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Greater Milwaukee Foundation awards two grants to United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
September 24, 2015
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County announced today that the Greater Milwaukee Foundation provided two two-year grants to the organization. One of the two-year grants will provide $100,000 to support an innovative partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools. The other grant will provide $40,000 for the Thriving Waukesha County Alliance.
“We are pleased to support these two, meaningful programs that align with Greater Milwaukee Foundation priorities in education, and health and human services respectively,” said Kathryn Dunn, Vice President of Community Investment for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. “United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County continues to be a strong partner in strengthening our region.”
The partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools is a new strategy called the Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership (MCSP). MCSP works to increase a school’s capacity to grow strong partnerships with its surrounding community and better engage and align resources centered on the self-identified, real time needs of communities.
“We are absolutely thrilled that this investment by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation will help United Way align diverse partnerships, collaborate with families, and develop a shared vision that is integrated into all aspects of the school,” said Ryan Hurley, Director of the Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “This generous grant from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation will help us sustain our commitment at each of the four community schools to ensure that we reach our initial two-year goals of improving student attendance and academic engagement, increasing the level of trust between schools, families and the larger community and aligning school and community partnerships to support student success.”
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There are currently four schools implementing the Community School model: Auer Avenue School, Bradley Tech, Hopkins-Lloyd Community School and James Madison Academic Campus.
“The Community School model is already making great strides in creating change in our public schools,” said Darienne Driver, Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools.  “Other cities that have implemented this model have proven that it works to improve climate and culture, academic achievement and investment in local neighborhoods. We are grateful the Greater Milwaukee Foundation sees our vision and chooses to invest in this program to improve the lives of all children in our community.”
The other two-year grant supports the Thriving Waukesha County Alliance (TWCA), which was created to ensure the long-term sustainability and optimal capacity of the health and human services sector in Waukesha County.
“We believe that if, as a community, we’re going to effectively face these increasing needs for social services, we’re going to have to start working together much more effectively than we have in the past.” said Ed Olson, volunteer co-chair of TWCA.
The Thriving Waukesha County Alliance plans to use the grant to continue their work in developing strategic partnerships, improving the financial stability of local non-profits, improving strategic collaboration between funders and non-profits and increasing the awareness of available services.


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Lead Poisoning is Far From Over in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 24, 2015
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio

source: news-milwaukeenns

created: September 24, 2015

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

author: Andrea Waxman


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Milwaukee Mayor Barrett focused on development, housing and infrastructure in budget | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 24, 2015
Milwaukee Business Journal


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Near West Side Business Improvement District expansion approved | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Near West Side Partners, Inc
September 24, 2015
The expansion of the current Avenues West Business Improvement District (BID) #10, into a new, larger Near West Side BID #10, was approved Tuesday by the Milwaukee Common Council.
“On behalf of BID #10, Avenues West Association and Near West Side Partners, we’re thrilled with the approval of the BID’s expansion,” said Keith Stanley, executive director of Near West Side Partners, Inc. “BID #10 is providing great services in the existing Avenues West area of the City and we believe that expanding those services throughout the Near West Side of the City will bring great value to our community.”
The newly-expanded BID will focus on bringing its successful community-improvement initiatives to the entire Near West Side community – including efforts such as façade improvements, increased safety and security measures, advising on quality maintenance and management of properties, marketing of Near West Side businesses and neighborhood activities, and the opportunity for businesses and organizations to be involved in the revitalization of the area.
“As a business owner in the Near West Side, I know first-hand the enormous benefit the BID can bring to our local businesses and commercial corridors,” said Rick Weigand, chair of the current BID #10 and owner of the Ambassador Hotel. “Expanding the geographic boundaries of BID #10 to include the entire Near West Side area will increase the involvement and support of the businesses in the area and better enable BID #10 to continue to provide and enhance its services.”
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The BID #10 expanded boundaries will include Interstate 43 on the east, Highway 41 on the west, Interstate 94 on the south and Vliet Street west of 27th Street and Highland Boulevard east of 27th Street on the north. This area includes the four major arterials of the Near West Side – 27th Street, 35th Street, Wisconsin Avenue and Vliet Street, in addition to numerous commercial corridors.
“The expansion of BID #10 will help provide the additional support needed to make Near West Side Partners’ efforts sustainable for the long term,” said Rana Altenburg, vice president of public affairs at Marquette University and president of the Near West Side Partners Board of Directors. “We believe the investment by our local commercial property owners – including significant new investment by our anchor institutions – will be good not only for our area businesses, but for the entire community.”
A BID is a special district where projects are conducted to enhance that area’s economic vitality. The projects and direction of each BID are determined by the businesses and commercial property owners that are in the district and that fund the BID. A BID is the ultimate form of local control of civic projects, as an initiative is guided by their own Board of Directors and all projects occur within their district boundaries. Involvement in the BID also allows the potential to increase property values, improve sales and decrease commercial vacancy rates.
“We thank City staff and the Milwaukee Common Council, especially our Near West Side aldermen – Council President Murphy, Alderman Bauman and Alderman Stamper – for their leadership on this important initiative for our community,” said Stanley.

author: Near West Side Partners, Inc


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On the Block: ‘The work don’t pay’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
September 24, 2015
Primitivo Cortes was the second oldest of 11 children; his father worked in the fields of Mexico.
“I miss when I was a child … cause it was quiet. I am from a little town in Mexico and I moved to a big city to work, but the work don’t pay. We are poor now but that time was so terrible because we [had] no jobs,” Cortes said.
Cortes came to Milwaukee when he was 28 and got a job at an El Rey tortilla factory. He worked in the salt fields on Jones’ Island for 24 years and plans to retire in two years.
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Read more about Primitivo Cortes at milwaukeestories.org.

author: Jabril Faraj


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 23, 2015

created: September 23, 2015

author: Adam Carr


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The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 24, 2015
The Atlantic


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The stunning — and expanding — gap in life expectancy between the rich and the poor | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 24, 2015
The Washington Post


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UCC begins process of making good on $20,000 pledge to parks system | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
September 24, 2015
Bruce Guadalupe Community School students regularly spend recesses at the park. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Following a report last week by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that United Community Center (UCC) had never paid a 2012 pledge of $20,000 to help rebuild Walker Square Park, the organization is now ready to make good on its promise.
In an email to NNS, Jennifer Steiner, UCC marketing director, wrote: “The United Community Center is dedicated to following through on the financial commitment made to Milwaukee County to support the Walker Square Park.  UCC is actively engaged in working with Milwaukee County Parks Department to resolve this, and is following the process set forth by the county to fulfill our commitment and pledge.”
According to Megan Haeger, contracts and projects manager for the county parks system, the county now has a signed contract from UCC, which will be presented to the Board of County Supervisors for approval on Oct. 27. Once the contract is approved, an invoice will be prepared by the county and sent to UCC for payment.
The Bruce Guadalupe Community School is run out of the United Community Center, 1031 S. 9th St. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
In an interview with NNS on Sept. 15, Pascual Rodriguez, principal of Bruce Guadalupe Community School, denied making the $20,000 commitment. Juan Ruiz, deputy director of the UCC board and its Chief Finance Officer, said the organization was still waiting for an invoice for the project, which was completed three years ago. The county claimed that an invoice could not be created unless a contract had been signed.
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Documents obtained by NNS through a Freedom of Information Act request showed Rodriguez had indeed committed $20,000 from UCC towards the park, but that a contract sent to him by the county was never signed and returned.
Eventually, the $20,000 payment will go to repay playground debt, including that incurred from the Walker Square Park playground project, according to Haeger.
Samantha Wilson, a member of the Walker Square Neighborhood Association (WSNA) board, said she’s happy to hear that UCC is finally making good on its promise. Wilson and other Walker Square residents have been at odds with UCC in recent years over what they’ve described as Guadalupe’s excessive use of the park and unresponsiveness to the needs of nearby residents.
“I really hope they will work more with the community from now on to repair trust and improve relations,” said Wilson.
In response to the criticism, Steiner emailed, “With more than 2,000 people utilizing the United Community Center on a daily basis we understand there are challenges that occur and impact the neighbors.” Steiner added that UCC is committed to working with the WSNA and neighbors to help alleviate the problems.

