2023 third cycle grants

A Better Tomorrow: $20,000 to fund the furnishing of four one-bedroom apartments for use by a mother and up to two children during a family crisis. In addition to stabilizing the family with shelter, the project provides social and emotional support for families to help them navigate the tumultuous effects of a traumatic transition to temporary housing. 

ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis: $20,000 for general operating support of the organization's mission to provide peer-support to individuals enduring a breast cancer diagnosis.

Above the Clouds: $25,000 to support its mission to provide free arts education classes for children ages 5-17 in ballet, hip hop, modern dance, martial arts, piano, and theatre.Sites for ATC's classes include Greater Life Community Center, Eastbrook Academy, Mount Calvary School and Silver Spring Neighborhood Center.

Action for the Climate Emergency: $25,000 for a multiday summit for youth to support them in building skills to effectively engage in advocacy efforts around climate change.

Alaafia Women’s Corporation: $46,100 to fund research on the experience of sickle cell patients, in coordination with researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, to investigate the relationship between patient lifestyles and how pain management practices present challenges in managing their disease.

American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Foundation: $15,000 to support its community engagement programs that offer young people an opportunity to learn and practice arts disciplines while furthering their understanding of their civil rights and liberties, growing in their leadership skills and opportunities, and building connections with peers and other community members. The three primary programs are Youth Social Justice Forum, Student Alliances and Summer Justice Institute.

Aperi Animam: $5,000 to allow the grassroots vocal ensemble to increase the hours and compensation of its small, contracted staff and ensemble in order to strengthen its sustainability by growing audience and donors. Comprised of individuals in their 20s and 30s, Aperi Animam presents concerts in traditional and nontraditional settings, often free to the public or for a free-will offering, that respond to relevant contemporary events and reflect diversity in all ways. 

Art Start: $25,000 to support Creative Connections, a year-round program serving high school and post-high school youth interested in careers in the creative sector, by broadening access to meaningful and practical opportunities in the creative arts industries.

Arts@Large: $25,000 to support its mission of providing intensive arts education to over 5,000 students and 175 teachers at 30+ MPS schools.

Artists Working in Education: $25,000 to support AWE in providing high quality arts education to youth, ages 4 to 18, a large majority of whom are economically disadvantaged. AWE programs include Truck Studio, free drop-in arts enrichment activities for youth in parks, libraries, and other public places; AWE's Arts X Tech STEAM education for middle and high school students; Artist-in-Residence program within schools; and Rising Artists Council for older youth artists.

ArtWorks for Milwaukee: $25,000 to support its paid art and skill-building internships for Milwaukee high school students, most of whom are individuals of color. Yearlong internships focus on environmental arts and graphic design/mental health advocacy.

Bay View Community Center: $43,000 to fund services to build the mental health and well-being of Hispanic early educators in Milwaukee. The project will develop, test and deploy a mental health and wellbeing curriculum alongside Proveedoras Unidas Association and Daniel Educational Services.

BCDI-Wisconsin: $50,000 in general operating funds for the Black child-and-family-focused organization to build racial birth equity through systems change efforts.

Bembe Drum and Dance: $25,000 in general operating funds to support Bembe's mission of sharing the history and cultural significance of Afro-Latino musical traditions through year-round school-based programs, workshops, free performances, and special events that serve BIPOC youth, ages 6-18, and their parents and families. Bembé's on-site residencies take place within Milwaukee Public Schools and at La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha, with short-term residencies at K-12 schools, public libraries, universities and colleges. Bembe is in the process of exploring locations for a consistent, centralized home for its programs.

Benedict Center: $25,000 to provide women involved with the criminal legal system with services to recover from complex traumas and reenter their community following incarceration with the capacity to thrive.Funds will be used to provide program participants with resources to reduce the barriers to their full participation in mental health treatment (transportation, communication technology, etc.).

Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Educational Foundation: $9,080to support the expansion of Safe Routes to school programming into area high schools. This program enlists student ambassadors to encourage their classmates to walk or bike to school. It also uses creative projects to create safe routes to school.

BikerFest Block Party Corporation: $25,000to host engaging biker events, offering a flat track program that teaches racing skills & life lessons, and developing a unique build program. The build program will combine technology, mechanics, and creativity, that will empower participants to create innovative customizations and learning essential skills.

Birth & Embrace Communities: $50,000 in general operating support to support its work of training BIPOC doulas, providing mental health advocacy, coordinating a birth doula intern program and providing trauma-informed, community-based care.

BizStarts Milwaukee: $50,000 to support its Community Market, a one-of-a-kind retail learning lab featuring products and services from entrepreneurs throughout Milwaukee’s low- to moderate-income neighborhoods and BIPOC communities. The market removes the barrier of rent, advertising, inventory, and staffing start-up businesses.

Black Arts MKE: $30,000 in operating funds to support its 10th anniversary season celebration and amplification of African American arts and culture, by helping to build staff capacity and expanding its diverse programs that serve more than 15,000 at-risk youth and their families through arts education and outreach.

