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Fathers pledge to help reduce violence in city | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Edgar Mendez
June 24, 2016
Between 150-200 men gathered for the kickoff of the “500 Fathers United Initiative” at Moody Park. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Dads are the key to deterring the violence plaguing many Milwaukee neighborhoods, according to organizers of the 500 Fathers United Initiative.
“As fathers, as men, we have to take a stronger stand against violence,” said Dennis Walton, co-director of the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, speaking to those gathered at Moody Park for the launch of the initiative. ”You brothers are the foundation of our community,” he added.
The “Safe Summer Kick-off Celebration” was well attended by men, women and children who spent the warm evening dancing and singing, eating hot dogs and visiting one of many community resource booths set up outside the COA Goldin Center.
The rally featured speeches delivered by Walton and others, including several local legislators. They called on fathers to draw a “battle line in the sand” and stand up against perpetrators of violence in the city. Last year, 54 children were among the 633 victims of non-fatal shootings, in addition to 145 homicide victims, according to a Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission report. Other crimes including carjacking and car theft have been on the rise, according to law enforcement officials.
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Brandon Brown (right), holding his 4-month-old-son Brandon Jr., chats with Dennis Walton (left), co-director of the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
Among the speakers was Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton, who co-organized the rally and let those in attendance know that things are going to change.
“This isn’t some rhetoric or another failed attempt at changing this city,” shouted Hamilton. “We need you to stand up and take charge in your own communities and we are going to stand with you,” he added.
The urgent call to action was echoed by many in the crowd, including Brandon Brown, who attended the rally with his 2-year-old daughter Kamariya, 4-month-old-son, Brandon Jr., and their mother, Chapayl Parker.
Brown grew up on Milwaukee’s North Side and said he attended the event because he is tired of all the violence in the neighborhood and wants to see change.
“I grew up here and want my kids to grow up here,” Brown said. “I don’t want to have to move them to the suburbs so they can be safe.” Brown said it was also important for him to come with his family to dispel stereotypes about black fathers not being there for their children.
“There are plenty of us full-time dads out here doing the right thing and wanting better for the kids in our community,” Brown said.
Local hip-hop artists and fathers Lil Kal and Mackn said they attended the rally because they are worried about the impact of violence on children in the neighborhood.
Michael Washington and Minisha Howard, Office of Community Outreach and Education, attended the event. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)
“We live in this community, we got kids and we want to see it become safer for them,” said Kal.
Chris Webb, who teaches at Universal Academy School, 6850 N. 53 St., said he and other staff from the school came to Moody Park to support an effort they hope will lead to kids having a safe summer.
“We don’t want to have to come back and bury any of our kids,” Webb said.
Alderman Khalif Rainey, who represents the 53206 ZIP code where Moody Park is located, asked each father to make a difference on his street.
“Pull one of the young men on your block aside and talk to him; be a mentor,” Rainey said. Rainey and other organizers said they were undeterred at not reaching their goal of drawing 500 fathers to the park. The more than 150 fathers in attendance are enough to spur change in Milwaukee, he said.
“We didn’t get 500, but we know this, it only takes one good man, and we got plenty,” said Rainey, drawing loud cheers from the crowd.
The starting point for that change begins at home, added Walton.
“We need to be a greater force in the lives of our children, so we don’t have 9-year-olds getting shot in the face and 12- and 13-year-olds playing real life Grand Theft Auto, Walton said.
The rally ended with a pledge. At its conclusion, the fathers repeated, “I will be an example of positivity for my children and I will take responsibility as a man, as a brother, and as a leader in the city of Milwaukee.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 24, 2016

source: news-milwaukeenns

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

author: Adam Carr


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Get your construction career on track starting at June 28 info session | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II
June 24, 2016
With a construction boom in Milwaukee that hasn’t been seen in decades, there are job opportunities for workers who possess the right kinds of skills and knowledge, and a key information session is set for Tuesday (June 28) for people looking to begin acquiring those skills, according to Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II.
Alderman Stamper said the Social Development Commission (SDC) will be holding special, multifaceted construction training classes starting in July, and the information session at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28 at 1730 W. North Ave. is a must for those who want to apply for the classes. Attendees must register for the session in advance, and can register online at www.cr-sdc.org or by calling 414-906-2711. For more details, please email training4u@cr-sdc.org.
With construction underway on the new $500 million downtown arena for the Bucks, as well as ongoing construction on the $450 million Northwestern Mutual Life headquarters building project, it is a prime time to get an excellent job for those with the right construction training, Alderman Stamper said.
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“I believe we will be seeing additional major construction projects of all kinds in Milwaukee in the years ahead, so those who have the training and the skills will be positioned to have the best opportunities on these projects,” he said. “That’s why it is important to take advantage of the program next week at the SDC.”

author: Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II


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On the Block: ‘Don’t put off until tomorrow’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
June 24, 2016
Read more about Bonnie Drew at milwaukeestories.org.

author: Jabril Faraj


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 22, 2016


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27060239304_5d4d023539_k | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 22, 2016


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YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee receives $20,000 as part of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move! Outside” initiative | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee
June 24, 2016
The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee today announced that it will receive $20,000 from the American Express Foundation over the next two years as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Outside initiative, which aims to engage the next generation of outdoor stewards and inspire millions of young adults to play, learn, serve and work in the great outdoors.
“Many people in Milwaukee’s urban neighborhoods don’t have the chance to experience all that our public lands in and around the city have to offer,” said Julie Tolan, CEO and president, YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee. “This initiative will help us bring together leaders in conservation, education, recreation and service to provide opportunities for children and families to have fun, deepen connections to the city’s natural and historic sites, develop important leadership skills, and engage in activities where they can give back and strengthen our community.”
The Milwaukee Y’s $20,000 gift from The American Express Foundation will be used to expand the Y’s existing partnership with the Milwaukee County Parks. For the second consecutive year, the Milwaukee Y is partnering with the Milwaukee County Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture to offer its day camps and swim lessons at several County Parks sites this summer.
More than 1,100 kids are expected to attend the Milwaukee Y’s seven day camps this summer, where they will experience the Camp FLY (Fun Learning for Youth) curriculum model, which was created by licensed educators to help reduce summer learning loss. The four camps held at Milwaukee County Parks sites will provide more children with opportunities to explore nature, try new activities and create memories that will last a lifetime.
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Through its Milwaukee Swims initiative, which began June 20, 2016, the Milwaukee Y offers a reduced-cost package of nine swim lessons for $5 per individual and $10 per family at four Milwaukee County Parks sites. These introductory classes are geared toward non-swimmers to learn basic swim skills and water safety, including how to recognize dangerous situations when in and around water environments.
Milwaukee was selected as one of 50 priority communities to participate in the First Lady’s nationwide Let’s Move! Outside movement. The initiative, being led by the Department of the Interior, is funded through a $5 million commitment by the American Express Foundation, which is being distributed to 270 YMCAs throughout the United States.
Milwaukee joins 26 cities announced as Let’s Move! Outside priority communities in 2015. The remaining cities will be announced throughout 2016. For more information about the Let’s Move! Outside initiative, visit: http://www.doi.gov/youth.

author: YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee


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Community celebrates official opening of newly renovated Johnsons Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sharon McGowan
June 25, 2016
The newly renovated Johnsons Park, in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood, is now officially open. The occasion was marked by a community celebration.
The $1 million park renovation was part of Milwaukee County’s Johnsons Park Initiative, which also included renovations to Alice’s Garden, completed in 2010 and the Brown Street Academy schoolyard, completed in 2012.
A private-public partnership that complements other redevelopment efforts underway in Lindsay Heights spearheaded the project. Milwaukee County, Center for Resilient Cities, the Rotary Club of Milwaukee, LISC-Milwaukee, and Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association are all partners in the revitalization project.
“Johnsons Park is the only public park in the 110-block Lindsay Heights neighborhood and is critically important to the quality of life for residents,” said Marcia Caton Campbell, executive director of the Center for Resilient Cities. “The completion of the Johnsons Park renovation is a major milestone for the neighborhood made possible by the commitment and dedication of a wide-range of partners in our community.”
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Johnsons Park renovations total almost $1.2 million in private funding and $878,000 in public investments.
Renovations include new pathways with LED fixtures that allow easy access to a new performance stage, sports practice fields for football, soccer and T-ball; a picnic shelter and restroom facilities constructed by Milwaukee County Parks; and a new bioswale (infiltration basin) that mitigates storm water runoff.
Ten local community groups came together to celebrate the park completion and dedicate the new performance stage: Alice’s Garden, Beckum Stapleton Little League, Brown Street Academy, Boys & Girls Clubs, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, Fondy Food Center, Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association, Marketplace Bid 32, Neu-Life Community Resource Center, Running Rebels and Walnut Way Conservation Corp.
The ceremony was followed by entertainment provided by Milwaukee County Parks with A.W.E. Trucks (Artists Working in Education), as well as a concert in the park featuring “Tony TNT Washington and his Explosive Divas.”

