Left Turn: Dr. Rene Settle-Robinson

Alexander Kostal and James Wieland, WXRW, May 24th, 2022

What is 'environmental justice?' Milwaukee practitioner Dr. Rene Settle-Robinson sat down with Alex and James of Riverwest Radio’s Left-Turn production and discussed impacts of climate change and pollution on our most vulnerable neighborhoods. They discuss the political will it will require to address the greatest impacts and prioritize equity. Listen.

Beating the heat: Milwaukee to join cities across the nation in measuring heat island effect

John Davis, WPR, May 9th, 2022

This piece on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) discusses extreme heat events in Milwaukee. This summer the Wisconsin DNR is leading a NOAA funding campaign to map heat in Milwaukee using a method that involves enlisting volunteers to drive traverses across the city collecting data points at three times on a hot summer day. The data is hoped to provide detailed insight into places that are most exposed to heat. Groundwork’s Outreach and Organizing Director Jess Haven talks about the issue and the mapping campaign in the context of the Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative.

Newsletter, April 2022

Hey Groundwork Supporters! Here’s the April newsletter! It hasn’t felt quite like spring yet, but we know the growing season is just around the corner. We’ve been busy prepping and building new gardens, cleaning waterways, planting trees and connecting with residents. Keep reading to learn more! 

message from the executive director

open positions

green space action

Kilbourn garden

CLIMATE SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS

GREEN TEAM

ground corps

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Today is Earth Day and with all of the disturbing stories in the news lately, I've been thinking of "The Real Work," a poem by Wendell Berry:

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

The world is baffling but we have to keep going. One carrot won't change the world but an empty vacant lot that's turned into a garden full of carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and collards, in a small way, will. When you multiply that positivity by the 80+ gardens in our garden network and consider all of the networking, social bonding, improved nutrition, low-intensity exercise, and healing that happens when people grow things together – then you have a difference maker for Milwaukee. 

It's easy to feel overwhelmed when we think of ourselves as solitary individuals, but when I remember to put things into the context of a community, I start to feel better. It's the small things we all can do – like a kind word to the cashier at your grocery store, checking in on an elderly neighbor, or planting heirloom tomatoes – that will make a difference. Taken together our actions will move the needle for Milwaukee and our planet. 

Sincerely,

Young

OPEN POSITIONS

Check out these open positions! Come work with us!

GREEN SPACE ACTION

Earth Day

Groundwork Milwaukee participated in an Earth Day green resource fair at the Urban Ecology Center at Washington Park with Nearby Nature. There were over 100 volunteers participating in a clean-up at Washington Park and several different partner organizations. The weather was beautiful! This was part of a citywide effort organized by Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Clean-Up. Thousands of volunteers participated at over 80 sites throughout the Milwaukee River Basin. Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson both were in attendance as well. On Earth Day we also cleaned up our adopt-a-river site at Havenwoods State Forest and kicked off the Discovery World Garden.

Southside Spring Clean-Up

In April, we held our first spring clean-up event on the southside, in partnership with Story Garden and Madison Pocket Park. Ten volunteers showed up at Story Garden. They collected debris, retired old hoses, clipped bushes, and collected branches. We were also able to plant seeds in seven planter benches and install two welcome signs, which were painted by Groundwork volunteers! Garden Leader, Brenda Rios, was very excited to have one of her students show up to help. He learned to operate a drill and connected the garden sign to its post. Other volunteers then helped install it in the ground. At Madison Pocket Park, we had support from five volunteers. Together with Groundwork staff and Garden Leader Sarah Luther we weeded and filled garden beds with soil. The weeds were no match for our teamwork! The garden is now ready for the upcoming season.Both of these events were powered by people who canvassed, and brought materials, ideas, and a willingness to work.

Tree Planting at Hepatha Community Garden

We’re very excited to have held our first tree planting of the season at Hepatha Community Garden. Thanks to funding from One Tree Planted, we were able to plant five trees: one sweet cherry pie, two red haven peach trees, one golden delicious apple tree, and one haralred apple tree. Thanks to all the community leaders and volunteers that came out to help!