Business Educational Consortium: $10,000 to educate, analyze and evaluate minority and women-owned businesses for supplier diversity business enterprise certification. 

Casa Romero Renewal Center: $15,000 to support its operations, with arts programs that serve youth of color from ages 10-20. Programs include after-school art club workshops, art club week-long camps, Latin American music camp, arts showcases, art & activism retreats and art therapy workshops. Programs are led by local BIPOC artists and rooted in partnerships with local Milwaukee middle and high schools.

Catholic Charities: $100,000 to fund bilingual, culturally responsive mental health services to underserved populations of low-income, Spanish-speaking communities. Grant funds will be used for a portion of the lead therapist's professional services.

Center Street Economic Development Corporation: $20,000 in capacity building and start-up costs.

Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Art Museums: $30,000 to support its strategic-driven programming that is rooted in the goal of increasing access to all in the Milwaukee community.

Climb USA: $12,500 to help members grow their own seed capital which can be deployed into businesses, home ownership, community development projects, and education.

COA Youth and Family Centers: $35,000 to purchase a new software system, which will decrease the time spent entering data manually into an old system. 

Community Center for Immigrants: $20,000 to fund a community health coordinator and legal representation for Rohingya refugees to increase their access to unmet mental health care needs. In coordination with the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin and Aurora St. Lukes, CCI will increase Rohingya use of medical exemption benefits, assist with the medical waiver process, and help repair the harms of trauma in a legally prudent manner while navigating the refugee and immigration environment.

Convergence Resource Center: $50,000 to fund mental health care and support to redress the impacts of human trafficking on survivors. Funds will be used for treatment services and to remove barriers to care, including transportation and lack of health insurance.

CORE El Centro: $50,000 in general operating support to advance its culturally specific health and wellness endeavors, including advocacy through education and collaboration alongside integrative health services. Programming includes bilingual health navigation, somatic healing modalities, mindfulness, mental health support, and resources to improve nutrition.

Danceworks: $10,000 to support building restoration and floor installation in spaces used for community-based classes, rental events and performances. The nonprofit experienced sudden, unanticipated water leakage on July 5, 2023 caused by the confluence of an adjacent construction project and heavy rains.

Data You Can Use: $50,000 in general operating support.

Devine Women Foundation: $30,000 to fund services to provide Milwaukee teenagers with mental health education and support using a social determinants frame. Teens are engaged in programming to build healthy lifestyle habits and empower them in positive identity development while helping them navigate healthcare access and treatment. Through peer support groups and individual therapy, teens co-develop their wellness and impact systems of care by reducing stigma.

Dominican Center for Women: $25,000 to promote mental health awareness and provide community-based mental health resources support for residents of Milwaukee's Amani neighborhood by funding the services of a trusted community organizer.

Ebenezer Child Care Centers: $30,000 to fund classroom upgrades for the infants and toddlers' classrooms and to purchase furniture for 3K and 4K classrooms.

End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin: the WI Coalition Against Domestic Violence: $50,000 to provide culturally specific mental health care for survivors of gender-based violence in Milwaukee's communities of color.

Essentially Empowered: $50,000 to provide operating support for the organization's efforts at developing resilience and positive change for expecting birthing people and the industry that supports them.

Everyone On: $25,000 in general operating support.

Exposed the Podcast Foundation Corporation: $24,000 to fund programming to support social-emotional development in MPS students with the goal of generating healthier peer relationships.

Feed My Sheep Global Services: $20,000 to provide over-the-counter Feed My sheep gift cards every month to families who have been impacted by the decrease in COVID-19 economic relief and limited SNAP benefits.

Fondy Food Center: $25,000 to support the agency’s general operations to connect low-income Milwaukee residents with fresh, local and affordable food.

Food For Health: $30,000 to fund a collaborative endeavor in partnership with MCW to reduce the incidence of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia to positively impact racial birth disparities in Milwaukee.Using food as a tool to build health, the program provides medically tailored meals alongside coaching and education for low-income patients of Froedtert Maternal Care Center.

Fresh Start Learning: $30,000 to fund wraparound support for victims of sex trafficking, reaching them through direct street outreach. Grant funds will be used to leverage the successful outcomes from a pilot program, including the lived expertise of pilot participants, and develop a curriculum for peer sober living groups that will continue alongside increased street outreach.

Friedens Community Ministries: $50,000 to support the purchase of extra food, the home delivery program and costs pertaining to the operation of the food pantry.

Friends of Havenwoods: $27,550 to support the salaries of two environmental educators, as well as program supplies and field trip fees.

Friends of Lakeshore State Park: $26,422t o support a park education and diversity intern to manage camps and field trips as well as create programming at Lakeshore State Park.

Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center: $50,000 to fund culturally specific and trauma-responsive mental health services for Native American youth enduring significant health disparities, which have exacerbated over the ongoing public health crisis. The project empowers a teen prevention council, peer support groups, community gatherings that build culture and mentorship services.