author: Edgar Mendez


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Local historian sheds light on Milwaukee neighborhoods in new book | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
September 25, 2015
John Gurda with his new book “Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods.” (Photo by Brendan O’Brien)
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service sat down with author and historian John Gurda to ask him about his new book “Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods,” which was just released. Gurda explained why he took on the project, the main theme of the work and what makes the 37 Milwaukee neighborhoods noteworthy.
NNS: What inspired you to write this book?
JG: If I hadn’t, we would have let a great deal of information fall by the wayside. This goes back to a series of posters that the city put out in the 1980s. I wrote the essays on the back, but the posters are gone forever and that was a lot of information. So it was a perennial interest in the neighborhoods and a desire to ensure that information we had gathered 30 years ago was updated and accessible to the general public.
NNS: What is the book about?
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JG: It’s about the neighborhoods. How they started, how they changed and where they are today. When you come down to it, any history is a study of change. The neighborhoods have transformed over time. In my old neighborhood on the South Side around Jackson Park, my grandparents had a hardware store on Lincoln Avenue for 50 years. When I was growing up and into the 1980s, that neighborhood was largely Polish and German and now it’s Latino. That’s incredible change in less than a generation. That’s the nature of life in the city.
NNS: What is the main theme of the book?
JG: That geography matters in Milwaukee and that the neighborhoods are important. Where we live on a small scale is where we most visibly see problems, opportunities and celebrations. Certainly we have metropolitan things such as professional sports and festivals, but on the neighborhood level, like in Walker’s Point, the Third Ward or on the South Side, that is where life is lived.
NNS: Why should someone read this book?
JG: It will open doors that you didn’t know existed. There are communities in here that are off the beaten path as well as ones that are quite familiar. Seeing the variety of neighborhoods in Milwaukee can be nothing but enriching for anyone who lives here or has an interest in Milwaukee.
NNS: How does the book show that Milwaukee is special?
JG: Early on we had rivers that divided us into sides so we weren’t this big monolith. We were always cut up into North Side, South Side, East Side or West Side. That’s part of Milwaukee’s foundation and it has persisted and evolved over the years. If you look at a map, we have this sort of quilt of Milwaukee neighborhoods. People who live up in Thurston Woods and down there in Tippecanoe share the city, pay taxes and watch the same television channels, but they live really different kinds of lives. There’s a remarkable variety.
NNS: Do you have a favorite neighborhood or area of the city?
JG: Honestly, no. I love them all for different reasons. The South Side, where I’m from, is home territory. The diversity on the East Side where you go from cottages along the river to castles on the lake — and that’s been true since the 1840s — you can’t not like that. The variety on the West Side as well. You have the Merrill Park (neighborhood)…where the Irish settled, a Slovak settlement and an affluent settlement all in one square mile. The resilience of the North Side neighborhoods like Harambee, Amani and Metcalfe Park where a lot of good stuff is going on after facing some severe challenges since World War II. They have never given up. There is an emotional and financial investment being made there and some very cool things are going on.
“Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods” can be purchased at Historic Milwaukee, 207 E. Michigan St., Suite 406, or online at HistoricMilwaukee.org. The book is also on sale at Boswell Book Company, 2559 N. Downer Ave. Milwaukee nonprofits can also apply to receive a free copy of the book by filling out a form on HistoricMilwaukee.org.

created: September 25, 2015

author: Brendan O’Brien


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 24, 2015


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Powered by pedals, unity ride brings together city’s North and South sides | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wyatt Massey
September 26, 2015
Ammar Nsoroma (center) organizes the Black & Brown Unity Rides through Red Bike & Green, an organization that seeks to build a sustainable bike culture in the black community. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
Under a bright midmorning sun, Jennifer Ruel pedaled her bicycle into the Mitchell Park Conservatory parking lot on a recent Saturday. Biking has been a passion and means of transportation for the Walker’s Point resident for more than nine years.
“I love powering myself; it makes me feel strong,” she said.
Ruel and her daughter joined a group of nearly 20 people from Milwaukee’s North and South sides for the first of two “Black & Brown Unity Rides.”
The Milwaukee chapter of Red Bike & Green organized the event. Ammar Nsoroma, the chapter’s founder, worked with Tatiana Maida of the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center to bring the neighborhoods together.
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Danny Cross came to the ride to make connections with cycling enthusiasts on the city’s South Side. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
“We want to do these black and brown community rides to promote unity,” Maida said. “It’s more empowering being in a group.”
That day’s ride consisted of a 5.5-mile loop through the city’s South Side. Biking in a group is safer, Nsoroma said, and the event offered an opportunity for people to gain confidence riding in the city.
“Red Bike & Green was started to grow ridership among the black community,” Nsoroma said. “We have to get people to think about riding as something functional and something to affect health.”
Improving health is one component of Red Bike & Green’s “3 point plan,” which includes improving the environment and the local economy. Riders benefit from the physical activity, are exposed to a low-cost transportation option and learn how biking reduces carbon emissions. The routes also include stops at local businesses.
Danny Cross has participated in the weekend rides since the chapter was founded last year. The opportunity to meet new people keeps him coming back, he said, and riding in a group gives others the chance to build a healthy habit.
“When we get out here and ride, other people see and maybe they’ll join,” he said. “We have more and more people showing up every time.”
Mike Honcho was new to Milwaukee when he met Nsoroma. Biking became a way for him to get involved in and experience his new home.
“I had to find a way to enjoy the city,” he said. “I saw a group of like-minded riders and I wanted to ride with them.”
Honcho also participated with Red Bike & Green at various community events, such as the city’s Juneteenth parade and Walnut Way’s 16th annual Harvest Day. These activities are paying off, Nsoroma said.
“Other people are starting to take notice,” he said. “Our first rides we had very few people, usually four or five riders.”
The group now consistently gets between 20 and 30 riders at its events. The Black & Brown Unity Ride was the group’s 11th ride of 2015 and Nsoroma hopes to complete 15 by November. The second Black & Brown Unity Ride will take place Oct. 17.

created: September 26, 2015

author: Wyatt Massey


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 25, 2015


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A Small Boost in Family Income Makes a Big Difference for Kids | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 28, 2015
The Atlantic

created: September 28, 2015


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Executive to write new chapter for Nonprofit Center: Robert Meiksins | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 28, 2015
Milwaukee Business Journal


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First Stage to serve as lead agency of newly-formed CLC at MPS’ Kluge Elementary School | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Public Schools
September 28, 2015
First Stage has become the first arts organization in Wisconsin to receive a Community Learning Center or CLC contract for its programming at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Kluge Elementary. The CLC is a collaboration with the MPS Department of Recreation and Community Services. Through this robust after-school partnership, students will have access to First Stage Theater Academy acting classes, arts-integrated literacy programs and character development workshops. The goals of the program include strengthening student academic achievement, enhancing job readiness skills, promoting character development, and empowering parents to play an active role in their children’s education.
For the past five years, First Stage has provided Theater Academy programming, arts-integrated workshops, literacy based residencies, and tickets to professional theater performances to Kluge students. Last year, First Stage offered a pilot after school program that served 32 students two days per week. “The CLC is the next step in our relationship with Kluge,” said First Stage Education Director Julia Magnasco. “Our programming has grown to meet the needs of the students, and now First Stage will be a consistent presence in the classroom and afterschool.”
The CLC will run Monday through Friday from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m., September through May during which students will receive approximately 11 hours per week of academic enrichment, homework help and recreation. First Stage programming will take place on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons and include such activities as Musical Mathematics, Dramatic Anatomy, Dramatic Literacy and others. Small group and individual tutoring, Mathletics and other enriching, extra-curricular activities will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays.
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Program partners include Interfaith RSVP tutors, Girls on the Run, the LEGO Club and others.
Family events will be held monthly and will include dinner and family-friendly programming. “We want families to be a big part of this program,” said Magnasco. “Parents will be inspired by these activities and empowered to be a big part of their children’s education.”  Programming will include presentations on children’s literacy development by Milwaukee Succeeds, interview and public speaking skills for adults led by First Stage, storytelling nights, financial literacy programs and family field trips to First Stage theater performances.
Enrollment for the CLC program is open to all interested students at Kluge Elementary.

author: Milwaukee Public Schools


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Greater Milwaukee Foundation supports MKE Plays with special centennial gift | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Greater Milwaukee Foundation
September 28, 2015
As a permanent gift to the Milwaukee community, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation is partnering with the City of Milwaukee to replace three neighborhood playgrounds identified through the MKE Plays initiative.
In celebration of its 100th year of service, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation is providing regional gifts to help create lasting public spaces in each of the four counties it serves. The Foundation’s centennial gift of $200,000 will support reconstruction of parks at North 67th Street and West Spokane Street, at North Long Island Drive and West Custer Avenue, and Foundation Park near North 37th Street and West McKinley Avenue. The first two parks are located in neighborhoods participating in the Foundation’s Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative (Foundation Park was left severely deteriorated following a fire that occurred several years ago).
A special groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 29 at the playground at N. Long Island Dr. and W. Custer Ave. Common Council President Michael J. Murphy will be joined at the ceremony by Mayor Tom Barrett and officials from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
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“Reconstructing these playgrounds will leave a lasting legacy in Milwaukee neighborhoods while providing families with quality destinations for recreation in areas where play options are limited,” said Ellen M. Gilligan, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. “MKE Plays engages residents in designing the play areas so they reflect community wishes while leveraging strong public, private and nonprofit partners to make it happen.”
With funding for recreational facilities declining steadily during the last 15 years, Common Council President Murphy conceived MKE Plays as a public-private collaborative solution to the deterioration of city parks.
“Play is an important part of the healthy physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of young people, and city parks are meant to provide youth with a safe play environment,” President Murphy said. “Yet, the poor condition of too many of these parks limits their potential to inspire.”
By engaging local residents in the design, reconstruction, and maintenance of city play spaces, MKE Plays aims to increase youth access to quality play experiences while strengthening community activism and self-perception.
With the help of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and other local partners such as the Zilber Family Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Northwestern Mutual, and the Fund for Lake Michigan, MKE Plays has raised nearly $800,000 of private contribution.
Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, whose 1st Aldermanic District includes the Long Island Dr./W. Custer playground, said the generous gift from the Foundation will “spark hope, engagement and healthy fun” among city children and families.
“This is a wonderful investment in neighborhoods that will have a positive effect for years to come,” Alderman Hamilton said. “I look forward to seeing the creative ideas that come out of this process and want to thank all involved for recognizing the impact city parks can have on local communities.”
The community engagement process for each of the three parks funded by GMF will begin this fall, with construction targeted for summer 2016.