Volunteer

We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the next month. Keep an eye out for weekly opportunities on our Volunteer Sign-Up page and social media.

KILBOURN GARDEN

Gardening has been kicked off at Kilbourn. We’ve already rebuilt 33 beds and have begun filling them with soil. Keep your eyes peeled for the front bed to be painted with the garden’s name. We’ll finally have a sign!

If you’re looking for a growing space for this season, registration for Kilbourn is open and there are still beds available. Reserve your bed below!

Great Groundwork Grill Out

Volunteer

Throughout the growing season we’ll be hosting regular volunteer workdays at Kilbourn on Wednesday evenings from 5-7pm. Stop by and help us keep the space beautiful!

Climate Safe Neighborhoods

We’re out here! On Saturday, April 23, we hit the streets to start introducing Climate Safe Neighborhoods to Milwaukee residents. We love meeting neighbors and it’s very important to hear about their health, safety and climate related experiences and concerns. We’ll be out regularly to learn more about the issues and put our minds and energy together to build a grassroots movement for local change.

Energy Burden

Energy burden is the comparison of income to energy expenses per household. Data shows that Black, Latinx and Hispanic households in MIlwaukee, and those who live in formerly redlined areas, are paying the most of their income toward these bills, and experiencing shut-offs and credit impacts as a result. This is an equity issue we are highlighting with our grassroots Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative. To learn more, contact keviea@groundworkmke.org. Together, we can make change happen! 

Check out the press event video here to learn more, and head to this link to calculate your household energy burden. 

Heat Watch Mapping Campaign this Summer

Groundwork Milwaukee is partnering with the Wisconsin DNR, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and several other local organizations in an urban heat mapping project this summer. Thanks to the application submitted by the DNR forestry division, Milwaukee was chosen along with 13 other cities across the country to receive heat sensor equipment, logistical support, and data analysis by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and CAPA Strategies in 2022 for a summer day of people-powered mapping action. This means we’ll be recruiting volunteers to drive planned routes with sensors on their vehicles a few times during one of the hottest projected days of this summer (probably in July, TBD - stay tuned!). This data can be used to better understand the disproportionately high temps in some residential areas, and around schools and other populated areas in the city. With this information, city leaders and organizations can take measures to ensure safety for all Milwaukeeans on hot days, especially as we experience more extreme weather conditions due to climate change. More info to come. We hope you’ll get involved!

GREEN TEAM

Starting in May, Groundwork will be providing Green Team youth programming with three partner organizations, Thoreau Elementary School, Craig Montessori School and with SPLASH, Belonging Place at Solomon Community Temple. We can’t wait to get started!

GROUND CORPS

April marked the start of Ground Corps programming and their calendar was packed. They began their maintenance of city bioswales while completing an ADA accessible stage and rain harvesting structure at the MacCannon Brown Community Garden. They also built new garden beds, complete with soil, for the Community Agriculture Growing Experience (CAGE) Garden, Andre Lee Ellis’ new project. The garden was featured in this story on TMJ4.

Focus on Energy helps homeowners with rebates, improved efficiency. Activists want to expand it to help renters as well.

Corrinne Hess, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 3rd, 2022

This article summarizes a press conference held by the Sierra Clubs’ Wisconsin Chapter. At the event residents and local social organizations advocated for the State of Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program to be extended to renters to relieve energy burden in Black and Latinx communities. Groundwork Milwaukee’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods Organizing Associate, Keviea Guiden, spoke at the event in support of expanding the program.

What I learned from pruning Milwaukee’s orphaned fruit trees

Lina Tran, Grist, April 28th, 2022

City’s like to plant trees, but don’t always set aside resources to care for them after they are planted. This article in Grist explores the gap between planting trees and caring for them. Groundwork Milwaukee’s Greenspace Actions Coordinator, Samson Srok, provides valuable insight from his experience in the field. Learn about this issue at the link below.

