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5 things to know and do this week in Milwaukee: Aug. 29 to Sept. 2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
August 29, 2022
It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
Join Neu-Life Community Development for a movie night in Johnsons Park. This year’s film is “Encanto.” The event starts at 6 p.m., but the film will begin at dusk on Tuesday, Aug. 30 in Johnsons Park, located at 2222 N. 19th St.
Harvest season is approaching, and you can learn more about canning techniques to help preserve your harvest. The free class runs from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at the  Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center’s Native Wellness Garden, located on South 6th Street just north of West Howard Avenue.
VIA CDC, formerly known as Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, is hosting this workshop on interacting with your representatives at the local, state and national level. The workshop takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. this Wednesday, Aug. 31. In case you missed it: ‘We need to make sure we are empowering our neighbors’: JoAnna Bautch, VIA’s new executive director, shares vision for organization
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Join neighborhood group Team HAVOC for this march and rally in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Mitchell Park Domes, located at 524 S. Layton Blvd. The event will include speakers, naloxone training, youth activities, music and food along with a local resource fair. In case you missed it: Could new naloxone medication help stem overdose deaths in Milwaukee?
Wisconsin Community Services and the Black Male Advisory Council are hosting a resource and job fair with information on employment, substance abuse, mental health, parenting and more. The fair takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Employ Milwaukee, located at 2342 N. 27th St. For more information, call 414-290-0406 or email bmac@wiscs.org.
Several businesses and organizations are giving away free backpacks and school supplies all month. See a full list of events here.


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52317238046_a0e3291441_b | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
August 28, 2022

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Ron Smith


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Post From Community: Goodwill donates north side facility to Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Nepherterra Best
August 29, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
– August 25,2022 – Today, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc., a non-profit social enterprise focused on workforce development, announced plans to donate its property located at 4030 N. 29 Street, Milwaukee, to its current tenant Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy (HFCA).
The donation, valued at $600,000, is the catalyst for a new 5-year community impact partnership between the organizations. Together, Goodwill® and HFCA will engage students, their families and the surrounding community in experiences that advance education, employment training and career pipeline opportunities.
“This investment amplifies Goodwill’s commitment to transforming lives and communities through employment, training and education, and support services,” said Jackie Hallberg, Goodwill President & CEO. “Our partnership with HFCA provides a new opportunity for Goodwill to support the workforce of today and invest in the workforce of the future.”
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Goodwill acquired the northside facility in 1990 to provide job placement services for the community. After owning the location for over 20 years, the building was listed for sale in 2011. HFCA relocated to Goodwill’s Job Center North campus in 2013 and has since leased the space. The 57,000 square foot facility has learning space, common areas for gathering, large classrooms and more. It will continue to be used as a school site for HFCA moving forward.
“I am enormously grateful to Goodwill for this generous gift to the board, staff and students of the Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy,” shared Dr. Howard Fuller, founder and board chair emeritus for HFCA. “We look forward to building on this new relationship with Goodwill to better serve our students and our community.”
Founded in 2004, HFCA is a tuition-free, non-profit, public charter high school open to all students in the City of Milwaukee. The school focuses on creating scholars who are college, career and life ready, preparing students for higher education and providing them with the skills necessary to make change in society and help transform their community. HFCA enrolls over 320 students annually, most of whom are African American and potentially first-generation college students. Since 2012, HFCA graduates have a 100% acceptance rate for being accepted into college. Notably, the class of 2022 has been offered over $7 million in scholarships and nearly 20% of the class has already completed college courses at local universities and technical colleges.
As a leading workforce provider for over 100 years, Goodwill creates mission and community impact providing employment, training and support services for people who live and work in communities where we operate. In 2021, Goodwill served over 9,000 Milwaukee County residents through its programs, and in total, served 42,000 people experiencing employment challenges and made 4,105 job placements across its territory. Goodwill creates community impact through Acts of Goodwill, an employee volunteer campaign, which has contributed more than 600 hours of service supporting non-profit community organizations across Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago over the past three years.
“Dr. Fuller’s extraordinary body of work improving education outcomes and provide equitable opportunities for students across our city and nation inspires Goodwill to act in ways that deepen our impact and connection in the communities we serve,” said Angela Adams, Goodwill Chief Communications & Diversity Officer. “We look forward to our partnership with HFCA leaders in service to the scholars, their families and the surrounding community.”
Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc. is a nonprofit organization serving Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago helping people overcome challenges to build skills, find employment and progress in their life and careers. For more than 100 years, Goodwill has been connecting job seekers with employers in the community and inside its own retail, laundry and staffing social enterprises to provide employment, training and support services.
As the largest Goodwill among 155 nonprofit Goodwill organizations in North America, the organization has more than 90 locations across a 23-county territory. In 2021,Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago served over 42,000 people experiencing employment challenges and made 4,105 job placements in the community. Visit www.goodwillsew.com for more information or connect with us on Facebook and YouTube: @GoodwillSEWMC or Twitter and Instagram: @AmazingGoodwill.
Founded in 2004, Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy (HFCA) is a public charter high school delivering a college-focused education to high school scholars from across the City of Milwaukee for over 16 years. The school sets ambitious goals for student achievement, with the goal of creating scholars who are college, career and life ready. HFCA graduates have been consistently accepted into colleges and universities at a rate of 100% since 2012. Visit www.howardfullerca.org for more information.

author: Nepherterra Best


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Dwayne Burtin
August 29, 2022

author: Dwayne Burtin


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Here’s what you need to know to get a landlord to make repairs | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
August 30, 2022
Whether it’s a broken heater or problems with water or mold, your landlord is required to fix it.
But if that’s not happening, here are a few ways to go about getting your repairs done.
First, put the request for service (or repair/or complaint) in writing with a date in which you would like the owner or property manager to respond by, advised Shawanna Lindenberg, the housing department manager for Community Advocates.
Community Advocates is a community-based organization that provides advocacy and services to help low-income families and individuals in Milwaukee meet their basic needs.
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Once you’ve taken that step, there a few other things you can do if there is no response.
You can reach out to the Department of Neighborhood Services or Community Advocates about withholding rent. With this method, you’ll pay rent to the department rather than paying rent to the owner. The payments are held in an escrow account until the owner has complied with violations.
A caution: Withholding rent can lead to eviction if tenants do it on their own.
“A tenant cannot withhold rent by themselves,” Nick Toman, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, told NNS during an interview in 2021.  “Even if the property  owner is in the wrong, withholding rent is shooting yourself in the foot.”
If the issue leads to attempts to evict, you can reach out to Mediate Milwaukee.
According to Amy Koltz, the executive director of Mediate Milwaukee, mediators will act as a go-between to get the problem solved without conflict.
If you are living in unsafe or unhealthy conditions, Lindenberg suggests contacting the Department of Neighborhood Services immediately.
She said tenants who call the department and subsequently have repair orders issued on a property are typically protected from retaliation from the landlord for six months. They should contact Department of Neighborhood Services if they feel their landlord is retaliating.
In the event of extensive repairs, you should be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
“We strongly suggest that tenants who have more severe concerns (plumbing, sewage, electrical, heating, etc.) be prepared for the unit to be closed,” Lindenberg said. “When I say prepare, I mean make arrangements with family members that they could potentially double up with in the interim of being displaced and securing a new place.”
If you think you are in that situation, you can reach out to IMPACT 211 – by dialing 2-1-1 – for resources on emergency housing. IMPACT 211 is a central access point for people who need help to regain stability.
The Department of Neighborhood Services has a series of resources for tenants in need. You can learn more about rent withholding and other courses of action. You can call at 414-286-2268.
Community Advocates: It can assist with rent assistance, rent withholding and a series of other services. You can call it at 414-449-4777.
Mediate Milwaukee has mediators to help better communicate with your landlord or property owner. You can reach it at 414-939-8800.
DNS HomeSAFE Programs: This is a series of short, in-depth presentations on common household topics such as electrical and fire safety; how rent withholding works, rent abatement and mediation and illegal dumping.
The Social Development Commission can assist with lead abatement, weatherization and other housing-related issues. You can call 414-906-2700.
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council can help homeowners protect themselves from mortgage and foreclosure scams as well as from predatory home loans. You can call 414-278-1240.
Housing Resources Inc. can provide counseling to homeowners and has programs to help people avoid foreclosure. You can call 414-461-6330.
Acts Housing provides counseling and real estate agent representation to help low-income families transition from renting to homebuying. You can call 414-933-2215.
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee: The Housing Authority’s Section 32 program offers guidance through the homebuying process and sells rehabilitated homes to low-income residents. The agency offers some grants and subsidies for down-payment assistance and forgivable second mortgages for current Housing Authority homeowners. You can call 414-286-5405.
The Bronzeville Resident Homeownership Initiative: The Bronzeville Homebuyer Assistance Program provides forgivable loans of up to $25,000 and technical assistance to help with property renovation for residents buying city-owned foreclosed homes in the Bronzeville Initiative area. You can call 414-286-5608.
Common Ground-Milwaukee Rising: Milwaukee Rising rehabilitates and sells foreclosed properties in the Sherman Park neighborhood. Matching grants of up to $5,000 are available for homeowners wanting to make repairs and improvements. Contact Bob Connolly at bconnolly@jamescompany.com for more information.
The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, or WHEDA, also offers resources for homebuyers.
Housing Help will directly connect you with city homeowners’ resources.
Take Root Milwaukee offers free or low-cost services that can help you buy, keep, or fix a home. For more information you can call 414-921-4149.

