College Possible seniors (from left) Pa Nou Xiong, Peter Khanthavong, Darneisha Virginia and Nury Plascencia attended the Milwaukee 2013 Year-End Graduation Celebration at UW-Milwaukee. (Photo by Sue Vliet)

This is the second in a series about four college-bound high school seniors who are participating in College Possible, a two-year program that provides students from low-income families with coaching and support to get into college and earn a degree. NNS will check in with these students during their transition into college and throughout their freshman year.

Back in early March, high school seniors Darneisha Virginia, Nury Plascencia, Pa Nou Xiong and Peter Khanthavong worried about getting into their first-choice colleges. They worried too about receiving enough financial aid to go to college. They were excited about the possibilities and nervous that their dreams might never be realized.

Now, with graduation just a few weeks away, financial aid packages offered and college choices made, worry is beginning to take a back seat to excitement.

“I’m most excited about meeting new people, being in a bigger environment, gaining my independence and becoming my own person,” said Pa Nou Xiong, who will receive her high school diploma from Milwaukee School of Languages on June 11.

St. Joan Antida senior Nury Plascencia echoed Xiong’s longing for independence. “I’m excited about living on my own without my parents guiding me through everything,” she said.

The four recently joined the rest of their College Possible class, 173 seniors from 10 Milwaukee high schools, at a year-end graduation celebration on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Juniors who spent the year preparing for standardized college admission tests and sophomores just entering the program also participated.

College Possible coach Erin Bennett (left) addresses graduating seniors from St. Joan Antida High School on the stage in the UW-Milwaukee Theatre Building. (Photo by Sue Vliet)

Xiong, Virginia, Plascencia and Khanthavong all have been admitted to the college they most want to attend and all have been awarded the financial aid necessary to complete four-year degree programs.

Xiong has decided to attend Marquette University. In addition to the physician assistant program the university offers, Xiong chose Marquette because “I really love the environment. I love that it is downtown but maintains its own sense of community despite being in such a large city,” she said.

She is waiting to hear the results of some scholarship applications but she will be able to pay her tuition with scholarships from Marquette and the federally funded Educational Opportunity Program. She will take out loans to cover part of the cost of room and board.

Plascencia and Virginia will both go from St. Joan Antida to Mount Mary College.  Plascencia knew she wanted to follow her older sister to Mount Mary, where she received a Caroline Scholarship for full tuition, room and board for four years.

Virginia was undecided in March but now says that Mount Mary is her first choice. She has received a Grace Scholarship for new undergraduates from Milwaukee who demonstrate financial need. It will cover 85 percent of tuition. Virginia, who is also waiting for results of a number of scholarship applications, said she plans to take out loans for the balance of her tuition and for room and board if necessary.

She said she is most excited about graduating from high school and having the opportunity to go to college. She is also thrilled to be going to a small college, with small classes, where she expects to receive individual attention. Proximity to home is another positive aspect of Mount Mary for Virginia. “I’m excited to get in and jump into a career that I really am passionate about,” she said.

Khanthavong, who will receive his diploma from Alexander Hamilton High School on June 8, will attend UW-Milwaukee. Both Carroll University and UWM offered him good financial aid packages, which will cover all but about $5,000 of his expenses per year. If the other scholarships he applied for do not come through, Khathavong will take out loans, he said.

Along with the excitement, each student expressed some anxiety about academic challenges and the new social scene.

Recognizing this, College Possible will continue to offer support through the students’ freshman year. Coaches will check in regularly with students, and are available to help when asked. During the summer, a one-day program will help prepare students for the transition. It focuses on finding campus resources and adapting to college life and work, according to Xiong.

“Although I’m excited about making new friends, I’m really nervous about it,” she added. Xiong considers herself a shy person and worries that her reserve will be misinterpreted by fellow students.

Virginia expressed another fear that many college freshmen feel. “I’m scared that the classes are going to be extremely hard and I’m going to fail. You never really know what it’s going to be like until you’re in the door.”