Newsletter, March 2022

Groundwork Supporters! The newsletter is back! It’s been a minute, but we weren’t hibernating. We were working behind the scenes to prepare ourselves for the 2022 season. We’ve got open positions. We’ve got new Ground Corps members. We’ve got spring clean-ups planned. Kilbourn registration is open. Read all about it below!

message from the executive director

open positions

Great groundwork get together

garden network

Kilbourn garden

CLIMATE SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS

ground corps

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”

-Rainer Maria Rilke-

Spring is here! I’m sure because I spotted a robin last week. But I've lived in Milwaukee long enough to know that sometimes snow happens in April. So, I’m trying not to get too excited. I've lived all over the United States (Alabama, Louisiana, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, California, Texas, and Washington) and I tell you: No place celebrates spring and summer like Milwaukee does. Groundwork is here to help you celebrate. So, get ready Milwaukee, we've got some cool stuff planned.

Sincerely,

Young

OPEN POSITIONS

Check out these open positions! Come work with us!

The Great Groundwork Get Together

On March 9th, Indeed Brewing Company graciously hosted us for an evening of family, friends, and fun, aka The Great Groundwork Get Together. Indeed donated all proceeds from the day to Groundwork Milwaukee’s work in the community. DJ Bohdan generously contributed awesome music, we held a quirky little raffle, and the trivia contest was a hit. It was great to meet and spend time with Groundwork Milwaukee supporters, volunteers, garden leaders, board members, and thirsty bystanders. We enjoyed introducing all these folks to one another! The greatest successes of the event were the connections formed and fun memories made. Thanks to everyone who made it out! We hope to do it again.

GARDEN NETWORK

Seedlings

Seedlings under a grow light in the Groundwork Milwaukee office.

Seedlings have been started in our new grow tower. Thank you to the generous volunteers who helped plant the seeds! Collards, peppers, tomatoes, and more have started their great journey to find homes in the Milwaukee Grows Garden Network this spring and summer.

One Tree Planted

Photo by Shuai Want via Unsplash.

This year, with funding from One Tree Planted, we will be planting 60 fruit trees across the city in 13 different sites. We will bask in the glory of fresh local fruit! Our first planting day is April 30th @ Hepatha Community Garden. Come volunteer to dig some big holes with us.

Spring Clean-Ups

As the growing season begins, we’ll be traveling garden to garden picking up trash, repairing beds, and setting these greenspaces up for spring success! We’re looking for volunteer support on the following clean-up days. Come join us!

Volunteer

We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the next month. Keep an eye out for weekly opportunities on our Volunteer Sign-Up page and social media.

KILBOURN GARDEN

Kilbourn in full bloom.

Registration for Kilbourn Garden is open for the 2022 season! There are still plenty of available beds. Come garden with us! Reserve your bed below.

Volunteer

Throughout the growing season we’ll be hosting regular volunteer workdays at Kilbourn on Wednesday evenings from 5-7pm. Stop by and help us keep the space beautiful!

Climate Safe Neighborhoods

A map of Lindsay Heights showing historical waterbodies, closed depressions, and a 100yr storm flood model. A key component of Climate Safe Neighborhoods is resident engagement using maps. This example shows areas that are vulnerable to flooding. We’ll use maps like this to start conversations around resource distribution and mitigation strategies.

Our Milwaukee Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative is taking shape, as we build the foundation for activating residents in a movement to understand climate impacts at the neighborhood level; examine the disparities of those impacts affecting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities significantly more than predominantly white neighborhoods; and to call for relevant local change for the health and wellbeing of Milwaukee residents.

We are partnering in upcoming work including a grassroots urban heat mapping project, a neighborhood air monitoring program, a report on flood risk and health impacts, and more. Please stay tuned to support resident-led actions in the coming months, and contact Jess if you would like to learn more about Climate Safe Neighborhoods (jess@groundworkmke.org).

GROUND CORPS

Darryl (left) and Devin (right) prepare an ADA accessible permeable pathway as part of the Healing Spaces Initiative in 2021.