author: Greater Milwaukee Foundation


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Innovative new Sojourner Family Peace Center pulls together range of help | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 28, 2015
jsonline.com


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‘More work remains’ on possible partnership between Carmen, Pulaski | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
September 28, 2015
Casimir Pulaski High School has had problems with attendance, achievement and graduation rates. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Milwaukee Public Schools is considering a “knowledge exchange” partnership between a charter school and one of the district’s traditional public high schools. MPS has held three meetings to solicit community feedback on the idea, which would expand the Carmen High School of Science and Technology’s highly sought-after program into Casimir Pulaski High School, where both institutions would operate side by side.
The proposal, which was expected to go before the board during its Sept. 24 meeting, did not garner a vote. MPS Board President Michael Bonds and Superintendent Darienne Driver released a joint statement saying, “more work remains to engage the community around this potential partnership” before the item is considered at next month’s board meeting.
The idea of a “knowledge exchange” is also being explored in Houston, where Spring Branch Independent School District has partnered with KIPP Houston and YES Prep, two charter networks, at two different middle schools since 2012. The initiative has seen some early success.
Carmen South is a non-instrumentality school chartered by MPS that was recently named the most challenging high school in the state of Wisconsin by the Washington Post. Carmen also has a campus on the northwest side. Pulaski, a traditional public school, is a mainstay on Milwaukee’s South Side but has increasingly struggled with student performance and retention. MPS is under pressure to raise student achievement because of recently passed state legislation that could turn low-performing schools over to charter or voucher school operators.
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Carmen Schools head Patricia Hoben (center) and Pulaski Principal Lolita Patrick (right) attended a community meeting to discuss the potential partnership. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
MPS spokesperson Tony Tagliavia said the district is working to improve reading and math achievement and graduation rates, particularly in high schools, and noted efforts to explore different strategies to improve schools are underway. “I would see this as a component of that overall effort.”
Tagliavia said Pulaski and Carmen were chosen because they “have the right assets to be a potentially strong match.” In January, the MPS board approved 800 additional seats, over time, for the Carmen South campus. This proposal would put 200 of those seats at Pulaski next year.
MPS Chief of Staff Gina Spang said Pulaski has facilities, particularly a recently updated, state-of-the-art automotive lab, that a small program such as Carmen’s lacks. Carmen, whose charter began in 2007, is leading the district in ACT scores, said Spang, praising the school’s track record.
Carmen’s south campus, which has 350 students, had a four-year graduation rate of 68.3 percent in 2013-14. However, more than 95 percent of its students graduate in five years, despite graduation and advancement criteria that exceed Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) standards. Ninety-seven percent of Carmen’s student body is economically disadvantaged.
Pulaski, where 63.6 percent of 1,560 students graduated in 2005-06, has taken a turn for the worst in recent years. By 2013-14, Pulaski’s enrollment had dropped to 1,164; the school was graduating only slightly more than half its students; and almost 11 percent of students dropped out. The school received a score of 28.7 out of 100 on the DPI school report card in 2011-12, a number well below the benchmark for failing schools.
“I think it would be fantastic, really fantastic,” said Pulaski parent Jill Czubinski of the potential partnership. She added, “This is just crowd control, sometimes, here and it’s kind of sad to see that … the students … they’re kind of slipping through the cracks.”
Czubinski said her son, a junior, has been disengaged in class because he isn’t challenged enough. Omayra Rivera, another parent, said her son is bright but rarely is given homework. Both agreed more rigorous courses and more personal attention would likely benefit their children (Carmen’s student to teacher ratio is 10:1, compared to 25:1 at Pulaski).
“To me, it’s the logical next step,” said Carmen Schools head Patricia Hoben. She sees charter schools as a model that allows innovation.
“I always want to see, in any system, when things are working … how do we get them working somewhere else?” Hoben said. “I think the closer we are, physically, to an MPS school … there’s a lot more communication that can happen.”
MPS District 7 Board Representative Claire Zautke, whose district includes Pulaski, added, “We’re always hearing from parents and families that we need to be actively and really vigorously pursuing expanding the number of high-quality seats that we can provide, especially at the high school level. And, I think that this is really an opportunity to do that.”
The fact that Carmen is a non-instrumentality charter, which means the school can hire teachers who are not part of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA), is “something that defines them, to a certain degree,” Spang acknowledged.
Though the proposal may be controversial with the teachers’ union and certain board members, Spang said the district is “trying to not get too bogged down by that issue.”
She added, “This is really for the benefit of students … and we think that this model is a way to potentially [improve achievement] and do it at a quick rate.”
Friday, MTEA President Kim Schroeder stated via email, “Pulaski stakeholders need many more details about this plan, including specifics on how it will help Pulaski students succeed.”
Lolita Patrick, Pulaski’s new principal, sees the move as a positive. “It’s an opportunity for students really to collaborate with two different schools,” said Patrick, who mentioned the possibility of “class-sharing.”
“Everyone knows that Carmen has had great success … so to be able to emulate that success that they have but … at a comprehensive public high school would be a great opportunity,” Patrick added. “My goal is for my children to be successful.”
Artavier Davis, 18, a former Pulaski student who is finishing his degree at James E. Groppi High School, said he thinks the partnership “probably is a good idea” because Carmen would set a good example. At the same time, Davis, who works third shift as a heavy machine operator and wasn’t able to graduate last year because he was “moving around a lot,” said he worries low-performing students would feel intimidated and simply move to another school.
According to Zautke, when the administration came to her with the idea she said the partnership would have to happen “in a way that is respectful of our students and families (at Pulaski) and in a way that really invests in them.” She said Pulaski students could benefit from expanded programming, added staff or more resources for current staff.
If the school board approves the proposal, it would roll out next year with the goal of having two high-performing, 800-student programs at the location in four to five years. Spang said that if it succeeds, MPS would consider replicating the model. She added that the effort would be studied, either internally or by independent researchers.
Hoben is interested in the impact a knowledge exchange of this sort could have on the entire public school system. “Are there things that are transferable (from charter to traditional schools)? And, if they’re not because of certain obstacles around policies and procedures, then let’s figure that out,” she said.
“Does it mean that charters will eventually go away? I have no idea,” Hoben said. “Does it mean that we do another one somewhere else because it works? Let’s see.”
Two additional community meetings will be held at Pulaski High School, 2500 W. Oklahoma Ave., from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.


text:
| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 27, 2015

created: September 27, 2015


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Obamacare Enrollment Numbers: 17.1 Million Americans Insured, Including 4 Million Latinos | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
September 28, 2015
Latin Post


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Renovated Arlington Heights Park holds grand opening | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Emmy A. Yates
September 28, 2015
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Arlington Heights Park, 3429 W. Pierce St., drew neighbors, funders and public officials, including Mayor Tom Barrett, Common Council President Michael Murphy, Ald. Bob Donovan, Ald. Robert W. Puente, Mike Mervis, a consultant at Zilber Ltd., and Susan Lloyd, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation.
The park is the first of a dozen to be renovated by the MKE Plays initiative, spearheaded by Murphy and funded with an initial $300,000 grant from the Zilber Family Foundation. The additions to the park, which community residents helped plan and build, include youth and adult fitness areas, climbing structures and a rain garden.