author: PrincessSafiya Byers


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Ron Smith
August 29, 2022


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Post From Community: Free! Youth Mental Health & Wellness Summit | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Widge Liccione
August 30, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Neighborhood House of Milwaukee (NH) and Survivor’s Journey to Peace present its inaugural Youth Mental Health & Wellness Summit:
“COME ALIVE! A Day of Inspiration, Laughter, Education & Hope!”
The summit will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Neighborhood House 2819 W. Richardson Place, Milwaukee WI 53208.
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The event will include inspirational speakers, breakout sessions for both youth and parents, a panel for youth voices, art therapy, drawings, door prizes and shared community resources to support Milwaukee County youth mental health. A light lunch and refreshments will be served.
“There is rightful concern and emphasis about making access to mental health service a priority”, event Coordinator Sandy Smith said. “We want this to offer wellness opportunities and experiences before someone is suffering”.
Admissions is FREE but advance registration is required. Registrations are accepted only via https://www.eventbrite.com/e/369374909297.
About Neighborhood House
Founded in 1945, Neighborhood House of Milwaukee helps strengthen children and families help improve self-sufficiency and empower youth and families in some of the city’s most under-served neighborhoods.
Since then, Neighborhood House evolved into a reliable institution trusted by families that operates under the mission: To inspire discovery in children and families of all backgrounds in our community. Complementing NH’s mission is its organizational vision to be the educational, civic cornerstone that strengthens families and builds connections across communities.
The agency has touched the lives of tens of thousands of children, youth and adults for 76+ years. It operates highly regarded, award-winning programs that serve infants & toddlers, school-age and teen youth, adults and families, refugees and immigrants. More at www.nh-milw.org.

author: Widge Liccione


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neighborhood-house.png | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
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August 29, 2022

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Post From Community: Raft Building Challenge | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
david snell
August 30, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
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(For families) Brainstorm, design, build and float your own handcrafted mini raft on the Washington Park lagoon! With the guidance of an Urban Ecology Center Educator, participants will use recycled materials and sticks to build a mini raft of their own. Let’s get creative and set sail on this design challenge together! Children must be accompanied by an adult – everyone is encouraged to participate.
Free – $7, see website.
For questions about this program, please contact Registrar, Augie Rodenbeck, at arodenbeck@urbanecologycenter.org or call (414) 626-8518.
*Registration is required.

author: david snell


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August 29, 2022


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Post From Community: Walnut Way’s Harvest Day Festival returns to Fondy Market September 10th | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dawn Hutchison-Weiss
August 30, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Walnut Way Conservation Corp. will host its annual Harvest Day Festival on Saturday, September 10 from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Fondy Park located at 2200 W. Fond du Lac Avenue. The theme is “Rekindle, Rejoin, Restore.” Harvest Day’s theme reflects the opportunity to reengage, connect and celebrate as we begin to emerge from the pandemic.
Walnut Way will once again team up with the Fondy Farmers Market to celebrate the end of an abundant growing season by bringing the community together for a day of music, food, and resource sharing in Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights neighborhood.
For 21 years, Harvest Day has been a vibrant celebration of the sights, sounds, and tastes of Lindsay Heights, and this year’s event continues that tradition. What began as a community block party has now grown into one of the neighborhood’s largest family-friendly gatherings.
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“Harvest Day is a day to enjoy food, music, friends and family in community,” says Antonio Butts, Executive Director of Walnut Way. “It’s an opportunity to acknowledge our successes and relationships and lift each other up as we work toward a better quality of life for everyone.”
Walnut Way is a nationally-recognized, neighborhood-based nonprofit known for its innovative approach to economic and environmental health and wellness in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood. The Fondy Farmers Market is Milwaukee’s oldest and largest year-round farmers’ market. Both organizations are leading the way in offering access to healthy, fresh, and home-grown food for the Lindsay Heights neighborhood, as well as the entire city.
The event will feature local entertainers including DJ Gid Money, Sondra B Soulful, Vincent Van Great + Rio Lanza & Amanda Huff, Watch Me Shine Youth Performance, and Cigarette Break. The event is sponsored by United Way, WI Voices, Institute for Sustainable Communities, We Energies Foundation, Microsoft, Roberts and Ryan Insurance, and others.
Harvest Day is free and open to the public. For more information about live performances and vendors, or to become a Harvest Day sponsor please visit https://www.walnutway.org/harvest-day-2022/.
About Walnut Way Conservation Corps.
Walnut Way Conservation Corp. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit neighborhood organization founded in 2000 by Lindsay Heights residents to reclaim and redevelop the economic health and vitality of their community. In the years since, Walnut Way and its partners have rolled out a series of successful and innovative programs and initiatives addressing the neighborhood’s most pressing economic, environmental, and health issues. The Walnut Way Center is located in a carefully renovated, formally infamous drug house.
Understanding the importance of valuing place, residents restored this 1910 house, slated for demolition, into an active center where youth, families, elders, homeowners, and renters participate in community development. Learn more at www.walnutway.org

author: Dawn Hutchison-Weiss


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Festival-snip.PNG | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
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August 29, 2022


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Post From Community: Data Dream deadline EXTENDED to Friday, September 9th! | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Victor Amaya
August 31, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Overview: Data You Can Use (DYCU) seeks applications for the Data Dream Award. Winners will realize their “data dream” through the professional services of DYCU and expertise of our partners. Milwaukee-area nonprofits will be selected through a competitive process and awarded at Data Day on October 19, 2022.
What is a Data Dream? Have you ever wished your organization had more information or data about your work or the people you serve? A Data Dream is an opportunity for an organization to move beyond limitations created by a lack of information, limited capacity to interpret data already collected, or a combination of both. Applicants share what would be different if their nonprofit had access to more information or data —how their planning, service provision, results, or funding might be improved with access to assistance in securing, analyzing, visualizing or presenting data. Data You Can Use staff, in partnership with students from UWM Marquette, and Northwestern Mutual data scientists, works over the next 3-9 months to help bring your data dream to life.
Finalists are selected prior to Data Day, and are invited to a competitive in-person pitch presentation at Data Day on October 19, 2022. Following a five-minute presentation to the full audience, including judges, the Data Dream winners will be announced at the conclusion of Data Day. This year, four Data Dream winners will be selected. ***Click here to apply now!***
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What is Data Day? Data Day is an annual event, hosted by Data You Can Use, which provides an opportunity for leaders from neighborhoods, nonprofits, universities, the public sector, and beyond to better understand what data are available, the implications of data on community revitalization, and how to increase connections between research and practice. Data Day 2022 will be held on October 19th, and this year’s theme is “Our Neighborhoods, Our Data.” Registration coming soon!
Sponsors and Past Winners: Previous sponsors include the Zilber Family Foundation, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, The Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the Siebert Lutheran Foundation. Past winners of the Data Dream Award include Southside Organizing Center (SOC), Riverworks Development Corporation, United Community Center (UCC), Jobswork MKE, Lead2Change, Revitalize Milwaukee, Core el Centro, ACTS Housing, and Walnut Way. Winners describe the assistance they receive as “transformational” — providing information, insight and action-oriented direction in their use of data.
Data Dream Questions? Contact Victor Amaya, Executive Director of Data You Can Use, at victor@datayoucanuse.org
Thank you for helping to spread the word!
The DYCU Team
Data You Can Use (DYCU) connects people who need data to people who have data and assists in accessing, analyzing, translating, interpreting and presenting data. DYCU subscribes to the principles of the Urban Institute’s National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership to democratize data. www.datayoucanuse.org

author: Victor Amaya


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Dwayne Burtin
August 30, 2022


