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Developer Kalan Haywood, Pete’s Market big winners at MANDI event | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
March 16, 2018
Milwaukee commercial development “superhero” Kalan Haywood, Sr. walked on the stage to collect an individual achievement award at the MANDI dinner Thursday trailed by a half dozen African-American colleagues.
“You see my team here; you see black excellence here,” he said. “I don’t do anything by myself. Most people carry a rabbit’s foot — I carry my men around with me.” Under his dress shirt, Haywood sported a Superman t-shirt.
Haywood collected three trophies at the Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation event, sponsored by LISC Milwaukee and U.S. Bank. In addition to the Northern Trust Navigator Award, which recognizes individual leadership and collaboration, a Haywood Group project — Pete’s Fruit Market — won the State Farm Building Blocks Award for a real estate project that advances the community. Pete’s also won a Wells Fargo People’s Choice award.
A native of Milwaukee, Haywood has developed multiple projects in the past 18 years, including homes and commercial spaces. His $25 million Germania building renovation in 2014 made him the first African-American developer to build in downtown Milwaukee.
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Asked about the significance of the awards, Haywood said, “I hope we set an example… If it inspires someone else to do it or do it better, that’s what matters.” He added, “No matter what failures you might endure … you can always make a difference.”
Haywood shared the individual leadership award with Dr. Mark Eppli, who created the highly lauded ACRE program at Marquette University in 2005. ACRE, which recruits and trains people of color for careers in commercial real estate, is now run by LISC Milwaukee.
Eppli learned at the event that a new venture capital fund, which will provide early stage investment through a revolving grant to developers, will be named in his honor.
“I didn’t know that was coming,” he said of the fund. “I couldn’t think of a better honor.”
In addition to Pete’s Market, Artists Working in Education (AWE) and Safe & Sound received People’s Choice awards, which were chosen by a public vote on the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service website. AWE also won the BMO Harris Bank Cornerstone Award.
According to Raina Johnson, a manager at AWE, “We have demonstrated how the arts can impact everyday life and create an avenue for creative expression, especially in historically disinvested neighborhoods.”
For the first time this year, the MANDI event, attended by nearly 800 people, included an award specifically for economic development. The new Chase Economic Development Award was presented to Menomonee Valley Partners for the revitalization of Menomonee Valley.
Once an eyesore, the Menomonee Valley has become a national model in economic development and environmental sustainability. The 300 acres are now home to 47 companies and more than 5,000 jobs. One million square feet of green buildings and more than 60 acres of new trails and park space have been constructed, according to Corey Zetts, executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners.
The Northwestern Mutual Collaboration Award, recognizing nonprofits that collaborate and align, was also presented for the first time this year. The winning partners were Literacy Services of Wisconsin and WRTP/BIG STEP for an innovative program that allows individuals to simultaneously receive a High School Equivalency Degree and construction trade credentials in three months. Eric Christophersen, president of the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, announced a $40,000 contribution to support a new cohort of trainees.
All MANDI winners receive a trophy and a $1,000 contribution.
Fondy Park received the Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award, which recognizes a public space that helps build the community. The other finalist was Riverwest 24 Bike Race.
Artists Working in Education received the BMO Harris Bank Cornerstone Award, which recognizes an organization for its commitment and effectiveness over time. The other finalist was Community Improvement Project Matching grants.
Dr. Mark Eppli and Kalan R. Haywood, Sr. both received the Northern Trust Navigator Award, which recognizes individual leadership and collaboration.
The Layton Boulevard West Neighbors Block Club Menu program received the PNC Bank Trailblazer Award, which recognizes an innovative approach to a community problem. The other finalist was Safe & Sound.
Pete’s Fruit Market (developed by the Haywood Group) received the State Farm Building Blocks Award, which recognizes a real estate project that advance the community. The other finalist was the Mitchell Street Branch Library/Alexander Lofts.
Menomonee Valley Partners received the Chase Economic Development Award, which a program that stimulates economic and business development. The other finalist was Northwest Side Community Development Corp.
“These people are working hard to create safe, healthy, vibrant neighborhoods for their community. The MANDIs celebrate these efforts, and offer all of us inspiration and hope for an equitable economic future for all,” said Donsia Strong Hill, executive director of LISC Milwaukee.

author: Sharon McGowan


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 15, 2018

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


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Eviction Defense Project offers FREE legal aid in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Khalif J. Rainey
March 16, 2018
The Eviction Defense Project is a court-based FREE civil legal aid provider for low-income tenants facing eviction. The EDP is located in room 406 at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, 901 N. 9th St.
The EDP is offered from 12 – 3 p.m. (see attached schedule flyer and general schedule below) on a first-come, first-serve basis, so it is recommended participants arrive as early as possible to ensure they receive assistance.
“Eviction can be traumatizing and stressful, and I strongly recommend that individuals – and especially tenants with children – look into the Eviction Defense Project to see if its services can be of assistance,” Alderman Khalif J. Rainey said.
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The EDP hours, days of operation and location are subject to change. The most up-to-date information will be available on Legal Action’s webpage (www.legalaction.org) and the EDP phone line.
Through its volunteer attorneys, the EDP provides limited scope brief legal services to tenants facing eviction. EDP volunteer attorneys are able to provide advice and counsel to help prepare clients for their return date, negotiate with the landlord or landlord’s attorney to reach settlement when appropriate, and provide in-court representation to clients in contested eviction proceedings. Please note that these services are limited to the day that the services are provided.
Tenants must visit the EDP in person to register for assistance. During intake, the EDP will determine whether a renter is eligible for project services and copies will also be made of any relevant documents. Tenants should bring all relevant documents to the EDP (e.g., summons/complaint, lease, receipts, notices, etc.). Upon completion of intake, clients will be asked to return to the waiting area where they will be called once a volunteer attorney becomes available.
The EDP is made possible through collaboration between Legal Action of Wisconsin, Legal Services Corporation, the Milwaukee Justice Center, Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Community Advocates, Quarles & Brady LLP, volunteer attorneys, and the support of the Circuit Court and the Clerk of Courts.
Eviction Defense Project
901 N. 9th St., Room 406
Hours: Mondays, Thursdays, and certain Wednesdays and Fridays 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Phone (Information Only): 414-278-7722
Click here to see the schedule.

author: Ald. Khalif J. Rainey


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Johnson receives Vel Phillips Trailblazer Award | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Milele A. Coggs
March 16, 2018
Yesterday (March 14) during the Girls’ Day at City Hall event, Jasmine M. Johnson received the Vel Phillips Trailblazer Award for her service to the community.
Bestowed by Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, the award recognizes selfless service and work to improve the quality of life for residents in Milwaukee. Ms. Johnson helped found 29/Eleven an entity whose mission it is to bring interactive cause marketing initiatives to urban areas that reach individuals and bridge volunteerism in a non-traditional manner in order to bring impact and drive results that give hope and a future.
Through 29/Eleven she has brought well recognizable events to Milwaukee like “Fit to a Tea,” an annual event that celebrates sisterhood by bringing women together in a formal setting for serious discussions on important issues, including health, wellness, and wealth. She also has done “Fight Like a Girl,” an annual breast cancer awareness event, as well as Recycle the Black Dollar, One MKE and more.
“Jasmine has made signature empowerment events in Milwaukee that have brought in well- known guests speakers who touch on important issues, encourage wealth creation, push for diversity and inclusion, and stimulate political engagement and improved health of the Milwaukee community,” Alderwoman Coggs said.
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“I was honored to be able to bestow the inaugural Vel Phillips Trailblazer Award to Ms. Jasmine Johnson,” she said.
Ms. Johnson works for Pfizer, Inc. as Senior Manager of Alliance Development for the State of Illinois, overseeing advocacy strategy to support Pfizer’s legislative and policy objectives. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin- Parkside where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management, and she also holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Management from Cardinal Stritch University.
“All of Ms. Johnson’s civic and professional endeavors make her a true inspiration for all who attended Girls’ Day at City Hall,” said Alderwoman Coggs.

author: Ald. Milele A. Coggs


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Assembly proposal would increase jail costs, property taxes | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Gretchen Schuldt, Wisconsin Justice Initiative Action
March 19, 2018
Gretchen Schuldt, executive director of Wisconsin Justice Initiative Action, writes that State Sen. Leah Vukmir and other Republican assembly members want to increase local property taxes — a lot. Wisconsin Justice Initiative Action advocates for independence and integrity in criminal and civil legal systems.
State Sen. Leah Vukmir’s proposal to force county jails to hold more people while they await decisions on whether their parole or probation should be revoked will force counties to increase property taxes or reduce other services.
It’s outrageous that Vukmir, who poses as a fiscal conservative, is so willing to use her position as a state senator to increase local taxes. It’s equally outrageous that Republicans in the Wisconsin State Assembly went along. This proposal, if adopted, will cost local property taxpayers statewide millions of dollars a year.
Vukmir (R-Brookfield) is the main author of Senate Bill 54, which mandates that the Department of Corrections recommend revocation of probation for anyone on supervision who is charged with a new violent misdemeanor or any felony. An amended version of the bill was approved by the assembly. The state senate will vote later this month.
DOC estimates that the bill, if it becomes law, will result in an additional 2,135 revocation recommendations each year. If each of those alleged offenders spends 50 days in jail awaiting the outcome of his or her revocation hearing, total annual jail time in the state will rise by 106,857 days, or about 293 inmate years.
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Property taxpayers could be on the hook for a total of $4 million to $6 million, depending on the daily cost of housing each inmate. That does not include any construction costs associated with building or expanding jails to handle the new population.
Because of state-imposed limits on county property tax levies, counties may have to cut vital services to pay for the increased jail costs.
State administrative judges may refuse to revoke supervision for as many as half the people jailed under the new law, according to DOC estimates.
In other words, people are jailed unnecessarily for up to two months and then the state will say “whoops – never mind. But counties: here’s the bill anyway.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 18, 2018


