More Than $4 Million in Grants to Help Local Nonprofits

Milwaukee, July 16, 2009 — A grant to establish a new central access system for the homeless in Milwaukee was among the more than $4 million approved by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Board and boards of its supporting organizations during the second quarter.

The Board allocated an additional $150,000 toward the Basic Needs Fund, $135,000 of which will go to 211/IMPACT. The organization, in collaboration with the Cathedral Center, will create a central database that will allow staff at area homeless shelters to identify openings and make immediate referrals for people looking for places to stay as well as provide case management services to enable families to remain in their own homes. The remainder of the grant will be used to address a possible increase in demand at local shelters during the summer.

The Foundation’s Basic Needs Fund was created at the end of 2008 to help local nonprofits meet basic food and shelter needs during the economic downturn. Between the Foundation, donors and the community, more than $543,000 has been raised for the fund to date. Since its inception, the Basic Needs Fund has made more than $507,000 in grants.

Other grants made from the Foundation’s competitive grant process include:

$100,000
Sixteenth Street Community Health Center (over two years) for continued support of its restoration and revitalization efforts of the Kinnickinnic River corridor.

City Year (over three years)for start-up funding to launch a site in Milwaukee. The Boston-based program plans to recruit 55 young adults, ages 17 to 24, to serve as tutors, mentors and leaders in five Milwaukee Public Schools over a 10-month period.

$75,000
United Way of Greater Milwaukee - Teen Pregnancy Prevention Fund to support model teen pregnancy prevention efforts. Other supporters of the fund include the Faye McBeath Foundation, Rockwell International, Brico Fund, Johnson Controls and the United Way.

$50,000
Sherman Park Community Association to improve the image of Sherman Park neighborhood and to expand the Healthy Neighborhoods initiative.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Foundationto expand COMPASS Guide’s reach into Washington and Ozaukee counties. The program, which is a clearinghouse for scholarship, financial aid and other college resources, currently serves students in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.

$45,000
Layton Boulevard West Neighbors to continue revitalization efforts in the Layton Boulevard West neighborhood using strategies as part of the Foundation’s Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative.

$40,000
Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee to continue its efforts to help low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners remain in their homes by providing free modifications, repairs and updates.

$35,000
Legacy Redevelopment Corp. for staff support to help manage its revolving loan fund, which helps central city business and housing development.

$30,000
Neighborhood House of Milwaukee toward a full-time parent educator who will support a new parenting program, Keeping Parents in the Loop, which works to strengthen the relationship between teachers and parents.

Literacy Services of Wisconsinto purchase curriculum materials, provide professional development and volunteer training on the Wilson Reading System, which will become the primary method used by its adult basic education program.

$25,000
Mental Health Association in Waukesha County Inc. to add a full-time call center employee to help increase the number of total calls that the 211/First Call for Help hotline can answer. An increase in call volume over the past year has led to more than 1,000 unanswered calls per month.

Milwaukee Center for Independenceto provide meals to residents at New Samaria, a supportive housing facility in West Allis for people with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Philippine Cultural and Civic Center Foundation Inc. for second year support of a part-time executive director and administrator position for the agency’s free medical clinic.

Voces de la Frontera Worker’s Center to implement the Immigration Integration Project, which provides English education, citizenship classes and legal help for workers facing discrimination and workforce exploitation.

$20,000
Wisconsin Center for Nursing to extend the Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future project. Four Milwaukee-area health departments, three schools of nursing and the state Department of Workforce Development are involved in the collaboration, which works to place 15 to 25 new public health nurses at local health departments.

$15,000
Advocates of Ozaukee Inc. to hire a part-time staff member to provide case management for the growing number of adult and child domestic violence victims the agency serves.

Grants from other funds include:

Mary Nohl Fund:$204,150 to 11 agencies and $87,000 to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the Individual Artists Fellowship Program, which will provide fellowships to two established artists and two emerging artists.

Elsa Schoeneich Medical Research Fund:$50,000 to the Parkinson Research Institute at the Aurora Sinai Medical Center for research that will search for the specific root causes of Parkinson disease.

The Foundation Board also allocated $80,000 (over two years) to the Mosaic Fund for continuation of the Mosaic Partnerships program, an effort to bridge Milwaukee’s racial divide by engaging community leaders of different races in ongoing interpersonal dialogue and group discussion.

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is a family of more than 1,000 individual charitable funds, each created by donors to serve the local charitable causes of their choice. Grants from these funds serve people throughout Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. Started in 1915, the Foundation is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the world.