Glow 414: $40,000 in general operating support for its mission to support underserved and vulnerable youth through educational, social, emotional, and mentoring support services.

Grand Avenue Club: $25,000 to support the Art Collective, a program that offers adults with mental illness the chance to explore and develop their creative identity. Led by an experienced artist educator, the Art Collective allows club members to engage with art and culture via a variety of mediums and community opportunities, including monthly art workshops, gallery nights and art shows, cultural field trips, all as a powerful tool for self-expression.

Greater Galilee Community Development Corporation: $35,000 to fund three additional therapists and interns capable of adding 75 clients to the organization's mental health service caseload. In collaboration with North Division High School, these mental health professionals will provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed care in an environment of tremendous unmet need for those services.

Groundwork Milwaukee: $20,000 in general operating support.

Hanan Refugees Relief Group: $50,000 to fund community baby showers and essential family support for refugees navigating the challenges associated with transitioning from their home maternity and child-rearing culture of their home country. Through education and care navigation, the project strives to improve birth disparities within the Milwaukee refugee population.

Harbor District: $25,000 in general operating support.

Hawaii Community Foundation: $25,000 to support evolving needs, including shelter, food, financial assistance and other services as identified by its partners doing critical work in response to wildfires in Maui.

HealthyMKE d.b.a. The Betterment Company: $50,000 to promote racial equity in mental health outcomes for Milwaukee's BIPOC communities by empowering representative providers, growing access to mental health peer specialists, and demonstrating the necessity of a more inclusive care environment. Funds will be used to provide technical support for BIPOC mental health providers, wraparound support for a cohort of ten peer specialists as they pursue certification and leverage the collective impact of aligned local initiatives serving BIPOC communities. 

HeartLove Place: $5,000 to support the summer garden supplies and programming to teach youth about conservation while exploring growing and making their own food. 

HIR Wellness Institute: $50,000 to fund innovative mental health services for American Indian people, a population with a 30 percent higher incidence of mental health concerns, enduring greater negative outcomes from a surging mental health crisis. Grant funds will be used toward the costs of a licensed therapist.

Historic Haymarket Milwaukee: $100,000 in capital support for the Milwaukee Public Museum’s new museum complex at 6th St. and McKinley. Groundbreaking is scheduled for spring 2024, with the opening of the new museum complex early in 2027.

Historic Milwaukee: $15,000 to support its tours and educational programs that promote Milwaukee's unique architecture and design. Historic Milwaukee's signature programs include walking and app-based tours, Spaces & Traces and Doors Open Milwaukee.

Hmong American Women's Association: $9,700i n general operating support to help the organization continue its year-round civic engagement work.

Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee: $18,720 to hire a food justice and wellness coordinator to facilitate collaborative to increase access to fresh food, nutrition, education and health initiatives.

ILash & Aesthetics Pro Institute: $30,000 for its program that will provide beauty professionals withthe necessary training and entrepreneurial support to ensure their businesses become compliant, the owners gain their WI state esthetics licensure and that they ultimately can thrive as small business owners in our community.

Imagine MKE: $25,000 to support its operations under new administrative leadership as the organization works to foster the sustainability and vibrancy of the arts and culture sector throughout the greater Milwaukee area. Imagine MKE has streamlined its mission to focus on advocacy for the arts ecosystem with a goal of systems change in the way the arts are funded publicly and privately. 

Islands of Brilliance: $25,000 to support its operations to fulfill its innovative mission of providing early intervention based in creativity and the arts, beginning at age 8 (several years earlier than state mandated planning) with individuals with autism. 

Janus College Preparatory & Arts Academies: $5,000 to support its mission of providing intensive technique-based training for youth in visual and performing arts. Since 2010, Janus has offered after-school and summer arts instruction in music, dance, theatre, and visual arts at no cost to Milwaukee's economically disadvantaged youth.

Jericho Church Without Walls: $20,000 to offer tailored programs and services to empower individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and contribute to local economic growth. 

John Michael Kohler Arts Center: $50,000 to support its planning process to explore strategic partnerships with Milwaukee arts organizations, including Black Arts MKE, Woodland Pattern, Walker's Point Center for the Arts, MIAD, as well as a period of hosting lectures, convenings and two residency programs associated with the site of artist Mary L. Nohl’s former home. in April 2024, Fox Point approved a cultural overlay for the Mary L. Nohl Art Environment, which opened the door for the John Michael Kohler Arts Center to begin to use this unique resource as a vehicle for arts education for youth and adults.  

Ko-Thi Dance Company: $50,000 to support its 55th season and help it continue to bring African and Caribbean music and dance to the racially and ethnically diverse communities in and around Milwaukee. Ko-Thi presents multiple public performances annually, featuring the adult company and the TON Ko-Thi Youth Performance Ensemble.

La Casa de Esperanza: $20,000 for general operating support for its early childhood education program.

Latino Arts: $25,000 to strengthen Latino Arts' capacity to offer a 37th season of authentic cultural music and dance performances, visual art exhibits, gallery tours, hands-on workshops, literature-based events that increase cultural awareness and arts education and appreciation among diverse audiences, both urban and rural.