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Slam poetry competition offers opportunity for teens’ voices to be heard | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rachel Kubik
March 19, 2018
From left to right: Janiyah Moore, Aryanna Strickland, Dasonie Nelson, Nia Mooney, Olivia Keenan, Jasmine Roach, Jason Gray, Lhylia Tate, Andrew Jackson and Jenna Harb. (Photo by Rachel Kubik)
As a child, Janiyah Moore never was able to speak up. She lived with her single mother who was very religious, and Moore could not freely explain how she felt in any given situation.
“It was her way or the highway,” Moore said in an email. “I was the child to shut down and not speak up for myself because when I was given opportunities to, I felt defeated and degraded,” she said.
Now 19 and a Milwaukee Public School alumnus, Moore participates in Still Waters Collective, which “applies the craft of creative writing and the art of spoken word to build community, capacity and confidence,” according to its website.
She was among 10 teens who recently performed original slam poetry at The Marcus Center for Performing Arts in Vogel Hall. Of the 10, judges selected six — including Moore, to represent Milwaukee in the Brave New Voices Final competition in Houston from July 18-21.
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Janiyah Moore bases her slam poetry on colorology and numerology. (Photo by Rachel Kubik)
“The poems that they put up were amazing; I could tell the work that they did, and there was just a lot of love in the building, so I’m really proud,” said Dasha Kelly, founder of Still Waters Collective. She estimated that there were 80 to 100 people in the audience.
Kelly said the five judges included a teenager, an adult from a non-arts industry, a representative from a local community organization, a young adult and a local artist. The judges individually rated each poet’s work on a scale of 10, and the students with the highest scores were selected for Houston.
The students in the finals competed in preliminary slams, once a month for four months beginning in September. Kelly said about a dozen schools participate in the High School Slam League sponsored by Still Waters Collective.
She added that participating in the league is a great way for young people to engage with one another.
“They’re hearing each other’s stories,” she said. “This is what builds a team, this is what has kids from King knowing who’s dating who at Carmen, who’s going to college from Tenor.”
In addition to Moore, the winners were Olivia Keenan of Wauwatosa West High School, Nia Mooney of Rufus King International High School, Dasonie Nelson from Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Jasmine Roach of The Prairie School and Aryanna Strickland of Veritas High School.
“I’ve been able to watch a lot of these students grow over the past couple years, and really delve into their craft,” said Alea McHatten, who helped organize the poetry slam and is a teaching artist with Still Waters Collective. “They have worked tirelessly on these performances.”
McHatten said that slam poetry shines a light on issues that need to be talked about. “It’s another form of literature and it’s one that people often forget, but it’s one that is very, very important,” she said. “Without poetry, we wouldn’t be able to capture the true beauty of this world in words.”
She added that slam poetry is a great way for participants to express their own thoughts as well as react to what others think.
Jason Gray, a student at Casimir Pulaski High School, entered the competition because he wanted an opportunity for his voice to be heard.
While Jason Gray did not make the Houston finals, he was proud of his performance. (Photo by Rachel Kubik)
Gray said he finds inspiration for his own poetry from other poets he’s seen. “I see people turn their struggles into poetry, and so when I struggle in life, I want to turn that into something for someone else.”
He added that slam poetry allows people to express their thoughts and emotions to others. “(Poetry is) showing yourself to other people, being unafraid to be naked in front of someone,” he said.
Although Gray was not chosen as a finalist for the Brave Young Voices Competition, he said he was proud that he did the best he could.
Moore, an alumna of MPS, said she gets inspiration for her slam poetry by looking around and connecting with what’s in front of her.
“Colorology and numerology (inspire) a lot of my poetry now … so now I’m just using all of my universal gifts to project forward to heal the crowd,” said Moore.
Moore said her pen is her getaway, her escape and her self-empowerment. “So I just started writing, and when I started speaking it, I would just channel so much and I said, ‘This is definitely for me.’”
A lot of the people in the audience, especially people from Still Waters Collective, shaped her as an artist, she said. “It’s a really big family here.”
As a traveling slam league, Still Waters Collective can help bring healing and growth to other places through poetry, Moore said. She noted that other poetry slams are more competitive. “We’re more about nurturing ourselves as artists.”
Arious Walton, a student at Milwaukee Academy of Science, came to the event to see his girlfriend perform. He said slam poetry is exciting because of the meaningful wording and the way the poets physically move on stage. “It’s a stronger, powerful message.”

author: Rachel Kubik


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MPS’ first-ever job fair introduces students to the workforce | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Talis Shelbourne
March 20, 2018
Siena Bickham talks to students about working for Milwaukee’s Earn & Learn program during the summer. (Photo by Talis Shelbourne)
Erik Fowler, a 17-year-old junior from Bay View, signed up for the MPS job fair to explore employment opportunities and network.
“I want to go into the Air Force … to work on planes and that will help me set up my engineering degree,” he said. “If that doesn’t work out, I’ll probably become a firefighter.”
“People don’t seem to hate firefighters,” he added with a laugh, before pulling up a photo of the college he wants to attend, Red Rock Community College in Lakewood, Colorado.
Fowler was one of about 1,000 students from 26 high schools invited to Milwaukee Public Schools’ first-ever job fair, which included more than 60 employers.
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The recent event was held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
“Being on a college campus exposes them to the different things they can be a part of and maybe encourages them to [attend] college,” said MPS Intern Coordinator Tamara Coleman.
Kayla Hutchins, 17, came early to the event. “I’m here to fill out job applications and get hired,” she said, adding that she also would be interested in interning at UWM. She said she wants to study history at UWM and ultimately become a professor.
MPS Intern Coordinator Tamara Coleman partnered with UWM and MATC to coordinate the job fair. (Photo by Talis Shelbourne)
Students from Alexander Hamilton High School, James Madison Academic Campus, Harold S. Vincent High School, Milwaukee Marshall High School, Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, Milwaukee School of Languages and Bay View High School attended the fair.
Jean Salzer, director of UWM’s Career Planning and Resource Center, said students who gain job experience often emerge with a “better picture of reality.”
“It will help them learn in a non-academic setting,” Salzer explained. “They will learn how to think critically, problem solve and communicate better.”
MPS officials are hoping to hold the fair annually, Salzer noted.
BG Multifamily Director of Sales Kayla Santillanes said it was her first time attending a job fair.
BG Multifamily is a staffing company that recruits employees for property improvement firms. The company doesn’t require applicants to have a high school education, Santillanes said, but it is looking to hire leasing agents and maintenance techs interested in real estate.
“[We want] people who are hardworking and want to get into the trade … reliable people,” Santillanes added.
Siena Bickham was at the fair representing the Milwaukee Department of City Development’s Earn & Learn summer youth project.
Students have the choice to work in any department at an office or field setting and are paid for 20 hours per week.
“We do anything from city planning to real estate,” Bickham said.
About 130 interns will be hired this year, compared to 144 last summer, according to Vanessa Armstrong, a human resources officer for the city.
Coleman said the fair is a great opportunity to expose employers to MPS’ best and brightest.
“One of our goals was to … show [employers] that we’re more than just what the news portrays,” Coleman said. “Our kids are really smart and talented, but we want them to be able to explain their experience and who they are,” she added.
Milwaukee native Daishawn Dillard, 18, said he wants to get job experience before going to Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee and eventually return to Milwaukee and work as a teacher.
“I’m good at math,” he said, smiling.
Yovana Gonzalez and Rianna Laboy were among several students who participated in the National School Walkout to protest gun violence, which coincided with the fair. Students left the fair and stood on a balcony for 17 minutes, honoring the 17 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting victims.
Laboy, who sings in the Milwaukee High School of the Arts choir, said she wants to attend college, pursue a degree in performance and become a singer/songwriter. Gonzalez said she wants to take a break after high school before pursuing a degree in the medical field.
“I’m here to find more career options,” Gonzalez said, “[but] I think I want to be physician.”
UWM Chancellor Mark Mone said, “It’s so vitally important for [students] to see the application of the skills they learn in school. [The fair] really reinforces the linkage between school and work.”
According to 2016 census data, Milwaukee’s unemployment rate was 17.3 percent for African-Americans and 8.6 percent for Latinos, compared to the city average of 10.3 percent and the national average of 7.4 percent.
Coleman, said she hopes the job fair will encourage students to start seriously considering their career and education options.
“I hope they [come] away being able to network and explore other opportunities in Milwaukee.”

