HOPE to dedicate new building at Five Points

HOPE Christian Schools recently completed construction of a $3.27 million learning facility, the first of three buildings planned for their second grade school campus. The building has more than a dozen green features such as solar power, eco-friendly air conditioning, and energy-saving lighting controls. By design, the building’s structure and systems will be exposed and used as educational tools for students. This fall enrollment at the school increased from 70 to 150, as the middle school moved from the former Holton Youth Center and added grades K4-3 in the new building.

Please mark your calendars for the dedication of the new building on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 11 a.m.

For more information on the Hope School's new building, the first new building located in the Five Points redevelopment area of the Harambee Community, visit http://www.thehopeschools.org/articles/newschool.html

Harambee Celebrates Arts and Culture

Last Friday evening, Harambee continued its foray into Milwaukee's art scene as the storefront and exercise studio in King Commons 2 at the corner of Hadley and King hosted Gallery Night. The event was a forty-year retrospective of the work of artist Reynaldo Hernandez. A crowd of over two hundred--young, old and in-between--came through to see Reynaldo's works from over the years, addressing caustic social issues, while maintaining a sense of idealism, authenticity and progress. A jazz fusion ensemble led by Reynaldo's son on guitar provided entertainment.

The Harambee Committee on Arts and Culture has been lucky to have the active participation of an artist of Reynaldo's caliber. Reynaldo is also the artist behind the Harambee mural on the Clinton Rose Senior Center, and is currently working with youth from Harambee and Riverwest on a mural for the Beerline Trail. The HCAC plans another Gallery Night for October 16.

Mural Project Set to Begin

The Beerline Trail Mural Project is scheduled to begin this upcoming Monday, July 20 at 11:00 am. Thanks to assistance we received from community partners in promoting the project and spreading the news to youth in the HGNI area, 15 youth applied for 3 available apprentice positions! 10 of these individuals were interviewed on Wednesday, and from the feedback I received from Artworks for Milwaukee and Reynaldo Hernandez, all the kids were terrific. We're confident that this project will be a positive experience for everyone involved, including the general public that will benefit from a piece of community art.

We'll do our best to keep everybody posted through the HGNI blog, but don't hesitate to contact me for any news or updates. You can reach me by phone at 414-906-9650 or by email at chrisg@riverworksmke.org.

If you're reading this message from the Harambee Connections group, you can access more information regarding the project by going to the "Harambee - A Great Neighborhood" blog site at http://harambeegreatneighborhood.blogspot.com/.

Beerline Trail Youth Mural Project

The Harambee Great Neighborhoods Initiative together with Artworks for Milwaukee, mural artist Reynaldo Hernandez, and Riverworks Development Corporation finalized a project to work with youth in producing a mural this summer. Reynaldo Hernandez will be the lead artist, and we are looking to hire three neighborhood youth to work with him as youth apprentices. Youth will be paid $6.00/hr over a five week program period. All apprentices must be enrolled in high school and live in the 53212 zip code north of Center Street.

The project is scheduled to begin on July 20 at Reynaldo's studio. Applications must be submitted to Meghan Koven at Artworks for Milwaukee by July 13. You can access this application and all the details by visiting the Artworks for Milwaukee website at http://www.artworksformilwaukee.org/. Scroll down to the "Announcements" section where the Beerline Trail Mural Project is highlighted and open the application by clicking on the "Click here" link.

If you have any questions or need assistance accessing the application or filling it out, feel free to contact Meghan Koven at Artworks for Milwaukee at 414-277-8506. You may also contact Chris Grandt at Riverworks at chrisg@riverworksmke.org or 414-906-9650.

Thanks

Partners Join Habitat at Harambee Wallraising

Last Monday, May 11, Members of the the Harambee Great Neighborhood Steering Committee and joined Mayor Tom Barrett at the symbolic wallraising for ten homes to be built by Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity and their volunteers.