First Nations Women’s Professional Leadership Group members, (from left) Judy Dordel, Jacqueline Schram and Richanda E. Kaquatosh (Photo by Courtney Perry)

Richanda Kaquatosh grew up on the Menominee Indian reservation, the youngest of nine children. When she was 10, her family moved to Milwaukee, away from her childhood friends. But the challenges of being uprooted and shy were offset for Kaquatosh by the influence of her mother.

“I had a very strong mother (and) mentor who was pro-education,” said Kaquatosh.

Her mother and other mentors she found along the way supported her pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at Alverno College and a master’s at Cardinal Stritch University. Now the coordinator of Milwaukee Public Schools’ First Nation Studies program, Kaquatosh is launching an organization to help Native American women and girls and build her community.

“I had women mentors (who) helped me grow and become successful, so I think we need to do that for our girls,” Kaquatosh said. Working with young and adult women is the group’s main focus because “there are a lot of unhealthy behaviors … going on out there that we can address,” she said.

Group members discuss future plans in a meeting at Marquette University. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

Kaquatosh has chosen five women in her professional network as the core of the First Nations Women’s Professional Leadership Group. They are Judy Dordel, executive director, Indian Summer Festival; Jacqueline Schram, governmental and community affairs associate, Marquette University; Kaye Garcia, executive director, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation; and Dr. Shannon Chavez-Korell, professor of educational psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“All of us have this capacity within us, which really binds us together, to see that our young Native women need leadership support, ” Schram said.

The group members stressed the importance of passing down knowledge they received from other Native women to strengthen bonds in the community.

The Native American population is one of the smallest ethnic groups in Milwaukee, making up just 0.9 percent of the population according to the 2010 U.S. Census. That is one of the reasons the founders established the group.

“Native people are looking for information to come together. They need something to relate to,” said Dordel.

The women said they feel a strong connection between themselves and the community. “It’s a magnetic pull. It’s palpable,” Schram said.

Still in what Schram describes as its “humble beginnings,” the group hopes to establish a scholarship for young women, bring various Native communities together and work with colleges to raise awareness of Native American history.

The group would also like to expand its membership and, eventually, develop it into a national organization.

The women said they believe that, overall, it is important to support one another as women and not limit the group’s possibilities. Said Dordel, “I don’t think we should put any limits on what we do and what we plan and just keep moving forward.”

When Al Luzi welcomes guests to the Agape Community Center, in the Thurston Woods neighborhood, his warm and engaging personality makes them feel at home.

“Al is hard to describe — he is kind, caring and always trying to help,” said Anne Gliniecki, a senior citizen and resident of Thurston Woods. “If there were more people like him, the world would be a better place.”

Luzi, the director of development at Agape, 6100 N, 42^nd St., started working at the agency in 2005. He coordinates after-school and senior programs, community meals and fundraising. Although Luzi has been involved with numerous neighborhood development projects, his biggest impact has come through the meal program, which provides about 23,000 meals to 14,000 people each year.

Like in the TV show “Pawn Stars,” Luzi said, “You just never know who or what is going to come through that door. The same thing is true of a community center.”

When colleagues step through the door of Luzi’s office, the first thing they see are walls covered with Boston sports paraphernalia. While his appreciation for all things Massachusetts is evident, as a teenager Luzi wanted to get as far from his hometown of Springfield, Mass., as possible. He never expected, though, to end up in Milwaukee.

Luzi found his way to Wisconsin through Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in urban affairs and sociology, found his passion for community work during an internship at a municipal office focusing on citizen complaints and met his wife, Mary Kay.

“I think that office gave me a sense of wanting to approach these problems within the system,” Luzi said. “I can tell you that a number of years ago I had not planned to follow this public interest path, but I did and this is where I ended up.”

Katina Davis-Allen, the kitchen manager of the meal program, has worked closely with Luzi for the last three years. She jokingly described doing so as a “mess,” but also a pleasure.

“He brings a home-like attitude to work every day,” Davis-Allen said. “He is real giving and caring.” Luzi often helps in the kitchen and greets every guest by name.

Gliniecki frequently attends community dinners held three times a week at Agape. “The meal programs are tremendous,” she said. “They help you get to know different people, as well as different cultures.”

Thurston Woods is “a neighborhood of the working poor,” Luzi said. He is motivated by seeing people standing on bus stops sending their kids off to school, making sure they receive a proper education.