author: Emmy A. Yates


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A call for ideas: Join a tournavation for public health | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mayor Tom Barrett
September 29, 2015
Our individual health is complex. In Milwaukee, we know what experts have long preached: That improving health care and health behaviors alone is not enough. Our health is connected to much more.
In fact, more than 50 percent of what affects your health has nothing to do with a visit to the doctor’s office or your own behaviors. While those factors are essential to good health, the majority of what affects your well-being is the environment in which you live. Quite simply: Healthy individuals result from healthy communities.
We have incredible organizations working within our communities to help improve all of the factors that result in better health. But where does technology fit into this equation?
It is a big question. And that is why today I am joined by a coalition of partners to ask you: How could technology make a strategic difference in improving the health and well-being of Milwaukee women, children, men and families?
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Along with Dohmen Company Foundation, RedArrow Labs, NEWaukee, the City of Milwaukee Health Department and the Milwaukee Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families at United Way of Greater Milwaukee, I ask you pitch us your answer in a Tournavation for public health.
What is a Tournavation? It is a way to open up a call for solutions to pressing issues facing our community. Like previous Tournavations, which have resulted in my HOME GR/OWN initiative and a series of art installations that have brought life to new locations, this Tournavation seeks to crowd-source ideas to create a single, tangible step toward improving the health of Milwaukee residents.
Don’t have tech expertise? Don’t worry! You tell us what kind of software or tech solution you think may aid on-the-ground efforts to improve health, or that may support the efficiency or operations of organizations, and Dohmen Company Foundation and RedArrow Labs will take the most viable, scalable and concrete idea to be developed by a team of volunteer IT professionals and gift it to the community. Medical devices will not be considered.
Ideas can be submitted through Oct. 14. The top 10 ideas will be selected by a panel of public health and IT experts, and will then be presented at a public event on Oct. 20 in City Hall. Please find details about the Tournavation and submit your ideas online at http://newaukee.com/event/tournavation/.
Share this news with friends, agencies and organizations working throughout our community. We want every person to have a chance to propose an innovative solution.
Questions? Join a public information session, set to be held Oct. 1 and Oct. 6 at Dohmen Company.
Here’s to continuing the movement toward a healthier Milwaukee.

created: September 29, 2015

author: Mayor Tom Barrett


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 30, 2015

created: September 30, 2015


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TRNV-WBan-1 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Name *
September 29, 2015

author: Name *


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Ald. Coggs announces winners of 6th District landscape awards | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Milele A. Coggs
September 29, 2015
(Photo by Adam Carr)
At a 6th Aldermanic District town hall meeting Thursday night, Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs announced the winners of the 6th District Landscape Awards.
The winners include the Birchfield family at 2629 N. 4th St., the Ray family at 3520 N. 25th St. and the We Got This Garden at the corner of N. 9th Street and W. Ring Street. Honorable mentions include residents MingYon Blackwell, Barbara Janczak and Josephine Jones.
“I want to thank all the great participants in this year’s landscape awards, and everyone who takes the time to beautify their neighborhood by maintaining creative landscaping on their property,” Alderwoman Coggs said. “The efforts of these hard-working residents make this a more appealing place to live and, I truly believe, provide a boost to everyone’s quality of life.”
Alderwoman Coggs reiterated her commitment to consistently supporting and encouraging the beautification and improvement of the district’s neighborhoods. The landscape award is a part of Alderwoman Coggs’s broader Clean City Project.
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“Congratulations to all of the winners and honorees,” Alderwoman Coggs said. “Thanks to all participants for doing your part to keep Milwaukee beautiful!”

author: Ald. Milele A. Coggs


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SDC offers money saving programs for low-income seniors | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Patrice Harris
September 29, 2015
For more than 50 years, the Social Development Commission (SDC) has offered programs and services that assist low-income residents of Milwaukee County. One of the populations that SDC serves is seniors that often have limited financial resources.
Many times individuals have a preconceived notion that they will not qualify for programs. With escalating health care costs and many seniors living on a controlled budget, it is worth investing the time to determine whether you qualify. Seniors are often pleasantly surprised that they qualify for these programs and how much money they can put back in their pocket.
The senior benefits services provided by SDC not only help identify what programs those with low-income qualify for, but assist in the completion of applications required for program enrollment. Once enrolled, households realize the impact of needed financial savings.
The Medicare Savings Program pays for the Medicare Part B premium if it is currently deducted from a Social Security check. Medicaid returns the premium back to the check. To be eligible, the monthly gross income for a single household cannot exceed $1,324 and the liquid asset limit, which includes items such as bank accounts, stock, and CDs, cannot exceed $7,280. For a dual household, the monthly gross income limit is $1,792 and the liquid asset limit is $10,930. The first $20 of unearned income will not count toward this limit.
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Medicare Extra Help Part D, a prescription drug plan, can pay for all or part of Medicare Part D premiums and, depending on the income level, it may also pay for all or most of prescription drug costs. In a single person household, the monthly gross income is limited to $1,471 and the liquid asset limit has a cap of $12,140. For a two-person household, monthly gross income cannot be in excess of $1,991 and the liquid asset limit is $24,250.
The SDC senior benefits specialist is able to assist seniors with applications for FoodShare, which can provide financial assistance with the purchase of groceries. Individual’s monthly gross income may not exceed $1,946 and the limit is $2,622 for two-person households. There is no asset limit to qualify for FoodShare.
Seniors 65 and over may also be interested in completing a Senior Care Prescription application. The individual household gross monthly income limit is $1,569 and the gross monthly income for two person homes cannot exceed $2,124. There is no asset limit. Once enrolled, Senior Care does have a $30 annual program fee.
Seniors interested in applying for one or more of these money saving programs, can schedule an appointment that is free of charge. The SDC senior benefits specialist will provide assistance and will aid interested seniors with completion of the application process. To schedule an appointment, call 414.906.2706.

author: Patrice Harris


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Strong connection exists between tobacco, substance abuse, and mental health | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Meta House
September 29, 2015
September is National Recovery Month, sponsored annually by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) to raise awareness and understanding of mental health and substance use issues and congratulates those who recover. According to experts from Meta House, Recovery Month is also a good time to discuss the damaging relationship between tobacco-use, mental health issues, and substance abuse.
“Recent studies have shown that if a woman quits smoking at the same time she stops using alcohol and other drugs, her likelihood of achieving a long-term recovery increases by 25%” said Christine Ullstrup, VP of Clinical Services at Meta House. Meta House’s RN, Amy Weisbrot, mentions, “Decades of research have proven the ill effects of tobacco smoke on one’s health as well as the dangers second- and third-hand smoke on an individual’s family. The impacts can be, and often are, devastating – resulting in asthma, lung cancer, emphysema and chronic lower respiratory infections, among other health conditions.”
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services also reports that 29% of adults in the state diagnosed with depression currently smoke, compared to 18% of the general Wisconsin population.
“The smoking rate is higher, and health risks greater for those who suffer from mental health issues and are also living in poverty,” said Edgar Mendez, program coordinator for the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Poverty Network.
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Wisconsin is doing its part to help these individuals quit for good through the groundbreaking WiNTiP (Wisconsin Nicotine Treatment Integration Project), which encourages mental health and substance abuse centers to include tobacco cessation in their care plans.
National research from Washington University School of Medicine found that smoking cessation doesn’t interfere with recovery and findings from the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report suggest that cessation treatments are also effective for individuals with mental health. Cessation during treatment has also proven to benefit the health of the families of those in treatment and youth.
“Our campus went smoke free in 2012. Since that time, not a single child living in our residential treatment program has been diagnosed with asthma. We’ve also seen a dramatic decrease in the number of related doctor’s visits. These outcomes tell us a lot about the health implications that removing the dangers of first-, second- and third-hand smoke from our environment can have for our community at large” said Ullstrup.
For more on the WiNTiP Program, visit www.helpusquit.org, and for more on tobacco prevention and control efforts in the City of Milwaukee visit www.city.milwaukee.gov.
Tobacco users that are ready to quit can receive free help and medications from the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line by calling 1-800-QUIT NOW.

author: Meta House


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NNS on Lake Effect Radio: MKE Plays revives neighborhood playgrounds | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
September 30, 2015
NNS reporter Edgar Mendez goes on the air with Mitch Teich of WUWM’s Lake Effect to discuss MKE Plays, a public-private effort that allows city residents to help plan and rebuild deteriorating neighborhood playgrounds.
Read more: https://milwaukeenns.org/2015/03/24/mke-plays-aims-to-reconstruct-12-deteriorated-playgrounds-throughout-city/


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How to dispose of leaves | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works
September 30, 2015
(Photo courtesy of City of Milwaukee)
As autumn leaves start to fall, Department of Public Works (DPW) crews are gearing up for curbside leaf pickup for Milwaukee residents.
Here’s what you need to know about the city’s leaf collection policies:
Beginning Oct. 1, city residents can start raking leaves into the street. DPW Sanitation crews will begin collecting the leaves on Oct. 12 through Nov. 25.
To schedule a curbside leaf pick-up, call 286-CITY (2489) through Nov. 25 or click here for more information.
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Hud Awards Nearly $825,000 To The Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council To Fight Housing Discrimination In Wisconsin | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
September 30, 2015
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is awarding nearly $825,000 under HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council to fight housing discrimination. See chart below for a listing of grant recipients and read summaries here of the activities these organizations will conduct with the grants.
The funding provided through the competitive grants will help to support a range of fair housing enforcement efforts, including fair housing testing, as well as activities that help educate the public, housing providers and local governments about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act.
“Combating housing discrimination requires the aggressive enforcement of the nation’s fair housing laws, but HUD can’t do it alone,” said HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Gustavo Velasquez. “The funding we are announcing today will enable organizations committed to justice and equality to support our efforts to ensure that everyone has equal access to available housing opportunities.”
“Leveling the playing field and ending housing discrimination are at the core of our mission at HUD,” said HUD Midwest Regional Administrator Antonio R. Riley.  “This local funding will help support community-based organizations that are on the front lines in the fight for equity in our nation’s housing market.”
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The categories of grant awards are:
The 2015 FHIP Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) established the following six new components:
Persons who believe they have experienced discrimination may file a complaint by contacting HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 927-9275 (TTY). Housing discrimination complaints may also be filed by going to www.hud.gov/fairhousing, or by downloading HUD’s free housing discrimination mobile application, which can be accessed through Apple devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.