author: Sharon McGowan


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Taking “Home” out of Home Rule | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
City of Milwaukee
June 25, 2016
The Wisconsin Supreme Court announcement regarding the ruling lifting of the City of Milwaukee’s 78-year-old residency requirement for city employees was deeply disappointing. As the Mayor said recently, the decision delivers a huge blow to home rule, in place for local governments in Wisconsin for more than 100 years, and in the case of the residency requirement in Milwaukee, for nearly 80 years.
We know that Milwaukee is a bustling, vibrant and wonderful major league city, a city we are deeply proud of, and one with a variety of different neighborhoods and levels of living options. In our view it’s a long-accepted condition of employment and not at all a violation of anyone’s freedom of choice to require city employees to live in our wonderful city.
Not only has the Wisconsin Supreme Court overlooked more than 75 years of legal standing (residency requirement), the decision undermines our efforts to create safe and stable neighborhoods with middle class families and family-supporting jobs.
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It’s interesting to note that one of the justifications for lifting the residency requirement was to attract better quality applicants for city jobs. There’s absolutely no evidence that we haven’t been attracting quality applicants for city jobs, as we consistently have waiting lists for every public safety job and nearly every civil service job in the City of Milwaukee. From 2008- 2010, the city received 17,563 job applications for general city positions, and 86% of applicants were already Milwaukee residents. In our most recent recruitments, the city received 5,711 applications for the position of firefighter and 3,569 applications for the position of police officer. Our residency requirement has not impeded our ability to retain quality city employees.
The Legislature, the Governor, and the Supreme Court justices should realize the challenge of running a city where 29% of residents live below the poverty line, and where city employees are an important component of the existing middle class.

author: City of Milwaukee


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 25, 2016


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3 Ways the Supreme Court’s Immigration Ruling Hurts Undocumented Latinos and U.S. Citizens Alike | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 27, 2016
Latin Post

author: Andrea Waxman


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Art City Asks: Fo Wilson | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 27, 2016
jsonline.com


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Della Wells uses art to inspire self-worth in Milwaukee’s women | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 27, 2016
88NINE Radio Milwaukee


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‘I Am 53206’ young people march for equality | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 27, 2016
Youth leader Tracey Davis told a crowd that filled Incarnation Lutheran Church on a recent rainy evening that the young people in the 53206 Zip code are suffering.
“Help us!” she implored the adults in the room. “We are your future leaders. Ask for our opinions, advice, perspective.”
As she named the problems that plague them, four young men walked down the aisle bearing a casket on their shoulders.
“Goodbye mass incarceration, homelessness, violence. There have been too many tears, too much blood shed …” Davis intoned.
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MICAH youth leaders and representatives from some of the organization’s 43 interfaith congregations march from Calvary Baptist Church, 2959 N. Teutonia Ave., to Incarnation Lutheran Church, 1510 W. Keefe Ave. (Photo by Naomi Waxman)
At the altar, a “pallbearer” opened the empty casket and Davis invited youth participants to place inside index cards on which they had written words and phrases such as “poverty,” “stray bullets,” “poor schools,” “drugs.”
The symbolic funeral for issues that oppress young people took place at the end of the recent “I Am 53206” march organized by the young adults who make up Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope’s (MICAH) Holy Ground Youth and Young Adult Organizing Project. About 250 people participated in the event.
Working to address the city’s racial and economic disparities, the group is outlining “a set of concrete policy solutions shaped by young people in the Milwaukee community who are impacted by these inequities,” according to youth leader Elisha Branch, who also spoke at the church.
Citing statistics that illustrate inequality in poverty rates, black male incarceration and black-white achievement gaps, Branch said, “We believe this must end now. … We are committed to shaping a better Milwaukee.”
Branch invited Supreme Moore Omokunde, 10 District county supervisor, and State Rep. David Bowen to the podium to ask them if they would commit to working with the group on its economic development plan. They both said yes.
MICAH’s 53206 Holy Ground Youth and Young Adult Organizing Project leaders gather outside Incarnation Lutheran Church before addressing elected officials. (Photo by Naomi Waxman)
Other issues addressed at the event included inequality in education and the criminal justice system. Marcelia Nicholson, 5th District county supervisor and a 4 grade MPS teacher, and Laresha Love, a MICAH youth leader, spoke about barriers to achievement in the public schools, including supply shortages, traumatized students and low expectations.
Love, a senior at Bradley Tech High School, noted that only the top 10 percent of students there are given information about ACT prep courses and only those with grade point averages of 3.0 and above are eligible to take them. “This must change. If we want the youth of our city to succeed, we must give them the tools,” Love said.
MPS board president Mark Sain and vice president Larry Miller committed “to bring young people to the table to address the need for ACT prep for all students in the class of 2016 and 2017.”
The group of 15- to 34-year-olds from seven churches located in or near the 53206 ZIP code was formed by MICAH in late 2014, according to organizer Dakota Hall.
Hall said that the march was intended to show the community that most of the young people who live in the 53206 ZIP code are not car thieves or otherwise up to no good. “They want people to know that they are working to improve their neighborhoods.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 26, 2016


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Milwaukee’s Freedom Trail | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Margaret Rozga
June 27, 2016
This mural was created by the Friends of the Hank Aaron Trail as the group’s contribution to the 40th anniversary of Milwaukee’s open housing marches, which took place in 1967-68. (Photo courtesy of La Escuela Fratney)
Margaret Rozga, poet, civil rights activist and professor emerita of English at UW-Waukesha, suggests that Milwaukee already has a public art Freedom Trail — it just needs to be acknowledged.
Even if those born here do not pronounce the third letter, it’s easy enough to spell Milwaukee. It’s even easier if we skip the letter natives do not pronounce and use the airline assigned abbreviation for our city’s name: MKE. More difficult is how we define our city. It is frequently defined as one of the most, if not the most, segregated cities in the U.S.
Where do we go from here? How can we define a new vision for ourselves? That will take concerted effort on many fronts: economic development, educational investment, and robust and widespread political participation and leadership. Also important is the role of public art. The sunburst sculpture at the lakefront end of Wisconsin Avenue and the winning sunrise image in a People’s Initiative for a new city flag both suggest a city on the rise.
Milwaukee also has impressive public art with social and racial justice themes. The Joshua Glover mural sculpture built into the freeway base at the Fond du Lac / Juneau Avenues on/off ramps shows Milwaukee standing up for justice as early as the mid-nineteenth century. Glover escaped from slavery and, under the terms of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, was being held in the Milwaukee jail until he could be returned to the slaveholder who claimed rights over him. Milwaukee would have none of it. Citizens stormed the jail and released Glover so that he could continue on to freedom.
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More recent history is represented in the statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on King Drive near Walnut Street. On King Drive at Ring Street are the murals of the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council Commandoes, representing the struggle for local and national fair housing legislation. Cesar Chavez, co-founder and leader of the United Farm Workers, is honored as a figure of justice and equality with a bronze statue at the El Rey Grocery on Cesar Chavez Drive. An inclusive gallery of national and local social justice heroes is portrayed in the mural at First and Mitchell Streets.
The Henry Aaron State Trail is also part of Milwaukee’s Freedom Trail for several reasons. Aaron began his professional baseball career with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League just four years after Jackie Robinson first broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier. Aaron, too, faced racial discrimination, including his difficulty finding housing outside the narrow confines of the African-American community. The Hank Aaron trail also includes murals created by Milwaukee Public School children and by Katrina Motley that celebrate civil rights victories and depict a social justice vision for Milwaukee.
This array of public art and place-making suggests Milwaukee has a tradition of standing up for justice. It also suggests that Milwaukee already has a public art Freedom Trail.
Acknowledging this citywide trail is a way to affirm the basic idea that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. An inaugural event could complement the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative’s Ciclovía, where people enjoy biking and other activities on streets closed to motor vehicles. It could be scheduled during next year’s 50 anniversary of Milwaukee’s open housing marches. The Freedom Trail could then continue to be a cross-town bicycle route. It would link multiple city neighborhoods and could be a point of civic pride, featured in a well-designed brochure for tourists and residents alike.
The Milwaukee youth I’ve worked with on poetry, history and visual art projects start out generally unaware of Milwaukee’s social justice history. At first I wondered what, if anything, this history would mean to them. I learned that once students know about hometown social justice heroes, they begin to see possibilities for their own civic engagement.
Their issues and tactics may be different than those of their elders, but the students come to realize that they need not be passive in response to racial and social injustice. Furthermore, they also realize that to be effective — to be leaders — they need to develop their own knowledge base and their own critical thinking skills. Thus they improve academically. They love the challenge to imagine how we can define ourselves and what this city can be.
Art alone, even prominent public art may not be able to inspire citizens, younger and older, to work toward spelling out a new vision for Milwaukee. Public art, however, can help to set a tone and suggest a vision. Fortunately we already have a start. Let’s acknowledge what we have going for us and take it to the next level.