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Inside the NNS newsroom: We are hiring a criminal justice reporter | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ron Smith
August 31, 2022
If you care passionately about informing readers about how the criminal justice system impacts communities of color, then the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service wants to hear from you.
We seek a reporter dedicated to rigorous, evidence-based reporting as we attempt to cover the complexities of the criminal justice system and the calls for reform while centering our stories on the people most affected: Those who have been incarcerated, their families and the community as a whole.
Milwaukee, in particular, deserves an outlet that comprehensively covers these topics because the city has the third-highest rate of Black incarceration in state prisons among the 50 largest metro areas in the country—a rate that is 10 times the white rate, according to a report by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In a study on “Wisconsin’s Mass Incarceration of African American Males,” another group of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers found that the state of Wisconsin had incarcerated over half of the young Black men from Milwaukee County in state correctional facilities and that thousands of men from central city Milwaukee neighborhoods had state prison records.
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Our criminal justice reporter will be tasked with finding solutions and keeping the community aware of the issues by abiding by our three-fold mission to:
The issues we want to specifically focus on include:
•         What the closing of the state’s two youth prisons will mean for our community.
•         How re-entry programs are serving those who have been incarcerated.
•         The employment and educational opportunities for those who have experience in the justice system.
•         How has the expansion of electronic monitoring reshaped the carceral landscape for youths throughout Milwaukee County? (Building on a research project by our colleagues throughout Marquette University).
This job requires curiosity, creativity and tenacity. We seek reporters who have initiative, resolve and the willingness to dig deep into their stories while simultaneously centering the voices of communities of color. We are not looking for stenographers who summarize meetings or rewrite news releases. Instead, we seek someone who can connect the dots and deliver insightful stories that leave our readers better informed.
1. You have a demonstrated commitment to the use of investigative journalism and live to develop and execute sustained, powerful stories that spur reform.
2. You are organized and can handle multiple projects under tight deadlines.
3. You have a collaborative spirit and want to work with a team to give central city Milwaukee residents the journalism they want, need and deserve. You believe that we are all stronger together.
4. You believe that legacy models for local media’s business and journalism are broken and that new approaches are needed to serve the public and our democracy.
5. You have sharp news judgment and have a record of detailed reporting and powerful storytelling.
6. You are obsessed with accuracy and transparency.
7. You have adept interviewing skills: This reporter will need to talk to high-level officials, those who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated and neighborhood residents.
8. You have some proficiency – or at least interest – in working with data and public records.
9. You will be dedicated to broader team goals. Our team collaborates on many levels, from producing strong visuals and developing promotion plans for our stories to evaluating audience engagement and hosting events.
Audio or video reporting skills are a plus.
We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, veterans and people with disabilities. We believe that a newsroom that includes a broad range of life experiences will ultimately produce better journalism.
If you meet some, but not all, of these requirements, we still encourage you to get in touch. We’re growing, so if you’re not right for this job, you might be right for the next one.
The salary range for this position is $50,000 to $56,000. This is a one-year, grant-supported position.
The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS) is a small but mighty nonprofit newsroom that serves the city’s Black and Latinx communities. Through our website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, we report on the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connect readers with resources and serve as a watchdog for our audience.
Our readers are our neighbors and filling their information needs is our top priority. With the most diverse newsroom in the city — 90 percent people of color — we employ an editor, managing editor,  a deputy editor, two part-time reporters and one full-time Report For America corps member. In addition, we offer internships to college students and volunteer experiences for the community. We are an editorially independent project of Marquette University, which provides significant in-kind support and have offices in the Diederich College of Communication.
Click here to apply for the position.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to Executive Director Ron Smith at ronald.smith@marquette.edu. Please put “Criminal Justice Reporter” in the subject line.


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Milwaukee County Dine Out Program pays small businesses to feed older residents | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
August 31, 2022
When Angela Smith, co-founder of Daddy’s Soul Food & Grille, discovered a program last year that pays restaurants to provide food for older people, she decided to participate.
Less than a year later, Smith noted the growing support for her business.
“Seniors call daily inquiring about how to sign up for our meal program,” Smith said.
Launched in 2021, the Milwaukee County Dine Out Program was born from conversations on how to support locally owned restaurants at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Gaylyn Reske, senior dining program coordinator for Milwaukee County’s Department of Health and Human Services, remembered a surge in collaborations across sectors to support struggling restaurants, particularly those owned by people of color.
“One of the best things that came out of COVID was all of the community meetings,” said Reske, who added that this led to an unprecedented level of communication.
The goal of the Dine Out program is to get affordable and culturally diverse food to older residents while simultaneously supporting restaurants owned by people of color, women and/or veterans.
Support for the program comes from the federal Older Americans Act, which provides funding to states to feed older residents.
There is a $3 suggested contribution for each meal, but diners can eat for free. All contributions go back into funding the program and ultimately to participating restaurants.
Right now there are three restaurants participating: Daddy’s Soul Food & Grille, Orenda Cafe and Antigua Latin Inspired Kitchen.
Residents 60 years old or older who’ve registered for the program can order for pickup one to two times per week, depending on the restaurant. Volunteers are available to deliver orders as needed.
There is no income restriction to participate in the program. Participants will not be turned away based on having low or high incomes.
VIA Community Development Corporation, formerly known as Layton Boulevard West Neighbors, is a community development organization working in the Layton Park, Burnham Park and Silver City neighborhoods on the near Southwest Side. It is also an official partner of the Dine Out program along with The Business Council. Both worked to coordinate funding and guide the program during the pilot phase.
Reske said there has been an “overwhelming response” from older diners who choose to use the program over the traditional “congregate” dining model. Reske believes this is because diners have more flexibility on where and when they eat and who they can bring with them.
“Senior dining centers can feel like walking into a high school cafeteria, whereas it’s easier to go out,” Reske said, adding that program participants can eat with their families.
Reske said that funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, should support the program for the next two to three years.
VIA and The Business Council have handed off their responsibilities to the Milwaukee Christian Center, citing the need for an organization with more experience with “direct service” to be involved in coordinating the program as it continues to grow.
Those interested in signing up for the program can do so by calling 414-289-6995.
Restaurants owned by people of color, women and/or veterans can inquire about participating in the program by contacting Reske at gaylyn.reske@milwaukeecountywi.gov.