This year, Thrivent Builds is providing $704,280 and will mobilize its members and other volunteers to build 10 homes in Milwaukee’s Harambee Great Neighborhood. Since 2006, the first year of the program, Thrivent Builds has mobilized more than 6,000 volunteers who have dedicated more than 50,000 hours to help build 30 homes in Milwaukee, 20 of them in Harambee. Lots for these homes were contributed by the City of Milwaukee and Inner City Redevelopment Corporation.

To learn more about the build, visit Milwaukee Habitat's website. To learn more about the new Harambee neighbors who are helping to build these homes and who will move into them when they are complete, click here.

Community Action Resource Fair - May 30, 2009

Riverworks, Safe and Sound, the Milwaukee Police Dept., and the Marquette University Restorative Justice Initiative invite you to a resource fair and barbecue.

GET INFORMATION ABOUT…

• Summer Activities for Youth


• Job Readiness Training


• Which Schools are Offering Summer School – How To Sign up


• Summer Camps, Day Camps, Playground Openings, Meal Programs, & Community Learning Centers (CLC)

WHEN: May 30, 2009
WHERE: COA GOLDEN CENTER, 2320 W. Burleigh Street
TIME: 11:00 AM UNTIL 3:00 PM

Sounds like a great event for families looking for summer activities.

Harambee Home To Be Improved

Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee Celebrates National Rebuilding Day in Harambee Community

Milwaukee WI - (May 16th, 2009) - On May 16th one Harambee homeowner, along with thousands of low-income homeowners nationwide, will have something to celebrate. Rebuilding Together, the nation’s leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities, will tackle improvements at a home at 429 W. Chambers as part of National Rebuilding Day. Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee along with more than 200 fellow Rebuilding Together affiliates across the country and the help of thousands of volunteers will rehabilitate and improve this home at no cost to the owner.

“On this 21st annual National Rebuilding Day the need has never been greater. America’s low-income homeowners are faced with daunting challenges in attempt to mange food and health care along with basic home maintenance, struggling to retain homeownership in neighborhoods where real estate values have plummeted,” said Lynnea Katz-Petted, Executive Director Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee.

Continued Katz-Petted, “Rebuilding Together makes it possible for homeowners to remain in safe and healthy homes, keep their independence and dignity and preserve home equity which in many cases is the sole source of personal wealth.”

“We are thankful to all of our Sponsors, Foundation supporters and individual donors, for their incredible support of the community through Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee,” said Lynnea Katz-Petted, executive director of Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee. RTGM's work on the Harambee home is sponsored by M&I Bank.

Since 2000 RTGM has rehabilitated 210 homes, 5 nonprofits and invested over $4.6 million dollars into Milwaukee area housing. For more information or to get involved please contact Lynnea Katz-Petted at 414-704-1581 or visit www.rtmilwaukee.org.

Online Workshop on Parks, Gathering Places, and Public Spaces

It's in the Harambee Great Neighborhood plan...Clinton Rose Park is a place neighbors want to improve and enjoy. Join a LISC-sponsored webinar featuring our local Beth Fetterly of the Urban Ecology Center plus other practitioners from around the country to learn how others have transformed parks in their neighborhoods.


Connecting housing, jobs, amenities, schools, and parks and open space is a key part of revitalized communities. Join this webcast to learn more about how neighborhood leaders are identifying natural assets and creating new community spaces. National experts and local practitioners will discuss strategies that involve citizens, local leaders, and local governments in successful models across the country. This will be an interactive session with an opportunity for participant questions and comments.

When: May 20
1:00 – 1:30 pm CST
Panel: Ben Welle, Trust for Public Land Washington DC
Beth Fetterley, Urban Ecology Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Beverly Smith, LISC New York, New York
Julia Seward, LISC Moderator



To join the Meeting: click or paste the link below:
https://cc.readytalk.com/r/cz0gow7ur2tv



For more details, download the flyer here.

Buy in Your Neighborhood

Are you tired of looking at that boarded up house down the street that the bank currently owns and living with all the problems it causes? Why don't you buy it and rent it out?


With Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds from the federal government, the City now provides funding to help homeowners buy a foreclosed property within three blocks of where they live for rental purposes. Both financial and technical assistance is provided. If the property is in need of rehabilitation, homeowners may apply for funds to rehab as well.