author: Margaret Rozga


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
August 1, 2016

created: August 1, 2016


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No matter the frailty or dementia, everyone here has a purpose | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 27, 2016
jsonline.com


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Wisconsin Supreme Court Ends Milwaukee Employee Residency Rule | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 27, 2016
WPR Wisconsin Public Radio


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MPS expands community schools as part of reform efforts | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
June 28, 2016
James Madison Principal Gregory Ogunbowale (center) speaks to community members and parents during a recent event focused on community schools. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Milwaukee Public Schools announced that two additional schools — Browning Elementary and Lincoln Avenue Elementary — will join the district’s roster of community schools.
The model, which includes principles of shared leadership, high-quality and culturally relevant instruction, wraparound services, community engagement and restorative discipline, has produced positive results nationally. As part of a partnership with the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, Auer Avenue, Hopkins Lloyd, Bradley Tech High School and James Madison Academic Campus (JMAC) have operated as community schools for about a year.
The announcement came after the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) board recently rejected a proposal to partner with County Executive Chris Abele and Abele-appointed Opportunity Schools Partnership Program (OSPP) Commissioner Demond Means to cooperatively restructure a failing school. Shortly after the decision, MPS Superintendent Darienne Driver and Board President Mark Sain met with Abele and Means to discuss alternatives.
MPS board Vice President Larry Miller said a quality early childhood education program could help prepare students to succeed in school and wouldn’t be disruptive to “the really strong reform work that we’re doing.”
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Since June 2014, MPS has “worked to develop and refine a comprehensive plan to improve student outcomes,” according to its website, that focuses on closing the achievement gap, educating the whole child and engaging school communities. The district is currently undertaking multiple reform efforts, including a multi-organization collaboration at George Washington Carver Academy and a “knowledge exchange” partnership between Casimir Pulaski High School and Carmen Schools of Science and Technology, an MPS charter school network.
The state legislation creating OSPP mandates that the commissioner identify between one and three schools the first two years and up to five in 2017-18 for transfer to charter or private voucher school operators. So far, no schools have been chosen. MPS officials and others have stated that the move could harm the district by reducing funding.
Means and Abele, who have said they would like to minimize the legislation’s impact on MPS, pitched the partnership as an opportunity to create a community school. Miller said the OSPP proposal “caused some real concerns,” including the idea of a school takeover and discrepancies regarding who would employ teachers.
“I’m always concerned when people say community school because, often, they’re just talking about wraparound services,” Miller said. “That’s only one component of it; the definition of community schools goes much deeper.”
(From right) Ingrid Walker-Henry, Jamaal Smith, Martha De La Rosa and others listen to speakers during a community schools event at James Madison Academic Campus. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Ingrid Walker-Henry, a member of Schools & Communities United and an MPS parent, noted, “Around the country, most of the models that you see in urban areas are turnaround districts, recovery districts … and they haven’t really shown results. This (community schools) is something … that actually has shown results with children.”
In Cincinnati, since the introduction of Community Learning Centers (CLCs) in 2000, high school graduation rates have increased from 51 percent to more than 80 percent and the achievement gap between white and black students has narrowed significantly. Cincinnati Public Schools policy states that all district buildings will serve as CLCs; so far, 34 of 55 schools are functioning in that capacity. The Cincinnati Public School district calls its community schools CLCs; in Milwaukee CLCs refer to the almost 50 before- and after-school programs run in MPS schools by nonprofit organizations.
Cincinnati’s success was the inspiration for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s goal to create 100 community schools by 2017. Oakland, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore and Chicago are among the cities taking steps to substantially expand community schools.
Jamaal Smith, a community campaign coordinator with Wisconsin Jobs Now, said shared governance is the most important part of the model because it gives the community a responsibility and stake in a school’s success. Teachers, parents, children and neighbors are included in decision-making through school councils, which function much like a school board.
During a recent event at the James Madison Academic Campus, Principal Gregory Ogunbowale said communities become stronger when they solve problems together. Invoking the African proverb, Ogunbowale said many of the students at JMAC “don’t have villages around them.” According to Ogunbowale, the solution is to “build a village around [them].”
JMAC has expanded its academic offerings, adding AP courses and special educational tracks in health sciences and finance, while partnering with local hospitals and banks. Students receive dinner and academic help at the after-school CLC, which is run by the Boys & Girls Club and City Year, an AmeriCorps program. Special courses provide intervention in reading and math for students who are behind.
District 2 Ald. Cavalier Johnson said it’s important to have those supports because hunger, stress, domestic conflicts and other conditions exacerbated by poverty make it harder for students to learn.
Lanisha Martin, who graduated from James Madison in 2006, said back then sports were the only after-school activities available to students. Martin, who took some college classes at MATC before dropping out, said if the CLC program were around when she was in school she would have been more involved in school and may have pursued a career in finance. “I really feel like I probably could be in a better position, or situation, right now,” said Martin, who became an organizer because many of her friends were killed as a result of gun violence.
“I want to be able to shift … the mindset of what we value,” said Morgana Matthews, an MPS parent whose three daughters have all attended JMAC. Her oldest child started in 2002 and the youngest is currently enrolled; the first two went on to college.
Matthews said she never had a lot of money but she bought books for her children and spent time teaching them to read. “We have to really evaluate who we are and what we want to instill in our children.”
The Milwaukee Community Schools Partnership, spearheaded by United Way, is trying to foster dialogue among stakeholders at each school through conversations about aspirations and barriers to success. The partnership’s director, Ryan Hurley, said trust is a “core component” of building a successful school.
Community school advocates say schools should be the “hub of a community,” and that providing families with information, support and access to quality educational opportunities in their neighborhood would improve outcomes while saving students travel time.
Because DPI data is not yet available for 2015-16 and the partnership has just completed its first full year, it’s still too early to say what the impact has been in Milwaukee. However, Hurley said there have been positive early results in attendance, academic gap closure and improved school climate.
Miller said he would like to see MPS fully commit to community schools, as have Cincinnati and Oakland. He is hoping more schools will be added next year, but he also said, “We’re taking it slow,” because the district wants to show possible investors that the model works.
“It’s not a magic solution, it’s not a quick fix,” said Hurley. “We know it’s a long-term strategy for investment.”
Considering the levels of poverty in Milwaukee, it’s “going to take everybody” to help improve academic outcomes, said Walker-Henry.
However, supporters have high expectations. Jessica Mirkes, who works with children at James Madison through City Year, said her goal is to change the perception of inner-city schools. Mirkes said she would “get a look” when she told people where she was placed.
“People know what that look is,” she said. “And I want that look to disappear.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 27, 2016