Latino Entrepreneurial Network of SE Wisconsin: $50,000 to provide culturally and linguistically relevant technical assistance, training and support for low to moderate-income entrepreneurs facing a talent shortage and access to capital challenges during the post pandemic inflationary period. They offer business training and assessments for youth and adult businesses.

Lead2Change: $50,000 to prepare young people for the future workforce and/or entrepreneurship. 

League of Women Voters Milwaukee County: $30,000 in general operating support to help the organization continue its year-round civic engagement work. 

lgbt milWALKee: $30,000 to fund the design, construction and maintenance for the House of History website, as well as the archival indexing of the website's content. The House of History project, for which the website will be the public face, focuses on rectifying the inaccurate history of Black LGBTQ people in Milwaukee and by building that community's power, work to reduce the structural harms they endure to this day.

Life Redefined: $50,000 in general operating support so it can focus on changing the narrative for families enduring systemic, intergenerational disparities through programming designed to build positive family connections. This includes the Dad Doula program, providing support and training to non-birthing parents, and "fishbowl" experiences built upon storytelling and conversation and using mental health professionals to promote healing in a group setting.

Lynden: $20,000 to support Lynden's Call & Response program, which brings together artists, educators, students, community members and scholars to explore the radical Black Imagination, while re-examining the past and creating the future. Lynden will host residencies with artists of color including Reggie Wilson, Daniel Minter, Ariane King-Comer, among others, some of which will include the commissioning of new work, as well as an exhibition of the art of LaNia Sproles, a former Nohl Fellow.

Marcus Center for the Performing Arts: $25,000 to help support its action plan related to racial equity, diversity and inclusion. 

Mequon Nature Preserve: $50,000 to support the purchase of a UTV creation of a gravel road to assist the Fondy Food Center farmers in accessing their plots of land with tools. This will increase access as well as decrease wear and tear on personal vehicles. 

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges: $100,000 (over two years) in general operating support.

Milwaukee Academy of Science: $25,000 to support three semesters of its Partner-Based Arts Initiative for its middle school and elementary students. This program resulted from student requests for more focused opportunities to stimulate creativity and offer arts education. Included in the program are VIBEZ Creative Art Space, a visual arts teacher from Sherman Park; Black Arts MKE, which offers performance exercises, drumming, and dance; and Extraordinary Universal Comics, a Black owned business that teaches students the art of storytelling and illustration.

Milwaukee Art Museum: $15,000 to support its Teen Internship Program that works with Milwaukee high school students interested in careers in the arts but who face barriers to arts experiences. The grant will also support ArtXpress, a summer studio program for teens focused on public art making.

MKE Youth Sports Alliance: $35,000 to provide general operating support so it can address trauma by equitably improving how youth sports are structured and coached. The Milwaukee Youth Sports Alliance leverages sports as a pathway to social change by improving stakeholder coordination, including learning and evaluation, and offering technical assistance to enhance trauma-informed coaching and sports-based youth development.

Milwaukee BLOCK Inc. (DBA) Believers For Change: $20,000 to provide general operating support for its mission built on supporting Milwaukee youth through leadership programming and mentoring services to foster wellness and agency.

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre: $25,000in operating funds to produce intimate, high-quality, professional theatrical works that engage and challenge the audience, while offering opportunities to numerous local theatre artists.

Milwaukee Christian Center: $70,000 (over two years) in general operating support.

Milwaukee College Prep: $25,000 for a variety of facility upgrades.

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design: $40,000 to support its AICAD Fellowship Program, with the goal of addressing the disparity between the racial and ethnic diversity of MIAD’s student population and its faculty. MIAD is seeking funding to increase and retain faculty of color through this proven program, which offers significant professional development opportunities to graduating students of color who receive fellowship positions at MIAD that can lead to permanent placements.

Milwaukee Opera Theatre: $15,000 to present a season of high quality, local, lyric theatre productions; to provide music education to Milwaukee students, including its Supreme Creativity Studio with 5th graders at Neeskara Elementary; to offer professional development to Milwaukee music theater artists both through mainstage productions and Voice Lab, a free workshop series for artists of all ages and abilities.

Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition: $50,000 to support the presentation of the October 2023 and 2024 versions of the Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival. The festival will include up to 10 films at the Historic Oriental Theater in and will feature director talk-back sessions, panel discussions and other film-related experiences follow each screening to encourage the audiences to learn about Muslim culture and community.

Milwaukee Youth Theatre: $10,000 to support its mission to provide free theater experiences to students between ages 8 and 18, including training in acting, stage management, directing, lights and sound design, costume design and prop and set design. MYT students produce and perform 3 to 4 fully produced original shows per season both for the public and in tours to local schools and other organizations. 

Mitchell Street Arts Collaborative: $25,000 to strengthen continuing partnerships as MISA enters its first year of actual operations, providing a creative, social, and integrative environment for community members to learn new art skills and engage in new arts experiences, all offered through a culturally responsive lens. MISA provides free regular access to a ceramics studio, wood shop, and photo darkroom for individuals from the Milwaukee community, and it already is becoming a hub for independent artists.

