We’ve compiled a list of holiday events and giveaways during this holiday season.

And we also provide information on how you can donate your money or time.

(Did we miss anything? If so, please put in comments or email us.)

Meals

Free Christmas Meal Delivery: Monday, Dec. 25

Moms Matter is planning to deliver 500 meals on Christmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25, to moms and families in need in the 53206 zip code and around Milwaukee. Sign up by Thursday, Dec. 21 by emailing momsmatter24@gmail.com with your household name, number of meals, phone number and address. More information here.

Washington Park Christmas Dinner Giveaway: Monday, Dec. 25

Free, heat-and-serve meals will be available for pick up from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 25 at Rooted & Rising – Washington Park, 3940 W. Lisbon Ave., with registration. More information here.

The Salvation Army Christmas Family Feast: Monday, Dec. 25

The Salvation Army will provide free meals while supplies last at the Baird Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 25. Volunteers can register to help with the feast. New toy donations are accepted year-round at the Toy Shop Distribution Center, 5880 N. 60th St., from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information here.

Toy drives and giveaways

Northcott Neighborhood House Third Annual Tis the Season Family Event: Monday, Dec. 25

Northcott Neighborhood House will give away gifts and pre-made meals from Big Daddy’s BBQ and Soul Food from 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday, Dec. 25 at 2460 N. 6th St. No registration is required. Volunteers are also needed. More information here.

Coat drives

Brown Berets Wisconsin Coat Drive: Through Tuesday, Jan. 30

Brown Berets Wisconsin is collecting coats until Tuesday, Jan. 30 at El Conquistador Latino Newspaper, 4531 W. Forest Home Ave. and all El Rey locations. Monetary donations are also being accepted; $20 will cover the cost of one new coat.More information here.

More opportunities to help

Capuchin Community Services needs volunteers to help with its toy drive distribution and other services at House of Peace, 1702 W. Walnut St. More information here.

Tikkun Ha-Ir has opportunities to sort holiday gift drive donations and deliver them to local agencies. More information here.

Visit United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County’s Season of Caring 2023 calendar for more local volunteering opportunities. More information here.

The post UPDATED: From free meals to coat drives, how you can keep the holiday season affordable in Milwaukee appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Editor’s note: Have something on your mind? “Community Voices” is the place to let Milwaukee hear what you have to say. To be considered, we need your name, email address and phone number for verification. Please email your submissions to info@milwaukeenns.org.

Having grown up in two Milwaukee neighborhoods, Clarke Square and Washington Park, I have not lived full time in my hometown for more than a half century.

I am now, by definition, “an outsider.”

Outsiders, especially older ones, have a strong tendency to take trips down memory lane, back to the (supposed) Golden Age. And to tell people what they “should” do.

 I think – hope – I have avoided those fates, and that what follows is useful in thinking about pathways to a better future for Milwaukee neighborhoods. Useful in the sense that an outsider sees things that everyone has gotten so used to that they seem totally normal. Even if they should not be.

As Tolstoy said in “Anna Karenina”: “There are no conditions to which a person cannot become accustomed, especially if they see everyone else living in the same way.”

If the starting point for addressing any problem or challenge is naming it, here is what strikes me as some very important ones that are now so “normal” in Milwaukee that most people don’t even see them anymore.

Pessimism

To the outsider, this may be the most striking norm, a widespread – but not openly expressed – belief that real, large scale, substantive positive change can’t happen.

It starts with a default position that something, whatever that something is, isn’t possible. Or that we cannot afford it. Or, an important driver of pessimism, a zero-sum view of things, a fear that whatever someone else is getting, should have come to me. Or is coming out of my pocket.

Unexamined pessimism has two big consequences: First, it leads to thinking small about big problems, especially those related to poverty, resulting in self-fulfilling negative outcomes.

If you believe something isn’t possible, you will always be right. Instead of trying to find solutions to problems, the norm becomes blaming or blame avoidance.

“They” did it. “We” are innocent. Nothing changes.

And, second, this kind of pessimism seems to be generational. Across races and neighborhoods, older leaders are the most pessimistic and most wedded to a zero sum view of the world.

Making this negative worldview explicit should be a starting point for making certain that Milwaukee’s cadre of exceptional younger leaders remain hopeful and committed.

Hope

The opposite of pessimism is not optimism. It is hope, a belief that there can be a better future.

Driving down Center Street one day with a Milwaukee-based colleague, I asked, “If you had to name the single most important thing that the people in this neighborhood need, what would it be?”

Without any hesitation, he responded: “Hope.”

We then talked about how to get from here to there. How do you generate hope in neighborhoods where large numbers of people have given up.

There were three big answers: money, aka “resources”; short-term visible “wins”; and community peace. 

A useful case study or example, again related to Center Street: An NNS article in which the father and his son drove the street and counted a large number of liquor stores and not a single healthy food market. 

Here is a replicable model for real change that addresses that bleak reality.

Several years ago, in a Philadelphia neighborhood very similar to Milwaukee’s North Side, Brown’s Supermarket opened a prototype store. It was one that naysayers predicted would fail but has thrived and served as an anchor for revitalizing an entire neighborhood, including the hiring of people who have been incarcerated promoting healthy living in a community-friendly, non-lecturing, way.

Brown’s now supports replication of its model around the country. A powerful and visible sign of hope.

Rejecting victimization

Unlike rejecting pessimism and building hope, dealing with victimization is trickier. How do you convince individuals, groups and communities that have repeatedly been victimized to not define themselves as victims?

There is a powerful answer to that question.

Once a group – or individual – defines themselves as a victim, there are no constraints on their behavior. Anything can be justified by what has been done to me/us.

Victimization inevitably leads to justifications for  destructive violence, social disintegration and isolation where cooperation would have been possible.

This needs to be explicitly rejected in the name of seeking to find ways to true brotherhood and sisterhood.

A few final thoughts on things that work in building healthy communities. Short-term, but substantive and visible, wins are critical to building hopeful communities.

Starting with people at a young age in supporting communities is also critical.

For example, large scale mentorship and after-school programs using alumni of Marquette, UWM, MSOE, Alverno and other schools could have a major impact in Milwaukee communities and serve as national models.

A final outsider thought: Given the foreseeable fiscal and political environment, there is a pressing need for the corporate and philanthropic sectors to think big about community change.

They also need to reject pessimism and the nickel and diming that results from it and apply proven models for supporting community change in Milwaukee communities.

Those models exist, some in Milwaukee, others in different cities. All beacons of hope and progress.

Frank Schneiger is the founder and president of Frank Schneiger and Associates, a planning and change management company serving the nonprofit and public service sectors.

The post OPINION: Hope is the key to unlocking Milwaukee’s vast potential and moving our city forward appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Editor’s note: Milwaukee is mourning the death this week of Jose Vasquez, whom we wrote about four years ago. Reporter Edgar Mendez shared some reflections on his Facebook page: “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Jose Vasquez, who passed on to heaven today. I met Jose in 2019 and wrote a story about his life change and journey. His faith in God, dedication to youth in the community, and sincerity left a big impression on me. I can’t help but to feel like his story was not supposed to end yet and he had so much more good to give. My condolences to all who knew him, especially his children, their mother and his siblings. His life may have ended too soon but his impact will not be forgotten. RIP Jose.”

Rodney Campbell still remembers his first impression of Jose Vasquez.

“Bad,” said Campbell, of the 15-year-old who proudly sported a bandana that revealed his gang affiliation.

Vasquez, now 36, said he had turned to the streets as a youngster, viewing his gang as the family he lacked at home. Yet Campbell saw something else in him.

“On the streets, we call it heart, but what it’s really about is sincerity and going 100. If there is something he believes in, he fully stands for it,” explained the salt-and-pepper goateed Campbell, a youth mentor who’s been working at Project Excel for nearly 30 years.

At the time, Vasquez’s dedication was to the streets and a gang culture that dominated the South Side in the 1990s. He was all in, in terms of the gang culture, and had moved up in stature among his peers, Vasquez admitted. Campbell thought that if Vasquez could redirect his focus to something positive, he could find success.

But change wasn’t in the cards yet for Vasquez, not even after getting shot six times at point-blank range by a rival gang member in 1999. Not long after, Vasquez was shipped off to a penitentiary.

“To wake up on your 18th birthday in prison, and to know you’re going to be spending some time away, it was a wake-up call,” Vasquez said. “I had so much anger built up still inside me.”

As he sat in prison, Vasquez remembered lessons he received from Campbell.

“When I got shot he was one of the first people that reached out to me,” Vasquez said.

In prison, Vasquez turned to the Bible and emerged a changed man. He worked to make amends by becoming a community organizer in Clarke Square, a neighborhood he terrorized as a youngster, and as a facilitator for an after-school program at South Division High School.

Over the summer, Vasquez met with George Goulet, the man who lives in the house he was shot in front of. Pockmarks from the bullets meant for Vasquez are still visible.

“You’re looking a lot better than the last time I seen you,” said Goulet, who remembered helping to carry Vasquez into his kitchen and wrapping him in towels to stem the bleeding.

“Being with gangs was lots of fun when you were young, but as you start to get into your teenage years and older, you found out it was taking your life more than it was giving,” he told Vasquez.

Vasquez’ journey toward redemption has almost come full circle now, and 20 years after first meeting Campbell, they’ve reconnected at Project Excel, working side-by-side to help prevent teens from following the broken paths they took as youngsters.

“We’re working with young men who see themselves on that path to failure and showing them that they can be successful and live a positive lifestyle,” Campbell said. “It helps when they see Jose, someone who’s been there and done that, to know that they can do it too.”

At Project Excel, they work with teens already in the justice system, most of whom enter the program as part of court-ordered sanctions. Some are there to receive anger management treatment, others to attend alcohol and drug abuse classes or to complete community service and make restitution. Sometimes Vasquez and Campbell take them to feed the homeless, and other times they pick up trash on the streets.

But, mainly, they’re there to alter a path that leads to prison or death, and to receive something that many of them have been lacking, Vasquez said.

“A positive male influence who cares for them and loves them unconditionally,” he said.

Antonio Gill, 17, is on probation and completing community service at Project Excel. His friends from the neighborhood still call him, wanting him to take part in fights or other activities that could land him in trouble. Sometimes he picks up the phone and reaches out to Vasquez.

“He doesn’t pass judgment on me. He’ll come and talk to me about how to walk away from situations that could get me in trouble,” Gill said.

While Campbell, who is also a preacher, acts as more of a fatherly figure, Gill said, Vasquez comes at him more from a level of someone who knows exactly what he’s going through.

“I got to be that kid I was back then in my approach to relate to them, but I also have to tell them what I did to get over that,” Vasquez said.

Though their contrasting styles work well, Campbell said he knows that just as he followed his mentor into the field, there will come a time to pass the torch.

“I’m almost too old for this field,” said Campbell, 53. “You spend a lot of your life trying to help people, and when you see the end of the race coming, it’s good to pass the baton,” he said. “My mentor passed it to me, and I hope I’m in a position where I can pass it to Jose.”