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Northwest Side Community Development Corporation hosts homebuyer workshop during National Homeownership Month | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Northwest Side CDC
June 28, 2016
To coincide with National Homeownership Month, Northwest Impact, the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation’s (NWSCDC) housing initiative, in partnership with Associated Bank and GreenPath Financial Wellness, hosted a local homebuyers workshop on Saturday, June 25 at Century City Tower at 4201 North 27th Street on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
The homebuyer workshop is part of Northwest Impact’s goal to reduce foreclosures in the City of Milwaukee through re-purchasing, reconstruction and re-sale to owner-occupant buyers. Northwest Impact focuses on three specific Milwaukee neighborhoods: Garden Homes, Century City and Little Canada.
”My personal goal is to clear misconceptions regarding finance, credit and lending when buying a home,” said Northwest Impact’s Director of Housing Willie Smith. “I enjoy helping individuals and families reach their goal of homeownership. They take pride in owning a home, which, in turn, benefits the City of Milwaukee.”
The workshop consists of three areas of financial advice for future homeowners:
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Raising the importance of financial awareness during the home buying process is at the heart of Northwest Impact’s efforts. The partnerships with Associated Bank and GreenPath Financial Wellness provide a multi-level approach to the program’s success. This includes Associated Bank’s Buyer’s Edge pre-approved mortgage program, which gives prospective homebuyers a head start on finding the home of their dreams.
“Associated Bank is proud to partner with the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation to help people in our community prepare for homeownership,” said Shiela Roberts, AVP, CRA Residential Loan Officer at Associated Bank. “Together, we provide education through workshops about credit, budgeting, qualifying for a mortgage loan and more. In addition, we provide financial assistance through the Associated Bank HELP Grant and other grants for individuals who qualify. We also offer a credit builder program to help individuals establish good credit in order to purchase a home.”
Since beginning in 2013, Northwest Impact has helped over 200 Milwaukee residents learn more about the rewards of homeownership and how to plan for managing a mortgage and a home.
“I was living in an area where Northwest Impact signs were posted about the workshop,” said Graylan Morris, a current renter preparing to purchase his home through the Northwest Impact program. Through these workshops, I learned to manage my finances and keep a credit score that would show I could qualify for a loan. I think that was really the most helpful part – learning how to understand my credit score and paying bills. Now, I’m on track to close on a house in the next couple of months.”
More information on Northwest Impact and their next Homebuyers Workshops in July may be found at www.northwestimpact.com.

author: Northwest Side CDC


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 28, 2016


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On the Block: ‘We Got This’ volunteer | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 28, 2016
Marny Gamble, a Brown Deer resident and educator working in the Borchert Field neighborhood, is bringing her 14- and 18-year-old sons to work at the We Got This community cleanup and mentoring program on Saturday mornings this summer.
Eager to help founder Andre Lee Ellis and the young men he serves, Gamble recently contributed books and magazines she thought would interest the participants.


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How to check a used car for flood damage | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Lisa Schiller, Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin
June 29, 2016
When buying a used car be on the lookout for rust. Rust inside the car is a strong indicator of water damage. (Photo by Rebecca Carballo)
When you’re looking for a used car, you might not think about checking for flood damage, since there’s not a lot of severe flooding in Milwaukee. However, cars sold here come from all over the country, so check for flood damage before you buy. Shady sellers may not divulge the car’s history.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, flood-damaged cars can be unreliable and sellers have an arsenal of supplies and tactics to dress up a used car, even it if has been severely damaged. Rebuilders may be able to hide most of the cosmetic damage done by floods, but it’s difficult to completely repair an engine after it has been flooded.
Here are some tips to help you determine if a car is flood damaged:
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Public/private consortium to invest in the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee
June 29, 2016
The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee (the Milwaukee Y) announced today that a public/private consortium of funders – including Bader Philanthropies, Inc.’s Isabel and Alfred Bader Fund, the City of Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Herb Kohl Philanthropies, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation and the Zilber Family Foundation – have agreed to strategically invest in furthering the Y’s urban mission in Milwaukee.  To-date, over $1 million in private funds have been committed, with additional commitments expected to be made this year, including a multi-year block grant from the City of Milwaukee.
These investments build on increased demand for Y programs, expanded community partnerships and continuous improvements to the Y’s operating model.  Separate from the Y’s Annual Campaign, this “venture philanthropy” approach calls for up to five years of strategic funding as the Milwaukee Y continues to strengthen its capacity and capability to help children, youth and families lead healthy, productive lives.
“The Zilber Family Foundation’s board of directors has followed the Y’s story over the years and has been impressed with its willingness to face its challenges head on while never forgetting its mission and purpose,” said Susan Lloyd, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation.  “We and other funders considered what the partnership means, not only for the Northside Y and the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee as a whole, but also for residents throughout the city.”
The Milwaukee Y’s earned revenue and fundraising is pacing ahead of 2016 targets and 2015 results, ensuring that its urban mission continues to flourish.  So far in 2016:
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In addition to private foundation support, the City of Milwaukee has committed a multi-year community development block grant to help sustain the Y’s urban mission.  Tom Barrett, mayor of Milwaukee, said: “The Y has had a long, vibrant history in Milwaukee.  We are proud to continue to stand by them as they work with us and others to help build strong, healthy, safe communities throughout Milwaukee.”  The amount of the grant will be determined this fall.
“I am impressed with this public/private approach and the Milwaukee Y’s creativity and commitment to developing solutions-based programming that directly responds to critical needs,” said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, president of the Milwaukee Common Council. “And they’re doing this by going beyond their four walls to meet Milwaukee’s kids and families in our communities, right where they live, work and play.”
The Milwaukee Y also today provided an update on the upcoming leadership transition of Julie Tolan, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Y.  As previously announced, Tolan will step down on June 30.  Given strong confidence in the existing leadership team and the organization’s improving performance, the board of directors has asked Jack Takerian, current chief operating officer of the Milwaukee Y, to serve as interim CEO.
Takerian will continue to be supported by Tina Schmitz, chief financial officer, Helen Boomsma, vice president of development and community relations, and TR Yow, vice president of center operations.  Tolan has agreed to serve as a consultant to the organization through December 31, 2016, to ensure a smooth and successful transition.
“There is tremendous potential for the Y to positively impact many more of the children and families who need our help the most,” said Julie Tolan, president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.  “It is nearly impossible to put into words how grateful we are that these funders value the work of the Milwaukee Y, and are willing to walk with our leadership to advance our mission and strategy. They are true partners.”


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Demond Means Resigns As MPS Turnaround Commissioner | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 30, 2016
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio


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Groups to provide $1 million for YMCA’s urban mission | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 30, 2016
jsonline.com


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Milwaukee Tech College To Offer Pell Grants To Prisoners | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
June 30, 2016
WPR Wisconsin Public Radio


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Bronzeville and Walker Square residents welcome Bublr Bikes to their neighborhoods | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rebecca Carballo
July 1, 2016
Bublr Bikes are now available at Cesar Chavez Drive and Washington Street in Walker Square. (Photo By Rebecca Carballo)
Residents of Bronzeville and Walker Square are glad that Bublr Bikes are now available in their neighborhoods, but some parents would like to see the bike-sharing service offer cargo bikes, so they can transport their children.
“I think it’s awesome, but I need something more kid-accessible,” said Carina Krantz, a mother of four young children who lives on the South Side.
Krantz said she would consider using Bublr Bikes if cargo bikes were available.
Brent Grier, a South Side parent, said he would use the bicycles “in a pinch,” but noted it would be useful if there were a cargo bike option.
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One of two new bike stations is located in Halyard Park at Brown Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, in the area known as Bronzeville. The other is at Cesar Chavez Drive and Washington Street in Walker Square.
Lucia and William Jenkins, who live with their children in Bronzeville, would like to see Bublr offer cargo bikes. (Photo By Rebecca Carballo)
Lucia Jenkins, a Halyard Park resident, said she would not be using Bublr because her family has their own bikes. However, she too said she would be open to use them if cargo bikes were available.
Xochitl Morales who lives in the neighborhood and works at Time Warner Cable, uses Bublr Bikes on her lunch break to explore downtown. She said she would like to see a cargo option.
“I have grandchildren and that’s something I would want,” Morales said. She added that she and her grandchildren have enjoyed using cargo bikes before.
Kevin Hardman, executive director of Bublr Bikes, said he has heard the request for different types of bikes before. He said it is a possibility, but it is in the hands of the supplier, BCycle.
“It’s crucial we hear from users about what they want and need,” Hardman said.
Hardman added that the concept of bike sharing is evolving. He said as it becomes more popular, he anticipates new styles of bikes will be introduced.
Halyard Park resident Pam McFarling said she was excited to see Bublr Bikes come to her neighborhood.
“I saw them in other places and I thought it would be cool to have one in the neighborhood,” McFarling said. “I don’t have a bike but I really like riding them.”
McFarling added that the rental fee would not deter Halyard Park residents. “I don’t think the rates are bad because bikes are pretty expensive,” McFarling said. “It’s a good alternative if you’re not going to ride regularly.”
When scouting for new locations, Bublr Bikes asked Russell Jobs, general manager of DreamBikes, for suggestions. Jobs recommended the location on King Drive because it’s close to residential areas. DreamBikes, 2021 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, is a nonprofit organization that employs neighborhood youth and provides community members with affordable bicycles.
“It’s hopefully breaking down invisible borders between the downtown and the neighborhoods,” Jobs said.
Ashley Parker, who works at DreamBikes, said she thinks the bikes will probably get a lot of use because many neighborhood residents do not have cars.
Ian Bautista, executive director of the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, noted that the bikes also will benefit the South Side.
“It’s an affirmation we are connected to the rest of the city,” Bautista said. “It validates we’re a viable economy.”
In the next few years, Bublr Bikes plans to expand to more than 100 stations and 800 Bublr Bikes in the Milwaukee area. The Milwaukee-based nonprofit has launched 40 bike share stations downtown and in adjoining neighborhoods.