“While you think that this is a very simple thing, it takes a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of coordination,” he said.

Luzi said that his job isn’t just to feed people, but to inspire them. “There’s a very strong sense of hope that exists within the community,” he said. “And we’ve looked at our role as being those purveyors of hope.”

There’s still plenty of work to be done. “Our short-term goal is lunch,” he said. “Our long-term goal is dinner — and we’ll do it again tomorrow.”

COA Goldin Center’s after-school program includes physical fitness, sports, homework help, computer and art classes, community service and cooking and nutrition education among other activities. (Photo by Andrea Waxman)

A Public Policy Forum (PPF) study of eight central city Milwaukee after-school program sites found that those with strong connections to schools and surrounding neighborhoods were best positioned to meet the needs of parents and students.

The analysis is part of a larger study examining the quality of hundreds of Milwaukee after-school programs and investigating policy barriers to quality improvements, according to Anneliese Dickman, research director at the PPF. Parents of children who participate or have recently participated in after-school programs were concerned about safety, convenience and the availability of engaging and structured activities, according to the report.

The report also states that parents who viewed their children’s after-school programs as low quality felt there needed to be better training for program staff. According to Quentin Prince, coordinator of the Community Learning Center (CLC) at Longfellow School, his staff is continuously trained as rigorously as a teacher would be.

“They receive professional development training throughout the year,” said Prince.

Community Learning Centers is a program of the Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Recreation & Community Services.

The next phase of the study will look at professional development opportunities for after-school staff, according to Dickman. The study found that most parents were pleased with the quality and amount of programming available at the after-school sites located within five Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) neighborhoods including Harambee, Washington Park and Clarke Square. LISC is a national organization working to revitalize distressed urban areas.

The CLC site at Longfellow Elementary School offers academic enrichment, arts and music, drug and violence prevention and other programming.

Many parents said the programs had helped their children improve relationships with friends, social behaviors and self-confidence. The after-school programs studied included Community Learning Centers operating in partnerships with community organizations and district-operated or school-based programs.

Seventy-two percent of the after-school participants at the surveyed sites were African-American and 21 percent were Latino. Seventeen percent of the students were Spanish speakers. Forty-three percent of the students in those programs lived within walking distance of the sites.

Parents at South Side sites said the best aspects of those programs were their proximity and convenience, while North Side parents were more likely to consider quality of programming as the programs’ greatest strength.

Parents of middle and high school students cited a lack of safe and engaging after-school programs available to their children. Specifically, they said programming should include activities that were interesting to older students, but would also help them develop job and life skills.

Other concerns included costs. Parents felt strongly that after-school programs should be affordable or free. They did not think that costs for quality improvement should be passed on to parents, though nearly all parents surveyed said they were not being charged for the programs.

Parents also said that after-school programs should be more structured in order to improve student behavior. One factor that might influence children’s behavior, they said, would be an increase in communication between the day schools and the after-school programs. Parents said communication between their children’s classroom teachers and the staff at their after-school programs was almost non-existent. Tracking of homework assignments and goals for the tutoring component of the after-school programs sometimes relies on students rather than on coordination between program employees and teachers, parents said.

Longfellow’s CLC program does combine day school and after-school programming, according to Prince.

“We see our program as a continuation of the school day,” he said.

His staff works with teachers to create a pacing guide that ensures the lessons taught during the day are reinforced after school, he added.

Overall, parents see a strong correlation between the strength of relationships between schools and after-school programs and their children’s academic progress.

The study remarks that any changes to after-school programming should carefully consider affordability, convenience, safety and transportation to increase their appeal to parents of Milwaukee-area youth.

The next phase of the PPF study will look at supply and demand. We already know, Dickman said, that location is a big factor when choosing a program. “Most parents said they did not consider more than one program.”

Public Allies Christina Felski and Corey Tucker practice Tweeting using a hashtag (#), a skill they honed in a social media workshop at the conference. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)

After four years of work in the nonprofit sector, Public Allies Milwaukee Fellow and Alumni Outreach Coordinator Alisha Klapps Balistreri said she was burnt out and knew she was not alone.

“So often, nonprofit professionals are giving to others and seldom pour into themselves,” she said.