This month we hired four members of our 2022 Ground Corps Crew. We’re proud that three of the four members are returning members from previous years. They’re already out in the field with Nick making things happen. From everyone at Groundwork, welcome (back) to the team, Darryl, Devin, Jaylen and Nate!

Newsletter, October 2021

How is it possible that October is already ending?! I guess time flies when you’re working hard. Last month we continued work on the Healing Spaces Initiative, prepared gardens for winter, and harvested more than 1,000 lbs. of fresh produce. We were also emboldened by the good energy that our neighbors brought to our first series of Garden Markets. We’re definitely doing more of those! Last but not least, we welcomed a new Executive Director to our team. Welcome, Young! Read more about what we’ve been up to below.

message from the executive director

health hubs

garden network

Kilbourn garden

maglio farm

shared harvest

urban waters

Green Futures

ground corps

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Greetings, Groundwork Milwaukee supporters! Today marks my sixth week as the new Executive Director here at Groundwork Milwaukee. The priority for nonprofit Executive Directors is fundraising, which is simply convincing people to give money to their agency or cause. We're told to develop something called an "elevator speech" in case we find ourselves in an elevator with Bill Gates or Elon Musk and have 15 seconds to request a donation. 

My first week on the job, I was having a hard time coming up with an elevator speech for Groundwork Milwaukee, but then I remembered that old BASF commercial from the '80s and '90s that went, "We don't make the products you buy, we make them better." (Those of you too young to know the BASF ads - you can see them on YouTube.) 

Similarly, Groundwork doesn't actually run the 80+ urban gardens in the Milwaukee Grows network - we leave that up to the residents as they meet their neighborhood's unique needs with their talents and leadership styles ... but I'd like to think we do make them better. We help garden leaders navigate the paperwork that comes with growing on city-owned vacant lots. We help with mini-grants, insurance, water access, training, and family-friendly programming. In doing so, we're helping people develop friendships and relationships that make our city less of a city. All of us are social beings looking for connection, and I can't think of a better place to get to know someone than in a community garden, sharing seeds and exchanging recipes. Thank you for your interest in what we do!

Wishing for peace and health for you and your loved ones,

Young Kim

HEALTH HUBS

Garden Markets

In October, as part of our Fall 2021 Health Hubs programming, Groundwork Milwaukee ran a series of three garden markets in which free produce and other nonperishable food items were available to the community. Two garden markets took place at our Health Hub Gardens, Peace Place and Scooters Garden of Hope, while the third took place at the St. Francis of Assisi Church. During the garden markets, visitors could also enjoy a preservation workshop, cooking demonstrations, cider pressing, and art activities for the kids. In total, over 150 people attended our garden markets across the three dates. Thank you to all of the attendees and partners who made the garden markets possible! 

Scooters Garden Market

St. Francis Assisi Garden Market

Want to participate in Health Hub programming?

If you live near one of our Community Garden Health Hubs and would like to participate in healthy outdoor programming, fill out this form to let us know what types of activities you’d like to see in the gardens. We would love to see you there!

GARDEN NETWORK

Historic Walnut Hill

The Groundwork Milwaukee team supported the Historic Walnut Hill Community Garden at 3118 W. Brown Street to prepare their garden for winter. Together with gardeners, we collected debris and trash, supported harvesting greens and peppers, and winterized garden beds. Shout out to Angela Pruitt, the garden leader of Historic Walnut Hill Community Garden, for dedicating her time and energy to caring for this valuable community space!

Bumblebee Haven

Bumblebee Haven Community Garden held their end of year social gathering and invited Groundwork staff, Elena and Samson to join! We’ll be publishing a Community Spotlight on this amazing garden soon. Check it out to learn more about what Bumblebee Haven gardeners are doing to inspire their neighbors to take action around vacant lots in their neighborhood. 