author: Rebecca Carballo


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
June 30, 2016


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Record 100 MPS schools awarded for reinforcing positive behavior | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Public Schools
July 2, 2016
Milwaukee Public Schools has set another record for the number of schools awarded by an independent, statewide organization for promoting positive behaviors: 100 schools, up from 79 last year.
MPS also broke records for the number of schools recognized in the area of academics: 62 in reading, up from 39 last year and 52 in math, up from 22 last year.
The honors come from the Wisconsin RtI Center, a statewide organization that helps schools implement successful, proven programs including Response to Intervention (RtI) behavior – Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), which helps build strong school environments, and RtI academics, which builds supports to meet students’ individual needs so all can achieve academic success.
“A positive school environment helps students learn and we are honored that so many of our schools are being recognized by an independent organization for doing just that,” MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver said. “Meeting the individual learning needs of all students is equally important and a growing number of MPS schools are being honored for that work as well. Congratulations to our educators, support staff, district-level administrators as well as students and families for making this happen.”
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The MPS schools were recognized as either a School of Distinction, the highest honor, or a School of Merit. The schools are:

author: Milwaukee Public Schools


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Business Incubator invests in 53206 Community | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care
July 3, 2016
(Photo courtesy of St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care)
It was the anti-shark tank. Taking an untraditional approach, a Milwaukee business incubator event held Wednesday, June 29, gave north-side entrepreneurs advice on how to realize their business dreams and nurture their neighborhood in the bargain.
“I saw so many business hopefuls getting together with one another and discussing possibilities for collaboration and how they could succeed together,” said Sister Edna Lonergan, president of St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, which hosted the incubator in collaboration with Ald. Russell W. Stamper II and the Marketplace Business Improvement District 32. “Everyone walked away with practical information to help them grow a successful business. There wasn’t one winner…there were many.”
(Photo courtesy of St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care)
Eighteen entrepreneurs from Aldermanic District 15 gathered at St. Ann Center’s Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Avenue, for an opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of investors, lawyers and business coaches. With the theme “Building the Neighborhood from Within,” the aim of the incubator event was to promote homegrown commerce by tapping the talents and creativity of residents who live and work in the district.
John Anderson, who wants to expand his residential and commercial construction company, came to the incubator looking for resources to upgrade his business office. “I met a gentleman here today who trains people in office skills, and he’s willing to help me develop my staff,” he said. A fellow incubator entrepreneur, who has a computer sales and service business, “suggested how I can set up a more modern and efficient computer system,” Anderson added.
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Jessie Spraggins submitted her proposal to the incubator, hoping to grow her business startup, the Job Development Resale Center. She uses a storefront on 56th and Vliet Street to sell gently used designer clothing, and to train her volunteer staff on every aspect of getting a job—from preparing a resume to interviewing and dressing for success. “This incubator was a wonderful networking opportunity,” she said. “I talked to people I’d not normally run into, with great ideas about business development. There are plenty of ‘no’s’ out there. I just have to keep searching until I find my ‘yes.’”
Husband and wife Sharon and Larry Adams were impressed with the number of business mentors and investors who were excited about their idea for a neighborhood garden center. “Our goal is to be in a start-up operation in 2017…maybe, a launch with lilies,” Sharon Adams said. “It would be a wonderful symbol of resurrection.”
Stamper expressed gratitude to the dozens of community members who submitted business ideas and to the incubator coordinators. “Thank you to Sister Edna and the St. Ann Center team for their commitment and service to this community.  We have developed a partnership through teamwork to bring resources together to help build this community, and I look forward to much more progress in the 15th District.” Plans are being discussed to hold another business incubator on an annual or semi-annual basis.


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 3, 2016


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Thirteen neighborhood parks where you can celebrate July 4th | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Rebecca Carballo
July 4, 2016
Last year’s fireworks in Mitchell Park. (By Adam Carr)
Milwaukeeans have many opportunities to celebrate Independence Day, with fireworks, parades and other activities throughout the city. Fireworks are scheduled to begin at 9:15 p.m. at the following locations:
(By Adam Carr)
Alcott Park
3751 S. 97th St. (3700S – 9400W)
Gordon Park
2828 N. Humboldt Blvd. (2900N – 1300E)
Humboldt Park
3000 S. Howell Ave. (3000S – 800E)
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Jackson Park
3500 W. Forest Home Ave. (2700S – 3900W)
Lake Park
3233 E. Kenwood Blvd. (3100N – 3200E)
Lincoln Park
1301 W. Hampton Ave. (4800N – 1300W)
Mitchell Park
2600 W. Pierce St. (700S – 2400W)
Noyes Park
8235 W. Good Hope Road (7200N – 8200W)
Washington Park
N. 40th St & W. Galena St. (1800N – 4300W)
Wilson Park
1601 W. Howard Ave. (3900S – 1600W)
Other Celebrations:
Enderis Park
2978 N. 72nd St. (2900N – 7200W)
Parade, contests and games
Festivities from 8:30-11 a.m.
Sherman Park
3000 N. Sherman Blvd. (3000N – 4200W)
Parade, free ice cream and refreshments
Activities start at 9 a.m.
Dr. M.L. King Center
1531 W. Vliet St. (1400N – 1500W)
Talent contests
Activities start at 11:30 a.m.
For more information, visit the City of Milwaukee’s guide to this year’s festivities.


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DSC06561 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 3, 2016


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A New Argument for More Diverse Classrooms | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 5, 2016
The Atlantic


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PRECIOUS LIVES: Red-vested chaplains becoming familiar sight at scenes of tragedy | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 5, 2016
jsonline/com


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Sleep Problems Tied to Diabetes in Men | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 5, 2016
The New York Times


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WISCONSIN BUDGET: Ryan’s Health Plan Could Hurt Working Families | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 5, 2016
UrbanMilwaukee.com


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Artist of the Year Dasha Kelly sees art as part of city’s ‘creative economy’ | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Emmy A. Yates
July 6, 2016
Artist of the Year Dasha Kelly is all smiles as she discusses her award and Milwaukee’s art scene. (Photo by Emmy A. Yates)
Editor’s note: This article is the first in a two-part series about the winners of this year’s Milwaukee Artists of the Year award. Read about artist Della Wells in part two.
Dasha Kelly, a spoken-word artist, writer and social entrepreneur, says fiction was her first love. Kelly credits her mother for encouraging her to enter a short story contest at their local library when Kelly was 10. She happily got so lost in the writing process that she never turned the story in.
“Whatever the word capacity was, I doubled it,” Kelly said.
Kelly is full of early memories of tinkering and always needing things to do. From Loom Rugs to Latch Kits, Lite-Brites to Shrinky Dinks, Kelly always felt a need to keep creating. During her early years in school, she recalls getting in trouble for adding her own flair to the work in math class, almost creating a new language.
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“If there are letters in cursive, I thought there must be numbers,” Kelly explained with a laugh, using her fingers to trace imaginary numerals in the air.
Dasha Kelly reads from her novel, “Almost Crimson,” at Boswell Book Co. last year. (Photo by Adam Carr)
Kelly was recently named one of two 2016 Artists of the Year by the City of Milwaukee Arts Board. Multi-medium artist Della Wells also received the award.
Kelly refers to herself as a “military brat” because her father was in the service, so she grew up in several different places. But she calls Milwaukee home because her grandmother lived here, saying, “Home is wherever grandma is.”
Kelly received her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Illinois State University, her master’s in Marketing Communication from Roosevelt University in Chicago and her MFA in fiction from Antioch University.
As a spoken word artist, Kelly has performed throughout the U.S., in Canada and appeared on the final season of HBO’s Russell Simmonsʹ Def Poetry Jam.
She is the founder and director of Still Waters Collective, which helps individuals use creative writing and spoken word as tools for building leadership and shaping self-esteem, according to its website.
“It feels really good to be honored,” Kelly said. “I’d like to think it’s because of the personal art I’ve created as a performer, and the art I’ve facilitated with other people, particularly young people. Through my workshops I create new opportunities with the youth to learn how to write and to think.”
While creative thinking may appear to be different than critical thinking, Kelly said the skills are parallel. For example, writing poetry requires creative thinking, while understanding poetry involves critical thinking.
Kelly said there’s room for improvement in the way the city nurtures artists. One of her goals is to help create an artistic community that can sustain itself, she said. She would like the conversation about art to change from being “cute” and an “accessory” to recognizing it as part of a creative economy.
“Once we expand the pedestrian definition of a creative industry, then we give weight and merit to the industry itself,” Kelly said.
Kelly sees multiple windows of opportunity for the arts. She said she has watched poetry redefine relationships between artists of different races, which reduces segregation in the city.
“I’ve seen rooms that are blended. If anything, (people are) separated by genres, not by race,” Kelly said. “I’ve seen it in creative spaces: there are opportunities to cut through the racial barriers with art.