You can learn more about Jose Vasquez and Rodney Campbell’s journey by tuning into PBS’s 10thirtysix show at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21.

The post NNS update: Rest in peace, Jose Vasquez: Remembering a mentor and active community member appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Editor’s note: In honor of Father’s Day, we are republishing this article from 2019.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Jay Hinson Sr. wakes his 16-year-old son, Jay Jr., and gets ready for work while his son prepares for school.

Depending on the day, Hinson will take his son to either Amateur Athletic Union  basketball practice or to his personal trainer for strength and conditioning training. Work is never far from his mind as he makes sure he finishes his projects so he can be ready for his son. His schedule is tight.

“We are always on the move. But wherever he goes, I always travel with him,”  said Hinson, who  has had sole custody of his son since he was 6.

Helping fathers play a role in their children’s lives has emerged as a local and national concern over the years. The number of single-father households has increased from less than 300,000 in 1960, to over 2.6 million in 2011, according to a report by the Pew Research Center. Black fathers are the most likely to be the heads of single father households, edging out both white and Hispanic fathers, the report says.

As the parent with sole custody, Hinson is responsible for his son’s physical needs as well as making any legal decisions on his behalf. The younger Hinson spends time with his mother Mondays and Wednesdays and every other weekend at her residence in Greenfield.

‘We have a problem’

Growing up without a two-parent household presents many challenges, some that the elder Hinson has personal experience with.

“We have a problem in our community,” Hinson said. “My parents were divorced. My father has always been in my life, but I have a lot of friends whose fathers weren’t in their lives.

“They grew up with single mothers. I always knew when I had a child, whether I was married or not married, there wasn’t going to be an instance of this generational situation of being a deadbeat black father.”

As an African American man raising a son in Milwaukee, Hinson makes sure his son understands how to navigate the roadblocks he may face in Milwaukee.

“Young black men have to be raised with a little more structure,” he said. “There has to be a little more discipline, just in the matter of what they expect, because a lot of times we have to work twice as hard to levy up to our counterparts.”

Hinson says fathering one child is a separate job in itself, and being a dad to multiple children might be even harder.

About 24 million children in America live without their biological father, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And there have been numerous local and national efforts to improve these statistics.

For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, has a national initiative to keep biological fathers in the home. HUD has acknowledged what is called “the father factor,’’ which shows the negative effects of absent fathers.

Children without fathers in the home have a greater risk of poverty, are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, are more likely to drop out of high school and more likely to go to prison, according to HUD officials.

‘I put their needs before my own’

Nkozi Knight currently supports six children. Now in a relationship, Knight has spent time as a single black father raising children in Milwaukee.

“I was a single parent at one time, so I know what it’s like,” Knight said. “I see the value of having another person there to help you. When you have a son, a lot of times he is going to look for his mother.”

Knight learned how to parent through the ups and downs of supporting a family.

“I put their needs before my own, and I make sure they have everything they need in order to be successful,” Knight said. “It’s about growing up as a parent and realizing that your actions have consequences good or bad. I want to make sure that everything I do is for the betterment of my family and my children.”

In 2005, the City of Milwaukee created the Fatherhood Initiative to help fathers with the different challenges they may face.

Dennis Walton, former executive director of the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, left the organization because he felt there was a stigma surrounding the poor quality of fatherhood in the black community.

“The Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative has done a lot of great work,” Walton said. “In my capacity, I was able to help thousands of men. The challenges were that we were primarily focusing on black men. And that’s fine because a lot of black men have challenges with the issue of fatherhood. But as I started to go deeper, I realized that it wasn’t just black fathers.”

During his tenure as executive director, Walton helped Hispanic, Arab, Caucasian as well as African American men in their quest to be good fathers.

Helping all fathers

Walton said many men are working to overcome different barriers, including help with employment, child support, financial literacy, re-entering civilian life after a stint in prison and obtaining driver’s licenses.

He quickly realized that issues of fatherhood were not solely in the black community.

“It became unfair to stigmatize black men as being the only men having challenges as fathers,” Walton said.

Walton recently created his own organization, Made Men Worldwide, to continue the work he started with the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative.

“Our work is to help uplift men and improve their circumstances so they can become the strength they want and need to be for their families,” Walton says. “We decided to go beyond the local community, both nationally and internationally, to mobilize fathers, but to also restore communities through the restoration of fathers.”

Hinson routinely receives admiration for the time and effort he puts into raising his son, something that has always made him uncomfortable.

“The proof is in my engagement with my son,” he said. “I don’t do that for anyone to pat me on the back. People feel like they have to champion you. Like no! I am his father. What else should I be doing?”

Outside labels mean little to Hinson. He knows who he is.

“I don’t want people to have to say I’m a good dad. I’m just a Dad. Period.”

Blake Ruppe contributed to this report.

The post From the archives: Single black fathers fight ‘deadbeat Dad’ stereotype appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

A new survey asks Milwaukee residents who live near Ascension St. Joseph Hospital about their health needs and experiences at the hospital, with hopes of informing new investments in the community.

The community health survey is being conducted by Voices For Health Justice MKE, a project of the St. Joe’s Accountability Coalition, an alliance of community groups that started in 2018 to advocate for residents with the health system. Participants can take the survey online.

The survey asks participants to rate their experience at St. Joseph hospital, located at 5000 W. Chambers St. in Sherman Park, asks which Milwaukee area hospital they’d most like to go to and if they were unable to receive any services they needed.

It also asks about their biggest health concerns in the community, and compares those priorities with those identified by Ascension, asking participants if they agree with the assessments.

Lisa Jones, executive director and lead organizer of the Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, said the goal of the survey was to speak with those most affected by access to health care—or lack of it—in the central city.

“What would it look like if community had a say in what’s needed, really going from a bottom-up perspective instead of a top-down perspective?” Jones said.

Jones noted the importance of St. Joe’s because of its status as the only general hospital on the city’s North Side. Controversy ensued in 2018 when it was announced that the hospital would be cutting back on inpatient beds and surgical services. Some community members thought the hospital would soon close, which Ascension administrators denied.

The ultimate goal is to bring the survey results to Ascension St. Joseph Hospital administrators and ask for a community benefits agreement. The agreement between Ascension St. Joe’s as a private institution and community groups would outline specific community benefits for the hospital to provide.

Rafael Smith, climate and equity director with Citizen Action of Wisconsin and a member of Voices for Health Justice MKE, said the project will allow nearby residents to stop “suffering in silence” and give them a chance to voice their concerns.

Devin Anderson, membership and coalition manager for the African-American Roundtable and a member of the St. Joe’s Accountability Coalition, said the survey aims to meet people where they are and “lift up their experiences” to inform change.

For him, the importance of the survey was summed up in a picture of the Combahee River Collective, an activist group that marched against police brutality in Boston in the 1980s.

“We cannot live without our lives,” Anderson said, quoting one banner from the march.

The group does not have a timeline for when the survey will be finished or when an attempt at a community benefits agreement will be made. The survey itself is an early stage in the process, Jones said.

The Milwaukee Health Care Partnership’s Community Needs Assessment is expected to be released in late April or early May. The study, which partners with local health organizations like Ascension, Advocate Aurora Health, Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin, identifies major health concerns through phone and online surveys, community stakeholder interviews and focus groups.

When reached for comment, an Ascension spokesperson said the organization would wait to see the results of the survey.

The post Survey seeks input from residents near Ascension St. Joseph Hospital about their health care needs appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Zach Lathen-Williams has spent the last year making his dreams come true by directing his first short film.

Over the years, he has dabbled in music production and hosted podcasts through his creative group, Drive Dedication Heart,  or DDH. And he published a memoir, “August: A Love Letter.”

But directing a film has always been his endgame.

Lathen-Williams, 29, said the film “Last Dollar Til” is about Milwaukee. It analyzes the city of Milwaukee by looking at the role it plays in the choices residents make.

The film centers on a Milwaukee man who is in financial difficulty while trying to start a business. He attempts to get friends to help him.

Lathen-Williams said he wanted to focus the film, which he is entering in festivals, on accountability and tough love.

“That’s the dynamic that I have with the people around me,” he said. “Decision-making and having people around you that will hold you accountable is crucial as a Black man.”

Lathen-Williams grew up in the Amani neighborhood, where he shot the film. He watched the area shift from a decent place to raise families to one with high crime and other struggles that confront residents.

“Crime became real for the first time not as a possibility but as the possibility,” he said, quoting James Baldwin. “When you’re from the hood, that quote means something.”

He said he experienced a lot of loss over the last few years.

“Watching the people you grew up with die makes you start thinking about your impact,” he said. “My voice and my art are what I use to make mine.”

The need to create impact in the city, combined with his family and friends holding him accountable, made Lathen-Williams go for his dreams after years of putting them off.

“As I go to work and do other things, my father would always ask me about my business,” he said. “He’d ask me, ‘What about DDH? What are you doing with that?’”

“My parents have always supported me in everything I’ve done,” Lathen-Williams said. “And knowing that my girlfriend and my kids would be cheering me on no matter what happened with the film propelled me to go for it.”

Asking for help

On March 1, 2021, Lathen-Williams hesitantly asked his Facebook friends for people interested in being a part of the film.

He said just putting the ask out was a struggle for him because he’s an introvert who has never been good at networking. He also had a lot of self-doubts.

But the leap of faith ended up being worth it.

“Zach provided me an experience to grow,” said Xavier Martin, the director of photography for the film. “He trusted me to do my job, and I needed that.”

Martin and Lathen-Williams knew one another loosely but became friends when they started filming together.

“I learned a lot just by working on the film,” Martin said. “Zach is very thorough and thinks everything through – that  leadership made things go so smoothly.”

Elaine Lathen said her son is easy to support because of his dedicated and hardworking nature.

“Anything he’s ever told me he was going to do, he’s done it,” Lathen said. “He will pick up a skill and self-train himself to do anything.”

Lathen-Williams has no official training and has self-taught his way through all his accomplishments, from producing a podcast to directing the film.

He said he’s always had an analytic spirit, so picking up new skills and learning new things come naturally to him.

“He’s always found interest in nontraditional things,” Lathen said. “When other kids were studying the well-known activist, he’d be studying Nat Turner or someone like that.”

His girlfriend, Ciarra Stadler, is happy to see him step out on a limb.

“I know this was something he fought with himself about,” she said. “This isn’t the first film he wrote, but it’s good. I’m just proud he did it.”

She said she’s happy to help encourage him to complete his dreams because he always encourages hers.

Lathen-Williams said filmmaking is a multifaceted challenge that he could not have done alone.

“I found more than support,” he said. “I’m an only child, so I think the yearning for siblings is always there. I found that in the cast and crew.”

The post Milwaukee artist achieves lifelong dream of directing a film appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here.

1. Henna Night at Ma’ruf: Friday, April 29

As part of Ma’ruf’s ongoing slate of Ramadan events, the youth organization is hosting a henna night where visitors can come get henna done. The event runs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at Ma’ruf, located at 2110 W. Hampton Ave.

