Eyes on the Neighborhood

Citizens can now receive email notification of crime activity in their neighborhoods – or in any area of Milwaukee – using the City of Milwaukee's E-Notify system.

Learn how

Crime and Revitalization

“One of the greatest threats to community revitalization is crime. And the big
generator of crime is community disintegration. Police and grassroots community
builders can and must become greater stakeholders in and defenders of the
investments made by one another. They can do this if they jointly target crime
and blight problems — and then build on those successes to achieve more.”

William Bratton, Chief, Los Angeles Police Department
addresses the LISC National Leadership Conference in
Los Angeles, Calif.
Read full report

Announcement: Investment in Harambee Neighborhood

On February 14, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its foundation will announce nearly $1.3 million and hundreds of volunteers to help fund efforts to improve educational opportunities, housing and other community needs in the Harambee North neighborhood in Milwaukee.

Thrivent Builds Neighborhoods and Thrivent Builds Homes are part of the national alliance between Thrivent Financial and Habitat for Humanity International. Thrivent Financial became Habitat for Humanity’s largest ally as a result of a four-year $105 million commitment to help increase the non-profit housing ministry’s home building production. In addition, Thrivent Financial provides volunteers through its national network of nearly 3 million members.

How do we connect?

A meeting was held on January 24 for individuals and organizations who want to be early leaders in making Harambee one of Milwaukee's Great Neighborhoods. It was a high-energy meeting, where numerous ideas for collaboration among organizations serving the neighborhood--and connecting with residents during the planning process and beyond--bubbled up.

One thing that became clear in the discussion is that there are a lot of committed, creative and hard-working people working to make a difference in Harambee. All agreed that we should strive to get to know one another's work so that we can make residents and the city at large aware of all of the opportunities available here. I volunteered to create this blog to facilitate communication and sharing.

Please start by sharing a short post about yourself, your organization, and/or your work in Harambee. Include a link to your website if you have one.

Plan the Future

Is your neighborhood all that you want it to be?

Join us for a planning workshop.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

(Lunch provided-rsvp in advance)

• learn what's going on in the neighborhood
• help identify where resources are needed
• invite your neighbors
• share lunch and enter to win door prizes

Heartlove Place, 3229 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Milwaukee

For more information or to RSVP, please call Steve Adams at 414.906.9650 or email Steve at stevea@riverworksmke.org.

Sponsored by Riverworks Milwaukee and Harambee Ombudsman Project.

Welcome to Harambee Blog

Welcome to a blog about the Harambee Neighborhood of Milwaukee. The blog will contain posts of relevance to the Harambee Neighborhood, in particular the northern section, defined by Center Street on the south, Capitol Drive on the north, I-43 on the west, and Holton Street on the east. The neighborhood began work on a neighborhood plan in late 2006. This planning process will involve local residents and business owners in creating a vision for their community and determining strategic priorities. The plan will include physical, social, and economic improvements that address key quality of life issues. Further, the plan will serve as a blueprint for investment in the neighborhood by public, private, and philanthropic entities.

This blog welcomes and encourages comments from readers. Authors of this blog are participants in the Harambee Great Neighborhood Task Force. If you'd like to get involved, email kberger@lisc.org.