MOMMY BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE: $15,000 in general operating support to provide a healing and empowering space for families and their children to thrive. Mommy Beautiful Sunrise achieves this through a family book club, nutrition and cooking courses that promote familial bonding, and a parent support group for BIPOC parents to build shared power and support.

Museum of Wisconsin Art: $25,000 for general operating support for MOWA as it presents relevant exhibitions and related programs at the West Bend site and the satellite gallery at St. Kate Arts Hotel in Milwaukee.

Next Act Theatre: $25,000 to strengthen its capacity and operations under new leadership after the retirement of its founder and long-term artistic director. Next Act will produce four full-length plays this season that tackle societal issues relevant to the local Milwaukee community.

New Concept Self Development Center: $25,000 in general operating support to support its mission of supporting children and families through programming targeting low-income BIPOC individuals. Programs are directed further towards fathers, and the development of resiliency.

Next Door: $500,000 for facility upgrades (internal remodeling, external infrastructure and play spaces)- at eight of Next Door's partnership sites – Mother and Daughter Child Nurturing Center, Jo’s Learning Academy, Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, La Causa, Malaika Early Learning Center, Children and Youth of Esteem, Train Up a Child Learning Center and YMCA Northside. 

Optimist Theatre: $25,000 to support its 2024 presentation of a professionally produced, abridged Shakespeare play, free and outdoors, within 12-14 parks and green spaces, for an anticipated audience of about 1,800 people. Optimist selects the sites and partner organizations intentionally to reflect the demographic composition of Milwaukee as a whole and to minimize access barriers, and they include Lincoln, Sherman, Washington, Mitchell and Humboldt Parks, among others. An important impact of Optimist's programming is the contracting of local theatre professionals, including a diverse cast of artists, designers and crew members, during the summer when many theaters are dark.

Our Daily Bread Community Outreach Center: $10,000 to fund mental health support services, focusing on both students and mothers, with programming that connects them to professional mental health services and provides group-based support to overcome shared barriers.

Ozaukee Nonprofit Center: $15,000 to support the purchase and installation of solar panels on the Ozaukee Nonprofit Center, reducing the energy burden for its nonprofits inside.

Pastors United Community Advocacy: $17,000 in general operating support for its year-round civic engagement work.

Penfield Children’s Center: $20,000 to provide upgrades to three of Penfield's early childhood education classrooms. The funds will allow the organization to purchase new cabinets, shelving, storage units, counter tops, flooring and new furniture. The three classrooms have the capacity to serve up to 36 total children.

Playworks Education Energized: $4,660 to fund daily healthy play and physical activity for Milwaukee elementary school students through activities designed to support mental wellness and a Junior Coaching program that fosters leadership development and provides a mentoring relationship. Grant funds will be used to resource the Junior Coaches in their role and for facility rental at the capstone Junior Coach Conference.

Present Music: $20,000 to strengthen its capacity and support its mission of engaging artists and audience members with music of our time through ensemble performance and education. One of its signature education outreach programs is the Creation Project, in which MPS students learn how to compose music and then hear their pieces performed by professional musicians.

Purpose Driven Sisters: $50,000 to provide general operating support and grow the capacity of the organization to program mental health and belonging efforts for young women ages 8-18.

Radio Milwaukee: $25,000 to support its mission of nurturing the diverse Milwaukee community through music, storytelling and engagement.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: $50,000 to support the development of the phase two equitable development plan for the 30th street Linear Park. This plan will ensure that resident voice is at the center of the creation of the park. 

Raising The Bar: $50,000 in general operating support. Raising the Bar provides economic, educational, and social-emotional growth for program participants by engaging their cultural context and providing mental health support.

REDgen: $79,000 to fund medical research evaluating the health effects of the nonprofit’s trauma-informed school-based mental health curriculum. Grant funds will be used to work with Boston College evaluators for research planning and implementation, translation services and REDgen staff support of research activities.

Reflo: $35,000 to support the Environmental Youth Collaborative, which breaks down silos in the youth programming for the 13 partner agencies.

Reflo: $25,000 in general operating support.

Riverworks: $100,000 (over two years) in general operating support. 

Rocketship Education: $12,000 to support the professional development of their teachers to increase their skills to address the needs of students who have experienced high levels of trauma.

Safe and Sound: $100,000 (over two years) in general operating support.

SecureFutures: $22,000to support Money Coach, a one-of-a-kind financial mentoring program providing teens from historically marginalized and under-resourced communities with the coaching and guidance needed to develop strong money management habits and long-term financial capability. Students are also using this information to assist their households with economic opportunities.

Serenity Inns: $50,000 in general operating support for an integrative and culturally specific transitional housing organizational mission. Targeting emotional, physical, and social indicators of substance abuse disorder, Serenity Inns guides individuals toward recovery regardless of insurance status.