2. Tree maintenance day at Havenwoods: Saturday, April 30

Friends of Havenwoods State Forest is looking for volunteers to help provide maintenance for trees in the park from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 30 at Havenwoods State Forest, located at 6141 N. Hopkins St. More information here.

3. Panel discussion on impact of Indian Child Welfare Act and the Indian Adoption Act: Saturday, April 30

Milwaukee Film hosts this free panel discussion and screening of “Daughter of a Lost Bird” and panel discussion on the impact of federal laws governing the custody, adoption and foster care cases of Indigenous children. The screening and discussion start at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 at Kenilworth Square East, located at 1937 E. Kenilworth Place.

4. Mother’s Day pop-up shop: Sunday, May 1

Get your Mother’s Day gift at this pop-up shop of local small businesses. The pop-up runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 1 at 5112 N. 37th St.

5. College scholarship for Hispanic students deadline upcoming: deadline Monday, May 2

The Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee’s scholarship for Hispanic undergraduate and graduate college students is currently open to applicants but will close at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 2. More information about the scholarship can be found here.

BONUS: The RideMCTS app will no longer be in service starting Friday: Friday, April 29

The RideMCTS app, an app bus riders could use to buy tickets and track their bus from a smartphone, will no longer be working after 8 a.m. on Friday, April 29. It is being replaced by WisGo, which provides the same bus-tracking and ticket-vending functionality as RideMCTS for both MCTS buses and public transportation options outside of Milwaukee County.

The post 5 things to know and do the weekend of April 29 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

“Journeys” is a new feature that looks at the career paths taken by our community entrepreneurs. Know of someone we should feature? Please send your suggestions to ronald.smith@marquette.edu

Growing up, DeMar Walker had a passion for dance.

“I was always fascinated by the music videos that used to air on MTV and BET,” he said. “I always had an affinity for music. I always gravitated toward how music made me feel and how I wanted to express that through my body.”

At family gatherings, he’d round up his cousins or the neighborhood kids to teach them the moves to a dance and then perform it for the family.

These days, Walker’s passion for dance remains, and he’s found a way to channel it into a career. Walker is the artistic director at Ko-Thi Dance Company – his job entails training the adult and children ensembles, planning shows and engaging with the community and the company’s partners to name a few.

Walker’s journey to choreographer and artistic director has been a whirlwind, he said. Unlike other dancers, Walker didn’t initially learn dance in a professional setting. In fact, he was mostly self-taught until he took a class through Ko-Thi as a preteen.

After graduating from college, he auditioned for Ko-Thi and was selected as a trainee and over the years, he’s moved his way up in the company.

As a trainee, Walker fully immersed himself in the world of dance. In addition to training with the company, he’d take the train to Chicago for classes in hip-hop, jazz and African dance. Since then, he’s studied in Africa twice.

“It’s just been about absorbing so much information,” he said. “Being able to tie dance specifically to history and culture in a way that I feel often times gets overlooked. That’s been a really amazing thing.”

From learning to teaching

Learning to dance is one thing but teaching someone how to dance is another. Walker noted that the key to being a good teacher is humility.

“In order to be a great educator, I feel you have to be a great student first,” he said.

He spent a long time training under Ko-Thi’s founder Ferne Yangyeitie Caulker. During those lessons, Walker wrote things down in his notebook and just absorbed the information being handed to him.

His advice to budding choreographers is to study and to consume as much information as they can. Talk to other dancers and get a sense of their artistic style.

“Think about what it is you like to do as far as a dancer as a style and be very conscious of its history,” he said. “In relation to what was happening and what is happening now. I think that’s really important.”

His final advice is to be healthy and to have a passion beyond dance and to find a place that offers respite and clarity to continue the work.

Destinny Fletcher has known Walker for several years. They met through Ex Fabula, a storytelling collective, where she worked as a coach and later reunited to work on Walker’s film “The Beckoning,” for which Fletcher provided the words and the voice as the poet.

The film explores what it means to be a Black voice and a Black body and examines the theme of safety. It was released on Black Friday in 2020.

“He’s just a great person to be around,” Fletcher said. “He’s very passionate about the work that he does, and he’s very interested in exploring more. It’s an amazing aura to be around. You feel that energy when you’re around him.”

His drive and passion to push his body to the utmost range are seen in his work as a choreographer, she said. Artists can get stuck in their own head, but Walker trusts his instincts and isn’t afraid to ask people for help.

Walker noted that he has a firmness to the way he teaches, but he also strives to take a fun approach. His style of teaching makes him able to teach students of all ages and backgrounds the art of African dance.

Walker has gone on to choregraph and perform in many shows – he estimated that he’s been a part of over 300 shows – but the first show he ever choreographed was for Drastic Measures, his college hip-hop dance team.

“I didn’t know what the hell I was doing,” he said. “I just knew that I loved dance, and I had some people who wanted to rock with me. It was exhilarating to see the work I could create with my peers, but it was scary . . . I didn’t know how people would respond.”

Maria Gillespie is an associate professor and choreographer at UW-Milwaukee where she serves as the chair of the dance department. She met Walker through the dance department where he worked as a lecturer teaching African dance.

Although Walker no longer teaches at UWM, the two have maintained a professional dance relationship. Ko-Thi, for example, uses the dance studios for practice and Gillespie also reaches out to Walker for guest teacher roles. When she holds auditions and wants to offer a diversity of practices, she’ll call on Walker to offer a technique class at auditions.

“I think what makes DeMar special in my mind is his ability to translate the choreographic ideas beautifully, clearly and powerfully in his dancing,” he said. “And being able to articulate and convey that in his words to his students.”

Finding support

Over the years, Walker has learned that there’s no such as perfection, but there is a beauty in being purposeful. He’s also learned that he can’t do it alone. It takes a support system and the importance of acknowledging the work that he’s put forth.

Some of his most memorable shows include a performance at Lincoln Center of the Arts – where he shimmied his shoulders in a Cuban style – Ko-Thi’s 2018 concert “Ujima” and the company’s final show before the pandemic “Mala! Mala!”

The finale piece of “Mala! Mala!” included the whole company doing a dance known as Gombey. It’s been in the company’s rep for over 30 years, but Walker and the artistic team revamped it to make it more current.

“It was awesome to be on the stage with the kids and experience that joy with them,” he said. “To feel so powerful and purposeful in that moment. I remember that final move that we hit all together before we acknowledged the audience and heard that thunderous applause.”

Looking ahead, Walker is eager to explore how dance can go beyond the stage. His short film, “The Beckoning,” is one example of this. He’s also interested in writing about dance.

To be an artist is beautiful, he said.

“It’s not a lucrative career,” Walker said. “It’s beautiful if you really dedicate yourself to it and you enjoy it. That’s the thing that’s really important. You have to enjoy it. That has to be at the foundation of it all.”

The post Journeys: How DeMar Walker built a career out of dance appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Standing with a fishing rod bobbing in the Washington Park lagoon, 61-year-old Stan Johnson said it was his first time out for the season.

“I heard they put the trout in here. I don’t eat trout, so I come out here, mess around for a couple hours,” Johnson said.

Surrounded by a light breeze and stillwater, Johnson said he likes the quietness that comes with the activity.

“A bad day of fishing beats a good day at home,” he joked.

A fisher since he was 6 years old, Johnson said he fishes everywhere, from Madison, Delavan Lake and Lake Wisconsin and likes to make catfish bait from the fish he catches.

He said others should take kids fishing, too.

“They’ll like you for it. Give them a new experience, take them and get them off the street,” Johnson said.

There are people trying to make that come true when it comes to Milwaukeeans and recreational water. They point to lack of equipment and transportation as impediments for some Milwaukeeans to experience the city’s waterways.

Right across the lagoon, the Urban Ecology Center-Washington Park branch offers opportunities for children and adults to engage in recreation on the water, such as boating and fishing.

Branch Manager Terry Evans said the Urban Ecology Center wants to invite community members to use the equipment at little to no cost with an Urban Ecology Center membership.

To use the equipment, residents can become Urban Ecology Center members, enrolling in the $60 family membership package or the $50 individual membership package. A family package covers two adults, all children or grandchildren who are younger than 18 years old in the household and one guest. An individual package covers one individual and one guest.

Cassie Bauer, Urban Ecology Center community programs manager, said that recreation equipment prices are one barrier that sometimes prevents people from accessing waterways in Milwaukee.

“There are certainly a good handful of individuals that we work with who have never been in a boat, or they have not been on the water. They may experience a fear of water, they may not know how to swim, (or) they may have been told through generations or in their lifetime that natural spaces are not safe for them,” Bauer said.

Breaking through barriers

Bauer said that transportation can be another barrier for Milwaukee residents, and the Urban Ecology Center works to provide transportation for participants partaking in its beachcombing program and students in its Young Scientists Club program.

For students, the Urban Ecology Center also offers environmental education for students from the first through the 12th grade to give them the opportunity to learn about water ecology and participate in water activities.

“If we can engage students in first grade, third grade or fifth grade, and show them that there are insects that live in the water that support a whole myriad of life, there is a connection there that stays with them and allows them to see that these spaces exist not just for humans but to support a greater ecosystem that humans are certainly apart of,” Bauer said.

Arijit Sen, associate professor of architecture and urban studies programs at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and faculty adviser for the Milwaukee Environmental Justice Lab, said children’s difficulty to accessing water is not their fault.

“There are young people in Sherman Park who never saw the lake, believe it or not. I actually went to Washington High School and I met these kids who said, ‘You’re from the lake, what does the lake look like?’ And I was like ‘What?’” Sen said. “That lack of access is because of a history of segregation.”

The lab brings together academic and community scholars who focus on environmental injustice issues, particularly on the North Side.

Evans said a student asked him if the Washington Park lagoon was Lake Michigan.

“That tells you where the access is for parts of our community, and it also shows the segregation,” Evans said. “It shows a lot of ugly things about the city, but the great thing about that is we’re able to give those kids an opportunity. And ‘No, it’s not the lakefront but this is Washington Park and this is a park in your community that you can go to, and that’s the great part about it.’”

Jennifer Bolger Breceda, executive director of Milwaukee Riverkeepers, said to help Milwaukee residents access waterways, her organization provides several resources, such as the Urban Water Trail map that shows public access points to the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers.

“It’s easy to say that people should enjoy the rivers, but it’s not always obvious how to safely access them through public space,” Bolger Breceda said.

‘It belongs to all of us’

Rhonda Nordstrom, water city program coordinator for Milwaukee Water Commons, said addressing water access issues is important because water is a communal resource.

“The idea is that it belongs to no one and no one can own it, and at the same time it belongs to all of us, and we’re all responsible for the care and stewardship of water,” Nordstrom said.

Among several programs, Milwaukee Water Commons offers a Beach Ambassador Project that provides opportunities for community members to access water, with a focus on safety.

Milwaukee Water Commons partners with community activists, the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Coastline Services and Milwaukee Riverkeepers for programming along Lake Michigan on Bradford and McKinley beaches.

