Author: NNS

When Dennis Walton went to the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative for help 11 years ago, he never expected to find a home. The mother of his three children had left him, taking them with her. He was depressed and alone. But the initiative helped him to turn a negative into a positive, just as it does for 1,000 men each year. Now co-director of the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, Walton has joint custody of his two sons, ages 14 and 5, and his daughter, 13. The organization’s services include driver’s license recovery, child support debt reduction, education and men’s health. The...

The café is a member of One World Everybody Eats (OWEE), a network of donation-based cafés around the United States, operating under a “pay it forward” model. Raymond Garner, 11, was walking a few blocks away from his home near Sherman Park when he caught sight of a man he recognized engaging in an interesting project. David Melby-Gibbons was building chairs for the new Tricklebee Café, run by his spouse and executive director the Rev. Christie Melby-Gibbons, a Morovian pastor. Garner joined in the building process and returned to enjoy the fruits of his labor at the café with...

Milwaukee ranked poorly on an assessment of employers’ willingness to hire people with an irregular work history and limited “soft skills,” such as showing up on time and getting along with supervisors. The Community Readiness assessment was commissioned by YWCA Southeast Wisconsin, which released the results at a recent Employer Summit at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Community readiness is the degree to which a community is ready to take action on a specific issue. Readiness can range from zero, meaning the community is not aware of the issue, to nine, meaning that it has successful programs in place...

After graduating from Custer High School 16 years ago, Tim Brown interviewed with company after company looking for carpentry work, but found no one willing or able to hire him. Ultimately a referral from one of those interviews led to a career in masonry (bricklaying). “The guy who interviewed me for carpentry, he could’ve said, ‘Here’s a [plumbing] contact.’ I would’ve [taken] whatever was available,” said Brown. Now an organizer with the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of Wisconsin, Brown goes to career fairs and other events hoping to provide people with information and a connection to an industry that...

Reggie Moore has directed Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention since April. Mayor Tom Barrett has said he selected Moore for the role because of his career working for youth. Moore helped found two nonprofits that uplift young people: the Center for Youth Engagement and Urban Underground. Moore said he hopes that his government position will allow him to bridge the gap between policy and community, and reduce violence. | Q&A Q: What makes you good at your job? A: I don’t see it as a job. I see it as an extension of the work that I have been...

Since Phyllis Wilson retired from her job at Milwaukee Public Schools, she has fallen behind in maintaining her 130-year-old home in the Harambee area. First, she started noticing problems with her roof. Then, she became concerned about the plumbing. With cold weather approaching, Wilson said that she would like an expert to look at her roof and plumbing because she is concerned about leaks. Since her mother is having similar problems in her house, Wilson set out to get information. That’s when she heard about Milwaukee’s Housing Resource Fair. Wilson, who is retired, said that it can be difficult...