Sherman Phoenix Foundation: $50,000 for Phoenix Rising, a program that creates pathways for black and brown entrepreneurs that increase opportunities for small business success and help them reach maximum potential by gaining clarity on business vision, and finding a direct path to accomplish goals, and navigate the complex world of entrepreneurship with experienced professionals who understand. Support is tailored to each entrepreneur’s needs and participants can leverage a number of programs.

Skylight Music Theatre: $25,000 in general operating support.

Sojourner Foundation: $20,000 to fund general operating support for wraparound services to families impacted by domestic violence.

St. Anthony Congregation: $40,000 to fund upgrades to its preschool classrooms. It currently serves 60 students in their K2 and K3 classrooms.

St. Francis Childrens Center Inc: $50,000 to refinish the floor of their gymnasium. Approximately 500 children use the gym annually.

St. Joseph Academy: $29,400 to create an indoor play space. The project will impact 60 children, ages 6 weeks to three years of age.

STRYV365: $20,000 in general operating support for the organization's efforts at building trauma-informed and school-based mental health services which foster resiliency through an evidence-based curriculum and a systems-based approach to eliminating childhood trauma.

Taylor-Made: $25,000 to provide general operating support for the organization dedicated to improving quality of life for Milwaukee's youth through education, mentorship, education and service. Led by retired professional basketball player and Milwaukee native Mike Taylor, the organization facilitates safe and engaged community spaces; 3v3 Safe Summer Basketball programming, basic needs food and clothing drives, wellness education that builds coping skills, and beyond.

Tbey Arts Center: $30,000 to support its year-round, after-school programming, in which youth, ages 6-19, receive professional arts instruction, participate in performances and exhibits, and receive tutoring, mentoring, and coaching to pursue their interest in the arts while achieving academic goals. 

Teens Grow Greens: $45,000 to fund employment of all 60 interns during the fall harvest entrepreneurship and professionalism experiences from September - November 2024.

The Business Council: $110,000 to expand the ThriveOn Business Support Program. The program started in 2022 and supports minority-owned businesses along the Martin Luther King Drive corridor.

The Forgiveness Project: $50,000 to support development of a podcast entitled "Son of a Gun" that will explore America's gun violence from a creative and atypical perspective. Led by a team comprising award-winning filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein and Claude Motley, a gun violence victim and subject of the film, "When Claude Got Shot," the podcast will bring together people with disparate views and will facilitate listening through community discussion events in an exploration of personal beliefs about protection, fear, identity, pride, and culture.

The Table: $50,000 to support environmental education and programming for adults, teens and children. Programs will include things like playtime/story time in the garden, education around bees, herbs and gardening as well as community building opportunities.

United Community Center: $100,000 for a new parking lot and new fencing to create 21 additional parking spaces for parents at its Ricardo Diaz Early Learning Academy.

Upstream Arts: $12,000 to support its continuing collaboration with Milwaukee Public Schools. 

Urban Ecology Center: $25,000 in general operating support.

UWM Foundation: $25,000 tos upport the community-engaged arts programming of UWM’s Center for 21st Century Studies, specifically its Trust and The Vote initiative. The program's purpose is to increase civic engagement, particularly among young Milwaukeeans (K-12 and 18-29) by inviting them to understand the relationship of trust and voting more deeply by sharing their stories and engaging with visual representations of the voting process. C21 has built a mobile story cart and is partnering with Milwaukee Public Libraries and other community organizations to host the cart as a gathering point for story exchanges and information sharing about civic engagement. C21 will offer free programming, including podcasts, virtual roundtable discussions, and curricular resources, and will hire and train story fellows to activate the cart and engage artists to represent the story data to the greater Milwaukee community.

Waukesha Civic Theatre: $10,000 to support a collaboration between Waukesha Civic Theatre's Academy Productions, its student theatre training program, and PlayMakers, a Waukesha-based, inclusive theatre troupe that provides opportunities for actors with and without disabilities to perform adapted shows. As the first collaborative project among them, each group will work alongside each other while creating a musical that will be staged for the public in May 2024. Each show will be performed on the same set that will be designed locally to serve both shows. 

Wellpoint Care Network: $20,000 to fund access to mental health care and wellness support through trauma-informed and culturally specific services targeting people of color and those with low income. Grant funds will be used for a portion of therapist salaries.

Wild Space: $40,000 to allow it to continue to fulfill its mission of creating and producing new, original work, site-specific work, in particular, that engages diverse adult and student audiences, and implementing outreach programs that reach a wide diversity of students in the Milwaukee area. As a company-in-residence at Lincoln Center Middle School of the Arts, Wild Space will continue to work with 70+ schools and community centers, offering school-day, after-school, and summer programs.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music: $20,000 to allow it to continue serving the broad Milwaukee community through its largest program, Conservatory Connections. Through the program, WCM faculty connect with numerous educational institutions, including public, private, charter and choice schools, as well as community organizations. Eighty percent of the program’s students come from economically disadvantaged environments.