Tasked with engaging Public Allies Milwaukee alumni, Klapps Balistreri was determined to give nonprofit professionals an opportunity to invest in themselves. What emerged was the first-ever Evolving Leaders: Professional Development Conference for current Public Allies, alumni and other community workers.

Public Allies is a national organization that seeks to develop new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation.

“By practicing self-care and investing in myself, I have better energy so I’m better able to serve others,” Klapps Balistreri said.

The conference also provided a strategy for involving the diverse network of alumni from the Milwaukee program, which is approaching its 20-year anniversary said Nikotris Perkins, Public Allies Milwaukee program manager and director of recruitment and alumni engagement.

Klapps Balistreri said this was the first Public Allies alumni conference in the country.

It was organized to tap into the assets of Public Allies Milwaukee alumni and respond to areas of growth nonprofit leaders want to expand on, she said. Executive directors, founders and public officials are now counted among the organization’s alumni, Perkins noted. Alumni facilitated five of the day’s six workshops, and three of five panelists were alumni of the program.

Alisha Klapps Balistreri, Public Allies Milwaukee fellow and alumni outreach coordinator, announces a drawing winner at the conference as Nikotris Perkins, Public Allies Milwaukee program manager, looks on. (Photo by Jennifer Reinke)

“Reciprocal is the way to describe the relationship we want to foster with our alumni,” said Public Allies Milwaukee Executive Director LG Shanklin-Flowers.

Klapps Balistreri counted 60 people at the conference. A quarter of the participants were Public Allies alumni and 10 percent were current Allies. The remaining participants were members of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) Greater Milwaukee Chapter and other nonprofit professionals.

“The participants are making a statement about the need for professional development as young leaders and about their commitment to their own development and belief in life-long learning, which is a core value of Public Allies,” said Shanklin-Flowers.

“The panel is talking about a hot topic in Milwaukee,” Perkins said. Opportunity youth, or disconnected youth, are the approximately 6.7 million Americans aged 16 – 24 who are neither in school nor working.

“Public Allies’ main focus is targeting young adults,” Klapps Balistreri said. About one-third of the participants in each Public Allies Milwaukee class are between the ages of 18 – 24. “To expand on the importance of engaging young people is at the forefront of our minds,” she added.

Julio Guerrero, a Public Allies Milwaukee alumnus in his final semester at UW-Milwaukee, attended the conference and found it to be different from previous alumni engagement efforts.

Rather than just asking alumni for contributions of time and money, Guerrero appreciated the “effort to put some resources into giving back to the alumni community,” he said.

Elisabeth Vink, program specialist with the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders attended through the YNPN and was exposed to Public Allies for the first time.

“I’m still relatively new to the city so it was great to be able to network with people who are doing nonprofit and community service,” she said. “It’s nice to go to a first annual (event) that is going to have a second.” Next year’s Evolving Leaders Conference will take place March 22.

Current Public Ally Syd Robinson found BoardStar’s workshop on board service particularly useful.

“It was helpful to know that it’s normal to question what your role is…but you can still make an impact and you’re still valuable despite that uncertainty,” he explained.

Current Public Allies Christina Felski and Corey Tucker said a key take-away for them was the importance of identity and personal branding.

“I don’t know how to help the community unless I know who I am,” Felski said. “It’s about knowing what I want and who I am so I can use those tools to give back.”

Tenth District County Supervisor David Bowen, who was both a Public Ally and second-year fellow, participated in the panel alongside fellow alumni Lashawndra Vernon and Elysse Wageman, State Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa and American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Director of Youth & Programs Emilio De Torre.

“I have a vested interest in making sure Public Allies continues to thrive and engage young professionals in this community,” Bowen said. I’m glad I’m able to contribute to that as an alumnus who has experienced the impact of what Public Allies can do…I was honored to be on that panel with distinguished guests who are doing great things in the community.”

The conference was held at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Continuing Education, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave., in collaboration with BoardStar and YNPN.

In City Hall’s rotunda, 1,068 pairs of donated children’s shoes will hang until May 1 to illustrate the number of confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in Milwaukee County in 2011, a project created by parent ambassadors at Next Door Foundation.

