The grant will support community-led strategies to increase well-being and reduce violence by advancing strategies in Milwaukee’s Blueprint for Peace.
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and partners Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital – St. Joseph Campus; City of Milwaukee Health Department, Office of Violence Prevention; and The Sherman Park Community Association, Inc. have received the BUILD Health Challenge® award. The award provides $250,000 in funding and additional resources to support community-driven strategies in the Sherman Park neighborhood. The overall objectives of the project are to increase resident well-being and prevent violence by advancing strategies in Milwaukee’s Blueprint for Peace.
In addition, Ascension Wisconsin has committed to provide $336,000 in matching support to ensure the project’s success.
The project will be called BUILD Sherman Park.
“BUILD is a national program designed to support the kind of partnerships United Way invests in every day: collaborations between community-based organizations, health departments, and hospitals that address important health issues in our community,” said Nicole Angresano, vice president of community impact at United Way.
Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood, long associated with the systemic inequities it’s resident’s experience, is poised for rebirth. BUILD Sherman Park will engage community members around The Milwaukee Blueprint for Peace, a community-driven agenda for addressing the complex factors that drive violence in our city.
“With trauma finally being acknowledged as a public health issue and epidemic in this community, we must invest in our ‘human resources (people)’ to address the complete health of residents,” said Mabel Lamb, executive director of The Sherman Park Community Association, Inc. “The BUILD Health Challenge will focus on the social, environmental, and economic factors that have the greatest influence on the health of our community.”
“We’re excited about this opportunity to actively partner with United Way, The City of Milwaukee Health Department Office of Violence Prevention and The Sherman Park Community Association, Inc. to address some of the toughest issues that lead to health inequity,” said Bernie Sherry, senior vice president, Ascension, and ministry market executive, Ascension Wisconsin. “Together, we are creating an innovative model of care to achieve our shared vision of a healthy, safe and prosperous Sherman Park community.”
Strategies for engagement will focus on fostering safe, strong neighborhoods, as well as strengthening capacity, coordination, and collaboration for health and safety.
“The Milwaukee Health Department is elated to partner on this national funding opportunity which will help build capacity by supporting community partners, including our Office of Violence Prevention, serving Sherman Park,” said Dr. Jeanette Kowalik, commissioner of health for the City of Milwaukee. “The Sherman Park community has been hit hard by a number of disparities related to the Social Determinants of Health (e.g. healthy and safe housing, unemployment, healthy food options). However, we remain committed to addressing these issues and supporting the work in this area.”
“We are honored to be a part of this cross-sector partnership to strengthen resident-led strategies to advance safety and wellbeing in Sherman Park,” said Reggie Moore, injury and violence prevention director for the City of Milwaukee Health Department, Office of Violence Prevention. “Advancing the Blueprint for Peace requires partnerships and engagement from every segment of our community. The BUILD Health Challenge is a bold example of that.”
Those interested in getting involved are invited to save the date for the BUILD Sherman Park Kickoff event, to be held on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. at the Sherman Phoenix.
For ongoing updates on this project, please share your contact information at UnitedWayGMWC.org/BUILD-Sherman-Park
ABOUT UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County fights for the health, education, and financial stability for every person in our local community.
ABOUT THE BUILD HEALTH CHALLENGE
The BUILD Health Challenge is a unique national program focusing on bold, upstream, integrated, local, and data-driven projects that can improve community health. The BUILD Health Challenge award provides funding, capacity-building support, and access to a national peer learning network to enhance collaborative partnerships here locally to address our community’s most pressing health challenges. Special thanks to the BUILD Health Challenge for its support of this initiative.
The BUILD Health Challenge is made possible with the support of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, de Beaumont Foundation, Episcopal Health Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., New Jersey Health Initiatives, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
ABOUT ASCENSION WISCONSIN
In Wisconsin, Ascension operates 24 hospital campuses, more than 100 related healthcare facilities and employs more than 1,300 primary and specialty care clinicians from Racine to Eagle River. Serving Wisconsin since 1848, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is one of the leading non-profit and Catholic health systems in the U.S., operating 2,600 sites of care – including 150 hospitals and more than 50 senior living facilities – in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
ABOUT SHERMAN PARK COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
The mission of Sherman Park Community Association is to make Sherman Park an attractive, interesting neighborhood where people of all races, religions, and national origins come together to celebrate and respect our differences, as well as our shared values.
ABOUT THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION
The Office of Violence Prevention provides strategic direction and oversight for City efforts to reduce the risk of violence through linked strategies in partnership with government, non-profit, neighborhood, and faith organizations.