Office Hours

Office Hours! Huge shout out to the volunteers who have assisted in office hours this fall! We truly cannot do the work in the field without these behind the scenes activities. If you’re new to Groundwork Milwaukee, but interested in getting involved, this is a great weekly opportunity to familiarize yourself with staff and to support with fun painting, organizing and cleaning projects! A big thank you to Marquette students, Maya and Mac, who have been consistent supporters of these projects. Thanks, also, to the group of Marquette students who supported us during their fall break. Check out our new and improved annex space, all ready for winter indoor projects like bench construction, little library building and of course, painting! We couldn’t have done this without our volunteers.

Volunteer

We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the next month. Keep an eye out for weekly opportunities on our Volunteer Sign-Up page and social media.

KILBOURN GARDEN

Activities at Kilbourn Community Garden are wrapping up for the season. The remainder of the year will be focused on infrastructure repair in preparation for the 2022 gardening season. To keep up to date on news at Kilbourn for 2022, please periodically visit the Kilbourn Garden page on our website.

Volunteer

There will be end of season volunteer days at Kilbourn. They should be set soon. Circle back to us if you’re interested in helping prepare the garden for the off-season.

Maglio Farm

September had another huge harvest at the Maglio Farm. More than 1,100 lbs. of fresh produce was harvested and donated to local food pantries. Now, we’re gearing up for winter at the farm! The plastic endwalls have been reinstalled sealing the inside of the hoop houses creating their own little micro climates.  The hoop houses can get 20-30 degrees warmer than the outside air when the sun is out. It’s always summer at the Maglio Farm.  

Volunteer

If you’re interested in supporting the Maglio Farm, follow the link below to see available work opportunities. We’re planning to grow all winter long, but we’ll need your help. This work depends heavily on volunteers. Thank you for dedicating your time and energy toward healthy eating and food sovereignty in Milwaukee!

shared harvest

Fruit Gleaning

Thanks to all the volunteers who supported this year’s Shared Harvest fruit picking outings. With your help, we rescued 1,144 lbs. of local fruit! There are big plans in store for gleaning next season. Stay tuned over the winter to learn more and get involved!

Register a Fruit Tree

Did you know we’ll harvest your fruit as well as your veggies! Register a fruit tree with us today and we’ll organize a crew of volunteers to come save those cherries, apples and pears from going to waste. We’ll rescue your fruit and bring it to a local food pantry. Register your tree at the link below.

Urban Waters

Water School

Over the past month, some of Groundwork’s programs staff have participated in Milwaukee Water Commons’ Water School. Water School provides local organizations opportunities to experience Milwaukee’s waterways through recreation (boat rides, art walks, etc.) and then share their experiences in the form of projects, events or collaborative projects. Our team attended an art walk at one of the largest green spaces in the Milwaukee Grows Garden Network, KRIC Peoples Park, and took a tour of the Community Sailing Center. Thank you Milwaukee Water Commons for providing these valuable water-centric experiences!

GREEN FUTURES

New Horizons

Groundwork Milwaukee’s partnership with the New Horizons School in Shorewood is in full swing for the fall! In October, the New Horizons students assisted with work and learned about composting and seed saving at the Hilltop Community Garden. In addition, they learned about the back-end work to achieve what we do in the field by assisting us with various tasks at our office such as putting together little libraries and signs as well as organizing equipment and tools.

Lloyd Barbee Montessori

Through the Big Green grant, many schools are investing in outdoor learning experiences to foster students’ wellbeing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lloyd Barbee Montessori called on us to support their school’s garden. We worked with them to build four raised beds. Unique stamped tiles were added to the beds giving the garden a unique sense of place. There were plenty of weeds, but we took care of them with help from the staff and students. All activities involved student participation. The students were particularly interested in using the drill and learning techniques to pull out stubborn weeds! 

GROUND CORPS

This month, Ground Corps has kept up with bioswale maintenance along Sherman Boulevard and continued progress on the Healing Spaces Initiative. Pathways for most of the Healing Spaces have already been excavated with gravel installed. We’re near completion at Tranquility on the Beerline Trail near Townsend and Holton. All Peoples Community Garden is also nearing completion. Along with all of this work, we set aside time to explore careers in green infrastructure. Members of our team attended the One Water Career Fair hosted by Employ Milwaukee. At the fair, Ground Corps members explored their options for continuing to a career in green jobs once the Groundwork season has ended.