author: Emmy A. Yates


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 5, 2016


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HaRUNbee 5K Walk/Run approved as part of Bronzeville Week 2016 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Milele A. Coggs
July 6, 2016
The Common Council today approved the HaRUNbee 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, August 6 as part of Bronzeville Week 2016, and is intended to raise awareness and help increase healthy birth outcomes in the City of Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families (LIHF) organized the HaRUNbee Walk/Run for Healthy Birth Outcomes to promote wellness by encouraging families to stay healthy and fit, both mentally and physically. In-person registration on August 6 starts at 9 a.m. and the event will begin at 10 a.m. at N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. and W. North Ave. To register online for the inaugural 5K Walk/Run, please go to http://bit.ly/29oJeoQ.
Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, the primary sponsor of legislation creating the HaRUNbee 5K Walk/Run (and Bronzeville Week – an official city event — in 2011), said the Milwaukee LIHF is a community-wide collaborative, led by United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, working to eliminate racial disparities in birth outcomes and ensure more babies reach their first birthday. The effort will include promoting wellness and encouraging communities to eat healthier and exercise to help reduce the risk of infant mortality.
“The magnitude of infant mortality in Milwaukee reflects socio-economic conditions that affect maternal and infant health, including factors such as access to quality healthcare, education, poverty and racism,” she said.
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“According to the City of Milwaukee Fetal Infant Mortality Review Report (2013), during 2009-2011, the Harambee neighborhood had the second highest rate of infant mortality in the City of Milwaukee. HaRUNbee will allow residents of Milwaukee, from both within and outside of the Harambee community, to come together and participate in a 5K Walk/Run as an effort to increase infant mortality education and to support each other in this important public health endeavor,” the Alderwoman said.
Bronzeville Week 2016 takes place August 6 – 13, with the Arts and Cultural Festival kicking things off on August 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

author: Ald. Milele A. Coggs


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Hispanic Male Workers Earning Fraction of What White Counterparts Paid Pew Research Study Find | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 6, 2016
Latin Post


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Poverty’s Toll on Young Brains, Academic Achievement Gap | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 6, 2016
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio


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Safe & Sound Hiring: CPU Coordinator(s) & DFC Organizer | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Safe & Sound
July 6, 2016
The Community Prosecution Unit (CPU) Coordinator positions work as liaisons between residents, the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), the District Attorney’s office and other government entities. In addition to planning and coordinating public safety/nuisance abatement process events and resources, the CPU Coordinator’s chief responsibility is to assist with information gathering, organization and reporting leading to the abatement of CPU reported nuisances.
The Near West Side (NWS) position specifically focuses on the community located on Milwaukee’s near west side neighborhoods and is part of the Near West Side Partners collaboration.
The Drug Free Communities (DFC) Organizer focuses on engaging youth in positive activities and healthy decision making around drugs and alcohol.  The organizer operates in the community located within 53208 zip code boundaries, and provides project based opportunities for creativity and leadership development.
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Please see the job description (link) for more information and application instructions.
Full Job Descriptions/Submit Resume

author: Safe & Sound


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Artist of the Year Della Wells calls on city, state to invest in artists | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Emmy A. Yates
July 7, 2016
Artist Della Wells displays one of her handmade dolls in her home. (Photo by Emmy A. Yates)
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a two-part series about the winners of this year’s Milwaukee Artists of the Year award. Read about artist Dasha Kelly in part one.
Della Wells can’t recall her earliest experience doing art. “I really can’t remember when I started making art. I think that means I’ve always just done it,” Wells said as she sat under a shade tree in the yard of her Riverwest apartment.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wells is an artist who gravitates towards several different media, including painting, collages, pastels, quilting, doll making, drawing and playwriting. She is currently contributing to a documentary that focuses on African-Americans in the Milwaukee arts scene from 1967 to 1979.
Wells was recently named one of two 2016 Artists of the Year by the City of Milwaukee Arts Board. Poet and activist Dasha Kelly also received the award. While Wells considers it an honor to be recognized by the city, she isn’t letting it get to her head, or define her as an artist.
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This collage by Della Wells is entitled “America Still Hides My Land.” (Photo by Adam Carr)
“You can get as many awards as you like, but it’s the work of the artist that ultimately matters,” she said.
Cozy in a lawn chair and wearing a simple floral gown, Wells is modest when discussing her artistic accomplishments. Though she sold her first piece of art at the age of 13, Wells didn’t consider herself an artist until age 42.
“I consider myself an artist now because I do the work,” Wells emphasized.
Wells’ art is exhibited in more than 100 private and public collections. Her collages will be sold at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture, expected to open on Sept. 24 in Washington, D.C.
When asked whether Milwaukee is a city that nurtures artists, Wells said there’s much more that could be done.
“Okay, I’m going to say this,” Wells said with a chuckle as she scooted forward on her chair. “I think Milwaukee and Wisconsin have a lot of great artists but I think the state and city need to do more for art here.”
Wells believes the city needs to invest in artists. Rather than merely talking about the importance of art, the city would employ artists as collaborators and not just “creative consultants.” She envisions local artists being involved in planning buildings and parks in the city.
“If I were queen, I’d start promoting what’s in our own backyard. Start thinking of artists as collaborators and not an afterthought,” Wells said. “If I were rebuilding this city, I’d put up public art; I’d encourage developers to incorporate art into the designs of the buildings.”
Though Wells said youth art programs are available in the city, she believes that artists of all ages need more encouragement. Since Wells didn’t become a serious artist until her 40s, she empathizes with artists who weren’t given the chance to find their voice.
“The city needs to give more opportunities for artists to be discovered,” Wells said. “We need to ask ourselves what kind of future we are providing for artists in this city.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 7, 2016


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On the Block: A central city parable | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
July 7, 2016
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/272456573″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Helen LeFlore’s parents split up when she was young, the result of an abusive relationship. The experience taught LeFlore the importance of forgiveness, and offering apologies. Though she acknowledges that sometimes it’s difficult to admit wrongdoing or ask for forgiveness, LeFlore believes that an apology can, sometimes, prevent violence. She says support from a friend or partner can help make the decision to do that a lot easier.
Read more about Helen LeFlore at milwaukeestories.org.
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Residents call for a peaceful summer at Moody Park | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 7, 2016
88NINE Radio Milwaukee


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WISCONSIN BUDGET: Lower Medicaid Spending Is Good, Bad News | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 7, 2016
UrbanMilwaukee.com


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City seeks proposals for Community Development Block Grant Funding | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II
July 8, 2016
Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II, chair of the Community and Economic Development Committee, invites Milwaukee residents to submit their program funding proposals for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds through Saturday, July 25th. Written comments and proposals should be submitted to Mr. Steven L. Mahan at the Community Development Grants Administration located in Room 606 of City Hall.
“The city receives millions of dollars in federal aid, and I would personally like to hear what everyday citizens think we should do with it,” Alderman Stamper said. “This is an important opportunity for citizens to address the urgent needs and problems facing our community, from youth achievement and neighborhood revitalization to employment and economic development.”
In addition, there will be two large public hearings held by the Community and Economic Development Committee:
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Monday, July 11, 2016
St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care 2450 W. North Avenue
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Mitchell Park Conservatory (Domes) 524 S. Layton Blvd.
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Alderman Stamper urged residents to make plans to attend one of the hearings. “These funding proposals will help determine our priorities in the year ahead and, specifically, which nonprofit groups will qualify for federal aid, and everyone should have a say,” he said.
At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13 in room 301-B at City Hall, the committee will make its recommendation pertaining to the CDBG funding allocation plan, and the full Common Council will then take up that recommendation at its meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26 in the Council Chamber.