Next Door Foundation, 2545 N. 29th St., is an education center in Metcalfe Park working to support Milwaukee children and families through physical, emotional and self-worth development.

All of the parent ambassadors have been affected by child abuse in some way and organized the exhibit for National Child Abuse Awareness month in April.

“The city of Milwaukee is an ally in the fight to end child abuse, but we can’t do it alone. Every community member can make a difference,” said Mayor Tom Barrett.

Barrett joined Next Door Foundation at an event called “Every Shoe Has a Story” in the rotunda, where survivors shared their testimonies and explained their inspiration for the initiative.

The display also included resource information about health and human service centers where attendees could report cases of violence.

Of the 1,068 substantiated cases of child maltreatment in 2011 in Milwaukee County, 457 involved neglect, 310 sexual abuse, 286 physical abuse and 15 emotional abuse. Many cases go unreported, according to Amanda Krzykowski, family support manager at Next Door Foundation.

“A child’s story does not have to end in tragedy,” Barrett said. “The shoes hanging in City Hall represent the journey toward healing, and show that we all have the power to help someone.”

Pastor Alexis Twito of Capitol Drive Lutheran Church urges the crowd of more than 450 to support the Fair Play campaign. (Photo by Shakara Robinson)

Supporters of a Milwaukee-area community organization have a message for those wishing to use public funds to build a new sports arena: “If the Bradley Center gets a full upgrade, then our kids deserve an upgrade, too.”

That’s what Jennifer O’Hear, a Milwaukee Public Schools parent, told a crowd of more than 450 at a rally sponsored by Common Ground, a community organization of citizens, small businesses and churches. At the rally, Common Ground kicked off its Fair Play campaign, an initiative that proposes using at least $150 million from any public financing plan for a new arena to upgrade athletic facilities at public schools across the county.

Parents and students shared horror stories of rundown fields and inadequate recreational facilities. “I play tennis on a cracked court and with nets that are two feet below regulation,” Beverly Jackson, a senior at Reagan High School, told the crowd. “They expect us to play on this?”

A slideshow of pictures showed a deteriorating soccer field with a large pool of mud in front of the goalpost, a tennis court with a slumped net and long crack along the court and a basketball backboard with no rim.

“The soccer field my daughter plays on is on a hill, full of lumps and holes,” O’Hear said. “We can’t allow a new arena for some guys to run around in while our kids are being injured. How can [we] tell our kids to do their best when we don’t give them the best?”

Last year, Milwaukee Bucks owner and former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl argued for a new multipurpose arena in Milwaukee to replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and offered to make a personal financial commitment toward the new facility. He has not said how much he would commit.

The team reportedly told NBA Commissioner David Stern that the franchise will have a plan that includes a new arena when the team’s lease expires in 2017.

According to Common Ground, Timothy Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, has suggested a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for a new arena. No formal financing plan has been announced, but Common Ground members said it’s important that they be a part of the discussion.

“The new arena would be nice for the Bucks, but someone should consider the needs of the children,” Marie Byrd, a Common Ground member from Capitol Drive Lutheran Church said. “After all, the kids are the future professional athletes.”

Common Ground plans to survey athletic facilities at public schools countywide, with 144 people pledging to participate in the first survey scheduled for April 27.

For more information about Common Ground and the Fair Play campaign, visit http://www.fairplaywi.org.

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater has engaged middle- and high school-age students at 15 area schools and community organizations in a program called “Our Neighborhoods: Past Present and Future.” The 25-week, 50-hour program was inspired by the Rep’s productions of “Raisin In The Sun” and “Clybourne Park.”

Taking a cue from the plays’ theme of neighborhood diversity, the students are studying the history of the area in which they live and go to school with the hope of positively influencing the future of their neighborhood.

“We wanted to give the students a sense of empowerment that they can actually make a difference in their communities,” said Jenny Kostreva, the Rep’s education director.

“We tell (them) the story about the fair housing marches that happened in the ’60s and that (were) led by the NAACP youth council and they were all these kids’ age. And that was an enlightening fact for them to realize, ‘Oh, actually, maybe I can make a difference.’”