author: Sam Woods


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Ron Smith
August 30, 2022


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Post From Community: UMOS Mexican Independence Day Festival returns | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Roderick Ritcherson
August 31, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
The UMOS Mexican Independence Day Festival, absent two years due to COVID-19, is returning. This will mark the 49th year of the UMOS Mexican Independence Day Festival in Milwaukee.
The festival will take place Sept. 10, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the UMOS Center, 2701 South Chase Ave., Milwaukee. The carnival goes until 10:00 p.m.
The festival will feature Luchadores Atomica and Golden Dragon, with carnival rides, music performances, dancing, festive food vendors, merchandise vendors, beer and beverages, and community resource booths. It is Free family fun.
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The celebration is held to commemorate the decades of political unrest that took place in Mexico, proceeding Miguel Hidalgo’s cry of Delores in 1810. Every year the “Grito” has been performed honoring the country’s bloody struggle for independence from Spain.
“We are deeply honored that the Consul of Mexico-Milwaukee, Claudia Franco Hijuelos, will authenticate the festival opening with her performance of El Grito,” said Lupe Martinez, president/CEO of UMOS.
The El Grito performance will begin at 1:00 p.m.
The 100 +unit UMOS Mexican Independence Day Parade that usually precedes the festival will not take place in 2022 due to an unexpected 500% increase in parade insurance costs. UMOS plans to return with the parade and festival in 2023.
For more information on participating in the festival call 414-389-6004.
UMOS is a non-profit, advocacy organization that provides programs and services which improve the employment, educational, health and housing opportunities of under-served populations)

author: Roderick Ritcherson


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Dwayne Burtin
August 31, 2022


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Nearly half of all guns seized by Milwaukee police since 2020 come from 5 North and Northwest side ZIP code areas | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
September 1, 2022
The Milwaukee Police Department seized 8,076 firearms from Jan. 1, 2020, to July 8, 2022, nearly half of which came from five North and Northwest side ZIP code areas.
These ZIP codes – 53206, 53209, 53218, 53216 and 53210 – were the top five in the number of guns confiscated and represent 47% of all such confiscations in that period.
The majority of all the guns confiscated in the city came during police incidents (63%), 18% from search warrants, 9% from traffic stops and 3% from subject stops, according to data obtained from the Milwaukee Police Department through an open records request.
Gun violence has become a pressing concern for city leaders and residents, evidenced not just by the amount of crime involving guns in the city and record homicide rates but also by how much attention the issue has received in local elections. The figures offer a more than two-year snapshot into where guns, crime and police intersect in Milwaukee.
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Although the top five ZIP codes loom large, four others each had more than 500 guns seized during this period. These were 53204 and 53215 in South Side areas; 53208, which includes the Near West Side and parts of the North Side; and 53212, which stretches across parts of the East and North sides.
But 53206 stands out, with nearly 1,000 guns (988) recovered in an area of the city known for concentrated poverty and high incarceration rates. The guns confiscated there account for 12% of the city’s total over that time period. The second highest total, 765, was in 53209, while 722 guns were confiscated in 53218, 701 in 53216 and 679 in 53210.
Milwaukee Police Department Inspector Paul Lough said those numbers coincide with the areas in the city with the highest amounts of violence.
“There’s a lot of nonfatal shootings, homicides and we have a lot of ShotSpotter incidents in those areas,” he said. ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection technology used in Milwaukee and other cities to alert law enforcement to gunfire.
Dennis Walton, a community leader and co-host of the “Soul of the City Gospel Radio” show, said the amount of guns and violence his neighborhood in the 53206 ZIP code has experienced over the past few years is the result of ongoing neglect.
“There is a lack of leadership and concern for the residents that are suffering in this area,” Walton said. “There’s no sense of urgency to clean up this area. 53206 has been abandoned.”
Ald. Khalif Rainey, who represents sections of 53206 on the Common Council, was unavailable to speak to NNS.
A total of 960 guns were recovered in Rainey’s Aldermanic District 7. The highest total of firearms, 1,164, were recovered in District 15, which is represented by Ald. Russell Stamper II, while 1,101 guns were confiscated in District 6, represented by Ald. Milele Coggs.
Milwaukee has seen an increase in fatal and nonfatal shootings since 2020 and set all-time highs in homicides in both 2020 and 2021. This year, the city is again on pace to record an all-time high.
Some attribute the rise in violence to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused increased economic hardship and social isolation, which disconnected some from support systems and resulted in increased stress and partner violence, experts say.
Lough said once a firearm is recovered by police it is checked for fingerprints and swabbed for DNA to see if someone who is prohibited from maintaining guns had possessed it. The gun also is fired and the casing entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN system, to see if it has been used in any incidents in which shots were fired, he said.
The 53215 neighborhood on the South Side has experienced a significant increase in guns recovered from 2020-2022. In 2020, 157 guns were confiscated and the following year there were 215. By July 8, police had already recovered 157 firearms in that neighborhood. That’s 9% of the city’s total so far in 2022, compared to a 5% mark for the neighborhood in 2020.
JoAnna Bautch, executive director of VIA Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit that serves several neighborhoods in 53215, said neighbors are concerned about public safety. She said she thinks the increase in guns is linked to more violence, which, in turn, acts as a catalyst for people to obtain guns as a tool to prevent it.
“Safety means having a gun is the message,” she said. “At the beginning of the pandemic there was so much uncertainty and people were scared and when people are scared and they don’t have positive resources to combat that fear, they go to what they know and hear the most.”
She said reducing the harm caused by firearms and other violence in the neighborhood is a joint task for law enforcement and elected officials – and for residents.
“Community engagement is a tool,” she said. “Positive activities like neighborhood cleanups and attending meetings and letting people know that this community is paying attention to what’s happening so don’t come over here with those problems.”
District 8 Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, who represents sections of 53215 on the Common Council, said it’s also been her perception that there are more guns on the street in recent years. As a result, she said, Milwaukee and other cities across America have experienced a spike in gun violence.
The weakening of common sense gun laws “that make it easier for people to get their hands on guns is having unfortunate consequences here in Milwaukee,” said Zamarripa, who had 459 guns recovered in her aldermanic district during the time period examined.
David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, which studies violence and other issues, agreed that there has been an increase in firearm deaths since COVID. But he said researchers aren’t positive about the specific reasons why it occurred.
“There are all these theories about what the issue is, but I don’t think we know,” said Hemenway, a leading authority on gun violence.
In general, though, he said, there always seems to be a strong correlation between guns and more deaths.
“Overwhelming evidence that when you put guns into situations it makes crimes more lethal,” he said. “Guns don’t cause road rage, they make it more lethal.”

created: September 1, 2022

author: Edgar Mendez


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5 things to know and do the weekend of Sept. 2 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
September 2, 2022
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
See Milwaukee’s newest mural, done by Anna Rose Menako in partnership with Artists Working in Education and Associated Bank. The unveiling goes from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2 at the Associated Bank building at 4812 W. Burleigh St.
The Black Rose Initiative, a coalition of Black transgender leaders in Milwaukee, is hosting a block party for the Sherman Park, Metcalfe Park, Uptown and Walnut Hill neighborhoods. The event takes place from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3 on North 45th Street between West North Avenue and West Wright Street.
Still looking for school supplies? Get free supplies and enjoy face painting, live music, raffles and more from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8700 W. Brown Deer Road.
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Learn how to harvest and braid sweetgrass grown at the Native Wellness Garden. This event runs from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 3 at the Native Wellness Garden, located on South 6th Street just north of West Howard Avenue.
This week’s installment of the Sherman Phoenix Front Porch Series features spoken word poet Brit Nicole. The event is free for all ages and food is available for purchase. The event runs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4 at the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace, located at 3536 W. Fond Du Lac Ave.