author: Talis Shelbourne


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 19, 2018


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On The Block: ‘Like a family’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
March 20, 2018
The block where Trevis Hardman grew up wasn’t always as safe as it is now. About five years ago, Hardman’s neighbor, Andre Lee Ellis, led an effort to bring the residents of their block together in a community garden.
Hardman said he helped Ellis start his “We Got This” program, which mentors boys and young men and employs them in the garden at the corner of 9 and Ring streets. Together with neighborhood residents, the youth also clean up the area on summer Saturday mornings.
Now 26, Hardman makes his living driving a school bus and operating Dream Outlook Lawn Services, LLC, a business he started when he was 21.
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author: Andrea Waxman


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Parents and Take Back My Meds MKE: Prevent addiction and protect Lake Michigan during Spring cleaning | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Take Back My Meds MKE
March 20, 2018
On the first day of Spring, Take Back My Meds MKE, parents of young adults who have struggled with addiction, and environmental leaders urge residents to safely dispose of unused medicine they find during their Spring cleaning.
Residents of Milwaukee County can take back their unused medicine on any day of the year at one of 76 locations in the county.  A map of all locations with either a drop box or drug disposal envelopes can be found at takebackmymeds.com.   Unused medicine is contributing to the opioid crisis in Milwaukee County.  Eighty percent of heroin users have used unused medicine for non-medical purposes.
Parents warn that unused medicine left in a home often starts or feeds a dangerous addiction.   “My two sons found unused medicine to get high.   Sometimes this happened at a neighbor’s house.   Keeping unused medicine in your house is asking for trouble so please get rid of it in a safe and responsible way,” said Michelle Jaskulski of Franklin who is now outreach director of the Addiction Policy Forum.
Unsafe disposal of unused medicine also harms the environment.  “When Milwaukee County residents flush unused medicine down the toilet it goes straight into Lake Michigan because MMSD is unable to treat it.   Using a drop box or mail back envelope keeps unused medicine out of Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water in Milwaukee County,” said Amber Meyer Smith, Vice President of Programs and Government Relations for Clean Wisconsin.
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“Safely disposing of unused medicine during Spring cleaning at a drop box like we have at several Hayat Pharmacy locations is something each of us can do to combat the opioid crisis and protect Lake Michigan,” said Hashim Zaibak, CEO of Hayat Pharmacy a founding member of the Take Back My Meds MKE coalition.  “Hayat is proud to be making it easier for people to take back their unused medicine.
Take Back My Meds MKE is a coalition of 15 community organizations and businesses dedicated to making it easier for Milwaukee County residents to combat the opioid crisis by safely disposing of unused medicine.  A full list of the coalition’s members can be found at takebackmymeds.com.

author: Take Back My Meds MKE


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Ald. Zielinski to propose creation of comprehensive lead poisoning plan | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
March 21, 2018
Robert Miranda speaks during a recent panel as Kirsten Shead (blue scarf) and moderator Christine Hill look on. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Editor’s note: This is one of an occasional series of stories highlighting the health risk — particularly to children — of lead service lines, which deliver water from city water mains to about 70,000 homes in Milwaukee.
Ald. Tony Zielinski will introduce a resolution in the coming weeks that would create a task force to produce a comprehensive plan to combat lead poisoning. Zielinski joins other aldermen, Interim Health Commissioner Patricia McManus and representatives of community-based organizations, who have previously called for such a plan.
Supporters said the plan must include strategies to educate residents about the risks of lead poisoning through paint, water and soil, as well as more aggressive efforts to distribute water filters and ensure children are being regularly tested. The plan would set a timeline to achieve specific goals, including replacing lead service pipes that currently deliver water to more than 70,000 city homes.
In the meantime, activists and city officials have said filters need to be made more widely available, particularly for families that can’t afford to buy one. They also said continued outreach to educate people is essential.
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The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Health Department have, over the last few years, been criticized by community advocates for communication they say was not straightforward or honest. Representatives of community-based organizations, including Kirsten Shead, co-chair of Milwaukee Water Commons’ drinking water initiative, said it is time to admit that lead in water is a problem and get more aggressive about addressing the issue.
“We could actually just step out and lead on it. We could just own it, say, ‘This is happening all across the country, we’re going to find a solution and we’re going to take all this energy … and just look at the issue straight on,’” said Shead, at a recent panel hosted by Marquette University. “We’ve dealt with complicated, expensive problems before.”
Ald. Jim Bohl, who chaired the Water Quality Task Force, said if the aim is to be comprehensive, the plan should address lead in food. A June 2017 report by the Environmental Defense Fund showed that baby food, particularly fruit juice, is a “meaningful” source of lead exposure. It estimated the societal benefits of eliminating lead from these foods at more than $27 billion annually.
Yanna Lambrinidou, a national lead-in-water expert and activist, speaks during a panel at Marquette University. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
“What comprehensive means to me is overturning all the rocks, not just the three that somebody told me are the rocks,” he said.
Bohl added that the task force model can be lengthy and bureaucratic. He suggested that a more informal “working group” may be more efficient and effective.
Zielinski said his office is working on the legislation and he plans to introduce the measure at the next Common Council meeting, on March 27. Once referred to committee, it would most likely be heard in April or May and, if approved, would go back to the full Common Council for a vote.
Proponents have said the city’s Water Quality Task Force report, released in April 2017, would be a good place to start. The report lists 20 recommendations to make drinking water safer, including that the city “do all in its authority to accelerate the removal and/or rehabilitation of lead service lines.”
The Health Department declined to comment for this story. McManus and Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton did not respond to questions regarding whether they support the measure.
“It needs to be a community-based planning process,” said George Olufosoye, state director of Next Gen America, a group that advocates for environmental responsibility. Olufosoye said young people and residents “who are directly affected” need to be involved in the planning, and that elected officials and other “key players” who are not engaged in this conversation also need to be at the table.
“Until we have buy-in at the top level, we’re not going to see much change,” he added.
Shead and other panel members agreed that, “we can’t dig up our own pipes.” They said the city — which encouraged the use of lead for service lines since 1872 and mandated the use of “extra strong lead pipe” from 1921 until it banned lead pipes in 1962 — should be responsible for replacing the hazardous infrastructure. They remain confident that the money can be found, even if the city doesn’t have it right now, but city officials, including Bohl, have continued to say accelerating replacement is simply not possible.
“They (the city) obviously knew there was a problem (when lead lines were banned),” said Robert Miranda, spokesperson for the Freshwater for Life Action Coalition (FLAC). “So, why are they saying that we (residents) own these pipes now? Because they don’t want to pay for their mistake.”
However, even if all lead service lines are replaced, many homes likely have interior plumbing made of lead. And, Yanna Lambrinidou, a national lead-in-water expert and activist, pointed out that, even today, plumbing materials are not completely lead free, adding that, “We need to rise up and demand that new plumbing has zero lead in it.” Kweku Akyirefi, a child psychologist who has worked with children at Milwaukee Public Schools and in the Department of Corrections, lamented the generations that already have been lost.
“We have to … do something more radical, something more rambunctious that gives us immediate change,” Akyirefi said.
“It’s just a matter of a commitment,” said State Sen. Lena Taylor, who also attended the panel. “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.”
Community groups will continue to push officials on this issue, representatives said. FLAC is continuing its research into lead infrastructure; representatives from Milwaukee Water Commons will be attending events at churches and schools to educate residents; and Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers is hosting lead workshops across the city.
“We are moving into the community with solutions; we’re moving forward with protecting our communities,” Shead told the audience at Marquette. “Come and join us — get on board — because we are going to be on the right side of history on this.”

author: Jabril Faraj


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 20, 2018


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Milwaukee legislators hope new federal program will help city’s distressed areas | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Elliot Hughes
March 22, 2018
The former Blommer Ice Cream Factory, at 1500 W. North Ave., is being converted into a 64-unit housing complex, with the help of tax incremental financing. (Photo by Elliot Hughes)
A delegation of Milwaukee state legislators is hoping that a new program tucked away in the federal tax cut bill signed into law late last year could reel in investment to the city’s most distressed neighborhoods.
Under the new program, governors can nominate economically struggling census tracts within their states to become “Opportunity Zones,” where investments will be subject to various tax incentives.
The Milwaukee Democratic Legislative Caucus recently wrote a letter to Gov. Scott Walker calling on him to nominate as many eligible Milwaukee census tracts as possible in Wisconsin’s application to the U.S. Treasury Secretary, which certifies nominated areas as Opportunity Zones.
Governors were allowed to nominate 25 percent of the census tracts within their state that qualify for the program. Out of 120 nominations submitted Wednesday, Milwaukee scored 34, more than three times as many as the second-place municipality, Madison, with 10.
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It is unclear how long it will take the Treasury Secretary to make the final designations.
Rep. Jason Fields, who represents the Havenwoods area, said he hoped the program could help projects in affordable housing, education and other community-building developments.
Rep. David Crowley, pictured in October 2017, said Milwaukee’s neighborhoods present a good opportunity for the Opportunity Zones program due to their proximity to the booming downtown. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
“We have the new Bucks arena, we have the new Northwestern (Mutual Tower),” Fields said. “But are we increasing the demand for projects like affordable housing? Are we developing places where entire neighborhoods will redevelop and grow better?”
Before the nominations were released, Rep. David Crowley, who represents the Grasslyn Manor-Columbus Park area of the North Side, said that the delegation would be happy to see any part of the state receive the Opportunity Zone certification. But he argued that the program’s incentives would pair well with Milwaukee’s downtown development boom and that the entire state would reap the benefits.
“We are the economic engine of the state,” Crowley said. “The reality is, if we can do much more for this city and build this city up even more, then we have an opportunity to give more back to the state. Revitalizing this area does much more than just [benefitting] Milwaukee. It does a lot for the state of Wisconsin.”
The Opportunity Zones program was designed to help distressed communities still struggling from the effects of the Great Recession. According to the Economic Innovation Group, 52.3 million Americans, or 17 percent of the population, live in economically distressed communities.
The letter to Walker stated there are 165 eligible tracts in Milwaukee alone, accounting for nearly 35 percent of Wisconsin’s eligible tracts.
“We believe that while our city represents a significant number of the highly distressed census tracts, it also presents the largest investment opportunities that coincide with the provisions of the Opportunity Zone designation,” the letter reads.
Tracts qualify for the program if they are in a low-income community, or if the tract borders a low-income community and its median family income does not exceed 125 percent of the median family income of the low-income neighborhood that it borders.
Walker’s office convened an interagency working group and consulted with a “nationally respected consulting firm” as well as local leaders to determine the state’s nominations, spokesperson Amy Hasenberg said in a statement.
“Governor Walker is optimistic about the potential benefit that Opportunity Zones will have bringing jobs and growth to communities across Wisconsin,” Hasenberg said.
The letter to Walker was signed by Crowley, Fields and representatives Fred Kessler, JoCasta Zamarripa, Evan Goyke, Josh Zepnick, Christine Sinicki, and Leon Young; and senators Lena Taylor, Tim Carpenter, Chris Larson and LaTonya Johnson. All are Democrats.

