Author: NNS

The Department of Neighborhood Service’s Code Loan Program provided a no-interest deferred loan of more than $12,000 for repairs on Maria Alvarado’s home, including a new deck, stairs and a brick retaining wall. In late 2014, Maria Alvarado bought her first home, a foreclosed duplex in the Burnham Park neighborhood that she knew was a fixer-upper. “We had the ceiling, floors and walls repaired, put in new doors and fixed a lot of other things,” said Alvarado in Spanish. Later, contractors were hired to reinforce the deteriorating porch and balcony leading to an upper entrance. That’s when Alvarado’s problems...

The Mitchell Park Domes Task Force, composed of county supervisors, local leaders and residents will meet for the first time on Oct. 12, and expects to make recommendations on the future of the conservatory within a year, according to Jason Haas, task force member and county supervisor for the 14th District. The announcement from Haas comes days after the Tropical Dome, closed since February due to safety concerns, was reopened to the public after installation of mesh safety netting was completed on Sept. 23. Fallen chunks of concrete from the ceiling of the Desert Dome led to the closure...

The Wisconsin Doulas of Color Collective celebrates its new home at the Body and Soul Healing Arts Center. In the wee hours of the morning on July 1, 2015, Valencia Laws decided it was time to take a walk around Wilson Park. Her water had broken the night before and after eight hours of contractions she set off, accompanied by her husband and her doula, DeAnna Tharpe. “There were people walking their dogs and I would have a contraction and have to stop,” she said. “They would be looking at me like ‘I don’t know if she’s supposed to...

More than 50 Common Ground leaders and members stuffed themselves like sardines into four large vans during a recent tour of Sherman Park. Individuals piled in and out of the vans, stopping to see neighborhood improvements spearheaded by Common Ground, such as Milwaukee Rising homes and the Invisible Reality Ministries church. Common Ground, an organization comprising religious groups, small businesses, nonprofits, schools, unions and neighborhood associations, has actively worked to improve Sherman Park for the past eight years, reducing the number of vacant homes from 300 to 60 and redeveloping 75 homes through the Milwaukee Rising program. Applause permeated...

LaShawndra Vernon had experienced Walnut Way’s annual Harvest Festival before, but not as the executive director of the nonprofit neighborhood organization. Vernon watched as families and community members explored the bouncy house, food trucks, tables set up by local businesses and continuous entertainment in the middle of the block. “It started as a way to get the neighborhood together,” Vernon said about the annual Harvest Festival, which began in 2000. “It is a great way for the community to come together in an organic way.” As a former program director at United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County,...

Attendees release balloons in a tribute to Eric Von, the iconic Milwaukee media personality who recently died unexpectedly. After a dark, rainy morning, sun finally broke through the clouds over Sherman Park as a host of orange balloons ascended into the bright blue sky. The balloon release, a tribute to Eric Von, who recently passed away unexpectedly, was a fitting opening to a gathering that sought to demonstrate unity in Milwaukee’s black community. “He was truly the voice of Milwaukee,” long-time colleague Ptosha Davis said of Von, whose 25-year career as a journalist spanned multiple radio stations, Milwaukee Public...