Learn more about the programs...

To find out where you the bank-owned foreclosure properties are, visit http://www.mkedcd.org/foreclosures/ There is an interactive satellite map here showing the 1800 properties citywide, and zooming into 53212 and the Harambee Great Neighborhood, you'll see there are over 100. Help recruit 100 neighborhood owners to buy and care for these properties!

Mary Leach-Sumlin of ACTS, a Harambee nonprofit that assists families with homeownership opportunities and rehab projects, knows these and other programs and can answer questions about the qualifying and buying process. Give her a call at 414-372-3543.

Habitat to Build Ten More

At 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 11, 2009 – during a busy volunteer build day – Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will kick-off this year’s Thrivent Builds program. The event at 3000 N. Richards Street will celebrate the collaboration between Thrivent and Habitat, as well as the volunteers who are creating hope for, and bringing help to, the neighborhood. Join elected officials Senator Kohl, Senator Feingold, Congresswoman Moore, County Executive Walker, Mayor Tom Barrett and other leaders, who have been invited as well.

This year, Thrivent is providing $704,280 and will mobilize its members and other volunteers to build 10 homes in Milwaukee’s Harambee Great Neighborhood. Since 2006, the first year of the program, Thrivent Builds has mobilized more than 6,000 volunteers who have dedicated more than 50,000 hours to help build 30 homes in Milwaukee alone. In Wisconsin, Thrivent Builds volunteers have constructed 106 homes since 2006, with 32 more scheduled for this year.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity are humbled to be able to put our faith into action by joining together to help build better communities, one home at a time. We hope that you can participate in this special event.

Cluster Two Cleaners Heroic (and Lonely)

Like a lot of Milwaukeeans, on Saturday morning, April 18, Harambee residents participated in the Great American Cleanup. One group of fifteen heroic neighbors took to the streets of Cluster Two with rakes, shovels and garbage bags. In the picture at the left, you can see a lonely worker giving the gutters a raking.

With only fifteen helpers, they didn't cover nearly all the ground they had hoped to - they had expected fifty people, based on the responses they had received to their flyers, phone calls and personal requests. Still, they were able to gather over forty garbage bags full of winter's leftovers. And, undeterred, they're busy planning their next cleanup (and looking forward to their community garden planting next Saturday).

If you would like to volunteer or bring a community service group to help clean up in Cluster Two, or in any of the other Harambee neighborhoods, please contact Nannette Smith. The next HGNI cleanup is scheduled for May 9 in Richards Hill.

MAYOR TOM BARRETT CALLS ATTENTION TO NEW STATE LAW THAT PROTECTS TENANT RIGHTS DURING FORECLOSURE

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is promoting a new state law that recently took effect that protects the rights of renters of foreclosed properties.

Under the new state law:

* Landlords must provide written notice to tenants or prospective tenants when foreclosure action begins, and again when the deadline expires for the landlord to repay to avoid foreclosure.

* Banks and financial institutions must provide written notice three times to current tenants of the property in foreclosure: when the foreclosure action begins, when the court issues a judgment, and when the property will be placed for sale. Failure to provide notice carries a $250 fine plus attorney fees.

* Tenants may stay in their rental residence up to two months following sale of the foreclosed property.

* If there is a security deposit, tenants can withhold rent and let the security deposit cover the last month before the foreclosure 'redemption' period expires. This means the time allowed for a property owner to stop the foreclosure from moving forward, a period that lasts between six to 12 months.

* Beginning June 6, the Wisconsin Circuit Court records cannot display information regarding a tenant eviction that was prompted by mortgage foreclosure.

"After hearing horror stories of tenants losing money and being evicted because they were living in foreclosed properties, the City of Milwaukee requested a change in state law," Barrett said. "I am happy to see that changes have been made and that our residents now have greater rights to safe and secure rental housing during these difficult economic times."