author: Elliot Hughes


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 21, 2018


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 22, 2018


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Adam Carr
March 22, 2018


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State Assembly proposal to borrow $350 million for new prison dies in Wisconsin Senate | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
ACLU of Wisconsin
March 22, 2018
Editor’s note: NNS published a Community Voices piece by Gretchen Schuldt on this topic earlier in the week.
After an Assembly proposal to borrow $350 million for a new prison in Wisconsin touched off an intense reaction from a coalition of more than 50 organizations, led by the ACLU of Wisconsin and WISDOM, the Wisconsin Senate yesterday refused to pass Senate Bill 54, which would have funded the controversial new facility.
“For years, state legislators have been passing bills that create more penalties for more offenses, and make it easier to revoke people under community supervision to prison,” said Molly Collins, deputy director of the ACLU of Wisconsin.  “We are heartened that the state senate has not signed off on the Assembly plan to borrow $350 million to build a new prison and continue this harmful trend.”
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Wisconsin spent $1.2 billion on corrections services in 2017—more tax dollars than the state spent on almost any other purpose.  According to the Wisconsin Budget Project, Wisconsin spends more on corrections (per capita) than the national average, and more than our neighboring states of Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa, because we incarcerate a larger share of our population than they do.
“The bottom line is that our state is incarcerating too many people for too long.  It’s expensive, it damages our communities and families, and it doesn’t make our neighborhoods safer. We need to immediately adopt smarter reforms,” Collins said.
“We hope that the next session will feature a complete review of the criminal justice system, focused on ways to safely and responsibly reduce Wisconsin’s prison population,” said David Liners, WISDOM’s executive director.
ACLU of Wisconsin, African-American Civic Engagement Roundtable, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), Black Lives Matter to Wisconsin Unitarian Universalists, Dane County’s Derail the Jail Coalition, The Demeter Foundation, The Dominican Center, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, EXPO (EX-incarcerated People Organizing), FCAB (Felmers Chaney Advocacy Board), Free The 350 Bail Fund in Dane County, GenderQueer Milwaukee, Grassroots Northshore, JOSHUA, JustLeadershipUSA, Kids Forward, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), Madison Chapter National Lawyers Guild, Madison-area Urban Ministry, MICAH (Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope), Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, Milwaukee National Lawyers Guild, Milwaukee Turners’ Confronting Mass Incarceration, NAACP Milwaukee Branch, National Association of Social Workers – Wisconsin, Operation Welcome Home (OWH), Our Democracy 2020, Our Revolution, Parents for Public Schools Milwaukee, People’s Progressive Organizing Committee, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, Priceless Incite, Prison Action Milwaukee, Progressive Baptist Church, Rid Racism Milwaukee, Schools and Communities United, Showing Up for Racial Justice – Milwaukee, SOPHIA, Uplifting Black Liberation and Community (UBLAC), Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Wisconsin Justice Initiative, Wisconsin Network for Peace Justice and Sustainability (WNPJS), Wisconsin Poor People’s Campaign, Wisconsin Transgender Health Coalition, Wisconsin Unitarian Universalist State Action Network, Wisconsin Voices, WISDOM, and Youth Justice Milwaukee, YWCA of Southeastern Wisconsin, and 9 to 5 Wisconsin.

author: ACLU of Wisconsin


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The problem with gift cards | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lisa Schiller, Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin
March 22, 2018
Many Toys R Us customers were surprised to hear that they have only 30 days to use their gift cards, because the chain is closing its stores.
Under normal circumstances, gift cards are valid for years — or indefinitely. Federal Trade Commission regulations from 2010 declared that money on a gift card can’t expire for at least five years. However, the situation changes when a business declares bankruptcy.
When you buy a gift card, you are essentially giving the company a loan until you redeem the value. When a store files for bankruptcy, payments are frozen and creditors must file claims in order to get paid. Gift card holders unfortunately find themselves out of luck, or with limited options. This isn’t up to the business. The court decides whether — and for how long — to accept gift cards.
If you miss the deadline to redeem a gift card, you are able to file a claim for the value of the card. However, these claims are processed behind the company’s major creditors. So if you see news about a company preparing to file for bankruptcy, use your gift cards immediately.
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Avoid issues with your gift cards by following these tips:


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Do you know a child who has lead poisoning? Help us by telling your story | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
March 23, 2018
Students and community activists call for clean water outside North Division High School during a demonstration in May 2017. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Though the detrimental effects of lead exposure have been known for some time, more information has come to light just in the last few years.
Children and pregnant women (because of how lead can affect the fetus) are most at risk of long-term damage from lead exposure; there is no safe level of lead. More than 2,000 children in Milwaukee test above the federally recognized level for lead poisoning every year.
According to a 2014 report by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, childhood lead exposure can result in brain damage, leading to aggressive behavior, stunted intellectual development and mental health problems. However, exposure as an adult can also have negative effects, increasing the likelihood of kidney disease, high blood pressure, depression, stroke and memory loss, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Paint, water, soil and even baby food can be significant sources of lead exposure. While most experts consider lead paint the primary source of exposure, about 30 percent of cases come from elsewhere. A March 2016 report from Harvard University concluded that American cities’ use of lead service pipes “considerably increased” homicide rates across the country.
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More than 70,000 homes in Milwaukee have a lead service line. You can see if your home has a lead service pipe by checking for your address in the corresponding list at the bottom of this page; you can find a master list here.
The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service has covered this issue for more than a year, and we’re looking for your help to understand how a personal experience with lead poisoning can affect a person, or family. We will also explore how the healthcare system can be improved to protect more people from harm.
Do you suspect your child may have lead poisoning? Please tell us your story.
Are you a health care professional or policymaker with information to share? Please email us at leadpoisoning@milwaukeenns.org.
Follow our reporting here.


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Dwayne Burtin
March 22, 2018

author: Dwayne Burtin


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Thousands march in Milwaukee to oppose gun violence | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
March 25, 2018