Newsletter, September 2021

Another eventful month for Groundwork Milwaukee. We harvested 500lbs of fruit, taught high school students how to monitor water quality and completed major construction at multiple sites for the Healing Spaces Initiative, and that’s not all. We’re moving towards the off-season and have been doing a lot of harvesting and winterizing with our gardeners. Thanks to all of our dedicated volunteers who make our work possible! Read more about what we’ve been up to below. Click the tiles below for program-specific updates or just scroll down to read it all.

health hubs

garden network

Kilbourn garden

maglio farm

shared harvest

urban waters

Green Futures

ground corps

HEALTH HUBS

Upcoming Health Hub Workshops

If you’re interested in participating in Health Hub programming, we’d love to see you in the gardens! Check-out the list below for upcoming Health Hub events. We’re excited to announce we’ll be hosting garden markets and preservation workshops running through October. Fresh produce provided by Groundwork and the Riverwest Food Pantry’s collaboration at the Maglio Farm.

Garden Market Volunteers

We’re looking for volunteers to help promote, set up and work our upcoming Free Garden Markets. If you’re interested in supporting these events click the button to sign-up for a volunteer role. Thank you!

Want to participate in Health Hub programming?

If you live near one of our Community Garden Health Hubs and would like to participate in healthy outdoor programming, fill out this form to let us know what types of activities you’d like to see in the gardens. We would love to see you there!

GARDEN NETWORK

In the past month, we made a lot of improvements to the garden network. Among other efforts, we oversaw a work day with Kappa Delta Chi Sorority at Garden of Delight, conducted maintenance at KRIC People’s Park with Sixteenth Street Health Clinic, and serious updates at the Sherman Park Young Farmers Garden in collaboration with Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee.

Garden of Delight

Groundwork Milwaukee worked with seven volunteers from Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. chapter in Milwaukee for a workday at Gardens of Delight on 64th Street. The volunteers worked on weeding and winterizing the entire garden to prepare for great soil health for the 2022 season. Two new beds were also constructed. Thank you to all of our great volunteers!

KRIC People’s Park

Groundwork Milwaukee supported the weeding and wood chip spreading at the KRIC People’s Park on South 14th Street and West Harrison Avenue. Welcome to new garden leader, Yesi P. from the Sixteenth Street Health Clinic. Welcome to the Milwaukee Grows Garden Network, Yesi!

Sherman Park Young Farmers Garden

Over the course of three September workdays, Michael Waite of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee worked with volunteers to remove 12 defunct beds and prepare the space for the construction of new beds next season. Just this past Wednesday, the Black Store Managers Council of Lowes’ Region #4 supported a full workday at Sherman Park along with the giveaway of home winterizing safety supplies. With their help, we were able to winterize 12 beds and till and lay wood chips down on the walkway between them.

Volunteer

We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the next month. Keep an eye out for weekly opportunities on our Volunteer Sign-Up page and social media.

KILBOURN GARDEN

We have been working every week to slowly shut down Kilbourn Garden for the year. We had an amazing year at the garden with 100% of available beds being rented. Volunteers have had the opportunity to work on compost management, bed repairs, and winterizing garden beds. Thank you to all of our gardeners and volunteers that make Kilbourn Garden possible every year!  

Volunteer

There will be end of season volunteer days at Kilbourn. They should be set soon. Circle back to us if you’re interested in helping prepare the garden for the off-season.

Maglio Farm

In August, we harvested 2,668 pounds of produce! August marked the beginning of the end for our main summer harvest. We’ve started rolling down the hoop house plastic sides and putting up end walls in preparation for cold weather. We’ll be growing all winter long so watch for opportunities to volunteer!