Wisconsin Humane Society: $30,000 for its Pets for Life program, which provides access to free veterinary care services, resources, and information by building relationships and engaging with pet owners in under resourced neighborhoods with veterinarian clinic in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Lutheran Child & Family Service: $25,000 to fund an increase in available mental health care services at STRONG in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood. The project seeks to increase therapy services, measuring changes in emotional resilience and positive behaviors while creating awareness of mental health challenges and available resources in families and schools. 

Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts: $10,000 to support the 25 Million Stitches: One Stitch, One Refugee project that WMQFA will bring in spring and summer of 2024, as the only Midwest site to host this exhibition. Led by visual artist Jennifer Kim Sohn, this project is a global, citizen participatory project to raise awareness of the crisis of human displacement. The artist will come to Wisconsin for the exhibition and related programming that will reach students and adults. Iraqi artist Noora Badeen will conduct an on-site residency inspired by the exhibition.

Wisconsin Policy Forum: $3,800 to support its annual event to recognize excellence in public sector management.

Wisconsin Voices: $30,000 in general operating support to help the organization continue its year-round civic engagement work.

Zoological Society of Milwaukee County: $25,000 to support school and community programming including free passes, special access days and multiple contacts with area schools.2023 second quarter grants

2023 second cycle grants

Advocates of Ozaukee: $15,000 in general operating support.

African American Roundtable: $50,000in general operating support to help it continue its advocacy efforts within Milwaukee.

All-in Milwaukee: $20,000 for its career development and support program.

Audio & Braille Literacy Enhancement: $45,000 in general operating support.

Black Belt Community Foundation: $25,000 to support disaster recovery in the wake of the devastating storms that ravaged Alabama. 

BLOC Education Fund: $50,000in general operating support to help it continue its advocacy efforts within Milwaukee. 

Capitol Heights: $10,000 for its Summer Youth Work Program, which engages young people between 14 and 18 years old in lawn care and window cleaning services during the summer.

Cathedral Center: $15,000 to support case managers.

Center for Leadership of Afrikan Women’s Wellness: $50,000 to advance health equity for older Black women by providing education, awareness and advocacy, in addition to direct health navigation services. 

Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Art Museums: $10,000 in capital support toward the remodel of an elevator that provides accessibility for older adults throughout the Villa Terrace Art Museum.

City Year Milwaukee: $25,000 for its workforce development program.

CommonBond Communities: $15,000 to fund staffing of Advantage Services for older adult residents at Brewery Point and Franklin Senior Apartment Homes. 

Community Warehouse: $22,500 for its Home to Stay program.

Ebenezer Stone Ministries: $15,000 in general operating support.

Eras Senior Network: $50,000 in general operating support. 

Family Promise of Ozaukee County: $15,000 in general operating support.

Family Promise of Waukesha County: $8,000 to support the family support shelter program.

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin: $40,000 to support a mobile food pantry for older adults in Lindsay Heights.

Greater Galilee Community Development Corporation: $35,000 to advance health outcomes and health equity for older Black adults in 53206. Health programming includes free behavioral health counseling, a memory café to build solidarity, food provision and nutrition education and a free medical clinic for the uninsured.

HEAR Wisconsin: $25,000 in general operating support.

Hebron Housing Services: $8,000in general operating support.

Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee: $20,000 in general operating support.

Hope House of Milwaukee: $20,000 in general operating support.

Interchange Inc: $20,205 in general operating support.

JFS Housing: $20,000 in general operating support.

JobsWork MKE: $50,000 in general operating support.

Joyce’s House of Milwaukee: $25,000 in general operating support.

Just One More Ministry: $30,000 in general operating support.

Koi-no-nia: $27,000 for the replacement of tables, chairs, ceiling tiles, light fixtures and floor tiles for its meal site.

Leaders Igniting Transformation Education Fund: $50,000in general operating support to help it continue its advocacy efforts within Milwaukee. 

Local 212 MATC Believe in Students FAST Fund: $5,000 to support flexible dollars to help MATC students in need.

Marquette University: $100,000 to support a reporter at the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service to maintain coverage of essential news, information and resources related to basic needs in 18 underserved central city neighborhoods.

Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation: $30,000 in general operating support.

Mercy Housing Lakefront: $25,000 to fund resident programming at the Johnston Center, which provides low-income housing for older adults. Programming includes health and wellness services, including referrals for care, AODA counseling, fitness and education. 

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges: $50,000in general operating support to help it continue its advocacy efforts within Milwaukee.

Midwest Bikeshare: $15,000 for its workforce development program in partnership with DreamBikes and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. 

Milwaukee County Historical Society: $3,500 to support the placement of a bronze plaque in the Third Ward documenting the unlawful lynching of George Marshall Clarke in 1863.

MobiliSE: $30,000 to fund the authentic engagement of older adults in planning the 27th corridor bus rapid transit, in partnership with the AARP “Livable Communities” initiative, resulting in an advocacy plan for MobiliSE and partners. Fund will provide staff capacity for organizing the engagement of 250 people, a MOVE roundtable, meeting supplies and a portion of architectural/planning costs. 