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Auer Avenue School draws well-known chef for pilot hot breakfast program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Mark Lisowski
March 26, 2018
Chef Michael Feker and two volunteers from Northwestern Mutual serve a young student a hot breakfast. (Photo by Mark Lisowski)
In 2016, students at Auer Avenue School wrote an article for the school newsletter expressing their desire for healthier meals. This became the first step in an effort that evolved into the school’s “Hot Healthy Breakfast Program,” an eight-week pilot project to serve students hot meals on Mondays. The program concluded on March 19.
After volunteers served the last breakfast of the pilot, a burrito plate including taco meat, eggs, hash browns and tortillas, the school’s 280 students gathered at a pep rally to honor Chef Michael Feker, whose leadership and experience were instrumental to the program’s success. Other program partners, including officials from United Way and Northwestern Mutual, also were recognized.
“Maybe if we write [Chef Feker] a bunch of love-grams, he’ll come back,” said Dr. Zannetta Walker, principal at Auer, to the students at the pep rally.
Chef Michael Feker (center) discusses how to integrate donated appliances into the Auer Avenue School kitchen with Noreen Noonan and Mark Sain.
Prior to the breakfast program, cold pre-packed breakfasts with items such as cereals and crackers were the only option available to students.
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“[The parents’] number one concern was kids being able to focus,” said Noreen Noonan of Northwestern Mutual, a community partner in the breakfast program. Breakfast options served at the school generally had a lot of sugar.
Michelle Allison, United Way community school coordinator at Auer, said the breakfast program took about a year to implement, starting in fall 2016. Stakeholders from Milwaukee Public Schools, the United Way, Northwestern Mutual, the Amani Neighborhood Association, and the school’s Parents’ Club partnered to plan, fund and carry out the breakfast program at the school.
“[The program] called for a combination of hands,” said Feker, who has been a cook and restaurateur for 32 years. Feker became aware of Auer School when his friend, Ald. Khalif Rainey, encouraged him to get involved in the breakfast program.
Feker, who owns the restaurants Il Mito in Wauwatosa and Zesti in Hartland, offered his leadership experience and culinary expertise to teach volunteers how to create and serve meals to the children. Feker and his wife will officially open a new restaurant, 2Mesa Mexican Eatery, on March 29 at 4110 W. Martin Drive.
He believes a hot breakfast helps educate students before they even enter the classroom.
Chef Michael Feker addresses students at a pep rally honoring the work of Hot Healthy Breakfast Program volunteers. (Photo by Mark Lisowski)
“The best people to teach about healthy eating are children,” Feker said. He mentioned it can be difficult to change bad eating habits later in life, and added that it is important to reinforce healthy eating practices for children.
“I appreciated [serving students a] warm breakfast and a smile,” said Noonan, who volunteered to serve students hot meals during the pilot.
She acknowledged some hesitation from students early on. About two weeks in, though, they warmed up to the volunteers serving them hot breakfasts.
“I like how the volunteers say ‘good morning’ to you,” said Antonio Gates, an eighth-grade student at Auer. His favorite breakfast items were hash browns and fruit.
At the pep rally, Mark Sain, president of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, addressed the students, noting, “Healthy food gives us the fuel we need to perform at our optimal level.” Sain, a graduate of Auer School and grandfather of five children in Milwaukee Public Schools, said the breakfast program not only supplemented the students’ diets, but taught children and parents about healthy food.
Sain added that the Hot Healthy Breakfast Program generated more interest in nutrition at the school, and stated that there will be further initiatives — such as hosting community conversations and classroom sessions about nutrition — in the coming months.
Northwestern Mutual, the fiscal sponsor of Auer Avenue School’s breakfast program, is donating kitchen appliances, including ovens and steamers to the school later this year.
The Hot Healthy Breakfast Program will continue serving meals on Mondays and Fridays beginning April 2, after Milwaukee Public Schools’ spring break.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct errors in the paragraph about which restaurants Michael Feker owns.

author: Mark Lisowski


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 23, 2018


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 26, 2018


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Adam Carr
March 23, 2018


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HOPE Network grants for single mothers can help with tuition or day care | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
HOPE Network
March 26, 2018
HOPE Network is offering its Edmund Springman Educational Grants to area single mothers pursuing post-high-school education (technical school or college). The money may be used to cover tuition, day-care costs while the mother is in school, or both.
Up to seven grants of $1,000 or more will be awarded for the summer and fall 2018 & spring 2098 semesters. Applications must be postmarked by April 30.
Applicants must be HOPE Network members, and can submit membership applications (see form on website) when applying for the grant. Applicant must be a single mother of a child under 18 or a single female legal guardian of a minor child. She must reside in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, or Racine Counties. Grant winners will volunteer 10 hours to HOPE Network or a local community organization.
Applicants may print out the application form from HOPE Network’s website and submit with 3 photocopies of everything, as specified on the form. Website is: www.hopenetworkinc.org
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HOPE Network is a volunteer-based grass-roots support system providing emotional, educational, and material support to single pregnant women and single mothers and their children in the greater Milwaukee area. Key programs are: cribs and safe sleep education, 28-page quarterly resource news magazine, scholarships, a clothing bank, and family events. HOPE Network was founded in 1982 by local resident Gail Grenier Sweet. Since 1988, HOPE Network has awarded $100,200 in educational grants to 98 single mothers.

author: HOPE Network


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Violence in our communities often starts at home | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Carmen Pitre
March 26, 2018
Thousands of young people protested gun violence at a rally in Milwaukee Saturday. (Photo by Margaret Cannon)
Carmen Pitre, president and CEO of Sojourner, reflects on the connection between intimate partner violence and public safety.
Seventeen in Florida, 26 in Texas, 49 in Orlando, 20 in Newtown. Mass shootings in America often start at home and seep out to every corner of our lives.
These numbers represent our sisters, mothers, children, friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers. These are some of the numbers that have broken our hearts open. We are no longer safe at school, at church, at concerts, at movies or at public gatherings.
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It’s time that we stop ignoring the link between intimate partner violence and public safety. It is time for us to integrate what we know about violence into every single strategy for improving our community. This necessitates that we dive into the connection between violence in our homes and its connection to poor outcomes in education, well being, public safety, economic development and the growth of our cities.
We know, and research has proven, that there is an inherent and consistent link between intimate partner violence and violence in our communities. Yet, despite this knowledge, we have yet to find a way to adequately address the impact of this violence on our children and ourselves. We have left our children in a toxic culture that glorifies violence and teaches youth that violence is an effective strategy for solving problems.
We know that violence in our homes and in our relationships is a teaching ground for young children. It is an “academy” where children learn how to repeat abusive behavior. Is this the life we want for our children? Is this the legacy we want to leave? If it isn’t, we must get busy healing ourselves and each other.
Violence is a learned behavior that has a lifelong impact. This is the hard truth that we must face. We must face it head-on and honor the lives of people lost by showing up with courage. We need to heal the wound that violence leaves in people long before we have to intervene or punish someone who has repeated this inevitable cycle.
At Sojourner Family Peace Center, we often say that no one is born with the urge to hurt another person. We know that this is a behavior that is passed down from generation to generation. We also know that this behavior can be unlearned.
Mending the heart is hard, important and urgent work. We need to ask what it might mean to love ourselves out of this problem. What would love be able to accomplish here? What would it mean if we showed up for healing with commitment and passion?
What if we ask each other, “Where does it hurt and how can I help?” and we actually mean it?

author: Carmen Pitre


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 25, 2018


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Citizens even more empowered to report illegal dumping | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Milele A. Coggs
March 27, 2018
As the Common Council unanimously passes a measure targeting illegal dumping, we would like citizens to know they are more empowered than ever to report such activity. Through the free City of Milwaukee (MKE Mobile) app, citizens can report illegal dumping very easily.
The MKE Mobile app can be downloaded from the Google Play store on Android devices and in the App Store on Apple devices. (Open your mobile device’s app store and search “MKE Mobile.”) Users of the app simply need go to the Complaint/Debris Litter page, fill out the requested information and send a picture. Our City resources will take it from there.
Existing resources to report illegal dumping remain an option. Community members can call the
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Milwaukee Police Department non-emergency number at 933-4444. Please note vehicle description, license plate, and description of individual when possible. Citizens can also fill out a report online at city.milwaukee.gov, keyword search – illegal dumping.
Also under this legislation, Department of Neighborhood Services Inspectors will be authorized to issue citations for illegal dumping, an authority previously held only by police officers.
This ordinance is one piece in a series of plans to promote a cleaner city. We urge community members to continue working together by reporting this atrocious activity.