created: September 2, 2022


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Wisconsin: Land of plenty includes plenty of ‘food deserts’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Joe States / Wisconsin Watch
September 4, 2022
When Tony Moore wants to make a quick grocery run, his options are limited.
Most of the foods that fill the shelves in his Kenosha, Wisconsin neighborhood are laden with sugar and fat — chips, soda and other sweets. Moore calls it the kind of food you eat to just “fill your stomach.” It’s the only food he can find at a gas station, after all.
In Moore’s neighborhood, two large grocery stores have closed since 2017, and in January, a small grocery there burned down — removing one more source of fresh meat and produce in an already deprived area.
Data from 2015 show that 10% of Wisconsin, or about 570,000 people, live in areas meeting the standards of a food desert, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Grocery stores typically operate on razor-thin margins, and changes in the market, labor supply or customer base can easily put them out of business — providing strong incentives not to build in underserved areas. In recent years, grant programs at the local and state level have supplied food deserts with subsidies in hopes of luring and retaining brick-and-mortar grocery stores.
Moore marks himself lucky compared to some of his neighbors  — he owns a car and can drive to a supermarket in the area.
“People who have to catch the bus really catch the fluss, because now you have to carry groceries,” Moore said. “How much groceries can you have that you can carry?”
As the leader of a group home, Moore watches some of the community’s most vulnerable residents sustain themselves on junk food from nearby gas stations and fast food chains, where prices are higher than full-service grocery stores.
“You’re talking about going to a grocery store (and) spending $10 on what if you did it in a local neighborhood, you’re talking $25,” Moore said.
It’s more than just cost and convenience. According to the 2019 Milwaukee Fresh Food Access Report, distance from supermarkets correlates with higher rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
“You don’t know you’re in a food desert until someone who is educated enough tells you you deserve better,” Moore said. “You don’t really even know the nutritional value of what you should have to help your mental health or your emotional health.”
The USDA uses a combination of income and access measurements to characterize food deserts. Census tracts where the poverty rate is 20% or where the median family income is 80% of the statewide average are considered low-income. Census tracts where at least 33% of the population lives more than 1 mile from a large grocery store in urban settings, or 10 miles in rural areas, meet the USDA’s definition of low access.
High-poverty areas are more likely to be food deserts — regardless of whether it is a rural or urban area, according to a 2012 USDA study. Besides dense urban areas, regions with higher minority populations are more likely to be food deserts.
Under the low-bracket USDA measurement for food deserts, most of Milwaukee is considered to have low access to food — meaning a majority of residents live more than a 10-minute walk away from a store where fresh food is available.
Danielle Nabak is the healthy communities coordinator for the University of Wisconsin Extension Milwaukee County’s FoodWIse program. Like some other experts, she prefers the term food apartheid to food deserts because of histories including redlining, economic disinvestment and freeway expansions that isolated marginalized communities.
“I think that really gets at more of the active disinvestment and the active oppression that occurred to create the conditions that we’re really talking about when we talk about a food desert,” Nabak said.
For almost eight years, from 2006 to 2014, Florence County, Wisconsin, had no grocery store at all.
Living on the border of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, residents of the county had to drive up to half an hour and cross the state line to buy groceries, according to Florence County Economic Development Director Wendy Gehlhoff.
“We were having to drive anywhere from 15 to 30 miles, depending on what part of the county you lived in, to a grocery store,” Gehlhoff said.
For Gehlhoff, the effort to close this grocery gap was a longtime goal, but it wasn’t until she discovered the Community Development Investment Grant in 2013 that she found the answer to Florence County’s problem.
The $250,000 grant provided by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. was “the last little bit” needed to finish the project, Gehlhoff said.
The grant provides money for Wisconsin municipalities to fund projects that will create jobs and spur the local economy. The funds from the grant mainly went to replace older equipment and remodel the site that is now Pat’s Foods, an IGA/Festival Foods market in Florence, the county seat.
But grants may not be enough to entice big grocery chains to invest in certain communities. Grocers typically don’t want to build in high-poverty or low-population areas where risk is certain.
“Just because you’re the only store in town doesn’t guarantee you stay in business,” Wisconsin Grocers Association President Brandon Scholz said. “Grocery stores require regular customers — it doesn’t get any more complicated than that.”
Supermarkets, especially those that serve foods such as meat and vegetables that expire relatively quickly, can easily lose money while running on a narrow margin of profitability. Depending on the item, it can range between 1% and 3%.
“To put it into the most basic language, you have to pay the bills,” Scholz said.
According to Scholz, large grocery stores which dominate the American market are not sustainable in food deserts. And with the high upfront costs to open a new store, not making enough money means something has to get cut — whether it be employees, benefits or advertising budgets.
“Everybody understands that they need a store,” Scholz said. “The question is, can you pay back the loan?”
In one Madison neighborhood, entrepreneur Mariam Maldonado is making it work. In 2019, Luna’s Groceries opened its doors — and closed the grocery gap in the Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh neighborhood. The store was awarded a $157,000 grant from the city of Madison aimed at improving food retail access in the area, Maldonado said.
For a long time, the neighborhood had no grocery store. When Luna’s opened, the local Copps grocery store had been closed for nearly a decade. And a nearby massive intersection made walking to small stores outside the neighborhood dangerous.
Maldonado, a longtime resident of the neighborhood, had a vision for what is now Luna’s Groceries. When the site of a former check-cashing outfit on Red Arrow Drive came up for sale, Maldonado snapped it up.
The store serves a community with multiple ethnic enclaves where over half of residents are Black or Hispanic, and customers can expect a Spanish-speaking worker to greet and assist them. Luna’s is one of the few groceries in the city where you can buy Dominican longaniza, seasoned pork sausage, and Salvadoran, Mexican and Guatemalan cremas, which are similar to sour cream but tangier, staff member Yanci Almonte Vargas said.
“We have folks who are just coming to the U.S.,” Almonte Vargas said. “And it’s their first month here, first day, and they go into the store, and I might not have the same accent or dialect of their country, but they can still speak in their native tongue and they can feel heard — and they can get what they’re looking for.”
Customer Christina Bojorquez appreciates the convenience of having a store nearby. Before Luna’s, Bojorquez had to travel several miles away to shop at Walmart or Woodman’s, a Wisconsin grocery chain.
“And now it’s better for me because I can stop before I go home,” Bojorquez said. “Especially nowadays, you know that gas is more expensive, so I can walk.”
The store fills a big gap for Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh residents without vehicles. The only bus that goes through the neighborhood is Madison Metro Route 18, which has no stops near any major grocery store.
Yannette Figueroa Cole, the alderperson who represents the Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh area, said the city invested in the community for years, but it wasn’t enough to provide the “resilient” neighborhood with access to food that it needed.
“City resources are limited; that’s where the community kicks in to fill up some gaps,” Figueroa Cole said. “Luna’s Groceries is an example of what happens when communities work together.”
Based on its success in Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh, the city of Madison approached Luna’s in 2020 to expand to South Park Street at a mixed-use development on the site of a former U.S. Army Reserve facility. The plan was for a 24,000-square-foot full-service grocery store, filling the looming grocery gap in South Madison as the nearby Pick N’ Save’s lease is set to expire.
But last year, Maldonado pulled out, partly because of the financial struggles she foresaw.
“Investing $10 million into a grocery store that will not be profitable for about seven to eight years, it was not a good investment,” Maldonado said.
She also worried that such a project would detour her from her vision of expanding Luna’s into a chain of three small stores across Madison in identified food deserts.
“When I think about my legacy, and what I want to leave for my kids … I want to have a grocery store that puts the neighborhood that it’s in first,” Maldonado said. “And to have an inventory that is built to the input of that neighborhood, that’s very important to me. Luna’s being so big in the Park Street area, I would not be able to match that.”
Even with local efforts like Luna’s and grants attempting to fill the gaps, eradicating food deserts is not a simple feat. Nabak said improving food systems is regularly near the top of the list of Milwaukee resident concerns, along with crime, safety and housing.
She favors a “multisector anti-poverty strategy” that includes better transportation, improved food pantries and more grocery stores, ideally within walking distance.
“Until we change some larger systems,” Nabak said, “we will probably always struggle with inequity in our food system.”
The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.

