the U.S.  The passenger ship St. Louis was refused docking rights and over 200 of those would-be refugees later became victims of the Holocaust after it returned to Europe.
Today, Germany has both humanely and wisely welcomed some one million refugees in 2015. The largest number are from Syria, many of whom are highly educated and English speakers, including lawyers, doctors and scientists. Yet our governor has become one of many who claim they will stop even 20,000 refugees from entering the U.S., though they lack legal authority to do so. Multiple leading presidential candidates—not just one–have suggested a religious test, either to block all Muslim refugees and visitors, or admit only those who can prove themselves to be Christian.
These positions are both dangerous and repugnant to what America is supposed to stand for. We are committed to supporting the full civil rights of all of our neighbors, Muslim, Jew, Sikh, Christian or other believers and nonbelievers. We call on all Wisconsinites, including the vast majority of us who are of immigrant stock, to support humane and safe admission of our proportional share of refugees from Syria and other nations. They will make our nation stronger, and to do otherwise is to play into an atmosphere of fear and isolation, and to fuel the flames of intolerance both at home and abroad.
Unanimously approved by the Board on December 21, 2015

author: Art Heitzer