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Foundations say neighborhoods need more public funding to fight crime | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
March 27, 2018
Metcalfe Park Young Cats, ages 10 to 13, were paid to clean up and beautify their neighborhood last summer. Small grants from the Greater Milwaukee, Zilber Family and Northwestern Mutual foundations funded the program. (Photo courtesy of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges)
Local philanthropists agree that addressing crime and improving the quality of life for Milwaukee residents requires working at the grassroots level and increasing funding from public sources.
“People have turned to philanthropy, to individual donors, to crowd funding, to all kinds of mechanisms” to raise funds required to support the public good, said Susan Lloyd, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation, responding to a presentation by urban crime expert Patrick Sharkey.
“I think that there is a need for a fundamental rethinking of funding models in philanthropy and, frankly across all sectors, about how to fund public good,” Lloyd added. She used the term “public good” to refer to such responsibilities as preserving safety, educating children and maintaining open spaces in good repair.
At a recent Marquette Law School presentation, Sharkey, a New York University professor, spoke about his research into preventing crime, published in his book, “An Uneasy Peace.”
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The research provides strong evidence that two conditions are needed to reduce crime: city government, police, community organizations and residents must work together; and government, local foundations and individual philanthropists must provide “sustained and durable” funding to ensure that there are organizations “in every single neighborhood … making sure it doesn’t succumb to a spike in violence.”
Patrick Sharkey (left) talks with retired teacher Alvin Moore after his presentation at Marquette University Law School. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Foundation representatives say their organizations cannot shoulder these costs without significant help from public sources including the city, state and federal governments and other private funders.
“Change in the communities, based on our experience, is slow,” said Eric Christophersen, president of Northwestern Mutual Foundation. “In some of our neighborhoods there are so many challenges it takes a while to build the relationships, to build the credibility in order to get a foothold to make true, effective, real change.” Time and funding are needed and “sustained funding must come from a number of sources, including the city and state,” Christophersen said.
Even though money may be available, funding challenges are often caused by politics and bureaucracy, he added.
Kathryn Dunn, community investment vice president at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, noted that a recent study revealed that city funds do not flow to black-led nonprofits at the same level that they do to white-led organizations. She posed the question, “How do the public funding streams flow to support this kind of work?” And, she added, “transformation that is happening block by block might happen a little faster if public funding streams supported this (grassroots level) approach.”
Sharkey’s research shows that there has been a significant decline in violent urban crime across the nation since the 1990s, though that has not been the case in Milwaukee recently. He asserts this decline has been powered not only by aggressive policing and mass incarceration, which “came with a whole bunch of other costs,” but also by a proliferation of nonprofit and grassroots organizations.
By addressing issues that contribute to violence, such as addiction, mental health, homelessness and domestic violence, and by offering after-school and other social programs, Sharkey says, these organizations have played a crucial role in strengthening and stabilizing poor communities and lowering crime.
Lloyd, Christophersen and Dunn said their foundations have been collaborating to work directly with residents and grassroots groups for at least five years.
Some examples of the way the three foundations are listening to and funding residents has been their support for the Neighborhood Leadership Institute and small grants programs, according to Dunn.
The institute trained three cohorts of about 24 nonprofit staff members and neighborhood residents in community organization and leadership skills during an intensive 10-month program that built leadership capacity in central city neighborhoods.
NLI graduates now direct two small-grants programs,  Community Connections, funded by the three foundations, and the Reasons For Hope MKE Fund, established by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation after the 2016 unrest in Sherman Park, Dunn noted.
“The (ideas for and) selection of the projects that get funded through a competitive process are decided by the residents themselves,” Dunn said, and the residents manage the projects.
“We’re really trying to get at listening to (and funding the work of) folks who live in the neighborhoods, who are identifying their own priorities,” Dunn added.
Sharkey’s presentation and the community organization and investment panels that followed affirmed that the Greater Milwaukee Foundation is going in the right direction, Dunn said.
“Working with smaller grassroots organizations that are embedded in the neighborhoods can be a challenge for a big philanthropy like us,” Dunn said.
The 100-year-old foundation has had to adapt to working directly with residents when it is accustomed to working through large nonprofits. GMF has expanded its fund distribution practices so that it can support grassroots organizations that do not have 501c3 status by working with fiscal agents, Dunn said. “If they have trouble identifying fiscal agents we can help them do that,” she added.
The foundation is also working to streamline the way it transfers funds to recipients who may not have checking accounts or who may use vendors who do not accept credit cards, she added.
While Lloyd agrees that working closely with residents is critical, and Zilber is doing so, she said the time commitment involved in attending neighborhood meetings and events is a challenge because her staff is so small.
Working with residents and organizations that are “lower to the ground” provides a better understanding of a neighborhood’s issues and needs, agreed Bader Philanthropies’ Frank Cumberbatch, engagement vice president.
Like the other foundations, Bader has historically worked in communities through nonprofits. But now that it is poised to move its headquarters into the Harambee neighborhood, it will be taking “a deep dive” to understand how to engage with the community through “direct, on-the-ground relationships,” he said.
Cumberbatch emphasized that public safety and crime are not Bader’s specific areas of focus, but noted that its efforts in workforce and youth development, and Milwaukee arts, impact public safety.
Sharkey said he was inspired by Milwaukee’s Blueprint for Peace, developed last year by the city’s Office of Violence Prevention. “It (contains) some of the most exciting ideas that I’ve seen” for reducing violence, he said. He pointed to the plan’s ideas for engaging young people during and after school and in the summer as crucial.
“Young people should have mentors looking out for them when they leave the home. They should never feel like they are on their own as they walk through the streets. Police should focus on making sure kids feel safe. School teachers and administrators should be trying to engage kids even after school hours and mentors should be looking out for them and making sure kids feel like they have adults who have their backs.”
The most important aspect of the blueprint, he said, is that it seeks to engage many different segments of the community, from schools to political representatives to businesses and foundations. “Focusing everyone’s attention on the urgency of violence is the necessary first step to making sure people are working together and collectively to confront it.”
He added, “The biggest challenge is that it’s “going to take a huge amount of resources to bring that blueprint into reality.”


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On The Block: Too much gun violence | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Elliot Hughes
March 27, 2018
Maurice Brazell, 61, said his neighborhood, Midtown, has been the scene of at least three murders in the last five years, all of which involved guns. He said injuries and deaths caused by guns have become far too common across the city and thinks police and other entities need to focus more resources on controlling firearms.


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Upcoming: On-the-spot interviews at Aurora Health Care | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Frederick Nelson
March 27, 2018

author: Frederick Nelson


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 27, 2018


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Upcoming: Onsite hospitality recruitment event at Potawatomi | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Frederick Nelson
March 27, 2018


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HACM’s Westlawn Gardens receives prestigious national planning award | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee
March 28, 2018
(Photo by Jabril Faraj)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the American Planning Association (APA) announced today that Westlawn Gardens will receive the HUD Secretary’s Opportunity & Empowerment Award, one of the highest recognitions in the planning profession. The award honors the first phase of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee’s transformation of the aged and stressed Westlawn, Wisconsin’s largest public housing development, into a vibrant, environmentally-friendly and sustainable mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhood.
The HUD Secretary’s Opportunity & Empowerment Award is given in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A single award is given for an effort that demonstrates improved quality of life for low- and moderate-income residents. Emphasis is placed on how creative housing, economic development, and private investments have been used in or with a comprehensive community development plan to build social equity and empower individuals and families who reside in that community.
“Milwaukee’s Westlawn Gardens is a great example of what can be achieved through public-private partnerships and an innovative approach to community planning,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “We endeavor to see more public housing communities adopt similar strategies and create a healthy, sustainable living environment for families.”
“We are delighted to have this recognition of Westlawn Gardens and the transformational impact it is having on Milwaukee’s Northwest side,” said Mayor Tom Barrett. “We are proud of the innovative work of our Housing Authority, its planning team led by Torti Gallas + Partners, and the residents and other stakeholders who have been central to the neighborhood’s revitalization.”
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“The collective effort of this team has achieved a triumph over the tyranny of monotony, and with it, hopefully, inspiration to those seeking to elevate the human spirit,” said Tony Pérez, HACM Secretary-Executive Director.
Formed more than 50 years ago, the original Westlawn neighborhood consisted of 726 barrack-style housing units on 75 acres to house nearly 1,800 minority and very-low-income residents. Superblocks were isolated from their surroundings, both physically and socially, and housing units were too small to accommodate growing families. Storm water drainage and energy systems were outdated and inefficient.
The focus of the redevelopment was to be financially, environmentally and socially sustainable. Developed through a holistic, community-based design process, Westlawn Gardens includes 250 new units in a mix of townhomes and apartments accommodating the housing needs of families, seniors and residents with disabilities.
The $82 million first phase was funded through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority’s (WHEDA) largest Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) award and equity investment by PNC Bank.
When it opened in 2012, Westlawn Gardens was recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council as the highest rated Stage 3 Silver-Certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) neighborhood in the world, with Milwaukee’s first LEED Platinum-Certified home.  Every new home was designed to LEED standards. Durable, weather-resistant materials were used to reduce heating and maintenance costs as well as improve indoor and outdoor air quality. A renovated elementary school, playground and beloved community center are centrally located for residents. Opportunities for job growth and economic development were also incorporated in the plan. A partnership with Growing Power created a 30,000 square foot community garden to educate and train residents about onsite local food production.
Future phases will more than double current available housing and add additional market rate homes and rental units intermixed with affordable housing. For more information about the transformation taking place at Westlawn Gardens and the surrounding neighborhood, please visit www.mke-cni.org.
“Westlawn Gardens is inspiration for communities around the country looking to change the conversation and approach to public housing,” said W. Shedrick Coleman, AIA, chair of the 2018 Awards Jury. “The hard work and collaboration with residents has generated a strong and vibrant community for years to come.”
APA’s national awards program – the program’s highest honor – is a proud tradition established more than 50 years ago to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs and initiatives, public education efforts and individuals for their leadership on planning issues.
This year’s five excellence and 20 achievement recipients will be recognized at a special luncheon during APA’s National Planning Conference in New Orleans on Monday, April 23, 2018. Award recipients also will be featured in the April issue of Planning magazine.
For a complete list of the APA’s 2018 National Planning and Excellence and Achievement Award recipients, visit www.planning.org/awards/2018.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 28, 2018