Barrett credited members of the Milwaukee Foreclosure Partnership Initiative and members of the Wisconsin State Legislature for working to protect tenants' rights during the foreclosure process. State Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) and State Representative Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) were the lead sponsors of the legislation, which was included in the recent state budget and economic stimulus package. Minnesota and California have passed similar tenant protection laws.

Property owners (and renters) at risk from foreclosure are encouraged to visit http://www.milwaukeehousinghelp.org/ for referral information on housing counseling agencies, legal advice and more.

Beer Line Trail Art Collaboration Exhibition

Saturday April 18 (10:00-3:00) * King Commons II * 2767 N. King Drive


Red Line Milwaukee has partnered with Raoul Deal and the UWM Peck School of the Arts for an art collaboration featuring student artists, who are creating art instillations on the Beerline Trail. The collaborative art exhibit will document and capture the community building and civic engagement processes inherent in public art-making, which would not be possible without the support of Riverworks Corp., GroundWorks Milwaukee, and our many other supporters.



With Special Guests:

Darrin Reasby - Drawing & Visual Artist
Showcasing 3 Generations: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and President Obama


Rozalia Singh – 3D & 2D Visual Artist


Romero Hernandez – 3D & 2D Visual Artist

Energy Assistance Applications available through May 15

Do you need help with the cost of heating your home? The Energy Assistance Program helps individuals and families pay their home heating and electric bills during the winter, and pays for improvements to homes and apartments to make them more energy efficient (weatherization). Energy grants depend on family size, income level and energy costs and change each year. Applicants for energy assistance must provide copies of their utility or heating oil bills, proof of income for all adult family members 18 and older and the social security cards for everyone in the household. Energy assistance applications are taken at the 2008-2009 Energy Locations operated by the Social Development Commission (SDC) and are available until May 15th, 2009.

Visit the SDC SDC Richards Street office at 4041 N. Richards Street between Mon. - Fri., 7:30 am - 4:30 pm (doors open at 7:30) to apply.

Driver's License Recovery

We all know that the lack of a valid driver's license can serve as a significant barrier to many Milwaukee residents looking for employment. To help address this, Riverworks Development Corporation is now helping individuals restore driver's licenses that are suspended or revoked. We are referring Milwaukee residents with these issues to Justice 2000 and its Center for Driver's License Recovery and Employability. Through this program, many individuals are able to recover their driver's licenses, retain and obtain employment, and provide a better quality of life for themselves and their families.

We have referral forms that can be filled out in our offices so that appointments can be arranged with Justice 2000. If you know any Harambee residents who could benefit from having their driver's licenses restored, please have them set up an appointment with Marvele Carter, Benefits Navigator of the Riverworks Center for Family Prosperity. Marvele can be reached at (414) 906-9650 to schedule appointments and answer questions.

Art in the Neighborhood

Desmond and Ashley, two young Harambee artists, were among those featured in Harambee's first ever Gallery Night event held on January 16. The storefront in King Commons 2 at the corner of Hadley and King came alive as over 100 people viewed posters made by students, saw works by professional artists Cynthia Henry, Reynaldo Hernandez and Kelvin Haydon, and participated in a community art project.

This event, put on by the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative's Committee on Arts and Culture (CAC) in conjunction with Artworks for Milwaukee, is hoped to be the first of many art openings and Gallery Nights on King Drive. The CAC is planning a full range of arts and cultural activities for 2009. Lots of creative minds and helping hands are needed. If you'd like to get involved, contact irembert@uwm.edu.

Market Basket and Growing Power on King Drive

The Market Basket Program consists of weekly deliveries of safe, healthy and affordable produce to neighborhoods throughout Milwaukee. Customers may also purchase pasture-raised meats, farm fresh eggs, fruit baskets and Urban Clover Honey when in season.

Will Allen, Executive Director of Growing Power (GP) will introduce this program and discuss other GP activities at:

2:00 PM on Friday, January 30, 2009
2775 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
(Southwest corner of King Drive and Hadley Street)

Growing Power is a national nonprofit organization and land trust that works to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food, by offering hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner.

Market Basket on King Drive is a joint venture of Growing Power and Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation.
For more details call 414-264-5000. We hope to see you on January 30.