My Way Out: $22,500 to support its workforce readiness program. 

Northcott Neighborhood House: $25,000 for Juneteenth Day celebration activities.

Our Community LTD: $20,000 in general operating support.

Paralyzed Veterans of America- WI Chapter: $25,000 in general operating support 

Repairers of the Breach: $15,000 in general operating support.

Revitalize Milwaukee: $31,550 to cover program expenses and building materials to provide necessary home repairs and upgrades to assist older adults with aging in place.

Serving Older Adults of Southeast Wisconsin: $50,000 in general operating support.

SKY Schools: $25,000 to fund the training and implementation of the SKY social-emotional curriculum based on breathwork at two schools, Pathways and Escuela Verde.

Silver Spring Neighborhood Center: $2,500 to support the purchase of materials needed to transition the food pantry into a choice pantry.

Southside Organizing Committee: $50,000 in general operating support to help it continue its advocacy efforts within Milwaukee.

St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care: $22,000 to fund respite services at the Bucyrus Campus for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. Vincent de Paul Society of Milwaukee: $15,000 to support the meal program.

Street Angels: $5,000 in general operating support.

Teach for America: $20,000 to help recruit, develop and train the next generation of education leaders. 

The Gathering of Southeast WI: $20,000 to support hot meals at the Running Rebels site. 

The Women’s Center: $20,000 in general operating support.

United Methodist Children’s Services of WI: $20,000 in general operating support. 

United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee: $25,000 in general operating support. 

Uniteus: $15,000 in general operating support.

Wisconsin Philanthropy Network: $50,000 in general operating support.


Thriving Communities grants

All 4 Kids: $7,500 to empower and enable youth leaders in the Halyard Park neighborhood to initiate community clean-up projects. By engaging in these activities, they will forge strong bonds with their peers and residents of all ages, fostering trust, relationships and social connections while honing essential leadership skills.

Breaking Barriers Mentoring-Wisconsin: $7,500 to provide crucial support for the Back-to-School Backpack giveaway in the Sherman Park neighborhood. The event, attended by nearly 1,000 people from Milwaukee, is dedicated to building a strong community with a focus on young individuals. By offering backpacks filled with school supplies, food, games, entertainment and a safe environment, the initiative seeks to empower children and their families, ensuring they have resources they need to thrive as they begin the new school year.

Prism Economic Development Corporation: $7,500 to support Brigade MKE’s effort to provide a demonstration program for 12 students. The program aims to teach students a solid repertoire of cooking skills while expanding their knowledge to encompass the full range of hospitality services. Inspired by French chef George Escoffier, the program will organize the potential chaos of a commercial kitchen into a complex choreography of expertise. The goal is to serve youth in the Sherman Park neighborhood by providing actionable, real-life skills that can be applied to jobs in the culinary and hospitality industries, meeting the current needs of Milwaukee's job market.


 

ThriveOn Collaboration grants

Above the Clouds: $7,500 to support programming that provides free faith-based arts education and training for youth ages 5-17 in the Sherman Park and North Division neighborhoods. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a variety of creative disciplines, including introduction to modern dance, beginning ballet, music, drama, piano and hip-hop, fostering their artistic expression and personal growth. The programming aims to bridge the gap for young individuals who lack exposure and access to fine arts education.

BikerFest Block Party Corporation: $7,500 for the BikerFest Block Party, a project that will introduce youth in the ThriveOn Collaboration neighborhoods to the Flat Track Racing program. The project aims to instill a sense of empowerment, self-confidence and discipline, equipping young individuals with the skills and mindset needed to overcome barriers they may encounter. Beyond racing, the program will serve as a catalyst for personal and academic achievement, career development and social mobility, providing participants with classic riding skills, safety training and an enriching field trip to a local track to experience a live event.

BYOCHI Inc.: $7,222 to support the Children's Social Club efforts to provide children with access to a diverse range of activities, including arts, science, coding and financial literacy in the ThriveOn Collaboration neighborhoods. By engaging in these enriching experiences, children will be encouraged to develop their knowledge and explore potential career paths, fostering their personal and intellectual growth.

Firm Foundation MKE Inc.: $7,500 to support its efforts to empower youth by establishing a recreational center and after-school programming. The initiative will focus on creating a safe space, especially through open gym activities, where young individuals ages 14 and up can engage in basketball, games and homework while having fun. The program will offer opportunities for positive reinforcement, exercise and nutritious meals. Serving as positive role models, Volunteers will serve the food, provide tutoring and mentoring.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee: $5,000 to empower and uplift youth in the Brewers Hill and Halyard Park neighborhoods by supporting their active involvement in a youth-led community service project facilitated by the organization’s Torch Program. Through this initiative, young individuals will gain valuable leadership skills while fostering community building, fostering a positive and lasting impact in their local area.

Past grants >>

Learn More

hines-janel.jpgContact Janel Hines to learn more about our grantmaking strategies.