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Oral history project captures voices of open housing marchers 50 years later | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Margaret Cannon
March 28, 2018
John Hagedorn and his wife, Mary Devitt, were interviewed by professional archivists about their personal stories involving the 1967-68 Milwaukee open housing marches. (Photo by Margaret Cannon)
John Hagedorn was arrested twice in the summer of 1967. Hagedorn was one of hundreds of members of the NAACP Youth Council and others who marched for 200 nights in 1967-68 to protest housing segregation.
“It went to the core of my being that there was something deeply wrong,” said Hagedorn, who is white.
As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hagedorn became a member of the Young Democrats, which supported open housing and opposed the Vietnam War. He said it would have been hypocritical of him not to march.
Hagedorn said he realized the depth of prejudice in Milwaukee when he crossed the 16th Street Viaduct and walked into a crowd of angry white people, ready to attack.
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His first arrest was the night after Mayor Henry Maier banned the protestors from further marches. Hagedorn described the night as an “out of control riot.”
“They weren’t arresting the rioters, they were arresting the protesters,” he said.
Madeline Krolczyk, a student assistant for university archives at Marquette, and Olga Schennikova, a Ph.D student at Marquette, help sign individuals up for their interviews. (Photo by Margaret Cannon)
Hagedorn was released the next day, but was arrested again soon after. He said he was surrounded by six policemen and was hit on the head with a club. He also remembers seeing a young black man dragged by policemen and beaten so badly that his whole body was shaking while the two were in a paddy wagon. Hagedorn put his left arm across the young man to calm him, but was told by the police to “get your hands off that nigger,” or he would be shot.
Hagedorn said participating in the marches was a turning point for him. “It put me on a path of fighting for social justice for my whole life,” he said.
Fifty years later, wearing a “Black Lives Matter” button, Hagedorn sat with a professional archivist and recorded his story at Marquette University Raynor Memorial Library. Milwaukeeans were invited to participate in an ongoing oral history project organized by March on Milwaukee 50th, an initiative to commemorate the marches.
Kristen Leffelman, a field services representative with the Wisconsin Historical Society, said many people tend to think their own story is not significant enough to be historic.
However, nothing can compare to hearing an individual speak about his or her personal experiences, according to Leffelman. She said the history project gives people who may not have been leaders of the movement an opportunity to tell their story.
Milwaukee County Historical Society, Wisconsin Historical Society, Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Black Historical Society are working in collaboration with March on Milwaukee 50th to collect and preserve the stories that made a movement. The interviews they record will be available to the public through these institutions.
“Whenever you get a collaborative model between repositories, the result is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Amy Cooper Cary, head of special collections and university archives at Marquette.
Kevin Abbring, an archivist at the Milwaukee County History Society, said connecting historical institutions with the community through these events has exposed people to a new way to learn about Milwaukee and its past.
“We are a resource for putting together these stories about their lives; it doesn’t have to be stories about the rich and the famous,” said Abbring. “Everyday lives, they matter, too.”
One of project’s goals is to bridge the gap between the experiences and people in the 1960s and today’s young political activists. The first recording event was held at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society in August, prior to the launch of “200 Nights of Freedom,” and focused on the marchers. Another event was held in November at the ACLU Youth Social Justice Forum, where more than 23 people were interviewed, most of whom were young people. Abbring said organizers hope to host one more event to record stories at the beginning of May.
Will Tchakirides, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Ph.D. candidate in history, is a member of the March on Milwaukee’s oral history committee.
“I do this because I think it’s important for the community to develop its own institutional memory,” said Tchakirides. “I want to help facilitate that process and lift up voices that haven’t been heard yet regarding the March on Milwaukee.”
Hagedorn’s story will now be preserved for generations to come.
“[The marches] are a transformative event for people as well as Milwaukee,” he said. “These movements shook the city and were part of shaking the country in the ’60s.”

author: Margaret Cannon


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MPD officers must be accountable for individual interactions, residents say | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
March 29, 2018
Residents discussed possible solutions to poor police-community relations at the Washington Park Senior Center. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
During the tenure of recently departed Chief Edward Flynn, the Milwaukee Police Department was involved in a number of high-profile incidents that have whittled away at its already tenuous relationship with residents. The department has also been sued  for allegedly conducting pedestrian and traffic stops that disproportionately affect people of color and violate their constitutional rights.
One of the ways to begin rebuilding trust, community members said at two recent community events, is for the Milwaukee Police Department to hold officers accountable for interactions with community members. African-American Roundtable Director Markasa Tucker, chair of the Milwaukee Collaborative Reform Initiative’s community committee, added that police must be willing to work with the community to address the root causes of violence.
“Clearly what they’ve been giving us is not what’s needed,” she said. “It’s not working.”
The events, held at the Washington Park Senior Center, 4420 W. Vliet St., and Wisconsin Black Historical Society, 2620 W. Center St., focused on identifying solutions to issues identified by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) draft report, leaked late last year. The report was the only tangible outcome of a months-long collaborative reform process initiated by MPD in early 2016 and ultimately buried by the Trump Administration. Community groups have since taken the lead on gathering resident feedback, with the hope of securing changes to police policy.
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Though MPD has claimed to engage in community policing for years, the report found that it does not have a department-wide community policing strategy; officers generally do not understand community policing; and MPD does not evaluate officers on problem-solving or interactions with residents. The report notes that “police-citizen interactions can have a profound effect on the legitimacy of the police department.”
LaQuan McMahan (far left) listens to Tiffany Henry (foreground). (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Nikotris Perkins, 33, who grew up in the central city and lives near North 45th and West Center streets, said the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) in her neighborhood “knows the community” and is a valuable resource for residents. However, she said every officer should engage with the community in that way.
Perkins, who recounted occasions in which she felt officers approached her out of suspicion, added that she wishes they would be more inquisitive and helpful.
“That’s a different approach than, ‘You’re clearly doing something wrong and I caught you,’” Perkins said. “That’s not usually the approach I’ve felt with police.”
And LaQuan McMahan, 22, who also attended the Washington Park Senior Center discussion, said he would like police to listen to people’s stories and take into account the effect a particular action will have on the individual involved.
MPD Acting Assistant Chief Ray Banks, who was promoted when Alfonso Morales was named interim chief of police, said MPD is creating a department-wide community policing strategy. He added that officers will be trained on community policing practices, reminded of their responsibilities in daily roll calls and evaluated on those measures.
“All of those things are coming,” said Banks. “In order for our organization to be successful, we need community input.”
However, the complaint process — the primary vehicle for regular feedback — has been criticized by residents as largely ineffective. Residents who attended the Black Historical Society hub said that complaints are not handled in a timely manner and MPD does not follow up with those who make complaints. The group agreed that the department should have standard guidelines for how long it should take to resolve a complaint. And Tucker said perhaps an independent person, not employed by MPD, should take complaints at every district office.
McMahan added that there should be a mechanism to incorporate feedback outside of the complaint process. He suggested that MPD officers be reviewed annually based on feedback from residents, solicited by “a trusted group of people who are elected by the community.”
He added that this approach might be “a way of circumventing the nuances of implicit bias” because officers would answer directly to the people they are policing.
Tucker said that accountability must begin immediately. She expects the Common Council, Fire and Police Commission and MPD to honor the community’s recommendations, adding that feedback will not end with this process.
“We want to see police policies change,” Tucker said. “2020 [is] around the corner — people are going to remember,” she added, referring to the mayoral and Common Council elections.
Tucker said there will most likely be more community feedback hubs scheduled in early April, which will focus on youth. The Fire and Police Commission will take feedback online at least through mid-April.
Andrea Waxman contributed to this story.


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Congress instructs SSA to halt closure | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Congresswoman Gwen Moore
March 30, 2018
Around 2,200 residents visit the Mitchell Street Social Security Office, 1710 S. 7th St., each month. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
After language they offered instructing the Social Security Administration (SSA) to halt any further actions until the SSA Inspector General (IG) concludes ongoing reviews of the SSA’s field office closures was included in the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Act, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) and Senator Tammy Baldwinreleased the following statement:
“As part of our continuing effort to put our constituents first, we fought hard to include this language in the omnibus. Given that this was the quickest means by which to oppose this ill-advised closure of the field office on the Southside of Milwaukee, this is a matter of critical importance to those who depend on the services available at this location.” said Congresswoman Moore. “I strongly urge the SSA to heed the clear and unmistakable sense of congress on this matter and not close the Mitchell Street Office while the IG investigation is underway.”
“Thousands of Milwaukee residents visit the SSA’s Southside office each month and they should have in-person social security services in their neighborhood,” said Senator Baldwin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I have been working with Congresswoman Moore and other Milwaukee elected officials to urge the SSA to work with us on a solution to ensure that residents of Milwaukee’s Southside, which is home to the state’s largest Latino community, continue to have direct and immediate access to these critical services. This next step makes clear that SSA should not make a final decision about the Mitchell Street Office until the IG can complete its review.”
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The language is included below and available here (DIV H, 74):
Field Office Closures: There is significant concern about decisions to close field offices that may not be in accordance with law, regulations, and SSA procedures. These critical decisions must comply with Federal law, regulations, and procedures to account for the impact such actions will have on the community. The agreement notes that SSA’s Inspector General (IG) is reviewing decisions to close field offices, including whether SSA followed internal procedures in proposing consolidation, notifying the public, and considering feedback from public input. While the IG review is ongoing, the Acting Commissioner should not make any final decisions related to field office locations under review. Further, the agreement encourages SSA to carefully consider and fully implement any IG recommendations that may result from such review.