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HACM and Bublr Bikes partner to expand bike share into low-income communities | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Bublr Bikes
July 8, 2016
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) and Bublr Bikes announced a new partnership to promote equitable use of the bike share system through an innovative outreach effort in two HACM neighborhoods.  The announcement was made during the ceremonial grand opening today of the Bublr Bikes station at the corner of 6th Street and Reservoir Avenue near the Townhomes at Carver Park.
HACM and Bublr Bikes, along with DreamBikes, were recently awarded a $64,000 grant from the Better Bike Share Partnership to support the work. The agencies will provide assistance, encouragement, and events to promote the use of bike share within and around HACM’s Townhomes at Carver Park and Hillside neighborhoods. Key elements of the program include:
“This partnership is a great example of a shared vision for our neighborhoods – and our City – that moves us forward with innovative transportation systems that will benefit all of us now and for future generations to come,” Mayor Barrett said.
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“We are thankful to the Better Bike Share Partnership for their support of this effort to extend bike share into neighborhoods challenged by insufficient affordable transportation options,” said Tony Pérez, Secretary-Executive Director of HACM. “Bublr presents our residents with a new transportation option, whether it is to get to and from work, to run errands or for recreation. We are pleased to have this opportunity to partner with Bublr Bikes and DreamBikes to ensure that residents of all incomes can use bike share to connect with the people and activities that are important to them.”
“Bublr Bikes is committed to building a system that is accessible and used by all Milwaukeeans,” said Kevin Hardman, Executive Director of Bublr Bikes. “Our partnership with HACM and DreamBikes is at an exciting beginning of what will be long-term collaboration to build an equitable bike share system.”
In addition to the station located at 6th Street and Reservoir, Bublr Bikes installed a station last fall at 6th and Galena Streets in the Hillside Terrace public housing development as part of the partnership with HACM.
“The Department of Public Works congratulates HACM and Bublr Bikes on receiving this generous grant,” said DPW Commissioner Ghassan Korban. “DPW, as a proud committed partner in Bublr Bikes, continues to seek additional funding to help bring more bike share locations to the City, spreading out into our many wonderful neighborhoods with each new station.”

author: Bublr Bikes


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Local filmmaker wins award at American Black Film Festival | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 8, 2016
Tyshun Wardlaw directs videographer Mitchell Mittelstedt as he films a muralist working in Black Cat Alley, on the East Side. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)
Milwaukee native Tyshun Wardlaw has won a national video competition for rising filmmakers. One of three finalists for the McDonald’s “My Community” award, she was named the winner at the 20 Annual American Black Film Festival held in June in Miami Beach.
Wardlaw’s 90-second film “Be the Seed,” partially shot in a Walnut Way community garden, features the urban agriculture work of Hank McGowan and his 7-year-old son Kemari. Wardlaw and McGowan were classmates at Vincent High School.
The video, which will be posted on the McDonald’s 365Black website addresses a number of issues, including the influence of fathers in the lives of their children, healthy eating and working for the good of one’s community.
“(Winning) was exciting. “I am still in a state of shock,” said Wardlaw, who attended the festival.
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“Be the Seed” competed against 75 films for the top prize. Wardlaw won an all-expenses-paid trip, a private mentoring luncheon with director Malcolm Lee and the two other finalists, exposure for her film on McDonald’s 365Black website and a cable channel, and $2,500 in film equipment.
Since she started Wardlaw Productions in April 2015, Wardlaw has been working on her first feature-length documentary, “Growing Up Milwaukee.” The film will document the lives of three black inner-city youth who struggle to not become another statistic, Wardlaw said.
Wardlaw shakes hands with director Malcolm Lee at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Miami Beach during the 20th Annual American Black Film Festival last month, as the other finalists look on. (Photo courtesy of the American Black Film Festival)
She entered the video contest on the advice of mentor Margaret Henningsen, formerly an executive vice president and co-founder of Legacy Bank and now executive director of the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee. Henningsen wanted Wardlaw to get the exposure winning the contest would bring.
“I was very confident she would win because she’s very methodical …. and very focused,” Henningsen said.
Wardlaw, who grew up near 50 Street and Hampton Avenue — an area she says has changed drastically in recent years — hopes her documentary will spark conversations about how to improve young peoples’ lives.
“I am focused on bringing change in my city, to how African-Americans are viewed in my city and to some of the limitations we face,” Wardlaw said.
While interviewing potential cast members, Wardlaw has seen that many African-American youth view Milwaukee as a place of hopelessness.
Considering the city’s poverty, crime, and poor education and job prospects, “they don’t understand how they can make it here,” she said.
Wardlaw would like to be part of changing those conditions and she believes “Growing Up Milwaukee” will contribute to that change.
Videographer Mitchell Mittelstedt, who films and edits Wardlaw’s projects, said she is unique in her “unbounded energy” and “dedication to true, honest work” on films that highlight people who would otherwise not be heard.
Wardlaw was bitten by the film bug after landing a summer job as a casting assistant during the filming of the Disney baseball comedy “Mr. 3000” at Miller Park in 2003. Despite exhausting 12- to 18-hour workdays, “I loved every minute of it,” Wardlaw said.
She returned to Santa Clara University, where she was a sophomore majoring in business, certain that she wanted to pursue a career in film or television. Before graduating, she interned on a community show, “Bay Area Vista,” at NBC 11 in San Jose.
Wardlaw decided that she wanted to tell stories about real people. Aiming for a job on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where she believed she would learn how to facilitate social change through storytelling, she returned home to Milwaukee in 2006. She worked in TV news production at CBS 58 and WISN 12, while building connections in Chicago. She also earned an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University.
Though she did not get a job at the Oprah Winfrey Show, senior producers there who interviewed her became valuable mentors. Interning for two who started their own production company taught Wardlaw the ins and outs of television production and led to employment on the Jeff Probst Show in Los Angeles and then the Steve Harvey Show in Chicago. Wardlaw then did contract production work on many projects, including the “Voice of McDonald’s,” a singing competition for company employees.
According to Anna Reahl, a Chicago–based live event producer, who hired Wardlaw to assist her, “The Voice of McDonald’s” project had a million moving parts and I needed someone who could keep up with me and stay ahead of me.” She added, “Tyshun has that ability and if obstacles arise she finds ways to work around them. Besides being very hard working, she has a great personality … and always remains calm and composed.”
Pre-production of the documentary is taking longer than Wardlaw anticipated, but she’s committed to taking the time needed to do it right.
Funding has been the biggest hurdle, according to Wardlaw. She said she has used personal funds and in-kind donations to fund the filming of promotional segments. “We are looking for funding sources and accepting contributions,” she added.
Wardlaw and her crew are also casting for the documentary’s three main characters. She has highlighted several teens on the documentary’s Facebook page to help create momentum, she said. “I have a few good leads, but … have not confirmed any of them yet.”
But by all accounts, Wardlaw has a critical quality needed for success: persistence. She said, “I knew that I belonged here, that I was created to tell stories on TV and film. I thought if I stopped at any moment, I (was giving up) on the reason I was created, so I could never do that.”


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Housing Authority annual meeting highlights nearly $300 million investment in Choice Neighborhoods | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee
July 11, 2016
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) will hold its Annual Meeting near the community park in Westlawn Gardens tomorrow to highlight the nearly $300 million investment underway for the Choice Neighborhoods area.  Last September, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the City of Milwaukee and HACM a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant to transform the Westlawn public housing development and surrounding community.  Over $250 million in additional public and private investment is already committed to the five-year effort to impact the housing, people, educational options and neighborhood amenities and services of the area.
The HACM Annual Meeting will begin with a “Breakfast Block Party” that will feature information stations about the Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Plan.  The formal Board of Commissioners meeting will provide additional information about recent developments in the Plan and also highlight individuals and organizations that represent the best in community spirit.
WHAT: HACM ANNUAL MEETING
WHEN: Tuesday, July 12, 2016
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9 am – 10 am: Breakfast Block Party featuring Choice Neighborhoods Information Stations and entertainment by the Latino Arts Strings Program Ensemble and Milwaukee Flyers
10 am – 11 am: HACM Annual Board meeting
WHERE: Westlawn Gardens Community Park
Outdoors at the intersection of 62nd Street and Custer Avenue
WHO: Mayor Tom Barrett
HACM Board of Commissioners and Secretary-Executive Director Tony Perez
Milwaukee’s Choice Neighborhood Partners
Local Residents
WHY: The Milwaukee’s Choice Neighborhood Transformation Plan will make a deep and lasting positive impact on the built environment and people of Milwaukee’s northwest side.