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New group home gives hope to girls transitioning out of trafficking | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Allison Dikanovic
September 30, 2015
Chandra Cooper recently opened Grateful Girls Safe Haven for young women transitioning out of sex trafficking. (Photo by Allison Dikanovic)
Inspirational quotes fill the wall by the staircase and sit in decorative frames on shelves in the living room. Bright pinks, blues and golds add pops of color on bedspreads, rugs and tablecloths. Fresh flowers are in a vase on the kitchen counter and printed on the pillows in the living room.
For the young women staying at the Grateful Girls Safe Haven, it may be the first time that they truly feel at home.
“Every day their life resembles one like anyone else who lives in a house with a family… When they walk in and out every day, they see motivation,” said Chandra Cooper, the founder and executive director of Grateful Girls Safe Haven.
This kind of environment is not what the residents are used to. The young women, ages 15-21, are transitioning out of the sex trade in Milwaukee.
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“All the girls that come into the house have been a part of some kind of sex trafficking,” including prostitution, Cooper said.
The group home is decorated with encouraging messages. (Photo by Allison Dikanovic)
Grateful Girls Safe Haven, a state-licensed group home, is the first residence catering to this specific population in Milwaukee County. Since it opened in July, its six beds have consistently been full. Right now, all of the girls who stay in the home are in high school. They are referred to the home by the state and are able to stay until they are 21, but Cooper predicts that most will leave at 18.
“There is a housing need for this type of care, and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing… While there are different group homes, this is a specialized population. They can’t just live anywhere,” Cooper said.
Cooper said that she has had a vision for creating the shelter since 2009.
“I used to be a crime beat television reporter, and I saw a lot of things. I really wanted to mentor and give back to girls and women in the community,” she said. Cooper also felt a personal connection to the issue. Though she grew up under the care of her mother and grandfather, Cooper said that her father was a pimp, and that has remained in the back of her mind. She says that this home is a way of bringing things full circle.
Milwaukee is considered a hub for human trafficking by politicians and community activists well versed on the problem. About 80 percent of the human trafficking cases reported in Wisconsin occur in the city of Milwaukee, according to the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee.
“It’s so prevalent. It is a true issue,” Sen. Lena Taylor said. Taylor visited Grateful Girls Safe Haven along with Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch recently to learn about the work being done there and how the state can further support it so more young women may be served.
Grateful Girls Safe Haven provides young women with individual and group counseling, daily living skills classes, job skills, training programs and prenatal care coordination. The organization also works to get the girls proper documentation and identification.
“The idea for their time here, besides obviously being a safe place for them to be, is that we are giving them the skills, the confidence, the decision-making abilities, the critical thinking skills, to be able to get away from us. We kind of want to work ourselves out of a job and have them be prepared to go live as successful adults,” said Latoya Newsom, the Grateful Girls public health specialist.
One of the primary goals of the organization is to create a stable environment for the residents.
“When you’re in the sex trade, you don’t know where you’re going to be each day,” Cooper said.
Grateful Girls also has a community resource center on 26 St. and Lisbon Avenue that is open to the public, and the organization is hoping to expand its housing services in the near future to reach more women who are vulnerable to trafficking. Cooper said she plans to open up a residential support facility for girls ages 12-18 and a transitional boarding house for girls over 18 who are no longer required to be involved in a state program but still seek supportive housing opportunities.
The staff of Grateful Girls Safe Haven is dedicated to showing the girls unconditional love, which they may not have felt in the past, Newsom said.
“When you’ve engaged in this lifestyle or you were living on the streets, you’re used to everything being a transaction, and that’s what we try to get away from here,” Newsom said. “There are rules of the house and things you have to do, but guess what? We’re still going to be here for you.”

author: Allison Dikanovic


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Gloria De Angelo relaunches namesake bakery after 16-year hiatus | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Marlita Annette Bevenue
October 1, 2015
A quinceañera cake for a friend kicked off Gloria De Angelo’s baking business 22 years ago. Today, De Angelo is a respected entrepreneur and culinary craftsman who is helping students enter the field she loves.
In December, De Angelo relaunched Gloria’s Cake Shop & Café on 26th Street and National Avenue 16 years after closing down her first South Side shop, which was robbed and vandalized several times.
De Angelo has come a long way since the days she sold cakes and pastries out of her basement. She has a new recipe for success at the shop she opened in the heart of the South Side. “This time around I wanted to give back to my community, create jobs and help people in the same way that this community has supported me over the years,” she said.
Since De Angelo opened her new shop she has partnered with MATC’s Culinary Arts Program, giving students the opportunity to complete internships at the bakery. “Current students come here and they bake, decorate cakes, fulfill cake orders and gain real-world experience working in a store dealing with customers,” said De Angelo. She was so impressed with one of the interns that she recently hired the student to work in the shop full time.
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De Angelo also tries to support other small businesses. For example, La Flor de Trigo Bakery, a family-owned bakery on 13th Street and Lincoln Avenue, is a vendor. “I sell their cookies and other pastries from my shop, which gives them an opportunity to reach more people.”
Gloria’s Cake Shop & Café opened at 26th and National in December. (Photo by Marlita A. Bevenue)
Yolanda Fernandez, who lives near the bakery, said she’s happy to see De Angelo back in business. “I have been one of Gloria’s customers for about 10 years. I can’t count how many cakes I’ve bought from her. She has the best cakes, the best coffee and she’s a classy lady.”
Running a business hasn’t been without its obstacles.
“It’s been a bittersweet journey,” De Angelo admitted. “But I didn’t do this alone. I’ve relied on my education, and the support from my loyal customers over the years.”
De Angelo was born in Milwaukee, but spent her childhood years in Mexico with her parents and other relatives. Her family opened a seafood restaurant near their home in Puebla, where De Angelo watched her mother cook, bake and socialize with restaurant patrons.
De Angelo didn’t know it then, but she would be following in her mother’s footsteps decades later, opening her own cake shop and café in her hometown.
After spending many years in Mexico, tragedy struck De Angelo and her family. “My mother passed away from cancer, and my 10-month-old daughter died due to complications from the measles,” she said. “I thought to myself, am I going to stay here and feel sorry for myself, or am I going to live my dream?”
Despite the devastating loss, she remarried, gave birth to another baby girl and moved back to Milwaukee motivated to find peace and happiness through her passion for cooking.
She enrolled in the culinary arts program at MATC in downtown Milwaukee. After completing her course work in 1993, De Angelo took a job waitressing at a local restaurant on the South Side. Soon after, a friend asked her to bake a cake for a quinceañera celebration, sparking the idea to go into business for herself.
De Angelo began selling her special occasion cakes about four times a week out of El Rey Food Mart on Cesar E. Chavez Drive. Eventually, the cake and pastry orders increased and De Angelo decided it was time to open her own shop.
In 1997, De Angelo opened Gloria’s Cakes on 5th Street and Lincoln Avenue. Business was booming, but the shop’s success was short-lived.
One morning, she was opening up the bakery when a man followed her into the store and robbed her at gunpoint. Her young daughter witnessed the robbery. No one was hurt, but the next day she shut down Gloria’s Cakes permanently after two years in business.
Upset and disappointed, she transitioned from the kitchen to the classroom. She went back to MATC as a culinary arts instructor teaching the classes in baking basics and cake decorating in the same program she graduated from years earlier.
When she wasn’t teaching, she was baking. “I love the whole process from start to finish. The smell, the taste, the colors. I love making something beautiful, something flavorful. I could keep doing this forever,” De Angelo said.
She once again went into business for herself selling cakes, pies and pastries to stores including Pete’s Fruit Market, El Campesino Grocery in El Rey Plaza and Maxim’s Family Restaurant in Brookfield. But something was missing. De Angelo spent much of her time in the kitchen, rather than interacting with her customers. She missed those personal connections, which prompted her to open the new bakery.
According to Ald. Bob Donovan, De Angelo’s business is building up the community. “She faced a lot of challenges when she chose this building and this type of business, but she believed in herself and worked hard to make her dream a reality,” Donovan said. “She is an inspiration for all future entrepreneurs, and I believe that the success of her bakery will encourage others to take the brave steps needed to open their own business.”
Gloria De Angelo’s story proves hard work and dedication pay off. “Some days are busy, some days are slow. Sometimes I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, sometimes I want to cry,” she said. “I could have given up, but the baking business is in my blood.”