Nordstrom said the Beach Ambassador program aims to equip participants with a deeper understanding and awareness of local beach conditions, such as closure, safety signage and real-time water conditions.

“Those are the programs where we’re really intentional about either opening opportunities for people to have positive experiences at Lake Michigan and also doing what we can to make sure those experiences are safe,” Nordstrom said.

Milwaukee Water Commons also offers a water stewardship and leadership program called the Water School. Community members who are 16 years and older can participate in teams of five in a yearlong cohort to develop a neighborhood-wide project that involves the Milwaukee watershed and address the Commons’ Water City Agenda.

“To have an impact in your local watershed, your water stewardship efforts are most likely going to first impact the quality of your local watershed,” Nordstrom said.

Nordstrom said the Water School program shows how profound water can impact people.

“To see community elders and water experiences—but also how much that experience becomes the pathway which stories are told of the city and experiences, and people’s childhood memories and just how much just being at the water brings out for people—you almost always see just how much it means for people to be in those spaces,” Nordstrom said.

For more information

To learn more about the programs these organizations offer, check out their websites below:

Milwaukee Riverkeepers

Milwaukee Water Commons

Urban Ecology Center

The post How organizations are trying to make Milwaukee’s waterways more accessible to all appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

As gas prices reach an average of $4 a gallon, Milwaukee residents on the North Side and South Side say they are finding it more difficult to fill their tanks and are rethinking their commutes and purchasing strategies.

Wisconsin’s average price in March was just $3.49 per gallon for regular but hit an average high of nearly $4 in mid-March, according to AAA Gas Prices. As of Monday, the average price in Wisconsin was $3.85 per gallon.

GasBuddy, an online price website, listed a low of $3.74 for regular on Monday and a high of $3.84 in a comparison of Milwaukee area stations.

John “Jojo” Jimenez lives near South 22nd Street and gets gas from a nearby Citgo on National Avenue. He often has flashbacks of how relatively low gas prices used to be.

“It’s kind of annoying to see the prices go higher each time because back then I remember when gas was $2,” he said.

Jessica Thoma, who was pumping gas at a Speedway on South 76th Street, knows increased gas prices are a matter of simple economics as companies pass on higher costs due to a spike in the price of global crude oil.

She realizes this but is having trouble adjusting.

“We want change and I want change,” Thoma said.

Elizabeth Watson, who was pumping her gas in West Milwaukee recently, thinks the rising gas prices are linked to the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. This is something the experts say has also contributed to the increase. When the public was not going out as much, the prices were low to match the supply and demand. Now, Watson recognizes, demand is going up, but supply is staying down.

Nationally, prices reflect this. According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, the prices were about $2.32 a gallon in March 2020. When businesses started to open up from COVID restrictions in 2021 and 2022, the prices jumped to $3, then to $4 a gallon.

“It catches you off guard,” said Alycia Berete who lives on Milwaukee’s North Side.

Seventeen-year-old Yar Cam is a South Side resident who lives on West Layton Avenue. He said he understands that the United States had blocked Russian oil imports, but also knows that this represented only about 2% of U.S. oil imports. Given that small percentage, he has trouble reconciling the effect.

“If the prices are going to increase, it should at least be a reasonable amount and for a reasonable reason,” he said.

But fingers point toward global crude oil, not domestic supply, as the trigger for the higher prices, not Russian exports to the U.S. The Energy Information Administration lists that price at about $102 a barrel.

Matthew Hauser, president and CEO of Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, said, “Crude oil was recently trading at a 13-year high, placing upward pressure on retail gas prices. Even before the ban on Russian imports, many oil buyers were already reducing their purchases of oil from Russia, constraining oil supplies in an already tight market.”

It doesn’t look like things will get better in the near future, Hauser said: “Retailers are seeing daily wholesale price changes for gasoline and diesel fuel. It appears this volatility may last for a while.”

Erin Lentz, who was pumping gas in the Southridge area but lives in West Allis, said she feels for pickup truck drivers who have to pay more.

“It hurts,” Lentz said.

Thoma, one of those pickup drivers, put over $65 of gas in her truck at Speedway on South 76th Street.

Customers such as Thoma are now considering smaller vehicles or even vehicles that eliminate fuel consumption altogether. Thoma said she’s looking forward to purchasing a Tesla.

Hauser explained that Wisconsin is lucky enough to have a plentiful supply.

Nonetheless, Watson said she still procrastinates to fill her tank, hoping that prices will decrease. She jokingly told her mom that she’s lucky to have a second job that will pay for her gas after those two-hour drives to visit family in Chicago.

“The prices there aren’t any better, but Wisconsin gas is better because Illinois taxes everything,” Watson said.

You can let someone else drive

The Milwaukee County Transit System offers four ways to pay for bus rides and offers a variety of routes. For more information on fares, look here. For more information on routes, look here. MCTS also offers a trip planner so you can map your own route for more convenience. For that, look here.

Despite a recent court ruling, masks are still required while riding Milwaukee County Transit buses.

The post ‘It hurts’: Milwaukee drivers find pain at the pump appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Leer en español:: Programa que duplica el gasto de FoodShare en mercados de agricultores bajo consideración para financiamiento hasta 2024

The Milwaukee Market Match program, which doubles FoodShare dollars spent at farmers markets, is on track to be funded through 2024, thought it has yet to secure final approval from Milwaukee County.

Piloted in 2020 and 2021, the program allows FoodShare participants to double their purchasing power at a participating Milwaukee County farmers market, up to $20 per FoodShare account per day. FoodShare helps low-income residents buy healthy food.

During its 10-week pilot in 2020, Milwaukee Market Match was used by 793 households to purchase $19,653 worth of goods from vendors at five markets across Milwaukee County, according to data compiled by KaHoua Yang, a medical student at UW-Madison.

Yang’s figures come from her work evaluating Milwaukee Market Match as part of the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Milwaukee Market Match was renewed for 13 weeks in 2021 and was used by 1,697 households to purchase $78,077 worth of goods from vendors across four markets, nearly four times the amount of money spent in 2020. About 93% of the transactions in 2021 went to farmers vending at the Fondy Farmers Market in Lindsay Heights, according to Yang’s data.

To continue for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 farmers market seasons, which typically run roughly from May through November, community partners are hoping to secure funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. As part of federal COVID-19 relief efforts, Milwaukee County received $183 million in ARPA funds “to meet local needs and fund local solutions.” This is separate from the $394 million that the City of Milwaukee received for the same purpose.

The proposal, which can be read here, outlines the program’s budget. Of the $1 million ask, $750,000 goes directly to FoodShare members spending at the 11 participating farmers markets. Participating markets in the central city include the Fondy Farmers Market, located at 2200 W. Fond du Lac Ave., and Walker Square Farmers Market, located at 1031 S. 9th St.

The American Rescue Plan Act Task Force approved the proposal unanimously on April 14, but the proposal still needs to be approved by the Finance Committee and full County Board of Supervisors.

Robert Hullum, Milwaukee County spokesman, said no date has been set for the next Finance Committee meeting, adding that committee assignments will likely be made in the next few days. Once a Finance Committee chairperson is selected, they will decide whether to schedule the Milwaukee Market Match item for a meeting.

Meg Kilkenny, healthy communities coordinator at UW-Extension, said farmers and FoodShare members should not expect the program to be up and running at the start of the 2022 season until August at the earliest.

“I’ve been communicating with partners that we don’t anticipate this being launched until maybe mid-season this year,” Kilkenny said. “That is me being very hopeful.”

The proposal lists the Fondy Food Center, Milwaukee Farmers Market Coalition and the UW-Madison Extension FoodWIse program as “key implementers” of the program. Twenty-two other organizations are listed as supporting the proposal, including the American Heart Association, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and Sixteenth Street Community Health Center.

Getting the word out

Katie Hassemer, the director of farmers markets at Fondy Food Center since 2015, said FoodShare members often don’t know that they can use FoodShare at a farmers market, much less double its purchasing power.

FoodShare members would sometimes learn about Milwaukee Market Match and come to a market expecting to double their incentives, only to discover the program was not running that day because funding had run out, she said. 

Nevertheless, Hassemer remembers lines of people waiting to exchange FoodShare for coupons last summer.

“Before we even opened we had a line of people looking to double their FoodShare dollars,” Hassemer said. 

“We would have two lines going with at least 20 to 50 people some days of people wanting to get double dollars, speaking multiple languages,” Hassemer said. 

The two main goals of the program are to make it easier for people with low incomes to access fresh produce and to financially support local farmers in the process. 

Amy Kroll-Scales, co-owner of Full Circle Healing Farm and a vendor who has received Milwaukee Market Match pilot program dollars, called the program a win for everybody. She said it “shouldn’t be a luxury” to eat healthy, and that this program makes it easier to do that. 

She also noted that there is overlap between the two target populations the program intends to serve. 

“To be honest, a lot of farmers are using EBT and Market Match themselves,” she said. “It’s not like farming is some lucrative six-figure business.”

A call to action

The American Heart Association is hoping to help rally community support for the program.

Tim Nikolai, who works on community outreach at the American Heart Association, said that often his role involves pushing out information on cardiovascular health. What excites him about Milwaukee Market Match is the opportunity to make it easier for Milwaukee residents to take action toward improving their heart health. 

Nikolai invites those interested in showing support for this program to register for the Advocacy Day of Action, where they can learn more about the program and be trained to speak in support of the Milwaukee Market Match  to elected officials. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27.

For more information or to RSVP, email Nikolai at tim.nikolai@heart.org

The post Program that doubles FoodShare spent at farmers markets under consideration for funding through 2024 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Brothers and sisters, can you spare some time?

We are hiring, and we need your help to spread the word.

That’s right, you heard me. After 11 years in operation, NNS is searching for the right person who can help us forge a path that financially sustains the journalism that we provide free of charge to communities neglected, misrepresented or simply ignored by other outlets.

Here are the details about the job

The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism seek a Director of Development and Partnerships to steward a fundraising strategy and forge new relationships to build Neighborhood News Service’s visibility in the business and philanthropic community.

Who we are

The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS) is a small but mighty nonprofit newsroom that serves the city’s Black and Latinx communities. Through our website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, we report on the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connect readers with resources and serve as a watchdog for our audience.

Our readers are our neighbors and filling their information needs is our top priority. With the most diverse newsroom in the city — 90 percent people of color — we employ an editor, managing editor, six part-time reporters and editors and two Report For America corps members. In addition, we offer internships to college students and volunteer experiences for the community. We are an editorially independent project of Marquette University with offices in the Diederich College of Communication.

Your leadership in this new role will help us achieve our goals to double in size in the next three years and rebuild local news in Milwaukee with community-fueled journalism that provides solutions instead of merely reporting problems.

The position

The Director of Development and Partnerships will work closely with the Executive Director and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism to steward a fundraising strategy that includes local foundation and business support, reader revenue and major gifts.

The ideal candidate will be an entrepreneurial and collaborative revenue leader with experience working in Milwaukee and building strong relationships with various stakeholders, supporters and community members.