Volunteer

If you’re interested in supporting the Maglio Farm, follow the link below to see available work opportunities. We’re planning to grow all winter long, but we’ll need your help. This work depends heavily on volunteers. Thank you for dedicating your time and energy toward healthy eating and food sovereignty in Milwaukee!

shared harvest

Garden gleaning is over for the season. Fresh Food Connect and donation drop-off locations have ended for 2021. We're proud to report that with help from our dedicated gardeners and volunteers, we were able to rescue nearly 500lbs of fresh produce and donate it to four different Milwaukee food pantries. Thank you to all who contributed to a successful Shared Harvest season!

A special thanks to St. Marcus for dedicating a section of their garden to donate to Shared Harvest all summer long.  You can read more about their space in our community spotlight here.

Fruit Gleaning

Our volunteer fruit picking operation is going strong. We’ll be out picking apples until the first frost (nighttime temperatures dipping below 32 degrees). We’ve harvested over 550lbs of fruit so far this season! You can sign up for fruit gleaning work days here.

Register a Fruit Tree

Did you know we’ll harvest your fruit as well as your veggies! Register a fruit tree with us today and we’ll organize a crew of volunteers to come save those cherries, apples and pears from going to waste. We’ll rescue your fruit and bring it to a local food pantry. Register your tree at the link below.

Urban Waters

New Horizon Students helped us conduct water quality monitoring sessions on the Milwaukee River. A fun and educational time on a beautiful day!

GREEN FUTURES

New Horizons

This Fall, Groundwork Milwaukee is continuing its partnership with the students and faculty of New Horizons Charter School in Shorewood. The students will be learning about and assisting with topics such as winterizing garden beds, the importance of soil health in gardening, along with testing and improving water quality. We’ve got a lot of good memories with the team at New Horizons and look forward to making more!

GROUND CORPS

Volunteer day at Peace Park on MLK.

Volunteer day at Peace Park on MLK.

Volunteer day at Peace Park on MLK.

Volunteer day at Peace Park on MLK.

Pathway excavation at sculpture garden on Richards and Locust.

Pathway excavation at Beerline Trail on Townsend and Holton.

Making progress at the MacCannon Brown Homeless Sanctuary.

Making progress at the MacCannon Brown Homeless Sanctuary.

This month as volunteer days for Healing Space Initiative (HSI) sites begin to wrap up, the Ground Corps has continued construction for HSI sites, beginning pathway and patio excavation at Beerline Trail, Harambee Tot Lot, Richards Sculpture Garden, and Peace Park. Our team, along with Harambee community members and  Eras Senior Network, were able to plant more than 100 perennials and six fruit trees between three volunteer days at Peace Park, Adams Park and the playground on 1st and Wright. We were also able to begin construction for the much anticipated MacCannon Brown Homeless Sanctuary. Plans for the sanctuary, designed by Nagel Architects, includes a rainwater catchment structure capable of catching 1000 gallons of fallen rainwater.

Community Spotlight: St. Marcus Donation Garden

On North Hackett Avenue, between Belleview and Park Place sits St. Mark's Episcopal Church. In the back corner, past the parking lot, sits a small but lush garden space. Gardeners, Meg Edwards, Jane Shero, and Deacon Michelle Mooney are giving a tour of the space. “The space is about 20 years old. We took the turf out, brought sand in – it’s very clay-y here. Every year we would lay down mulch and compost, and now it grows a little bit of everything.” 

Deacon Michelle Moonie has been serving St. Marcus since 2002, and led the building of the garden. “Creating this garden was a classic diaconal service. Helping people get together to do something in the community. This is an attempt to get people working together, get people to know each other, and now I’ve gotten caught up in it, too!”

Three out of the thirteen garden beds available in this space are dedicated to growing for donation. The three beds are flourishing with leeks, beets, tomatoes, kale, lettuce, peppers, beans, corn, and more. As we speak, Michelle starts looking at the corn next to us. “Meg says not yet!” Jane adds, “They’re not nearly brown enough.”

