Workforce training, teaching kitchen among ThriveOn King healthy food features
Milwaukee,– The ThriveOn Collaboration has selected Kinship Community Food Center, which serves residents in the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods, to operate a signature café in the historic ThriveOn King building. In addition to bringing healthy food options to the dynamic community hub, the nonprofit partner will also bring to the table an innovative workforce training program for residents encountering barriers to employment.
“Kinship’s inclusion among the mosaic of partners contributing to the activation of ThriveOn King will help us meet two community-identified priorities at the same time,” said Greg Wesley, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. “In our initial visioning process and throughout our ongoing engagement, neighbors have consistently named access to nutritious food and access to jobs among their highest priorities. Thanks to this arrangement, the collaboration can fulfill another promise to Bronzeville area residents.”
ThriveOn King, 2153 N.Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, is an iconic former department store transformed for community, residential and commercial use through the work of the ThriveOn Collaboration. Led by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and Royal Capital, the ThriveOn Collaboration invests in the health, educational, social and economic wellness of Milwaukee’s Halyard Park, Harambee and Brewers Hill neighborhoods and beyond.
“Access to healthy food is a key social determinant of health,” said John R. Raymond, Sr., MD, president and CEO of MCW. “Addressing social determinants of health is fundamental to improving health outcomes and a crucial priority for ThriveOn Collaboration. The collaboration with Kinship aligns like-minded institutions and goals for the community.”
Kinship brings culinary and training expertise
Known for its holistic and relational approach to addressing hunger, isolation and poverty in Milwaukee, Kinship is part of a movement that is rethinking food systems and related social supports. Their work centers around nourishment – addressing food security and wellness; belonging – fostering kinship and community engagement; and prosperity – creating economic stability and opportunity.
The café at ThriveOn King provides an opportunity to explore an emerging area of interest aligned with Kinship’s mission, that of a food-based social enterprise. Expected to open later this fall for breakfast and lunch, Monday through Friday, the café will offer a welcoming dining experience, providing neighborhood residents nourishment, fellowship, and an opportunity to grow and thrive together. Its scratch cooking offerings will include hot sandwiches, fresh and healthy bowls and salads, and grab-and-go options, as well as barista service.
Layered into the café operation will be Kinship’s established workforce training program that prioritizes social cohesion and healing and is designed to create employment opportunities for systems-impacted individuals. For participants enrolled in its program, Kinship provides paid work experience in culinary arts, urban agriculture and hospitality, while integrating social connection and personal development, to open pathways to steady employment and economic mobility. Among their many community partners in the program is another ThriveOn King tenant, JobsWork MKE, adding to the synergy being built in the community hub.
“We are committed to paving the way for career stability and personal healing, ensuring that everyone, including myself and all members of our workforce team, has the opportunity to grow and thrive together,” said Demonte Dismuke, workforce development manager for Kinship.
The Foundation is providing $350,000 in grant funding over two years to support the workforce training component of the ThriveOn King café as a long-term investment in cultivating individual stability and employment. In the immediate term, the café is expected to create 10-12 jobs and also serve as a preferred catering service for the building.
“I have been able to push and work through challenges and big changes in my life that I’ve wanted to make for a long time because I have the support and love that I needed around me to show me that I had worth and that I was strong enough to change,” said Hope Wernicke, a current workforce trainee.
Leveraging kitchen as a classroom
The café at ThriveOn King will also be shared as the home of the MCW Teaching Kitchen led by Stuart Wong MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of MCW Center for Disease Prevention Research.
“Community-engaged culinary medicine programming will provide medical students learning opportunities to understand how to make lifestyle discussions part of their routine visits with patients and to set a positive example by making healthy choices themselves,” said Dr. Wong.
An example of this programming is a pediatric obesity educational program in collaboration with FoodRight, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit; Kinship; and Children’s Wisconsin in which MCW medical students learn to teach culinary skills and nutrition to students in Milwaukee schools.
ThriveOn King is home to the Foundation’s offices and convening spaces (fourth floor); MCW’s community engagement programs (second and third floors); and multiple community partners serving the community from their first floor locations including JobsWork MKE, Versiti on King and Malaika Early Learning Center. Community gathering and wellness spaces are in use with availability set to expand as the building opens fully to the public. Construction continues on the residential portion of the development, aiming for completion in 2025.
About the Greater Milwaukee Foundation
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation is Wisconsin’s largest community foundation and was among the first established in the world. For more than a century, the Foundation has been at the heart of the civic community, helping donors achieve the greatest philanthropic impact, elevating the work of changemakers across neighborhoods, and bringing people and organizations together to help our region thrive. Racial equity is the Foundation’s North Star, guiding its investments and strategies for social and economic change. Leveraging generations of community knowledge, cross-sector partnerships and more than $1 billion in financial assets, the Foundation is committed to reimagining philanthropy, re-centering communities and remaking systems to transform our region into a Milwaukee for all.
About the Medical College of Wisconsin
With a history dating back to 1893, the Medical College of Wisconsin is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, research and community engagement. More than 1,600 students are enrolled in MCW’s medical, graduate and pharmacy schools at campuses in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Central Wisconsin. MCW’s School of Pharmacy opened in 2017. A major national research center, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin. Annually, our faculty direct or collaborate on more than 3,500 research studies, including clinical trials. In the last 10 years, MCW faculty have received nearly $2 billion in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes, including highly competitive research and training awards from the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, our more than 1,700 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine, annually fulfilling more than 4 million patient visits.
About Royal Capital
At Royal Capital, having the opportunity to serve its communities in such an intimate and catalytic manner, is a privilege that it carries with high appreciation. From housing, retail, philanthropy, and community services, the people of Royal Capital are grateful for the opportunity to provide quality experiences that stretch beyond bricks and mortar. With a disciplined strategy and intentional execution, its efforts have led to the development of quality sustainable communities, while achieving the double bottom line for its investors and partners. The employees of Royal Capital are proud to be considered leaders in urban development, and we maintain our excitement to build, create, and be afforded the opportunity to “color outside the box.”
About Kinship Community Food Center
Kinship Community Food Center is committed to improving lives and growing community well-being in the city of Milwaukee. It engages volunteers and community residents around food to end hunger, isolation, and poverty. Through their Food Center, Urban Farm, and various other programs, Kinship Community Food Center serves 350,000 pounds of food to 15,000 community members every year. Kinship Community Food Center also partners with Hunger Task Force and Feeding America to address hunger in the greater Milwaukee area.