Your responsibilities will include:

Overseeing a portfolio of major supporters

You will serve as the lead strategist for this portfolio, identifying prospects and managing outreach and solicitation.

• Identify new prospects for the major gifts portfolio and opportunities for increased giving by current donors. Oversee prospect research and actively lead identification of major gift prospects to bring new supporters into the organization
• Support the Executive Director’s donor engagement and carry out face-to-face solicitations and other direct engagement with donors and prospects
• Draft donor correspondence and maintain primary responsibility for developing messages, strategy memos, talking points, and donor materials

Building new relationships to grow support from foundation and corporate partners

You will work with Marquette University and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism to expand the organization’s support from local and national foundations and corporate partners.

• Coordinate with Marquette University’s Advancement Office and WCIJ’s Development Department to expand the base of institutional funders and maintain relationships with key contacts
• Build new external relationships with corporate partners to connect them with the mission of NNS
• Serve as the primary NNS grant writer and the lead for new grant requests and reports
• Ensure all reports are complete, accurate and delivered on time; ensure financial requirements are met; implement and supervise administration of grant management systems

Growing support from NNS readers

Work with the NNS team and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism to create a membership program that engages NNS readers and community members to grow their financial support for NNS

Overseeing key development tasks

Refresh and implement an annual development plan that incorporates short- and long-range goals.

• Maintain collaborative relationships and communicate regularly with development staff at Marquette University and Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
• Maintain accurate, confidential records of progress and activity reports for the executive director and interested parties
• Oversee gift processing and acknowledgement distribution
• Ensure development activities conform to organizational policies and financial accounting practices
• Participate in the budgeting process, monitor development expenditures

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes and experiences:

• Have a background in development and an interest in local news and the needs of Milwaukee’s communities
• Have experience with donor databases and other fundraising technology
• Be flexible and creative
• Demonstrated success in building relationships with leaders of color who may have capacity and interest to support NNS
• Enjoy working with the team and partners to build a fundraising program that supports NNS’s important role in local news in Milwaukee
• Superior interpersonal, oral and written communication skills
• 5+ years of experience

Location: This position is based in Milwaukee. Full-time in-person work is not a requirement, but regular in-person meetings are expected in order to be able to achieve the goals for this role.

Salary range: $80,000+, commensurate with experience.

Benefits: Generous paid vacation and holiday time, sick days, family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental benefits, transportation benefits and self-funded 403(b) retirement plan.

Deadline: Don’t delay. We are looking to fill this position with the right candidate as soon as possible.

More on the partnership between Neighborhood News Service and Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism:

Since its launch in 2011, Neighborhood News Service has received local funding from the Zilber Family Foundation, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and Bader Philanthropies, among others. It has support nationally from the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund and Report for America.

This role is funded by the American Journalism Project and is part of a multiyear partnership between Neighborhood News Service and Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism to rebuild local news in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.

How to apply

Please submit a PDF of your resume and answer some brief questions in this application form. If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Ron Smith, NNS Executive Director, via email: Ronald.Smith@marquette.edu.

The post Inside the NNS newsroom: We’re hiring on the business side; Help us spread the word. appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Leer en español: una versión traducida de este artículo está disponible debajo de la versión en inglés.

FlexRide Milwaukee, a transportation service in Milwaukee, is making changes to its program to make it more accessible.

Previously, riders had to request a ride from one of five stops. But the service areas were changed this month to reflect the needs of riders and employers.

Rides are available from 4:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Individuals 18 and older can request a ride as long as they are within the two Milwaukee Neighborhood Zones.

A person does not need to live within the zones to request a ride, but they must be in the zone when making the request. Drivers will pick them up at the nearest street corner. The Employment Zone continues to cover the Menomonee Falls and Butler areas.

Rides to and from Zone 1 are free of charge, but rides to and from Zone 2 cost $1.50 per ride.

The pilot program launched in March under the leadership of individuals at UW-Milwaukee and the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. The goal of the program is to help Milwaukee County residents who lack reliable transportation obtain or seek employment in outlying areas.

The program will continue through the fall, at which that time organizers will seek additional funding.

Click here for frequently asked questions about the program. To learn more about FlexRide Milwaukee, read: FlexRide Milwaukee working to address transportation barriers.

Programa que duplica el gasto de FoodShare en mercados de agricultores bajo consideración para financiamiento hasta 2024

El programa Milwaukee Market Match, que duplica los dólares de FoodShare gastados en los mercados de agricultores, está en camino de ser financiado hasta 2024, aunque aún tiene que obtener la aprobación final del condado de Milwaukee.

Con una prueba piloto en 2020 y 2021, el programa permite a los participantes de FoodShare duplicar su poder adquisitivo en un mercado de agricultores participante del condado de Milwaukee, hasta $20 por cuenta de FoodShare por día. FoodShare ayuda a los residentes de bajos ingresos a comprar alimentos saludables.

Durante su prueba piloto de 10 semanas en 2020, 793 hogares utilizaron Milwaukee Market Match para comprar $19,653 en productos de vendedores en cinco mercados en todo el condado de Milwaukee, según datos compilados por KaHoua Yang, estudiante de medicina en  UW-Madison.

Las cifras de Yang provienen de su trabajo de evaluación de Milwaukee Market Match como parte del programa de Capacitación en Medicina Urbana y Salud Pública de la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison. 

Milwaukee Market Match se renovó por 13 semanas en 2021 y fue utilizado por 1,697 hogares para comprar $78,077 en bienes de proveedores en cuatro mercados, casi cuatro veces la cantidad de dinero gastada en 2020. Alrededor del 93 % de las transacciones en 2021 se destinaron a agricultores vendiendo en el Fondy Farmers Market en Lindsay Heights, según los datos de Yang.

Para continuar con las temporadas de mercado de agricultores de 2022, 2023 y 2024, que generalmente se extienden aproximadamente de mayo a noviembre, los socios comunitarios esperan obtener fondos a través de la Ley del Plan de Rescate Estadounidense, o ARPA. Como parte de los esfuerzos federales de ayuda por el COVID-19, el condado de Milwaukee recibió $183 millones en fondos ARPA “para satisfacer las necesidades locales y financiar soluciones locales ”. Esto es independiente de los $394 millones que recibió la Ciudad de Milwaukee para el mismo propósito .

La propuesta, que se puede leer aquí , describe el presupuesto del programa. Del pedido de $1 millón, $750,000 van directamente a los gastos de los miembros de FoodShare en los 11 mercados de agricultores participantes. Los mercados participantes en el centro de la ciudad incluyen Fondy Farmers Market, ubicado en 2200 W. Fond du Lac Ave., y Walker Square Farmers Market, ubicado en 1031 S. 9th St.

El Grupo de Trabajo de la Ley del Plan de Rescate Estadounidense aprobó la propuesta por unanimidad el 14 de abril,  pero la propuesta aún debe ser aprobada por el Comité de Finanzas y la Junta de Supervisores del Condado en pleno.

Robert Hullum, portavoz del condado de Milwaukee, dijo que no se ha fijado una fecha para la próxima reunión del Comité de Finanzas y agregó que es probable que las asignaciones de los comités se realicen en los próximos días. Una vez que se seleccione al presidente del Comité de Finanzas, este decidirá si programar una reunión para el tema de Coincidencia de Mercado de Milwaukee.

Meg Kilkenny, coordinadora de comunidades saludables en UW-Extension, dijo que los agricultores y los miembros de FoodShare no deben esperar que el programa esté en funcionamiento al comienzo de la temporada 2022 hasta agosto como muy pronto.

“Me he estado comunicando con los socios que no anticipamos que esto se lanzará hasta quizás la mitad de la temporada de este año”, dijo Kilkenny. “Ese soy yo siendo muy optimista”.

La propuesta enumera el Centro de Alimentos Fondy, la Coalición de Mercados de Agricultores de Milwaukee y el programa FoodWIse de UW-Madison Extension como “implementadores clave” del programa. Se enumeran otras veintidós organizaciones que apoyan la propuesta, incluida la Asociación Estadounidense del Corazón, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges y Sixteenth Street Community Health Center.

Hacer correr la voz

Katie Hassemer, directora de mercados de agricultores en Fondy Food Center desde 2015, dijo que los miembros de FoodShare a menudo no saben que pueden usar FoodShare en un mercado de agricultores, y mucho menos duplicar su poder adquisitivo.

Los miembros de FoodShare a veces se enteraban de Milwaukee Market Match y llegaban a un mercado esperando duplicar sus incentivos, solo para descubrir que el programa no estaba funcionando ese día porque se habían agotado los fondos, dijo. 

Sin embargo, Hassemer recuerda las filas de personas que esperaban para cambiar FoodShare por cupones el verano pasado.

“Incluso antes de que abriéramos, teníamos una fila de personas que buscaban duplicar sus dólares de FoodShare”, dijo Hassemer. 

“Tendríamos dos líneas con al menos 20 a 50 personas algunos días de personas que desean obtener el doble de dólares, hablando varios idiomas”, dijo Hassemer. 

Los dos objetivos principales del programa son facilitar que las personas de bajos ingresos accedan a productos frescos y apoyar financieramente a los agricultores locales en el proceso. 

Amy Kroll-Scales, copropietaria de Full Circle Healing Farm y proveedora que recibió dólares del programa piloto de Milwaukee Market Match, dijo que el programa es una victoria para todos. Dijo que “no debería ser un lujo” comer sano y que este programa hace que sea más fácil hacerlo. 

También señaló que existe una superposición entre las dos poblaciones objetivo que el programa pretende atender. 

“Para ser honesto, muchos agricultores están usando EBT y Market Match”, dijo. “No es que la agricultura sea un negocio lucrativo de seis cifras”.

Una llamada a la acción

La American Heart Association espera ayudar a reunir el apoyo de la comunidad para el programa.

Tim Nikolai, que trabaja en extensión comunitaria en la Asociación Estadounidense del Corazón, dijo que a menudo su función consiste en difundir información sobre la salud cardiovascular. Lo que lo emociona de Milwaukee Market Match es la oportunidad de facilitar que los residentes de Milwaukee tomen medidas para mejorar la salud de su corazón. 

Nikolai invita a los interesados ​​en mostrar su apoyo a este programa a registrarse para el Día de Acción de Defensa, donde pueden obtener más información sobre el programa y recibir capacitación para hablar en apoyo de Milwaukee Market Match ante los funcionarios electos. El evento se lleva a cabo de 11 am a 1:30 pm el miércoles 27 de abril.

Para obtener más información o confirmar su asistencia, envíe un correo electrónico a Nikolai a tim.nikolai@heart.org

The post NNS Update: FlexRide Milwaukee changes service areas to make program more accessible to residents, employers appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

It’s Monday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here.

1. Alice’s Garden Herbal Apprenticeship begins: Monday, April 25

Learn about cultivating and using herbs. The first gathering runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 25 at Alice’s Garden Urban Farm, located at 2136 N. 21st St. The cost to join is $60. More information here.