Students study their neighborhood as part of a Milwaukee Repertory Theatre program. (Photo by Alex Perry)

Working closely with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s theater department and Milwaukee Public Schools, the Rep project places teaching artists in 14 MPS schools, including North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St., where students learn photography and playwriting as well as the power of spoken word. The students are using these skills to interview people who live in their neighborhoods for raw material they will craft into poetry and theatrical pieces.

North Division students saw the Rep’s productions of “Clybourne Park,” by Bruce Norris, and “Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, as part of the Our Neighborhoods program. They studied “Raisin in the Sun” in depth, reading and discussing the play in school.

“I wish I would have had this program at my school when I was growing up,” said Lindsey Schmeltzer, the Rep’s teaching specialist at North Division. Schmeltzer added that she feels honored to introduce the students to her life’s passion, live theater.

“It’s their first experience so they don’t know really what to expect,” she said. “Most of them, at least my classes, have come out raving about it: what a unique experience (it is) and how much they’ll remember their first theater experience.”

Troy Freund, a local professional photographer who teaches the students camera skills, said that his life’s work is more than creating pictures. “You can do a lot with photography. You can learn about the world, you can learn about yourself.

“A lot of people need a little more introspection,” Freund added. “Photography can serve that really well.”

Steve Fendt, executive director of the Southside Organizing Committee, says ending the residency requirement will hurt all Milwaukee neighborhoods. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Despite the impact that an end to the residency requirement for city of Milwaukee employees could have, few community organizations have taken a position on the issue.

NNS contacted 12 organizations, all headquartered in the central city. Only one, the Southside Organizing Committee (SOC), had taken a stance against eliminating the residency requirement. Three groups did not return a reporter’s calls requesting comment.

Several of the organizational officials who responded, including Sharon Adams, director of programs at Walnut Way; Laura Bray, executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners; and Jim Bartos, executive director of Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, said their boards had not yet taken up the issue and were unsure whether they ever would.

“I’m uncomfortable discussing it. It hasn’t been taken up by our board yet,” said Scott McGroaty, executive director of Enderis Park Neighborhood Association.

The state budget should be finalized and a decision on the proposal to end statewide residency requirements for municipal employees should come by early summer, according to reports.

The reluctance of local organizations to take an official stance irks Steve Fendt, executive director of SOC. During a press conference in late February, Fendt urged local organizations to help him fight against legislation he says will cause great harm to the city’s tax base.

“Money is leaving the city and property values will go down, so people who stay here are going to have to pay more.”

But the main impact on the central city would be an erosion of public services, according to Fendt.

“There’s going to be worse service because people are going to be more out of touch than they already are,” said Fendt, referring to the possible migration of city employees even farther from the neighborhoods they work in.

Some organization leaders were willing to take a personal position.

Tom Schneider, executive director of COA Youth and Family Centers, said, “Though our organization doesn’t have a particular political position I can tell you that I personally feel very strongly that eliminating the residency would be very harmful to the city of Milwaukee and all its residents,” he said.

Schneider, who was a county employee for years, said he found it perfectly reasonable to be required to live in the city he was serving.

Sharon Adams, director of programs at Walnut Way Conservation Corp., says that though her organization doesn’t have an official stance, she believes that city employees should find pleasure in living in the communities they serve. (Photo by Jen Janviere)

Adams and Ricardo Diaz, executive director of the United Community Center, also said they personally disagreed with the proposed legislation.

People in public service should find pride and pleasure in living in the community they serve, Adams commented. Diaz said he thinks ending the resident requirement is bad policy, but said, “The agency itself doesn’t get involved in those matters.”

Some of those interviewed said that charitable and tax-exempt organizations are limited in their ability to take a stance on political issues.

However, according to the Internal Revenue Service, 501(c)(3) agencies are allowed to take positions on public policy issues and would only lose their nonprofit status if a substantial part of their activities involved attempting to influence legislation or engage in political campaign activity. The organizations may conduct educational meetings, distribute educational materials and consider public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

Fendt said it is hypocritical for agencies to say they are not allowed to take a stand on the residency requirement.

“Clearly they (organizations) do get involved in some political issues, so for people to hide behind that is baloney because everything is political,” Fendt added.