created: October 1, 2015

author: Marlita Annette Bevenue


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On the Block: ‘A dream job’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
October 1, 2015
Timothy Seeger grew up the oldest of six, to parents who were caring, affectionate and “non-egotistical, great listeners.” His father worked three jobs to support their family, including driving a truck and working at a liquor store during the holidays. After getting his college degree, Seeger worked two jobs over five years as a salesman for large companies. Eventually, he opened his own business, which he ran for 25 years.
Read more about Timothy Seeger at milwaukeestories.org.
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Residents Voice Concerns Over Plan to Outfit Milwaukee Police With Body Cameras | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 1, 2015
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio

author: Andrea Waxman


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Ruling In Compton Schools Case: Trauma Could Cause Disability | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 1, 2015
National Public Radio


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The Data Are Damning: How Race Influences School Funding | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 1, 2015
The Atlantic


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Clarke Square residents come together to bring art to the alley | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
October 2, 2015
Local artist Elsa Ali puts the finishing touches on her mural as her daughter Izabella, 14, looks on. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Lona Morales, of Clarke Square, stood in front of a mural painted on her alley fence depicting angels floating above a flowery hill, with the name Lisa painted in blue surrounded by the words “joy,” “faith” and “love.”
“It’s like I feel her spirit when I look at the angels,” Morales said, referring to her adult daughter Lisa, who died of cancer a few weeks ago. Lisa was expected to live long enough to see the completion of the mural but didn’t, according to her mother.
The mural was created in Lisa’s memory by Elsa Ali, an artist who lives on the block. It is part of “Art in the Alleys,” a project in Clarke Square that turned a trash-strewn alley into a public art space. Prior to the project, the alley on South 26 Street between West Scott and West Mineral contained nothing more than garbage cans, an occasional graffiti scrawl, bare garages and a mishmash of fences.
Clarke Square artist Lucas Alamo hangs a ceramic medallion on the fence. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
The alley is now decorated with murals painted by volunteer artists and hanging ceramic medallions, most of which were created by neighborhood residents.
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“The alley is now full of symbols of hope and beauty,” said Lori Gramling, who runs a ceramics studio on the block with her husband.
Gramling, her daughter in-law Janelle Gramling and neighbor Thomas Shropshire had been working on art projects with neighborhood children for years. A few months ago they decided they wanted to get even more people involved. They brought their idea to beautify the alley to the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative (CSNI), which agreed to fund the project and bring in more partners including the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation.
“We saw this as a big win because the project was resident-driven and leads to social connections, increased public safety and many other elements that improve the quality of life for residents in the neighborhood,” said Ian Bautista, executive director of CSNI.
The project quickly grew to include Highland Community School, youth from TRUE Skool and the Epic Center Community Organization, as well as neighborhood youth and adults who worked for weeks to create the ceramic pieces that now dot the alley.
“One day we had five people working on it; the next week 50,” said Shropshire, who went door to door asking local homeowners for their permission to paint their garages or help create the art.
In the end, dozens of children and residents gathered in the alley to celebrate the makeover. Gramling said she hopes that word of the project spreads to more residents and that artwork will fill more alleys, including one nearby that also had a mural painted recently on a garage.
Ali and her daughter Izabella, 14, vow to continue to be involved.
“We’re going to keep going until the supplies run out or it’s so cold the paint dries,” Ali said.

created: October 2, 2015


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
October 1, 2015


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DATA WONK: Is ObamaCare Working in Wisconsin? | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 5, 2015
UrbanMilwaukee.com

created: October 5, 2015


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Many Former Foster Youths Don’t Know They Have Health Care | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 5, 2015
National Public Radio


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New owner transforming former Finney Library into arts incubator | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 5, 2015
Matt Bohlmann (left), the new owner of the former Finney Library building, consults with Ken Maclin (center) and Dontrell Jackson about demolition work they are doing at the site. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Furniture maker Matt Bohlmann, who bought the long-vacant Finney Library in the Sherman Park historic district last March, has made progress renovating the building that will become his studio and an arts incubator. In addition, Bohlmann has recruited prominent local artist Reginald Baylor to become his first tenant.
So far, Bohlmann has removed a wall separating the building and the parking lot behind it, restored architecturally significant planters and installed a new underground electrical system. Without heat for more than a decade, the interior grew musty and the floors buckled. Bohlmann hopes to turn the electricity and heat on this week, after which he expects improvements to move quickly inside the building. However he has no specific timeline to complete the renovations.
“Aesthetically, it’s a great building,” Bohlmann said. The Milwaukee-based architecture firm Grassold & Johnson was the 19th largest architecture firm in the country when it designed the building, which was completed in 1953. The firm designed many notable buildings, including Milwaukee County Stadium and Mayfair Mall, he added.
Until 2009, Bohlmann owned a building in Wauwatosa that was larger than he needed for his own business and he fell into creating a business incubator. He discovered personal satisfaction in helping entrepreneurs take fledgling operations from basements and garages to commercial space and then supporting their efforts to grow, he said. He would like to do the same with artists at the Finney building,
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From 2013 to 2015, artwork from Reginald Baylor’s TypeFace project covered all the boarded windows of the former Finney Library, including the north-facing windows on North Avenue seen here. (Photo courtesy of Newaukee)
Baylor, who visited the library as a child also has a long-standing interest in the building. He mounted colorful murals on its façade in 2013 as part of “Typeface,” a public art collaboration centered around foreclosed, vacant and underused spaces in four central city neighborhoods.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the building and its location,” he said.
When the Finney Library building was sold, Baylor expected his connection to it to end. But his murals were still attached to the building and negotiating their removal brought Bohlmann and Baylor together. They began to talk about their mutual admiration for the building and Bohlmann’s incubator concept and soon the discussion expanded to include the surrounding community.
At the same time, Baylor said, he had been discussing issues of economic development and employment in the North Side community with a group of interested professionals.
As artists supporting families, both Baylor and Bohlmann have long been concerned with the challenges of earning a living while pursuing their art. The Finney project has given both a focal point for developing their common interest in building a sustainable community of artists and pursuing economic and community development in the neighborhood.
They are also discussing ways to invite the community into the building, including developing a café or performance space.
Reginald Baylor (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Baylor, who Bohlmann describes as “a man of grand ideas,” said he is also interested in establishing opportunities for community members to learn skills that can result in life-sustaining jobs. His artistic process involves contracting with assistants to help produce his pieces, and he hopes to expand the number of people he can train beyond the half dozen he worked with at his former studio in the Third Ward.
“Some of my favorite contemporary artists these days probably employ 60 to (more than) 100 people in their art studios,” Baylor said.
With Bohlmann’s help, Baylor is designing new studio space for himself at Finney. He also is considering a change in his artistic direction, toward a more community-focused approach.
“If you look at my earlier work, or a lot of my work, I do focus on doing paintings of neighborhoods. It’s a beautiful neighborhood and I could see my work turning back to observing the neighborhood and doing interpretations of it,” Baylor said.
Excited about the increasing creative energy he feels in Milwaukee, Baylor said that branding and marketing art to an international clientele is another goal.
“While local branding is important, to build the world-class city that Milwaukee is talking about, its creatives should be selling internationally. Imagine if Harley and Miller weren’t international,” he said.
Alderman Russell Stamper, who represents the district and lives a block away, is enthusiastic about the project.
“Bohlmann has a vision and it’s a positive change for our community,” he said. Stamper said he introduced Bohlmann to the Community Baptist Church community, which owns buildings, including a large church, on the other three corners of the intersection. He said he is pleased that Bohlmann has developed a good relationship with the church.
Bohlmann has been “the perfect neighbor,” said Michael Staples, the church engineer, citing Bohlmann’s donation of time and materials to an elevator construction project at the church.
Passersby are curious about what is going on at the old library, Baylor said. When he tells them about the art incubator concept, “the response every time is the same. ‘Finally, something positive. Something positive. Something positive.’”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
October 4, 2015

created: October 4, 2015


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Racist postcards sent to businesses on Milwaukee’s south side | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 5, 2015
jsonline.com


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The Prominence and Plight Of Girls in the Juvenile Justice System | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 5, 2015
ProPublica.com


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On the Block: A comedy career | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wyatt Massey
October 6, 2015
Chris Barnes’s comedy career has taken him around the world, from the Comedy Café in Milwaukee to Seoul, South Korea. He performed for more than 34 years, living out his childhood dream. The Sherman Park resident discusses how his routine includes interviewing his audience.

created: October 6, 2015


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21250768486_1015c16c6e_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
October 6, 2015