2. National Minority Health Month Open House: Tuesday, April 26

Aiming to bring awareness to racially disproportionate health outcomes, Milwaukee County is hosting a resource fair starting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center, located at 1531 W. Vliet St. More information here.

3. Midtown Neighborhood Alliance meeting: Tuesday, April 26

There will be a meeting for neighbors in the Midtown neighborhood starting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26 at PEAK Initiative, located 2480 W. Cherry St. The Midtown Neighborhood Alliance is an alliance of neighborhood associations.

4. Weekly Wellness at Newline Café: Thursday, April 28

This Thursday and every Thursday, learn more about different physical and mental health practices for healthy minds and bodies. The gatherings are from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every Thursday at Newline Café, located at 3618 W. Pierce St.

5. Hiring Event for Talgo: Friday, April 29

Trainmaker Talgo Inc. is hiring for its new plant at the 30th Street Industrial Corridor and is hosting a job fair from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at the Nigerian Community Conference Center, located at 8310 W. Appleton Ave.

BONUS: See the inaugural production of the Voices Included for People of Color (VIP) Theatre Company: Through Saturday, April 30

Marquette Theatre presents Loy A. Webb’s “The Light,” the inaugural production in its Voices Included for People of Color (VIP) Theatre company, through Saturday, April 30 at the Evan P. and Marion Helfaer Theatre, 525 N. 13th St.

The VIP Theatre company directly serves people of color and minoritized individuals who self-identify as theater creators in all areas of theater. Led by director Marti Gobel and assistant director Malaina Moore, the entire production crew for “The Light” comprises people of color.

“The Light” introduces audiences to Rashad and Genesis on what should be one of the happiest days of their lives, but their joy quickly unravels when ground-shifting accusations from the past resurface.

Tickets prices range from $12 for students up to $25 for general audience and are available for purchase online through Marquette Theatre’s online box office service.

For more information, call the Helfaer Theatre Box Office at (414) 288-7504 or visit the Helfaer Theatre Box Office website.

BONUS Two: Get vaccinated at St. Matthews CME Church: Friday, April 29

Health Connections Inc, is providing free COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 29 at St. Matthews CME Church, 7500 N. 76th St. A parent or legal guardian must be present and grant consent for those ages 5 to 17.

The post 5 things to know and do this week in Milwaukee: April 25 to April 29 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Two years ago, the U.S. Census Bureau set out to count every person in the United States as mandated in the Constitution. But this time it did so as the nation grappled with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and other dynamics, including an effort to add a citizenship question, came into play.

The preliminary assessment: Post-count analysis showed that the 2020 census both overcounted and undercounted certain populations compared to data from 2010. Last month, the bureau released results from its post-enumeration survey and demographic analysis estimates.

African Americans were undercounted by 3.30% compared to 2.06% in 2010 and the Hispanic and Latino population faced an undercount of 4.99% compared to 1.54% in 2010.

Other undercounted groups included American Indians or Alaskan Natives living on reservations. 

Meanwhile, non-Hispanic whites were overcounted by 1.64% versus .83% and Asian Americans were overcounted by 2.62% compared to 0%, according to the estimates.

Undercounts raise the specter of fewer federal dollars to local communities and less representation for undercounted groups in redistricting.

According to the latest figures from the Census Bureau, the City of Milwaukee’s population is 34% white (non-Hispanic or Latinx), 38.8% Black, 19.4% Latinx, 4.6% Asian and 0.5% Native American.

“There’s been a historical pattern of undercounts in Milwaukee, even dating back to the 1990s and 2000s,” said Sharon Robinson, the director of administration for the City of Milwaukee. She also served as the chairwoman of the Greater Milwaukee Complete Count Committee.   

The city is reviewing census data and comparing it to its own data. If enough discrepancies are found, the city could challenge the results.

Robinson explained that in preparation of the census, the city updated its Local Update of Census Addresses Operation and added thousands of housing units since 2010. 

The U.S. Census Bureau’s own population estimates from 2019 put the City of Milwaukee at over 590,000, but the 2020 data put Milwaukee’s population at 577,222.

“There’s many reasons we want to stand up for the residents of this community,” Robinson said. “A fair census is clearly a civil rights issue. We just can’t afford to get these numbers wrong.”

Why were certain populations undercounted?

Margo Anderson is a professor emerita of history and urban studies at UW-Milwaukee. She is an expert on the census and is currently on a panel under the National Academy of Sciences that evaluates why there was an undercount.  

“We don’t have enough local data to say very much,” she said. “The big takeaway from the 2020 census is a combination of the controversy generated by Trump to put a citizenship question on the form and then the pandemic meant that the actual count was delayed.” 

Even though the citizenship question didn’t go on the form, its possible immigrant communities didn’t respond to the census for fear of deportation, Anderson said, but nothing is known for certain. 

The citizenship question was a threat to the mechanics of the count and American democracy, she said. 

Donald Trump’s administration raised the possibility of the question amid already existing fears that the former president’s immigration policies and rhetoric would dampen participation in the count of undocumented citizens. The plain language of the Constitution requires an attempt to count every U.S. resident. 

Trump’s administration also was hostile toward the undocumented population during its entire term, said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of Voces de la Frontera, a nonprofit organization that advocates for immigrant rights. She said many immigrants feared that census information would be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. 

Furthermore, the pandemic locked everything down when the most intense counting efforts were set to take place, Anderson said, and everything had to be restructured. The in-person counting phase was pushed back from spring to summer and places such as libraries that were meant to serve as census hubs were closed due to the pandemic. 

Robinson added that Trump’s decision to end the count early may have stopped efforts made to reach hard-to-count populations such as the LGBTQ+ community.  

Other demographics that are often undercounted include people who live in group quarters such as dorms and nursing homes. The data showed a significant drop in group quarters, Robinson said, noting that that number decreased from over 18,000 to just over 15,000. 

Anderson noted that since college students were sent home they may have been counted twice or not at all, but there isn’t enough data to know.

In a statement, the U.S. Census Bureau acknowledged that it undercounted and overcounted the same population groups it has in the past.

What efforts were made to reach hard-to-count populations? 

Grassroot organizations and other entities made various efforts to reach residents.  

Voces de la Frontera, for example, worked with its members and activated its network, Voceros por el Voto, which first launched in 2018. It also worked with younger people to spread the knowledge. 

The Complete Count Committee worked at COVID testing sites, food centers and grocery stores to spread the word. Methods included sharing information through the mail in partnership with other organizations such as the Housing Authority and working with schools to hand out census coloring books. 

“One of our major challenges was that we were actually restricted from doing the door knocking due to restrictions related to COVID,” Robinson said. “I think this hurt us in many ways.” 

The U.S. Census Bureau noted that it established 152 statewide Complete Count Committees and its staff called, texted and emailed nonresponsive households.

“In the case of the Latinx community, we also worked hard to educate people that the citizenship question was not included on the census form, but we acknowledge that the conversation and litigation around its inclusion may have created confusion,” Census Bureau leaders said in a statement. “We believe those efforts were beneficial but not could not fully overcome the unprecedented challenges of 2020.” 

What potential impact will this have on Milwaukee? 

“The census data is used to determine the distribution of more than $675 billion in federal funds to cities and counties and states,” Robinson said. “That’s funding for schools, hospitals, housing, jobs training and so many vital programs. If we don’t get our numbers right, each resident that goes uncounted is going to suffer.” 

According to the George Washington Institute of Public Policy, each resident could lose about $1,584 in funding every year, Robinson said. 

The data also determines the districts of the state Legislature and the number of seats Wisconsin gets in Congress. States that gain population also gain congressional seats, and population losses can result in fewer congressional districts for states.

In a prepared statement on the 2020 census, Robert L. Santos, the director of the U.S. Census Bureau, said, “We believe that the 2020 census data are fit for many decision-making as well as painting a vivid portrait of our nation’s people.” 

Santos acknowledged that there are areas of concern that the bureau will be looking into. But Anderson said local officials should wait for the data to be available before raising concerns. “We don’t know if those counting problems were specific to certain parts of the country,” she said.

Why should people care?

“If we don’t get our numbers right, it affects every resident’s voice in government,” Robinson said. “The Constitution even says that every single person that lives in the United States has the civil right to be counted in the census and no one should be left uncounted.” 

She said unfair policies that prevent someone from participating in the census should never be allowed to occur, because it is a violation of civil rights, she said.  “For every resident that goes uncounted, we all lose,” Robinson said.

What efforts can be done to ensure a more accurate count in the future?

Robinson believes some of the changes can start with the terminology such as “hard to count.”

“We all need to do a better job,” she said. “They are not hard to count, we just need to find other methods to reach people who are marginalized by U.S. political life and civic life. It’s a problem we should all own instead of saying people are hard to count.”

Part of this work includes creating an environment in which people have more trust in the government, Robinson said. There are a lot of misperceptions, she said, and using local groups and residents to champion for the census could increase participation. 

In the future, there needs to be more investment in the work, Neumann-Ortiz said, particularly “those key organizations that are really a hub for community engagement, that have networks in the community, that are rooted in the community and are trusted.” 

Read: Why the 2020 census should matter to you and ‘We can create change’: Neighborhood groups continue census push

The post ‘We just can’t afford to get these numbers wrong’: Why the results of the 2020 census matter appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down, Ashley Valentine loved taking her son to children’s museums and anywhere else he could learn with his hands. They both loved it overall, but Valentine noticed that the staff and attendees were not diverse.

“It didn’t seem like it was accessible to everybody when there’s only four or five other Black families there and you’d do the head nod because it’s just you guys … conforming to what’s around you,” Valentine remembered.

Fast forward a few years and while the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, Rooted MKE is here to address the gap in BIPOC-centered children’s learning spaces that Valentine noticed years ago.

BIPOC stands for Black, indigenous and people of color.

Now open at 5312 W. Vliet St., Rooted MKE is a bookstore carrying children’s books written by and for BIPOC children as well as a learning center and a space where parents can sign their children up for tutoring and extracurricular learning appropriate to their grade level and learning style.

The pairing of a bookstore with a learning center was important to Valentine, who as a former educator saw a need both for BIPOC representation in learning materials and flexibility in curriculum.

“Kids like more than one thing, so I wanted to offer a full range of things to do,” Valentine said. “If a kid does not have a good relationship with books for whatever reason, there are still things for them to do here.”

Customers like Nathaniel Haack, who came to the bookstore looking for books with BIPOC representation for his 6-year-old, are now seeing the benefit of the combination bookstore and makerspace. A makerspace is a place where people with shared interests gather to work on projects sharing ideas, knowledge and equipment.

“This is a really cool idea and a space that is much needed in Milwaukee,” Haack said. “Having a safe, wholesome space for kids where they can learn and play and be children is invaluable.”

How Rooted MKE came to be

Rooted MKE’s journey began several years ago when Valentine was teaching fourth grade. Like many new teachers, she came into the job attempting to single-handedly revitalize the education system through sheer effort, love and positivity.

Although her efforts resulted in some breakthroughs with students, she became burned out.