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Busted | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 11, 2016
Pro Publica


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County accepting rent-assistance applications | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 11, 2016
jsonline.com


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Fatal Force | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 11, 2016
Washington Post


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Legislative Committee To Discuss Changes To Low-Income Legal Aid | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 11, 2016
WPR Wisconsin Public Radio


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Safe Zones sets sights on expansion, impact | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Jabril Faraj
July 11, 2016
Marcus McAllister addresses a group of young people at an Office of Violence Prevention lunch. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
When 18-year-old Dontazsha Duncan’s best friend was shot and killed last year in retaliation for another shooting she wanted to do something, to get involved.
“It just felt like when they took her they took a part of me,” said Duncan. “It’s not only just her. The community, it needs a change — there’s so many people dying. The violence needs to stop.”
Duncan is one of 12 H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Direction) Ambassadors who have undergone four days of intensive training in connection with Safe Zones, a city-funded initiative now in its second year. The ambassadors received training in trauma-informed care, identifying human trafficking, restorative justice, mediation and conflict resolution, as well as violence prevention, intervention and de-escalation. Their goal is to help stop the spread of violence in two of Milwaukee’s most challenged neighborhoods.
“No epidemic … has ever been changed by someone from the outside — it’s always communities who are at the leading edge. It’s young people, residents that are able to make these shifts,” said Brent Decker, chief program officer at Cure Violence, an international organization that views violence as a public health issue.
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Decker and his colleague Marcus McAllister addressed Milwaukee police, community leaders, and state and local elected officials during a recent lunch hosted by the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention (OVP).
Dontazsha Duncan became a Safe Zones ambassador after her best friend was shot and killed. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
The Safe Zones Initiative is receiving increased attention as the City of Milwaukee seeks to put a dent in violence. In 2015, only one homicide occurred in Garden Homes, where Safe Zones began work last summer. City officials emphasized Safe Zones when aldermen unveiled a community-driven approach to anti-violence  earlier this year.
“I think there are a lot of neighborhoods in the City of Milwaukee that could benefit from this type of strategy,” said Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton.
Of the 153 homicides in 2015, 88 percent of those killed were male, 84 percent were African-American and 46 percent were individuals between the ages of 18 and 29. Milwaukee’s poverty rate of 29 percent is almost twice the national average; the city has some of the lowest employment rates in the country for African-Americans, particularly black men; and Wisconsin incarcerates black males at a rate almost twice the national average.
“The end goal, really, is a stronger, empowered neighborhood,” said Khalil Coleman, a co-founder of Safe Zones. “A stronger community with resources behind it, with employment behind it and with people of credibility and influence and value who become advocates for their own neighborhood.”
Safe Zones is modeled on the Cure Violence approach, which views violence as a disease. Decker said violence behaves like an epidemic — it is contagious, affects certain age groups, is clustered in specific areas, and incidents ebb and flow over time. Consequently, it can be cured like an epidemic.
McAllister, a national community coordinator for Cure Violence who served a 10-year prison sentence before he was 30, said he was once “infected with violence.” When he got out, McAllister couldn’t find a job so he resorted to selling drugs to get by. He said, despite what he was doing, he was trusted, respected and well known in the Chicago area neighborhood where he lived. In 2004, McAllister became involved with Cure Violence, which he said changed his life and made him want to do better.
“I love that we save lives, but we save our own lives first,” he said.
Hamilton said the program “reaches folks that, traditionally, we wouldn’t reach” and OVP Director Reggie Moore pointed out that there is often “a thin line between a perpetrator and a victim.”
According to David Muhammad, a violence prevention manager at the Milwaukee Health Department, “Violence is really symptomatic of a lot of other factors that impact and are compounded in the lives of people who live in economically distressed environments.”
Muhammad added it’s important to view violence as “something that impacts more than just the … immediate victim.”
But, according to McAllister, it’s that experience with violence that can help individuals to identify and stop it. “If you hire and you work with organizations, groups of people who grew up there, know the neighborhood, know who’s involved in what, they get ahead of this stuff,” he said.
Investment
Though the Safe Zones Initiative shares many similarities with Cure Violence, it is a distinct model. Because of financial constraints, Safe Zones has focused on training and employing ambassadors, but the initiative’s founders envision a three-pronged approach, which would include restorative justice in corrections, and police accountability.
Moore said it’s important that “the systems and the services that show up in our communities,” including police, treat people with dignity and respect. He said a lack of trust in government can cause people to “take issues into their own hands.”
Safe Zones Ambassador Broderick Thompson (left) role-plays active listening during a tense situation at an ambassadors’ training. (Photo by Jabril Faraj)
Last year, Hamilton said the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) needed to cooperate more with the initiative for it to succeed. So far this year, no official agreement or understanding has been reached between Safe Zones and MPD. However, Coleman said the initiative’s partnership with OVP and the Health Department has provided access to crime data that should help it be more strategic.
Mayor Tom Barrett called building trust between police and the community a “two-way street” but Hamilton said police bear a greater burden.
“The very first reality that we have to recognize is that, in that relationship, the police are the ones with the power — both physical power and the state-sanctioned power. So, within that power relationship, that much greater responsibility is put onto the police department to cultivate and demonstrate trust. And, I think the community will follow suit,” he said.
Safe Zones received $50,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding in 2015 to work in Garden Homes from June until August. This year, the initiative was awarded $75,000 in the annual budget for work in two neighborhoods, Garden Homes and adjacent Franklin Heights. Moore said he expects to see $37,500 of Milwaukee County money directed toward the initiative, as well.
Hamilton, who wants to see the program expanded across the city, said it needs more resources to have the impact it is capable of. “This is not enough funding,” he said. “This is not a summer program. This is a year-round strategy.”
In New York City, Cure Violence is working in about half of the city’s crime hotspots with an annual budget of about $12 million. In Chicago, 20 neighborhoods receive a total of $4.9 million yearly. And in Baltimore five areas are funded at just under $4 million. Hamilton said it would take about $250,000 to fully fund a Safe Zones neighborhood with all aspects of the program, year-round.
“If you think about how much one homicide actually costs a city … it’s just really not that expensive of a program, or approach,” said Decker.
Independent evaluations funded by the United States Department of Justice and Centers for Disease Control showed a 40 to 70 percent reduction in shootings and killings in Cure Violence areas in Chicago and Baltimore.
Barrett said the city has a “moral imperative” to address violence, and that “the time is now.”
Imani Ray, a program coordinator at Urban Underground, said youth need to lead the charge.
“They have something that they want to say,” she said. “If we give them the space and the outlet to really express how they feel, I think that’s where the change will happen.”
Duncan added, “It feels like my life depends on it.”


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| Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Adam Carr
July 10, 2016


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When School Cafeterias Close, Milwaukee Groups Feed Local Kids | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Andrea Waxman
July 11, 2016
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio


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Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) Program is Accepting Applications for the 2016-2017 Class | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
LISC Milwaukee
July 12, 2016
Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) Program is an industry-supported initiative that recruits and trains minorities for professional careers in the field of commercial real estate.  The ACRE program was created by Professor Mark Eppli and the Marquette University College of Business in 2005 and is now administered through LISC Milwaukee in partnership with Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The goal of the Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) Program is to expand minority representation in the commercial real estate fields of development, property management, and construction management. This program offers students the opportunity to expand their knowledge of these industries while creating a valuable network of fellow students, ACRE graduates and industry professionals.
ACRE is a 26-week program that runs from September through May. Typical ACRE students have some college training and several years of business experience. Instructors include industry leaders in related fields. Key contributors include The Mandel Group and The Opus Group Foundation.
The deadline for application to the 2016-2017 ACRE class is Friday, July 15, 2016.
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Interested candidates can find program information and an application through LISC Milwaukee’s website at http://www.lisc.org/milwaukee.

author: LISC Milwaukee