MANDI Finalists Announced, December 5th, 4-5pm, followed by Holiday Happy Hour 5-7pm

Finalists for the 2013 Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation will be named at LISC’s quarterly happy hour. Selection Committee members and sponsors will announce three finalists for each category: BMO Harris Cornerstone Award, Brewers Public Space Award, Northern Trust Navigator Award, PNC Trail Blazer Award, State Farm Building Blocks Award and the Vision Award (selected by LISC’s Board of Advisors). The event will be held at O’Brien’s 4928 West Vliet Street.  More MANDI info.

Huddle Up for NFL Football Field in Mitchell Park

NFL Field Kick Off

In 2009, the NFL donated an official play field to Journey House through LISC’s “Power of Play” program, a national partnership between the NFL and LISC. Journey House has raised 8.9 million of the 11 million needed to fully install the play field, and soon Clarke Square, where Mitchell Park is located, will become the first neighborhood in the US with an official play field with NFL logos. More in NNS Article

Legislators Tour Central City Commercial Districts, Hear Successes and Challenges

State Senator Nikiya Harris Talks with Asian Market Owner Toy Schuelke

National Avenue (Silver City Business District), North Avenue and Fond Du Lac (MarketPlace Business District) and Martin Luther King Drive (Historic King Drive Business Improvement District) were featured commercial districts on a LISC-hosted tour for area legislators. More in NNS Article.

Roll Out the Barrel! Innovative Metro Milwaukee Sewerage District Partnership Taps Water Conservation in Washington Park

Neighbors install Rain Barrells in Washington Park

Metro Milwaukee Sewerage District is on a mission to increase the understanding of and practices related to water quality in Milwaukee--family by family, block by block. Through LISC’s Sustainable Communities Program, Washington Park Partners was selected to pilot the idea. Young people from the Urban Ecology Center, Our Next Generation, Express Yourself, Milwaukee Community Service Corps, and Vliet Street Market installed rain gardens and rain barrels and designed ways to educate neighborhood residents.

Class Project Results in $6.1 Million Mitchell Street Lofts on Milwaukee’s South Side

Sherry Terrell-Webb and Tina Anderson cut ribbon on Mitchell Street Lofts

Sherry Terrell-Webb and Tina Anderson got the idea for the Mitchell Street Market Lofts as students in Marquette University’s Associates in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE) program, which trains minority students for commercial real estate careers. Terrell-Webb and Anderson graduated and took their “class project” with them resulting in the Mitchell Street Lofts with 24 rent-to-own units, retail space and a year round farmers’ market. More info.