“In teaching, you start and are so excited. You think you’re going to make all of these changes,” Valentine said. “If what I was doing and achieving wasn’t getting done after I left, then I was just doing it for me.”

Looking for answers on how to add to education on a systemic level, Valentine went to graduate school to study special education before taking a job as a tutor and briefly returning to the classroom before having her second child.

Together these experiences underscored the need for systems-level changes in education, meaning changes in how the education system is set up and the flexibility built within it to accommodate students deserving specialized education.

But she still had the same problem she had as a teacher: How can one person affect the education system as a whole rather than work to put out localized fires?

The answer was Rooted MKE: a bookstore that had BIPOC-centered children’s books, a makerspace for tactile learners and a tutoring service offering specialized curriculum and reading level-appropriate book recommendations.

The flexibility of having these things all under one roof is that it can benefit young learners with multiple access points to learning.

“Kids like more than one thing, so I wanted to offer a full range of things to do. If a kid doesn’t have a good relationship with books for whatever reason, there are still things for them to do,” Valentine said.

However, Valentine said she is hopeful that parents see her store and tutoring service as appropriate for children at all stages of development, not just ones that are already struggling to keep up.

“Kids who play sports have a coach that advocates for advancing their skills no matter what level they are at,” Valentine said. “The same should be true for tutoring.”

“I want you to come see me when your kid is starting to ask questions or even when they’re on grade level but aren’t being challenged,” she added.

Keeping the momentum going

In the first week after the business’s soft opening in early March, Valentine was nervous about hitting her projections. Though it was a soft opening, Valentine was worried that people would only see her business as just another bookstore, if they noticed it at all.

However, after making sure to post regularly on social media, media attention and a visit from then-Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson during the grand opening, Valentine said she is no longer worried about the possibility of her business stumbling out of the gate. Ever the entrepreneur, her focus has turned to building on her early success.

“I am excited, however, I haven’t gotten the chance to take the excitement in because I am so busy and thinking of next steps,” Valentine said.

As her business gains publicity, Valentine is also aware of the possibility of “mission drift.” This is where a business or organization begins with a clear mission but through small compromises over time slowly drifts away from that mission before abandoning it altogether.

If you ask Arianna Dunston-Hill, a high school sophomore whom Valentine recruited to work at Rooted MKE, the daily existence of the business is testament to its success in uplifting Black and Brown stories and children.

“It means a lot to me personally. In my life I’ve had women entrepreneurs in my family … but to see another Black woman doing this underscores that it’s possible for me as well,” Dunston-Hill said. “When Ashley talks about what she’s doing and how she’s doing it, that is something that really inspires me.”

The post NNS Spotlight: Rooted MKE uplifts Black and Brown stories and children appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about. If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please submit your news by clicking here at least two weeks in advance.

1. Adams Garden Park Art Gallery Night: Friday, April 22

“Rain Chains,” an exhibition by artist and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sculpture professor Glenn Williams with artworks from Milwaukee-born artist William Nolen, Jr. (born 1939,) will be unveiled as part of Gallery Night MKE. The unveiling event runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, April 22 at Adams Garden Park, located at 1836 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

2. ArtWalk on Vliet Street: Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23

This part pop-up, part brick-and-mortar celebration of Vliet Street’s art and retail community covers two days of food trucks, art and shopping. Stop by between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, April 22 or 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 to take part. More information and locations here. The walk Friday takes place on W. Vliet Street from 40^th Street to 60^th Street. The walk Saturday takes place on 47^th Street to 60^th Street.

3. Student entrepreneur pop-up market: Saturday, April 23

Support student businesses that are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or woman-owned at this pop-up event organized by the MKE Entrepreneur Incubation Program, Newline Cafe and the Urban Ecology Center. Businesses in this popup are part of the MKE Entrepreneur Incubation Program, which offers “Marquette students that come from majority low-income, first-generation, or underrepresented backgrounds entrepreneurial skills to host pop-up events through a community-minded lens.”

The pop-up will run from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at 3628 W. Pierce St.

4. Book Signing: Wisconsin African-Americans in the Civil War: Saturday, April 23

Jeff Kannel, author of “Make Way for Liberty: Wisconsin African-Americans in the Civil War,” will be available to talk about his research and sign books from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 at Sherman Perk Coffee Shop, located at 4924 W. Roosevelt Drive.

5. Family Gathering at Rooted MKE: Sunday, April 24

Rooted MKE, a new bookstore and makerspace in Washington Heights, is hosting the first of its monthly family gatherings from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 24 at Rooted MKE, located at 5312 W. Vliet St. All ages are welcome to join in reading a BIPOC children’s book and creating a piece of art based on the book. Tickets are $10 and include food. More information here.

BONUS: Earth Day Neighborhood Gatherings and Cleanups

Many neighborhoods have gatherings and cleanups going on this weekend, primarily on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. Check out what is going on in or near your neighborhood here.

The post 5 things to know and do the weekend of April 22 appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Earth Day is an annual opportunity to turn our attention to the environment and how we can take care of our shared planet. Here’s a list of ways to celebrate Earth, clean up our neighborhoods and be in the community with our neighbors.

See something that should be added? Send us the location, time and a short description of your event to info@milwaukeenns.org

Friday, April 22

Earth Day at Alice’s Garden

Celebrate Earth Day and shared community by cleaning garden plots, eating fish fry, reading poems, walking the labyrinth and touching the soil at Alice’s Garden, located at 2136 N. 21st St. Scheduled activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. but the garden will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A schedule of events is here.

Harambee Neighborhood Cleanup

The fifth annual Harambee cleanup invites neighbors to help clean from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting at Pete’s Fruit Market, located at 2323 N. Dr. MLK Jr. Drive. Text “CLEANUP” to 414-250-8164 for more information.

Amani Neighborhood Cleanup

Join Dominican Center, Amani United and partners to celebrate Earth Day by cleaning up the Amani neighborhood from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can choose the area of Amani you’d like to volunteer to cleanup. Volunteers can sign up here.

Saturday, April 23

Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup

Milwaukee Riverkeeper is hosting cleanups all over the city on Saturday, April 23. Volunteers are needed for 80 locations. Register for a cleanup near you here.

Metcalfe Park and Sherman Park Neighborhood Cleanup

Residents and neighbors of Metcalfe Park and Sherman Park are invited to this community cleanup and lunch. The cleanup runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by lunch until 2 p.m. Lunch will be provided to all volunteers. Volunteers should arrive at the football field at 3400 W. North Ave. Call Elizabeth from Safe and Sound at 414-708-6066 or email at elizabeth@safesound.org

Mitchell Street Neighborhood Cleanup

Join the Peace Learning Center in cleaning up Mitchell Street from Butterfly Park to Kunzelmann Esser Lofts from 10 a.m. to noon. More information here.

Near West Side Neighborhood Cleanup

The Near West Side Partners and United Methodist Church host this first of four neighborhood cleanups between now and September 10. The cleanup runs from 10 a.m. to noon at Neighborhood House Garden, located at the intersection of North 27th Street and West Richardson Place.

The post How to celebrate Earth Day in our neighborhoods appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Leer en español: Dónde encontrar recursos para el abuso de sustancias en Milwaukee

Tragically, drug overdose deaths continue to trend upward in Milwaukee County. 

As of Wednesday, there have been 119 confirmed drug overdose deaths, with 80 probable overdose deaths pending toxicology reports, according to Karen Domagalski, operation’s manager for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office. 

Through April 13, 2021, there were 149 drug overdose deaths, and an all-time high 644 drug overdose deaths occurred in Milwaukee County in 2021, with one case still pending. 

Although this data paints a bleak picture, there are a number of individuals and organizations working to help prevent these tragedies. 

Below is an extensive list of local resources available for individuals who are seeking help for themselves or for loved ones. If you know of resources that should be added to the list, please email us or leave a comment. 

Harm-reduction resources

Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, is a key tool used to reduce drug overdose deaths. The medication, which can be administered through different methods including a spray or injection, rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose. Fentanyl test strips are used to detect the presence of fentanyl, which can kill in trace amounts, in unregulated drugs. 

MKE Overdose Prevention offers free Narcan training and supplies for the community. It hosts a Narcan training on the first Tuesday of each wmonth at the Daily Bird, a coffee shop located at 818 E. Center St. in Riverwest and is planning additional training in the city. Email it with questions, to schedule a Narcan training for your community or business or to make arrangements to pick up free Narcan supplies at the Hope House of Milwaukee. 

UMOS, located at 2701 S. Chase Ave., offers harm-reduction services, including HIV testing, STI testing, condom distribution and needle exchange and pick-up services. It also offers pre-treatment services, facilitates access to drug treatment and provides naloxone training and distribution. UMOS is open for walk-in (supplies and testing) Tuesday and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or you can schedule an appointment. It also offers mobile services from Monday to Thursday. You can contact UMOS at 414-389-6000. 

The Vivient Health Lifepoint Program partners with Milwaukee County to provide test strips, Narcan and safe injection supplies (needle exchange services) for anyone who needs them. It can be reached online or by calling 1-800-359-9272. 

Through the MKE Heroin Diaries Facebook page you can access free naloxone training, Narcan and fentanyl testing strips and literature on cocaine, heroin and other opioids. Organizers also help people suffering from addiction by offering a warm handover to treatment and through educational presentations in a family, school, community group or faith-based setting. 

Team HAVOC offers free naloxone training and provides literature on cocaine, heroin and other opioids in addition to violence prevention services. 

Local drug treatment service providers

Milwaukee County’s Behavioral Health Division offers multiple points of Community Access to Recovery Services, or CARS. Learn more about CARS services by visiting www.county.milwaukee.gov/BHD-CARS or contacting one of the following centers. 

CARS locations include: 

• CARS at BHD, 9455 W. Watertown Plank Road. (414-257-8095)
• IMPACT, 6737 W. Washington St., Suite 2225 (414-649-4380)
• M&S Clinical Services, 2821 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave, Suite 210 (414-263-6000)
• CARS at Sirona Recovery/Formerly Justice Point, 205 W. Highland Ave. (414-278-2140)
• Wisconsin Community Services, 3732 W. Wisconsin Ave. (414-343-3569)

The county is also currently working to secure a reliable supplier for fentanyl test strips and awaiting funds from the opioid settlement. It will then partner with the Milwaukee Health Department on a community-wide distribution effort for both test strips and Narcan, according to Michael Lappen, administrator for the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division. 

Gateway to Change, located at 2319 W. Capitol Drive, provides substance abuse treatment services to adults in an outpatient setting. You can contact the organization by calling 414-442-2033. 

10th Street Comprehensive Treatment Center, 4800 S. 10th St., provides medication assisted treatment to adults 18 and older who are struggling with an opioid use disorder. The center provides a number of medication treatment options, including methadone, buprenorphine, Suboxone, and naltrexone. You can reach it at 414-269-4335. 

Samad’s House, 2875 N. 23rd St., is a sober living facility for women that provides alcohol and other drug abuse education classes, relapse prevention sessions, parenting classes, art therapy resolution classes and other services. Samad’s House accepts personal referrals, referrals from detox centers and in-patient residential facilities. You can get more information by clicking here or by calling 414-312-7600 or emailing samadsoberhouse@gmail.com. 