He referenced recent published opinion pieces by Diaz and Maria Monreal-Cameron, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, in which both leaders stated that the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors should be reformed.

Monreal-Cameron, who was also polled for the survey, said she was uninterested in giving an opinion on the residency issue and would not say why.

Fendt argued that the residency issue is going to affect central city organizations as much or more than any other issue they take up. “Groups are always weighing in on issues that are in their wheelhouse,” he added.

Bray said her organization typically takes positions on issues that are specific to the Valley. She said, however, that she is a strong believer in the city of Milwaukee and added, ”I choose to live here and I think it’s a great city with great resources.”

Those resources will dwindle if the residency requirement is lifted, according to Fendt.

Alderman Michael J. Murphy, who represents Washington Heights and other central city neighborhoods, agreed, explaining that the residency requirement will lead to a loss of middle class families and their tax dollars, and a reduction in public services.

Murphy cited an analysis done by the Legislative Reference Bureau, a research arm of the Milwaukee Common Council-City Clerk’s Office, as proof that the proposed legislation would harm the city.

The survey of several large cities, including Minneapolis, St. Louis and Baltimore, conducted by the bureau, found that within 10 years of lifting residency requirements, more than half of city employees had moved out. Murphy said he believes the same would happen here, adding, “These are good-paying jobs for people who support local communities, but the income from those jobs would no longer be spent in the city.”

Norma Balentine, director of youth programs at Safe & Sound, looks over survey results from the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

Youth who participate in Safe & Sound activities are more likely to resist joining gangs, according to a survey of 522 youth ages 10 to 19 who are involved with the organization. The survey also found that 44 percent of respondents were asked to join a gang at some point in their lives.

“We ask questions focused on if they’ve been asked to be in a gang, are they currently in a gang, have (they) ever carried a weapon, have (they) ever been in a fight where a weapon was involved,” said Ryan Bilello, the youth and data coordinator at the Safe & Sound City on a Hill site, 2224. W. Kilbourn Ave.

Administered in October, the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey also questioned youth about other high-risk behavior and their contact with police.

The survey revealed that 20.1 percent of teens have been or are currently gang members, while 57 percent have a family member who is involved in a gang. In addition, 76.9 percent of teens reported gang activity was a “very serious problem” in their neighborhood.

Safe & Sound youth participants Anfernee Bennett and Kijon May-Agee discuss the survey results. (Photo by Courtney Perry)

There are 19 Safe & Sound locations in Milwaukee called Safe Places, where youth go for after-school activities. Norma Balentine, who is in charge of after-school programs at City on a Hill, said that giving youth a positive place to go helps them stay away from crime and gangs.

“If you find those young people a safe place to be, they’re going to be less likely to be engaged in crime or become victims of it,” Balentine said. She added that most youth join gangs because they want to fit in, be accepted and feel protected.

A Safe & Sound program called the Crime Strategy Initiative, which is in its fifth year, encourages young people to educate the community about problems that concern them.

Anfernee Bennett and Kijon May-Agee, both 16, and Mariell Johnson, 17, helped create a video focused on gang awareness and resistance. Describing the video, May-Agree said, “I played his (Bennett’s) best friend and I was already in a gang and he said he wanted to get in. I told him, ‘It’s not what you want to do.’”

Safe & Sound also offers other programs to help youth stay out of trouble. “All-Stars,” is a character development program, according to Balentine. Participants are required to make nine commitments and fulfill them. For example, they might commit to going to school regularly. At the end of the program, the students graduate and receive a ring with nine stars representing the commitments they made.

Balentine said she believes that Safe & Sound helps young people avoid negative behaviors. She said teens “feel connected to (some of the) program activities.”

“Youth don’t grow up in programs, they grow up in communities. We can create that community for them to experience their voice, because they have a lot of good things to say that we need to hear,” she said.

Bennett and Johnson agreed that Safe & Sound is doing a good job of keeping them in a positive place. “It’s the environment,” Johnson said. He added that life is too important to join a gang.

“People who join gangs feel like they have a lack of love,” Bennett said. “At Safe & Sound you’re welcomed with open arms. The environment is full of love, and once you get that, you don’t need gangs.”