created: September 4, 2022

author: Joe States / Wisconsin Watch


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5 things to know and do this week in Milwaukee: Sept. 5 to Sept. 9 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
September 5, 2022
It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.
Hear about upcoming projects and initiatives occurring in Bronzeville from Ald. Milele Coggs during this virtual meeting from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6. Register to attend here, or watch live on Facebook.
The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Latino Arts Inc. and 88Nine Radio Milwaukee collaborate to bring you a live reading of the play, “Where Did We Sit on the Bus?” by Brian Quijada, followed by a discussion on identity. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is running the play, which is accompanied by original music from Kellen “Klassik” Abston, starting Sept. 30. The live reading takes place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Radio Milwaukee, 220 E. Pittsburgh Ave. Register for free here.
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, which oversees Milwaukee’s police and fire departments, is holding a virtual community meeting on the appointments of Ruben Burgos and Gerard Washington. This is a chance to learn more about them and to provide comment. The virtual meeting takes place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7. Register here.
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Latino Arts Inc. has a new exhibition: ‘The Effects of Time on Memory”/“Los Efectos del Tiempo en la Memoria.” The opening reception for the exhibition starts at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9 at 1028 S. 9 St.
The nonprofit, Data You Can Use, wants to hear from organizations about how their services could be improved with better data. In October, select organizations will participate in a pitch competition to receive Data You Can Use’s services to gather needed data. The deadline to apply for organizations to submit their “Data Dream” is Friday, Sept. 9. Data You Can Use connects people who need data to people who have data and assists in accessing, analyzing, translating, interpreting and presenting data. In case you missed it: NNS Spotlight: A love for data and a love for service: Victor Amaya’s journey

created: September 5, 2022


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Post From Community: Applications Now Open for the Milwaukee County Youth Commission | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brandon Weathersby
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Today, Milwaukee County announced that it is accepting applications to the revived Milwaukee County Youth Commission. The resolution, co-authored by County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson, County Executive David Crowley, and Supervisor Sequanna Taylor, was adopted by the County Board in May of 2022 and signed into law by the County Executive in June of 2022.
The Youth Commission will work in partnership with the County Board Chairwoman and County Executive to make advisory recommendations about policy and budgetary decisions to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, and to advance the county’s mission of achieving racial equity. The Commission will also receive support from various Milwaukee County departments.
County Executive Crowley served on the original Youth Commission from 2004-2005.
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“I’m excited to see the Youth Commission becoming a reality. My service on the Youth Commission opened my eyes to the power and potential that every person, even young people, in our community has to offer. Today’s youth should have the opportunity to realize their same power and have an active voice in County government,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “I encourage our youngest residents to apply and make sure their ideas, their passion, and their voice are represented in County Government.”
Chairwoman Nicholson was a classroom educator before and during her tenure on the Board of Supervisors.
“As an educator, I will always be committed to engaging with our youth to uplift the conditions of all people across our community,” said Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson. “Our young people certainly are our future, but they should also be empowered today to make their voices heard on the issues that affect them and their families. Milwaukee County is stronger when everyone, including our youth, are given a seat at the table. I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Youth Commission on their important work.”
Applications can be submitted at county.milwaukee.gov/youthcommission. Eligible youth are strongly encouraged to apply. There will be one Commissioner to represent each of the 18 supervisory districts in Milwaukee County and two Commissioners who will represent the County Executive and Board Chairperson and serve as Co-Chairs. The application submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2022.

author: Brandon Weathersby


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Post From Community: League of Women Voters of Wisconsin launches voter education tool VOTE411 for general election | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Molly Carmichael
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin launched its VOTE411.org voter guide for the General Election on November 8.
This one-stop shop for statewide election information provides simple tools to help Wisconsin voters navigate the voting process. These include candidate information, voter registration tools, polling place information and other helpful Election Day resources.
“VOTE411 sets voters up with the tools they need to feel prepared to cast their ballot whether they vote in person or absentee,” said Eileen Newcomer, LWVWI Voter Education Manager. “Voters can find important information they need in order to choose the candidates that align with their values and prioritize the issues they care about.”
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The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin’s voter guide includes information on all the candidates running for office in the fall election – including candidates running for state offices such as the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state senate and assembly as well as federal offices like U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Voting is the best way to make the change you want to see in your community, and VOTE411 empowers voters to use their voices. Nearly 25.4 million voters have found the information they needed thanks to VOTE411, many of them young people and first-time voters.
Voting should be fun and simple. VOTE411 gives voters the invaluable, nonpartisan information they need all in one place. So head on over and get out to vote on November 8.
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The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is a nonpartisan political organization that advocates for informed and active participation in government. There are 20 local Leagues throughout Wisconsin. More information at lwvwi.org.

author: Molly Carmichael


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Post From Community: Job Resource Fair and Resume Workshop at the Sherman Phoenix Marketplace | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dr. Stacia Thompson
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Are you ready to start a new career? Join Sherman Phoenix Marketplace and Goodwill for a resource fair and resume workshop on September 7, from 11 a.m to 3 p.m.
Explore local job opportunities and connect with community resources. Learn about open positions at Goodwill and find work with a mission. Discover how to transform your resume into a powerful tool that will help you land interviews.
You don’t want to miss this exciting event!
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author: Dr. Stacia Thompson


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Post From Community: Northwestern Mutual Invests $1.7 Million to Strengthen Milwaukee Neighborhoods | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Northwestern Mutual
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, is invested in strengthening the city of Milwaukee by working directly with residents to foster safe neighborhoods, healthy and thriving youth, and strong families. Building on its neighborhood revitalization efforts, today the company announced $1.7 million in grants to nearly 30 nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee’s Amani, Metcalfe Park and Muskego Way neighborhoods.
“The most impactful changes happen when we listen to the residents directly within our communities and provide them with the skills, guidance and resources they need to build a vibrant neighborhood,” said Steve Radke, president, Northwestern Mutual Foundation. “Our partners continue to inspire us as they mobilize their collective power to change the experience and narrative for residents in Milwaukee.”
Northwestern Mutual recently launched a Collaborative Grants Program to encourage meaningful collaboration across local nonprofit organizations in Amani, Metcalfe Park and Muskego Way. The program is designed to eliminate programmatic duplication, while also positioning and preparing partners to access funding to further their revitalization efforts.
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As part of the program, partners have jointly developed and agreed upon a set of common goals and direction and will work together to achieve those goals by using the expertise and resources of each collaborator. This year, six projects have been selected to receive funding for a total of nearly $240,000 through the Collaborative Grants Program.
Amani Neighborhood:
Metcalfe Park Neighborhood:
Muskego Way Neighborhood:
To be eligible for the Collaborative Grants Program, all applicants were required to identify target strategies from each neighborhood’s revitalization plan that would be best reached by a collaborative effort. Additionally, grant recipients are required to demonstrate measurable impact and program outcomes within one year.
Since 2013, Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, has invested nearly $15 million in Milwaukee’s Amani, Metcalfe Park and Muskego Way neighborhoods, supporting nonprofit organizations focused on fostering safe neighborhoods, healthy and thriving youth, and strong families.
Locally, the company also collaborates with schools and educational programs to increase access to quality education and supports the leading attractions that make Milwaukee a great place to live and visit. Nationally, the company is focused on accelerating the search for better treatments and cures for childhood cancer, while also supporting families undergoing treatment and survivors struggling with lasting effects.
About Northwestern Mutual FoundationThe mission of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation is to improve the lives of children and families in need. The Foundation has given more than $400 million since its inception in 1992 and is designed to create lasting impact in the communities where the company’s employees and financial representatives live and work. We accomplish this by combining financial support, volunteerism, thought leadership and convening community partners to deliver the best outcomes. Our efforts are focused nationally on curing childhood cancer, and locally on education, neighborhoods and making our hometown of Milwaukee a great destination. Visit Northwestern Mutual Foundation to learn more.
About Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual has been helping people and businesses achieve financial security for more than 165 years. Through a holistic planning approach, Northwestern Mutual combines the expertise of its financial professionals with a personalized digital experience and industry-leading products to help its clients plan for what’s most important. With more than $560 billion in combined company and client assets, $34 billion in revenues, and $2.1 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to nearly five million people with life, disability income and long-term care insurance, annuities, and brokerage and advisory services. Northwestern Mutual ranked 97 on the 2022 FORTUNE 500 and was recognized by FORTUNE® as one of the “World’s Most Admired” life insurance companies in 2022.
Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM), Milwaukee, WI (life and disability insurance, annuities, and life insurance with long-term care benefits) and its subsidiaries. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS) (investment brokerage services), broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company® (NMWMC) (investment advisory and services), federal savings bank; and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company (NLTC) (long-term care insurance). Not all Northwestern Mutual representatives are advisors. Only those representatives with “Advisor” in their title or who otherwise disclose their status as an advisor of NMWMC are credentialed as NMWMC representatives to provide investment advisory services.
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author: Northwestern Mutual