author: Congresswoman Gwen Moore


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 30, 2018

author: Adam Carr


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Student group calls on MPS to ‘take racial discrimination seriously’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Dean Bibens
March 30, 2018
Joya Headley, a junior at Milwaukee School of Languages, gives a passionate speech. (Photo by Dean Bibens)
Students and alumni of Milwaukee Public Schools gathered outside of a recent MPS board meeting to protest policies that they say discriminate against black students.
Joya Headley, a junior at Milwaukee School of Languages, spoke on behalf of the dozens in attendance. “Here at Milwaukee Public Schools, black students are treated differently than white students,” she said. “[We] are put on a path to filling Wisconsin prisons.”
Headley’s speech focused on racial disparities in the school district. She said students feel criminalized as soon as they step through the doors of their schools.
Leaders Igniting Transformation, a nonprofit organization led by youth of color, proposed a 14-point plan, the Youth Power Agenda, aimed at ending the school-to-prison pipeline for black students. The priority for Headley and others in the group is for police officers and metal detectors to be banned in the schools.
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“This is supposed to be a place where students learn, not a prison,” Headley said.
MPS is the largest public school district in Wisconsin. Its 150 schools include elementary, middle and high schools, as well as charter, non-traditional and alternative high schools. More than 80,000 students attend the schools: 56 percent are black, 24 percent are Hispanic, 14 percent are white, 5 percent are Asian and 0.8 percent are other races.
Several students gathered outside of an MPS board meeting with signs to protest policies that they feel are discriminatory.
According to Civil Rights Data Collection, in the 2013-2014 school year, 83 percent of the 1,298 MPS students receiving in-school suspensions were black. Nearly 80 percent of students receiving out-of-school suspensions and 83.2 percent of students expelled were black.
“There were over 100 cases where MPS expelled black students, but not white students, for the same behavior,” Headley told the gathering. “More importantly, MPS is not taking racial discrimination seriously.”
Elisha Branch, an alumna of Washington High School of Information Technology, also took to the podium. “I have a child, and I don’t want her to have to go through the same things that I did just because I’m poor, black and live in Milwaukee,” she said. “I walked through metal detectors and saw police every day when I was in school; it was deeply offensive to me.”
Added Headley, “If a kid wants to bring a weapon into school, he or she will get around the metal detectors; I guarantee that.”
In 2018, there already have been 17 school shootings nationwide, according to CNN, and President Donald Trump has suggested arming teachers. Headley and Branch oppose putting more guns into Milwaukee Public Schools because they feel officers and metal detectors haven’t made them safer.
“What’s the point of adding more guns to our schools when we already don’t feel safe,” Branch said.
“Arming teachers and security guards will not make our schools safer… it will only make us feel like prisoners,” Headley said. “The damaged trust between students and police officers will only perpetuate the constant tension that fills the halls of our schools.”
“Growing up in a black community, we were taught to fear police,” Branch added. “That’s just a part of our culture.”
Other points in the LIT plan include creating an inclusive school code, increasing the number of licensed support professionals and reducing classroom size. Headley and Branch demanded that MPS hire more teachers and educational assistants to reduce class sizes.
“Small class size improves student outcomes, especially for student of color and low-income students,” Headley said. “Milwaukee’s student-to-teacher ratio exceeds the state average.”
Jim Gross, a third-grade teacher at the Academy of Accelerated Learning, said there is no easy solution to such a complex problem. “Students and faculty want to feel safe when going to school but it’s so hard to say what is right and what is wrong for the district.”
According to the organizers, Leaders Igniting Transformation does not expect MPS to adopt its entire 14-point plan, but the group does expect the protest to spark a conversation.
Branch said that her top goals are to remove officers and metal detectors from the schools and to end suspensions and expulsions. “It’s going to be a fight, but we aren’t going to stop until we succeed.”

author: Dean Bibens


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
March 29, 2018


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Moving forward on fair housing | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Margaret Rozga
April 2, 2018
Margaret Rozga, poet, civil rights activist and professor emerita of English at UW-Waukesha, urges Milwaukeeans to support a Milwaukee County proposal to include fair housing protection for holders of housing vouchers.
Seven months to the day before he died, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. sent a telegram to Milwaukee civil rights leader Father James Groppi at St. Boniface Catholic Church, the headquarters for Milwaukee’s 1967-68 fair housing marches.
“Your actions inspire me deeply,” Dr. King wrote in support of these marches led by Father Groppi and members of the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council.
I was one of those marchers. We needed the support Dr. King’s message provided. On Aug. 28, 1967, our intrepid group of 200 to 250 marchers crossed what was then the 16 Street Viaduct from the North Side to the South Side where we were met, according to police estimate, by 5,000 to 8,000 so-called counter demonstrators.
The next day our office, called the Freedom House, on 15 and Vliet Streets went up in flames when police shot a tear gas canister into the building. Milwaukee’s mayor then issued a proclamation forbidding marches. When we tried to obey the mayor’s proclamation and rallied at the burned out Freedom House but did not march, about 50 Youth Council members were arrested anyway. Given that fact, the marches resumed, with 130 people arrested the next day, and more the day after.
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Dr. King’s telegram concluded with these words, “May God bless you and yours in all of your creative and courageous endeavors.” Those creative and courageous endeavors for fair housing continued for the next 200 nights in Milwaukee. Meanwhile in Congress a national civil rights bill with a fair housing provision, Section 8, was in danger of stalling. Dr. King’s assassination on April 4 propelled its passage.
This month we commemorate not only the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, but fair housing becoming the law of the land. An even stronger fair housing ordinance finally was passed in Milwaukee on April 30, 1968.
One of the tools created to further fair housing is the Section 8 housing choice voucher. This form of rental assistance allows low-income renters, including people of color, a wider range of choice than they might otherwise have. At least that is the rationale for the program.
In practice, however, African-Americans and other people of color who rent may find they are still discriminated against. Although it is illegal to refuse to rent to someone because of race, it is still legal in most of Wisconsin to refuse to rent to someone who holds a housing choice voucher. Many of us are dismayed that our community is frequently cited as one of the most segregated in the country. With people nationwide reading Matthew Desmond’s “Evicted”, Milwaukee also suffers under the shame of a national reputation for inattention to its housing crisis.
This 50th anniversary year of Dr. King’s assassination and the passage of fair housing legislation provides a fitting occasion to close this loophole and help ensure that the goals of fair housing are realized. Fortunately, County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic, seeing her role as a public official to be a problem solver, has proposed including housing vouchers as a category to be protected by the county’s fair housing ordinance, along with categories like race, religion, sexual orientation and disability. Her proposal had its first hearing at the County Board’s economic development committee in March. At that time members of the committee voted to continue discussion of this matter at its May meeting.
As someone who marched for fair housing 50 years ago, I am frequently asked to give presentations about that history. Inevitably people in the audience ask, “What about today? Where are we today?” More significant is their reason for asking. They want to do something to remedy today’s housing crisis. They want to create a more inclusive community.
Many have already been in book groups discussing “Evicted” or Richard Rothstein’s “The Color of Law.” They ask, “What can we do?” We can call our county supervisors to urge support for this proposal to include fair housing protection for holders of housing vouchers. It is a small step to take in honor of Dr. King and all who inspired us with their creativity and courage, standing up for social and racial justice.

author: Margaret Rozga


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
April 1, 2018


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New youth-led court expected to focus on restorative justice | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rachel Kubik
April 2, 2018
(From left to right) Escuela Verde students Jean Carlo Aleman and Jasmine Glass, and advisor Zaynab Baalbaki speak to members of the Restorative Justice Initiative Advisory Board about their experiences with the school’s restorative justice program. (Photo by Rachel Kubik)
A new advisory board created by the Milwaukee Youth Council recently held its first meeting to discuss options for a youth court.
The youth court, made up of youths and some adults, would hold teens accountable for municipal violations, but would likely reduce warrants and unpaid citations, which can lead to driver’s license suspensions. Details are still being worked out.
Capt. Raymond Banks, acting assistant chief of police, said a youth who gets into trouble could be referred to the restorative justice program before an officer even writes a citation. If the youth doesn’t participate, then the citation could be issued. He added that there might be cases where youths who receive citations could participate in the program.
“The ideal vision is to not even get to that courtroom,” said Kalan Haywood II, chair of the advisory board. He said the goal would be to keep youths out of the legal system and give them a second chance.
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In addition to creating a youth court, the advisory board was formed to support restorative justice throughout the city, Haywood said.
Restorative justice focuses on rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community.
The Restorative Justice Initiative Advisory Board held its first meeting to discuss a youth court in Milwaukee. (Photo by Rachel Kubik)
“A lot of people don’t [get] that second chance to fix that mistake, so having them be a part of this process will show they are committed to being better, and also give them the tools needed in order to be better,” Haywood said.
Since the youth court would likely take place in schools, the board is considering how to give pre-teens and teens who are not in schools opportunities for restorative justice. The program is expected to start in the next academic year.
“We’re discussing moving (the court) around so it’s more accessible to young people and they can get to it easier,” Haywood said. “We don’t want to have it at City Hall every second or fourth Wednesday, and people can’t get to it. If we have it at the schools, maybe they can get to it a lot faster and easier.”
At its first meeting, the six-member Restorative Justice Initiative Advisory Board heard from students at Escuela Verde, 3628 W. Pierce St., which has a restorative justice program. Some aspects of the youth court could be based on the school’s program.
When a student runs into a problem, advisors or teachers discuss the issue with the student. After multiple meetings, the student is brought to one of three kinds of “circles”: circles of support, circles of understanding and “repair-the-harm” circles. Student circle keepers are trained as facilitators to offer peer support.
Typically, a circle consists of two advisors, a peer and a community member or parent(s).
Offending students are given a chance to participate in a circle to discuss what they have done wrong, why they did it, and how the behavior can be prevented from happening again.
According to Jasmine Glass, a senior at Escuela Verde, a circle of support is typically about a student’s personal issues. A circle of understanding occurs if a student needs academic support. A repair-the-harm circle takes place if a student’s actions have harmed the community, such as getting into a fight, smoking in improper places or causing a disturbance.
“Harm is being done, so we have a repair-the-harm circle,” said Zaynab Baalbaki, an adult advisor at Escuela Verde. “It’s not just one person being affected; it is a ripple effect.”

author: Rachel Kubik