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The Juice Kitchen brings healthy drinks, new business to Lindsay Heights | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wyatt Massey
October 6, 2015
Maanaan Sabir talks about his new business, The Juice Kitchen, at Walnut Way Conservation Corp. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
The room is quiet except for the rhythmic clink of forks on plates. Nearly 20 guests surround the dinner table at Walnut Way Conservation Corp., eating a meal. Maanaan Sabir moves from the kitchen to the side of the table, a pitcher of blended spinach, collard greens, pineapple, cucumbers and apples in his hand.
“Who wants green juice?” Sabir asks, raising the thick green concoction for the group to see.
The once-silent guests at the community meal raise their glasses and respond positively. “Yes, I’ll take some,” they say. Sabir pours each a glass, before returning to make more. Some residents of Lindsay Heights taste this combination of juiced fruits and vegetables for the first time. Soon, they will be able to drink their fill and support a local business, when Sabir opens The Juice Kitchen on Oct. 30.
The Juice Kitchen will be housed in the Innovations and Wellness Commons, at 1617 W. North Ave. Walnut Way developed the commons to encourage healthy eating and bring businesses and nonprofit organizations to the North Side community. The Milwaukee Center for Independence has already moved in to the space.
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The juice is made from fresh fruits and vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, beets, apples, pineapples, grapes and plantains. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
The Juice Kitchen is Sabir’s latest effort to share a commitment to healthy living, a trait passed down in his family. “I’m the embodiment of my grandfather,” he said. Sabir’s grandfather studied alternative medicine and understood how foods and herbs react in the body. This knowledge not only interests him, it saved his son’s life, he said.
Sabir’s 11-year-old son, Taj, has ectodermal dysplasia, a condition that prevents him from sweating. Nearly six years ago, Taj experienced difficulty breathing from a buildup of mucus as a result of the condition. While Sabir’s wife, JoAnne, prepared to call the ambulance, he thought of his grandfather and went to the juicer.
“I knew watermelons cut mucus and I knew apples had a lot of fiber. They are probably some of the most powerful fruits in the world.”
Taj’s body had rejected the over-the-counter medicine but it did not reject the juice Sabir made. The juice helped Taj flush out the toxins and, 20 minutes later, he was running around the house with a soccer ball. Seeing the effect the juice had on his son, Sabir and his wife recognized the potential in sharing it with their community.
“That’s when we knew that the juice was a life affirmation for us,” Sabir said. “I don’t believe that things just happen.”
The incident began the process of bringing The Juice Kitchen to Lindsay Heights. With the opening less than a month away, Sabir said he is thankful for the role community members are playing in making it possible, he said.
“In this community, everyone is an asset. … We were able to leverage the activity of those around us.”
Events such as the Walnut Way community meal create support for the business and share knowledge about healthy living, said Sharon Adams, co-founder of Walnut Way.
“We are bringing in a retailer that is healthy to the community,” she said. “I think we’re on to something wonderful.”
Sabir uses an interesting mixture of fruits and vegetables for his healthy juices. Sweet potatoes and beets are the main ingredients in the juice “Purple Haze,” which is high in vitamin C and fiber. Another juice contains plantains, dates, coconut, cinnamon and cashew milk. Leroy Wright, a guest at the dinner, enjoyed the plantain drink the best.
“I ain’t too used to this,” Wright said, finishing his second glass. “It was good. It was different.”
The Juice Kitchen will open Oct. 30 and will be selling juice Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
October 5, 2015


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Ex-offender training program urges employers to be ‘bigger than profits’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
October 7, 2015
Joshua Johnson (left) addresses attendees at a conference intended to encourage employers to hire ex-convicts. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Joshua Johnson was 17 years old when he went to prison. After 10 years, Johnson was free but without work. Considering his background, the outlook was grim.
One day, he was filling out an application for a construction company when he overheard an intern say he wouldn’t hire anyone who had been to jail. But the job superintendent, who was sitting nearby, looked up and said, “If someone’s desperate enough to steal money, they’re desperate enough to come to work every day.”
“Before that, I felt defeated. When I heard him say that, it changed my whole outlook on life because that’s when I realized that all somebody needs is a chance,” said Johnson, who eventually got the job and went on to have a six-year career in construction and now works for the Wisconsin Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards.
Pro Trade Job Development, a training and job creation program for unemployed individuals and ex-offenders, recently announced the beginning of a push to secure commitments from 100 area companies to hire a total of 100 individuals in 2016 who have graduated from the Pro Trade program. The company held the first part of a two-day conference for employers recently at Manpower Group’s Milwaukee headquarters.
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“That does not seem like a huge number when you have great partners,” said Rashaad Washington, owner of Pro Trade. “It’s not outlandish.”
The conference took place at the world headquarters of Manpower Group, which sponsored the event. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
A presentation by Katherine Wilson, executive director of the Zeidler Center for Public Discussion, highlighted the need for action when it comes to creating employment opportunities. Wisconsin’s 12.7 percent incarceration rate for black men is almost twice the national average. The War on Drugs, which disproportionately targets African-American populations, contributes to the high rate.
African-Americans, who make up 6.2 percent of Wisconsin’s population, account for 51 percent of prison admissions. A 2008 Human Rights Watch report shows black males were incarcerated for drug offenses at a rate 46 times higher than their white peers in 2003. It also was the highest rate in the country and nearly double that of Illinois, which came in second. Milwaukee, home to the largest number of African-Americans in the state, also has the largest employment gap between blacks and whites in the nation for both men (32.4 percentage points) and women (20.6 percentage points).
Invoking Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Wilson said, “Once put in the felony category, due to often non-violent drug possession, these men enter what some have called ‘a permanent caste system,’ a lower caste, and must endure ongoing discrimination in terms of employment and housing.”
Carl Wesley is president and CEO of the Center for Self-Sufficiency, an organization that works with individuals re-entering society. “We have this chicken or egg kind of conversation of, ‘Is the poverty causing the crime or the crime causing the poverty?’ said Wesley. “I suggest that it’s the poverty causing the crime.”
He said it’s necessary to address incarceration and poverty for everybody but added that focusing on the most vulnerable population will make it easier to move the needle on those issues. “We need to work both ends against the middle.”
Pro Trade, which is associated with Pro Painter, a local painting company also owned by Washington, graduates 20 to 40 individuals, many of them “returning citizens,” every four months. The 12-week program has a 90 percent retention rate, according to Washington, and trains enrollees in personal development, rough carpentry, finish carpentry and painting, and concrete work. Participants aren’t allowed to miss more than two days throughout the program.
Washington is no stranger to adversity. Born and raised in Milwaukee by a single mother, Washington got involved with drugs, dropped out of high school at 17 and ended up in prison shortly after he turned 18. After being released, he worked low-wage jobs at Lena’s and Masterlock before purchasing his first two houses and becoming a real estate agent. Washington started a roofing business before founding Pro Painter in 2011.
The Pro Trade program began in 2012 as a result of Washington’s grappling with how he could help combat post-recession unemployment in Milwaukee. “The only thought that came to my mind is ‘I don’t have enough money to give to the problem but I can grow the capacity of my company in order to give a few individuals an opportunity for employment,’” he said.
Washington added, “It starts off as a commitment but, then, it becomes a pleasure and it becomes a profit.”
Washington hired 13 people who graduated from the first group of trainees and was able to maintain a 40 percent profit margin. The next year, that margin grew to 60 percent. Washington emphasized that it’s not just about the profit; it’s important to invest in people.
“People are your greatest assets,” he said. “Not the tools, not the machines, not the trucks, not the branded shirts — it’s the people.”
And, the program’s success can, at least in part, be attributed to Washington’s personal investment in the process. “I was once there,” he said. “I’m a product of my own program. Everything that we teach our students is what I’ve done.”
“What teachers do you remember when you were in school? Those that cared,” Washington said. “That’s how we are able to get across to people, because they understand where we’re coming from, because they understand that we care.”
Mike Sorge, a superintendent and construction executive at Mortenson Construction, one of 25 employers represented at the event, said he hadn’t previously been familiar with Pro Trade but came to get more information and “understand more about this program and what we can do to help.”
Sorge said Mortenson is “always looking for good, quality people” who are willing to learn. “People need a chance and they need support to become successful,” he said. “You’ve got to give them the opportunity … but they have to have the willingness and the desire.”
Wesley, who previously worked in higher education, said employers often don’t give ex-offenders “the same type of regular leeway that a person without [a conviction] would get,” even though companies will often encounter absenteeism due to family issues or car trouble, no matter the employee. “You couldn’t work for us without a degree, we didn’t hire felons and [we] still dealt with issues,” he said. “And I’m sure every employer does.”
“We want to just, kind of, reframe the narrative and get the employers to understand that they’re people too,” Wesley said, referring to ex-offenders. “They had a problem, they messed up … but when there’s one issue that happens, don’t treat it like it’s because this person is a felon.”
In the end, Washington stressed the role of employers and the importance of “becoming bigger than profits.”
Employers have to be willing to change their mindset because “this is the new workforce,” said Toni White, senior contract monitor and training manager at the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board. “They have to be willing to give them a second chance, they have to be willing to put a little skin in the game and train individuals [that] don’t fit the regular mold,” she added.
It’s about giving someone a shot. And, Washington said, there’s no difference between giving a chance to someone with no experience and giving a chance to someone who just got out of prison. “My choice (as an employer) is the difference,” he said. “And, that’s what we teach our students: your choice is what makes the difference.”
For people who need a job and have the odds stacked against them, that opportunity is something they’ll remember forever, said Johnson. “You never forget the days that change your life.”
The second leg of the conference, including a Zeidler Center dialogue between employers and returning citizens, will take place Oct. 9 at Pro Trade’s training facility, 3227 N. 31st St.