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Post From Community: Stop the Violence: Walk/Run for Peace – Saturday, Sept. 10th, 8:30 a.m. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sarah Bregant
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Join us Saturday, September 10th at 8:30 a.m. as Northwest Side Community Development Corporation (NWSCDC) hosts a Stop the Violence: Walk/Run for Peace on Milwaukee’s North Side.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, incidences of crime, homicide, domestic violence, and reckless driving have increased dramatically in the City of Milwaukee. The goal of this Walk/Run for Peace is to have the community come together to focus on solutions as to how we can promote change, create healthy lifestyles, and encourage positive behavior within our neighborhoods.
Building a culture of peace in our community will be a continuous effort. It will take all of us working together to meet this need. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life for individuals and families, one neighborhood and one block at a time.
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The 3.9 mile Walk/Run will start and end at the Century City Tower (4201 N. 27th Street). Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and we will depart at 9 a.m.
We will provide free t-shirts, snacks, and a water stop along the route. Resources and other giveaway items will be available after the Walk/Run.
Free parking is available in the lot behind the Century City Tower building (enter lot from Hope Avenue).
Please register on Eventbrite here!
Rain date: Saturday, September 17th (same time & location)
Questions: Contact Danitra Jones, Community Organizer at danitra@nwscdc.org or 414-444-8204.

author: Sarah Bregant


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September 2, 2022


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Post From Community: Predatory payday loan companies and fraudsters thrive among uneven laws and stolen data, new BBB study finds | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lisa Schiller
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
As consumers lost jobs and struggled to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, many turned to payday loans and other short-term solutions, with an increase in online solutions. This not only allowed predatory lenders to thrive – many borrowers still contend with sky-high interest rates and opaque fees – but also created a fertile environment for scammers, according to a new in-depth investigative study by Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Payday loan laws are handled on a state-to-state basis among the 32 states in which they are available, and a complicated web of regulations makes the impact of the industry in the U.S. and Canada tough to track. The BBB study finds one common thread, however, in the triple-digit interest rates many of these loans carry – camouflaged by interest that is compounded weekly or monthly, rather than annually, along with significant rollover fees.
From 2019 to July 2022, BBB received more than nearly 3,000 customer complaints about payday loan companies, with a disputed dollar amount nearing $3 million. Additionally, more than 117,000 complaints were lodged against debt collection companies at BBB. Complainants often said they felt ill-informed about the terms of their loans. Many fall into what consumer advocates call a “debt trap” of stacking interest and fees that can leave customers to pay double the amount they originally borrowed. One woman in St. Louis, Missouri, told BBB recently that over the course her $300 loan, she paid more than $1,200 and still owes an additional $1,500.
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Scammers didn’t miss an opportunity to take advantage of consumers, either, with BBB Scam Tracker receiving more than 7,000 reports of loan and debt collection scams representing roughly $4.1 million in losses.
Posing as payday loan companies and debt collectors, scammers arm themselves with stolen information to convince consumers to hand over bank account information and cash. In one case, BBB found that hackers had stolen and posted detailed personal and financial data for more than 200,000 consumers. News reports indicate that it is not an isolated incident.
A Fon Du Lac, Wisconsin, woman reported receiving a phone call recently from a supposed debt collector stating there was pending legal action against her because of an overdue payday loan debt. Fearing legal trouble, she ultimately sent the scammer $500 and her credit card information. Over the course of several months, her card was charged again until she canceled it.
Regulators at the federal level have pursued stronger laws to curb predatory lending, but those regulations were rolled back in recent years, leaving states to make their own rules about interest rate caps and other aspects of payday loans. More than a dozen states introduced legislation last year to regulate payday loans, but the landscape for legally operating payday lenders remains inconsistent from state to state.
Currently, payday loans are not allowed in 18 states, according to Pew Chartiable Trust. In addition, the Military Lending Act sets a 36% rate on certain payday loans. With respect to fraudulent behavior, law enforcement is limited in what it can do to prosecute payday loan scams. Some legal payday lenders have attempted to prevent scams by educating consumers on ways they will and will not contact borrowers.
BBB’s study advises consumers to do careful research into all their borrowing options – as well as the terms and conditions of a payday loan – before signing anything to take out a short-term loan. The study also includes recommendations for regulators:
Where to report a payday loan scam or register a complaint:
Find more information about all BBB scam studies at BBB.org/scamstudies.
For an online version click here.
For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2020, people turned to BBB more than 220 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 6.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Serving Wisconsin which was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.

author: Lisa Schiller


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Post From Community: “Rev-Up MKE” finalists will compete to bring new businesses to the Near West Side | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Anna Story
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Near West Side Partners, Inc. (NWSP) today announced five finalists selected as part of the fifth Rev-Up MKE small business competition. The program’s goal is to provide an opportunity for the winner – and as many finalists as possible – to expand or start a business in the Near West Side and receive the support necessary to be successful.
“The Near West Side has long been home to incredible start-ups,” said Keith Stanley, executive director of NWSP. “Based on the great ideas and high-quality applications we received for the return of Rev-Up MKE this year, it is clear that there continue to be motivated small business owners that want to call the Near West Side home. We are excited to hear the pitches at the fifth Rev-Up MKE competition on September 14, and I encourage the Milwaukee community to attend that event and vote for their favorite business idea.”
A panel of judges selected finalists based on the strength of the applications and the quality of the business ideas. Each finalist will receive business training and support in the weeks ahead as they prepare to pitch their vision to a live audience at the Rave on September 14.
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“The Near West Side is ready to welcome another generation of entrepreneurs to our growing neighborhood, bringing new jobs and vibrancy to our commercial corridors,” said Stanley. “So far, past winners have shown their commitment to the Near West Side by opening new storefronts, investing in up-and-coming commercial corridors, and hiring employees who are also residents of our community.”
New this year to Rev-Up MKE is banking partner Town Bank, who will provide seed funds for the winning venture and is sponsoring the Rev-Up MKE reception.
“We are thrilled to be supporting Near West Side Partners and local entrepreneurs as a partner for Rev-Up MKE,” said Jay Mack President & CEO, Town Bank and Wintrust Wisconsin Market Head. “As an active small business lender in Milwaukee with two locations in the Near West Side, we understand the importance of entrepreneurship to grow and develop communities and look forward to helping propel a new business to success.”
“Marquette’s innovation team is proud to be working with Near West Side Partners, Harley-Davidson and Town Bank to support these up-and-coming entrepreneurs,” said Kelsey Otero, director of innovation at Marquette University and project lead for the Rev-Up MKE competition. “It is a privilege to provide mentorship and support to the budding business owners who will soon present their business ideas to Rev-Up MKE judges and members of the Near West Side community.”

author: Anna Story


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Dwayne Burtin
September 5, 2022

author: Dwayne Burtin


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Post From Community: Supervisor Coggs-Jones encourages youth to participate in Girls in Aviation Day | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rob Hullum
September 5, 2022
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Girls in Aviation Day, a worldwide event organized locally by the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter of Women in Aviation, will be held Saturday, September 24 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Mitchell International Airport.
“Careers in aviation are both exciting and lucrative, but women—particularly women of color—are incredibly underrepresented in this field,” said County Supervisor Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones. “I encourage the parents/guardians of Milwaukee County’s girls to maximize their curiosity about aviation in a fun way, right at home at the Mitchell International Airport”
The free event for girls ages 12-18 provides an opportunity to talk with aviation professionals and learn more about different careers in aviation. This includes a behind-the-scenes look at the airport and airport operations as well as the chance to fly flight simulators, sit in airplanes and helicopters, and talk to pilots.
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Registration for this event will remain open until Wednesday, September 14. The child’s full legal name and birthday is required for registration to gain access to all airport areas.
Those interested can register here.