Rogers Behavioral Health is a provider of mental health and addiction treatment for children and adults. Rogers offers different levels of care including inpatient, residential and specialized outpatient care. Rogers has a location in Brown Deer and West Allis. 

West Milwaukee Comprehensive Treatment Center, 1610 Miller Park Way, provides medication assisted treatment to adults 18 and older who are struggling with an opioid use disorder. The center offers a number of medication treatment options, including methadone, buprenorphine, Suboxone and naltrexone. You can reach it at 414-939-7556. 

First Step Community Recovery Center, located at 2835 N. 32nd St., houses the Milwaukee County Secure Emergency Detoxification Program. Counselors and case managers and counselors utilize cognitive based treatment methodologies to treat men in recovery. You can reach it on the phone at 414-342-5474 or email it at info@mtrcinc.org. 

Meta House, an organization that works to end the generational cycle of addiction for women, provides residential and outpatient services. It also has a Recovery Community program that provides a safe, affordable and supportive place for women to live. Its housing program has two divisions: one for single women and one for women with children. To receive treatment services you must be 18 years old. Call 414-977-5844 for information about the residential program, 414-962-1200 for the outpatient program or 414-977-5880 for information about the Recovery Community (housing). You can also contact the admissions team at 414-977-5884 or info@metahouse.org.

West Allis Community Medical Services is a methadone clinic and treatment center located at 2814 S. 108th St. In addition to medication assisted treatment, it also provides counseling, peer support services, and offers same day treatment and walk-in services. You can also reach it by phone at 414-885-3525. 

The United Community Center’s Substance Use Treatment Program is the only bilingual/bicultural treatment program in the state that provides the entire continuum of care for Spanish speaking participants, although its programs are not limited to Spanish speakers. Services at UCC include residential treatment programs for men, women and pregnant and postpartum women, and day and outpatient treatment and walk-in assessments. You can contact the organization online or by calling 414-384-3100. 

Serenity Inns, located at 2825 W. Brown St., is a residential treatment center for men. The program provides drug and alcohol treatment as part of a seven month transitional living program for homeless men. Participants also have the opportunity to transition into their own homes or Serenity’s alumni house, where they can remain engaged in programs for 18 months. You can contact it at 414-873-5474.

Educational resources

South Sider Isaac Solis began a fentanyl awareness social media campaign One Pill Kills and launched the website 1pillkills.org after he lost his son Bubba to a fake fentanyl pill. The website and campaign provide local and national information on fentanyl and prevention strategies. You can also learn about fentanyl and counterfeit pills at https://www.dea.gov/onepill. 

Milwaukee County launched an online dashboard in March that helps officials, community leaders, researchers and others track drug overdoses. The Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard is also available for public use.  

The post Where to find substance abuse resources in Milwaukee appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Leer en español: una versión traducida de este artículo está disponible debajo de la versión en inglés.

By now, you’ve likely heard about the new second COVID-19 booster shot.

It’s for people over the age of 50 and those who are immunocompromised, or have significant limits to their immune system.

Here are some things you should know.

Who can get it?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, and Food and Drug Administration announced March 29 that certain populations are eligible to receive a second booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

People who have already received two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can also get an mRNA booster shot.

Those who received the Johnson & Johnson shot, which is an adenovirus shot that does not contain mRNA, can now receive an additional dose of Pfizer or Moderna that do contain mRNA to reduce their risk of serious illness.

Dr. Heather Paradis, chief medical officer for the Milwaukee Health Department, said adding a dose of mRNA vaccines to the Johnson & Johnson vaccines will provide more overall protection to people.

The CDC has a table on its website that shows eligibility for each of the three vaccines.

Pfizer booster doses are only available to those aged 12 or older. Moderna booster doses are available to those 18 or older.

When can I get the new booster?

The second booster shot can be administered four months after the first booster.

The timeline for the total vaccine series for those eligible is now about nine months from the time of their second dose.

• The first two doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, separated by three or four weeks respectively
• A booster dose at least five months after the initial series
• A second booster dose available four months after the first booster

For individuals who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, the timeline is shortened. The CDC’s recommendation for these individuals is as follows:

• The first two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, separated by three or four weeks respectively
• A third dose given four weeks later
• A booster dose at least three months after the third dose

The guidance applies for a booster after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, except immunocompromised individuals can get a booster two months after receiving their second dose.

A full breakdown of the CDC’s guidance for immunocompromised individuals is available on its website. This includes a list of conditions that could qualify someone for immunocompromised status.

Why are these new doses available?

The decision was made after the CDC and FDA reviewed international data from the United Kingdom and Israel regarding the long-term effectiveness of the vaccine.

Dr. Joyce Sanchez, an infectious disease specialist at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, said the data suggested some loss of protection against severe illness and death after four months, particularly in the population above age 60.

According to the CDC, people with booster shots were 21 times less likely to die of COVID-19 during the Omicron variant surge that began in early winter than people who were unvaccinated. They were also seven times less likely to be hospitalized.

Should I get the new booster?

It’s up to you. Sanchez recommended that individuals speak with their doctor about receiving the second booster.

Anyone over the age of 50 with a comorbidity should consider getting the shot, she said. Comorbidities include chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and other conditions that can worsen COVID-19.

“If you have a medical comorbidity, I see little downside,” Sanchez said.

Where can I get it?

To locate vaccine options around the city, visit the HealthyMKE website. You can search through an interactive map, events and pop-up clinics and locations like federally qualified health centers to find the best option for you.

The Milwaukee Health Department is offering shots at its dedicated locations:

On Monday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road
• Southside Health Center,1639 S. 23rd St. 

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Menomonee Valley Testing Site, 2401 W. St. Paul Ave.

Vaccines can also be located on the federal government’s website, Vaccines.gov. You can also text your ZIP code to 438829 or call 800-232-0233 for assistance.

Lo que necesita saber sobre la segunda vacuna de refuerzo COVID

A estas alturas, es probable que haya oído hablar de la segunda vacuna de refuerzo contra el COVID-19.

Es para personas mayores de 50 años y aquellas inmunocomprometidas o que tienen limitaciones significativas en su sistema inmunológico.

Aquí hay algunas cosas que debería saber.

¿Quién puede conseguirlo?

Los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades, o CDC, y la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos anunciaron el 29 de marzo que ciertas poblaciones son elegibles para recibir una segunda inyección de refuerzo de la vacuna COVID-19.

Las personas que ya han recibido dos dosis de la vacuna Johnson & Johnson también pueden recibir una inyección de refuerzo de ARNm.

Quienes recibieron la inyección de Johnson & Johnson, que es una inyección de adenovirus que no contiene ARNm, ahora pueden recibir una dosis adicional de Pfizer o Moderna que sí contienen ARNm para reducir el riesgo de enfermedades graves.

La Dra. Heather Paradis, directora médica del Departamento de Salud de Milwaukee, dijo que agregar una dosis de vacunas de ARNm a las vacunas de Johnson & Johnson brindará una mayor protección general a las personas.

El CDC tiene una tabla en su sitio web que muestra la elegibilidad para cada una de las tres vacunas .

Las dosis de refuerzo de Pfizer solo están disponibles para personas mayores de 12 años. Las dosis de refuerzo de Moderna están disponibles para mayores de 18 años.

¿Cuándo puedo obtener el nuevo refuerzo?

La segunda vacuna de refuerzo se puede administrar cuatro meses después del primer refuerzo.

El cronograma para la serie total de vacunas para aquellos elegibles ahora es de aproximadamente nueve meses desde el momento de su segunda dosis.

• Las dos primeras dosis de la vacuna Pfizer o Moderna, separadas por tres o cuatro semanas respectivamente
• Una dosis de refuerzo al menos cinco meses después de la serie inicial
• Una segunda dosis de refuerzo disponible cuatro meses después del primer refuerzo

Para las personas con inmunodepresión moderada o grave, el plazo se acorta. La recomendación de los CDC para estas personas es la siguiente:

• Las dos primeras dosis de Pfizer o Moderna, separadas por tres o cuatro semanas respectivamente
• Una tercera dosis administrada cuatro semanas después.
• Una dosis de refuerzo al menos tres meses después de la tercera dosis

La guía se aplica a un refuerzo después de la vacuna de Johnson & Johnson, excepto que las personas inmunodeprimidas pueden recibir un refuerzo dos meses después de recibir su segunda dosis.

Un desglose completo de la guía de los CDC para personas inmunodeprimidas está disponible en su sitio web. Esto incluye una lista de condiciones que podrían calificar a alguien para el estado inmunocomprometido.

¿Por qué están disponibles estas nuevas dosis?

La decisión se tomó después de que los CDC y la FDA revisaran los datos internacionales del Reino Unido e Israel sobre la eficacia a largo plazo de la vacuna.

La Dra. Joyce Sanchez, especialista en enfermedades infecciosas de Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, dijo que los datos sugirieron cierta pérdida de protección contra enfermedades graves y muerte después de cuatro meses, particularmente en la población mayor de 60 años.

Según los CDC, las personas con vacunas de refuerzo tenían 21 veces menos probabilidades de morir de COVID-19 durante el aumento de la variante Omicron que comenzó a principios del invierno que las personas que no estaban vacunadas. También tenían siete veces menos probabilidades de ser hospitalizados.

¿Debo obtener el nuevo refuerzo?

Usted decide. Sánchez recomendó que las personas hablen con su médico acerca de recibir el segundo refuerzo.

Cualquier persona mayor de 50 años con una comorbilidad debería considerar vacunarse, dijo. Las comorbilidades incluyen enfermedades crónicas como diabetes, presión arterial alta, asma y otras condiciones que pueden empeorar el COVID-19.

“Si tiene una comorbilidad médica, veo pocas desventajas”, dijo Sánchez.

¿Dónde puedo conseguirlo?

Para ubicar las opciones de vacunas en la ciudad, visite el sitio web de HealthyMKE . Puede buscar a través de un mapa interactivo, eventos y clínicas emergentes y ubicaciones como centros de salud calificados a nivel federal para encontrar la mejor opción para usted.

El Departamento de Salud de Milwaukee ofrece vacunas en sus ubicaciones dedicadas:

Lunes y viernes de 9 a 15 h, martes y jueves de 12 a 18 h y sábado de 9 a 13 h

• Centro de Salud del Noroeste, 7630 W. Mill Road
• Centro de Salud de Southside, 1639 S. 23rd St. 

Los lunes, miércoles y viernes de 12 a 18 h y los martes y jueves de 9 a 15 h

• Sitio de prueba de Menomonee Valley, 2401 W. St. Paul Ave.

Las vacunas también se pueden encontrar en el sitio web del gobierno federal, Vaccines.gov . También puede enviar un mensaje de texto con su código postal al 438829 o llamar al 800-232-0233 para obtener ayuda.

The post What you need to know about the second COVID booster shot appeared first on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.