created: October 7, 2015


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
October 6, 2015


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How to volunteer in October | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee
October 7, 2015
The fall season offers many opportunities to volunteer outdoors. (Photo by Caroline Roers)
A new season brings a wealth of new opportunities to get involved in the community. The Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee features a calendar full of events for volunteers. Here are a few of the opportunities in October.
Community Garden Work Day
Concordia Gardens, 220 E. Concordia Ave., in Harambee features a community garden, fruit orchard and composting site on 1.5 acres of land. Volunteers can come Oct. 17 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to clear the gardens for the fall and prepare the beds for next year’s growing season.
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Contact: Gretchen Mead, 414-333-2537
Coats for Kids – Sort & Hang Up
Help children in the winter season by preparing coat donations with The Salvation Army of Milwaukee County. Volunteers hang up the donated coats to make them ready to be distributed. Help is welcome throughout the month of October. Click here to see the full list of volunteering times.
Contact: Faithe Colas, 414-302-4300
Fall Weed-Out 2015: Kletzsch Park
Improve natural habitat and learn about invasive species with The Park People of Milwaukee County. The group is working on weed control in Kletzsch Park on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Contact: Jim Goulee, 414-273-7275

author: the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee


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YWCA to offer High School Equivalency Diploma program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
YWCA Southeast Wisconsin
October 7, 2015
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has approved a new High School Equivalency Diploma program (HSED) to be offered by the YWCA Southeast Wisconsin.
The new program will be housed in the YWCA’s Community Adult Learning Lab (334 W Brown Street), which already serves as a Pearson Vue testing center and offers adults GED Certificate classes, one-on-one instruction, and financial education.
“Adding the HSED program to our list of services gives us yet another way we can help people access better job opportunities,” said Paula Penebaker, president & CEO of the YWCA Southeast Wisconsin. “We have a great team assembled with the experience to deliver a strong program.”
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The YWCA is partnering with the Adult Learning Center to offer remediation classes for clients who struggle to obtain passing grades. The partnership will allow the YWCA to maximize resources and serve a large amount of clients while still having the staff and volunteers available for individualized support as needed.
New HSED clients who wish to pursue higher education after completing the program will also benefit from the YWCA’s ongoing relationship with MATC, which provides two instructors for the YWCA’s Community Adult Learning Lab.
The program start date is to be determined.

author: YWCA Southeast Wisconsin


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County Transit Unveils New Line of Buses | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 8, 2015
UrbanMilwaukee.com

created: October 8, 2015


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Grant gives North Division students tools to build mobile apps | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 8, 2015
jsonline.com


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Kinnickinnic River Neighbors Part of Environmental Solutions | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 8, 2015
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio


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MPS seeks input on a new program at Happy Hill | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 8, 2015
OnMilwaukee.com


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HUD grant for northwest side met with distrust by some residents | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Wyatt Massey
October 9, 2015
Lynell Quin (right) and Clarence Lee said the Westlawn neighborhood needs better parks and a pharmacy. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
Some residents of the Westlawn public housing development and the surrounding area are skeptical about a $30 million federal grant to transform the neighborhood, given concerns about the city’s handling of the 2012 development of Westlawn Gardens.
A 2013 HUD review prompted by resident complaints found that the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) did not comply with hiring standards for the project. Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 requires that 30 percent of the workforce on HUD-funded projects be public housing or low-income residents.
Between 2009 and 2012, HUD gave HACM $230 million for various purposes, $60 million of which was passed on to building contractors for the Westlawn Redevelopment Project. A 2014 compliance agreement between HUD and HACM stated, “No Westlawn residents and no residents from other HACM developments were hired to work on the Westlawn Project.”
Paul Williams, HACM communications coordinator, acknowledged that the organization missed the 30 percent threshold for new hires. Contractors hired 81 local and low-income workers, which was 25 percent of the workforce, however none of the workers were public housing residents. Williams said that HACM has created training programs and a resident database to help contractors identify possible hires for the new development.
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“We have since developed a new Section 3 plan in partnership with HUD to ensure that we meet or exceed the threshold moving forward,” Williams said.
The City of Milwaukee and the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee received a $30 million grant to redevelop Westlawn and the surrounding neighborhood. (Photo by Wyatt Massey)
One Westlawn resident, who did not want her name used, said the city made false promises about Westlawn Gardens.
“Everything we wanted, we didn’t get. They said they ran out of money.”
The long-time resident fears that the same type of problems will occur with the new HUD grant.
She said friends have moved out of the buildings because of a lack of heat in the winter. The resident said she fears retribution from building managers if she is openly critical of the development plan.
Milwaukee was one of five cities chosen to receive a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Implementation Grant for redevelopment of a nearly 3-square-mile area on the city’s northwest side, from Sherman Boulevard west to 76th Street and Mill Road South to Villard Avenue.
Havenwoods Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Stephanie Harling, who helped prepare the grant application, said it is an “absolute joy to have this opportunity and have this investment infused on the city’s northwest side.”
The plan involves replacing 394 deteriorated public housing units in Westlawn and building an additional 314 mixed-income rental and homeownership units. It also includes funds to support retail development and improvement of neighborhood amenities, such as transportation and parks.
Clarence Lee, who has lived in Westlawn for more than four years, said the area needs another grocery store and a closer pharmacy. The nearby Walgreen’s on 60 Street and Silver Spring Drive closed in 2007. Lee said the distance between homes and business is a burden.
“You have to go so far,” Lee said. “People don’t have rides or money.”
Lee would like the city to build better parks in the area, too. His main interest is that the money be used responsibly, he said. “I hope that with the money they got, they do right with it.”
HUD Deputy Secretary Nani Coloretti and Regional Administrator Antonio Riley visited Milwaukee on Sept. 28 to present the grant award. Grant money will also fund projects with local partners such as Havenwoods Economic Development Corp. and Northwest Side Community Development Corporation and Silver Spring Neighborhood Center.
“Our role will be to continue the programs that we do and leverage them to work with the Choice Neighborhoods program,” Harling said.
In addition to the $30 million from HUD, more than 25 private and public organizations have committed $251 million to the plan. For example, PNC Bank committed $64 million in tax credits for housing development in the area. According to Williams, Silver Spring Neighborhood Center is committing $4.3 million to invest in early childhood education, after-school and adult education programs.
The first part of the redevelopment will begin next summer with 10 new apartments on a vacant lot at Westlawn Gardens. The first buildings will be used as replacement housing for current Westlawn residents, Williams said. HACM staff will meet with each household to create a relocation plan during construction. The organization will offer rent assistance for residents to move into private housing, or residents could move to other HACM housing.
Lynell Quin, whose sister lived in Westlawn, is optimistic about the redevelopment project, saying that it is a way for him and the area to start fresh. Quin’s sister was killed in the neighborhood eight years ago and the buildings remind him of her, he said.
“The old ones remind me so much of the past,” Quin said. “I want to see these gone.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect how the $230 million from HUD to HACM was allocated.

created: October 9, 2015


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
October 8, 2015

author: Adam Carr


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On the Block: Memories | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
October 9, 2015
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Norma Wheeler grew up in a poor town in Arkansas where she met her late husband. They moved to Milwaukee when she was young; he worked at a junkyard on the South Side while she raised their six children. Eventually, Wheeler went to work, as well, but when he was diagnosed with cancer she came home to care for him.
Read more about Norma Wheeler at milwaukeestories.org.
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author: Jabril Faraj


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County Wins $10 Million for Fatherhood Program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 11, 2015
UrbanMilwaukee.com

created: October 11, 2015


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Hazardous Chemicals at Discount Retailers Affecting Black and Latino Youth: Study | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 11, 2015
Latin Post


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LBWN holds neighborhood home tour | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Emmy A. Yates
October 11, 2015
About 50 potential homebuyers participated in a weekend bus tour of six homes in the Burnham Park, Silver City and Layton Park neighborhoods. The tour began at the Urban Ecology Center at 3700 W. Pierce St., where participants learned about the neighborhoods’ revitalization program. A slideshow in Spanish provided financial advice and highlighted parks, community festivals, restaurants and opportunities for community involvement.


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The Burden of Debt on Black America | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 11, 2015
The Atlantic


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20 years after the Million Man March, a fresh call for justice on the Mall | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
October 12, 2015
The Washington Post

created: October 12, 2015