author: Rob Hullum


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Dwayne Burtin
September 5, 2022


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Post From Community: Young leaders encouraged to apply for openings on the Milwaukee Youth Council | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Bill Arnold
September 5, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
The City of Milwaukee Youth Council, a group composed of young leaders ages 14-18 who serve and advance the interests of city youth as a representative body, is seeking members for a new term beginning this fall. The Youth Council members represent young people in their aldermanic districts, and meet with leaders like the Mayor, Common Council members, School Superintendent, business owners, and community groups to advocate for issues relevant to youth.
The Youth Council has 17 members, one from each of the city’s 15 aldermanic districts and two at-large members. Currently, there are vacancies for districts 1,3,5,7,8,9,10,12,14,15 and one at-large spot.
Common Council President José G. Pérez said that the Youth Council serves a critically vital role for the community. “Providing youth the opportunity and platform to embody leadership and to advocate for issues important to them, their peers, families and community is vitally important for our community. There are currently a number of vacancies available on the Youth Council, and I would encourage those young people willing and able to serve to apply now for this tremendous opportunity,” he said.
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The Youth Council is responsible for an annual allocation of Community Development Block Grant funding, and has previously worked to address reckless driving, vehicle thefts, social media responsibility and more. Youth Council members have typically met on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month.
Youth Council members must be between the ages of 14-18 with the time, energy, and passion to work for change and empowerment. To join you must currently live in the City of Milwaukee, and either live in or attend a school located within one of the vacant districts. Those interested can learn more and apply online by visiting Milwaukee.gov/YouthCouncil.

author: Bill Arnold


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‘They help us find a common ground’: How Mediate Milwaukee serves tenants and landlords | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
September 6, 2022
At the height of the pandemic, Franklin Colon said he lost his job because he had to stay home with his small children.
The single father of three started to apply for new jobs but had no luck. Afraid he and his children would be out on the streets, he reached out to Mediate Milwaukee for help.
“The mediators saved my life,” he said. “They walked me through the entire process from communicating with my landlord to applying for and getting rental assistance.”
That’s the premise of what Mediate Milwaukee does for its clients.
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Mediate Milwaukee, 1915 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is a nonprofit that provides free mediation services  for tenants and landlords.
“The primary reason people reach out is because they are at risk of being evicted. But sometimes people reach out because they are having a dispute with their landlord or tenant and can’t communicate,” said Joanne Lipo Zovic, one of the organization’s mediators. “We work with everyone but prioritize those who are at risk of losing housing.”
The organization does this by bringing parties together.
“Mediation is a neutral safe space,” said Dean Fiorentino, a landlord. “They help us find a common ground and get a mutual understanding.”
Fiorentino said communication can be one of the biggest challenges he faces when working with tenants.
“Mediators are able to explain what I may be trying to explain to tenants without the emotions,” he said. “Honestly, I can say the exact same thing as mediators, but tenants respond better to it when it’s them.”
Also, he said, Mediate Wisconsin frames, in writing, what he and a tenant collectively agreed to–something he wouldn’t have the capacity to do otherwise.
Amy Koltz, the president and executive director of Mediate Milwaukee, said the nonprofit employs three paid staff and has a few volunteers. Last year, the organization received 1,200 applications for its services. So far this year, there have been 431 applications, she said.
Shawn Payne went through mediation with his property management company after losing his job and becoming unable to pay rent.
“We had come to an agreement, and I was on track to pay back, but I guess they (the property management) lost patience and filed an eviction,” Payne said. “I reached out to Joanne and explained the situation, and she switched gears and helped me get rent assistance, so I was able to stay in my apartment.”
If you think you need mediation with your landlord or tenant, you can apply here.

created: September 6, 2022

author: PrincessSafiya Byers


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Ron Smith
September 5, 2022

author: Ron Smith


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New head of the City Forward Collective plans to lean on experience engaging with parents | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
September 7, 2022
While searching for a school for her children in 2013, Nelly Hernandez stopped into an office of a public charter school network just getting started in Milwaukee.
The network was recruiting parents for its inaugural year, and its staff was eager to make Hernandez feel at home.
Hernandez remembers one charismatic, attentive representative from California who wanted to have a meaningful conversation with everyone.
“You could tell she really cared about every person who was coming into that little office,” Hernandez said of her first impression of Brittany Kinser.
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Kinser starts Sept. 19 as the new president and executive director of the City Forward Collective, an education nonprofit with a mission “to secure Milwaukee’s future by ending educational inequity and ensuring every child has the opportunity to attend a high-quality school.”
Kinser moved to Milwaukee to head the local chapter of Rocketship Public Schools, the public charter school network. She then recruited Hernandez to Rocketship as a parent and then brought Hernandez on professionally as a recruiter.
Kinser said in her new role, she will draw on lessons learned from her time at Chicago Public Schools and the Rocketship public charter school network in California, Nashville and Milwaukee.
Increasingly, Milwaukee parents are choosing to enroll their kids in private or charter schools instead of Milwaukee Public Schools. Since the 2010-’11 school year, MPS enrollment has dropped from 80,910 to 69,115 during the 2021-’22 school year.
City Forward Collective offers its schools services such as marketing and communications; school staff training and recruitment; policy analysis; and legislative lobbying. Since forming in 2019, it has also raised money for schools to address issues related to COVID-19 and organized town hall sessions for parents to question 2022 mayoral candidates Bob Donovan and Cavalier Johnson.
Kinser did not say whether her hiring marked a new direction for the organization, which was previously led by Patricia Hoben. Hoben will stay until December to advise the transition.
“I am really looking forward to immersing myself within City Forward Collective, learning from the team and board, talking with school leaders and teachers about what has been working … and from there deciding where we go,” Kinser said.
Kinser knew she wanted to work in education from an early age. While in high school, Kinser remembers giving students with disabilities support with daily tasks, such as eating or light physical therapy.
“That’s when I decided that I wanted to be a special education teacher. I got a lot of energy and joy from that,” she said about the experience.
Originally from the Chicago area, Kinser got a bachelor’s degree in special education from Eastern Illinois University and taught in Chicago Public Schools before earning two graduate degrees in designing science curriculum and educational leadership.
Cynthia Barron, a professor at University of Illinois Chicago and a leadership coach for school staff entering Chicago schools, met Kinser while working on developing science curriculum.
She remembers Kinser both because she was good at her job and because she worked well in a team.
“She was very coachable,” Barron said. “She entered situations as a learner, not as a person who wanted to fill a vessel with information.”
“And we know that’s what makes (educators) able to bring people together.”
After taking a job as an assistant principal at Rocketship Public Schools in San Jose, California, Kinser’s skills as a learner were tested when she was put in charge of parent engagement at her school.
At her first community meeting, Kinser’s goal was to have 85% of parents show up, but only 20% attended.
“I didn’t see the work it takes to get them,” she said. “What I learned was to ask parents what they needed to be able to show up,” which led to offering meetings at different times of the day as well as providing food and child care.
“What I learned from that is that you need to listen to parents and respond,” she said. “And if you don’t respond, you’ve broken that trust.”
As Rocketship expanded into Milwaukee in 2013, Kinser was first brought over to help establish the network and recruit parents, then to head the Milwaukee program.
By now, she had a few years’ experience within the Rocketship model, which allows parents to walk the halls, spend time in the cafeteria, have access to school leaders and gain knowledge about what goes on in the school on a day-to-day basis.
For Hernandez, this access and trust in parent voices made an impression.
“I knew as a parent that my principal really cared,” Hernandez said.
Though Kinser said she loved her time at Rocketship, she wanted to explore ways of creating systems-level change in education. At Rocketship, she was in charge of two schools. At the City Forward Collective, she can be involved in crafting best practices for dozens of schools citywide as well as play an advocacy role.
Drawing from her experiences working in special education in high school and engaging with parents at Rocketship, she knows that schools need outside support to thrive.
“Partnerships are really key. You cannot run a school by yourself,” she said.

created: September 7, 2022


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Ron Smith
September 6, 2022