Author: NNS

By Allison Steines • Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service The first Walls of Strength installation was mounted recently at Ascension Lutheran Church in Clarke Square. The idea formed late one night, when Lori Gramling was ruminating over presidential candidate Donald Trump’s talk of building a wall. “I was so bothered by the negativity. I heard a voice nagging me, ‘Ya know what, let’s build a wall. A different kind of wall,’” recalled Gramling, psychologist and owner of Tree of Life Earthworks. Gramling brought her wall-building idea to the Sisters Central City Circle of Change, a group of professional women committed...

By Jabril Faraj • Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service An informational meeting Monday at City Hall disappointed hundreds of city residents hoping to take advantage of a new program that will sell city-owned foreclosed properties for $1. Only developers can purchase the properties. The recently announced City of Milwaukee program allows developers to buy city-owned foreclosures in the greater Sherman Park area for $1; they would be required to employ one unemployed or underemployed individual on each project. Participating developers also will be required to buy at least five one- or two-family homes, and will receive a $10,000 grant per...

Dionne Grayson has spent the last 20 years supporting young people in the Milwaukee area. She is co-founder and executive director of Lead2Change, which offers career readiness programs to “empower and inspire youth to be catalysts for change in their communities.” The programs include a youth advisory council, and weekly workshops focusing on financial planning, conflict management and teamwork. Grayson and Lead2Change recently earned a $1,500 prize in the “disruptive challenge” category at the Milwaukee Leadership Summit, for a career-training idea that encompasses digital marketing, information technology, graphic design and video production. | Q&A Q: Tell us more about...

Ryan Graham grew up in his grandmother’s house on North 23rd Street in the 53206 ZIP code of Milwaukee. Ryan Graham is just a teenager, but he already has an academic scholarship named in his honor, is working as an educational coordinator for a nonprofit organization and serves on its board. A senior in the first graduating class of Carmen High School of Science & Technology’s Northwest Campus, Graham said he was an introvert and a bit of a loner until he decided to give the nonprofit teen leadership program Teens Grow Greens a try last February. A friend...

Gerry Howze, who came from a tough upbringing in Chicago, is executive director of PEARLS for Teen Girls, a nonprofit in Milwaukee that works to guide its participants toward a better future. In 2015, the organization served 1,603 girls, 68 percent of whom were in middle school. Ninety percent have graduated high school and are on track for post-secondary success. | Q&A Q: What led you to this leadership position? A: My journey has been a series of events, from losing my parents early to becoming a teen parent and making lots of really bad decisions. I have been...

In August, sometimes-violent demonstrations engulfed the Sherman Park neighborhood over two nights following the police kіIIing of Sylville K. Smith, a 23-year-old black man. In the wake of the events, community leaders and residents of the area pointed to unequal treatment of African-Americans and a lack of investment in low-income central city communities as underlying reasons for the disorder. Community groups and individuals have since called for an approach that addresses “the conditions of misery and want” in Milwaukee. Recently, at the Washington Park Library, only blocks from the August demonstrations, about 25 individuals employed in the nonprofit sector...