Jane wears a simple flannel and talks in detail, with love, about what’s growing. She has become a regular donor to Groundwork Milwaukee’s garden gleaning program using the Fresh Food Connect mobile app.  

“Two – three years ago, I tried to take my excess produce to a local food pantry. It couldn’t seem to sync up – when they needed what I had. It was so frustrating. When I learned about Fresh Food Connect, it was a no brainer. I just have to do what I do best, which is grow, harvest, and put it on my front step. I’ve always understood the concept of sharing food and feeding others who are in need, but that phrase ‘food justice’ has really resonated with me. It’s short enough but complete enough to explain what you’re about. If you’re trying to give people justice by giving them the basics of what they need, that’s immediately understandable.”

These garden beds are stewarded by both new and experienced gardeners. Jane says, “I’ve been a vegetable gardener for forty years, and I’m pretty sure I would lose my marbles if I didn’t have my fingers in the dirt.”

Meg Edwards had been familiar with food pantries through volunteering with local food justice organization, The Gathering. “I never did vegetables before, but seeing what Jane and Michelle and all the gardeners do, it’s phenomenal. So with this year, it was like – I want to be part of that!”

These small beds have donated a collected 145 lbs of produce this summer, which has then been donated to the pantry shoppers of Solomon Community Temple and Interchange Food Pantry. A little love in a well tended garden can end up making a big difference.

Building Buy-In for Green Jobs Seen as Path to Climate Resilience and Racial Equity in Milwaukee

Susan Bence, WUWM 89.7 FM, August 31st, 2021

Local environmental reporter, Susan Bence, reports on the Milwaukee City-County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity’s most resent forum. The meeting aimed to address the economic opportunity green jobs present as efforts to improve local climate resiliency increase. Groundwork Milwaukee’s Ground Corps Crew Leader, Bree Jackson, speaks up with an important question for the task force. Listen.

Positively Milwaukee: Healing Spaces Initiative

TMJ4, August 28th, 2021

TMJ4 featured the Healing Spaces Initiative in their Positively Milwaukee segment. The clip covers the construction of a sculpture garden at the intersection of Richards Street and Locus Street. Groundwork Milwaukee played a significant role in the construction of this space. View clip.

Volunteers Hope to Bring Art, Other Attractions, to Blighted Lots in Harambee

Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 28th, 2021

This article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discusses a sculpture garden that was installed on Locus Street and North Richards as part of the City of Milwaukee’s Healing Spaces Initiative. Groundwork Milwaukee played a large role in facilitating the build out of this space. View full article.

Pandemic Garden Out of Control? Local Nonprofit Can Help!

Tyler Nelson, Shepherd Express, August 27th, 2021

The Shepherd Express interviews Groundwork Milwaukee’s Community Programs Manager, Matt Vogt about Fresh Food Connect. If you have extra garden produce in your backyard garden. Sign up for Fresh Food Connect and Groundwork staff and volunteers will pick it up from your doorstep and donate it to a local food pantry. Just download and install the Fresh Food Connect app on your mobile device and, if you live in one of our activated zip codes, you’ll be able to post your donations. View full article.

Newsletter, August 2021

Health Hubs! Healing Spaces! Green Team! Young Farmers! All of our programming is in full swing, and it’s all here for you to explore. Watch for opportunities to get involved. Click the tiles below for program-specific updates or just scroll down to read everything.

health hubs

garden network

Kilbourn garden

maglio farm

shared harvest

urban waters

YOUNG FARMERS

GREEN TEAM

ground corps

HEALTH HUBS

This past month, our Community Garden Health Hubs hosted yoga and planting workshops galore. We led ten classes in total across our six Health Hub sites on topics related to garden pests, soil health, and composting systems. We’re very excited that we’ve secured funding to continue season extension and indoor growing workshops from now until January. Watch for upcoming events on social media and on the Health Hubs page of our website.

Upcoming Health Hub Workshops

If you’re interested in participating in Health Hub programming, we’d love to see you in the gardens! Check-out the list below for upcoming Health Hub events.

Want to participate in Health Hub programming?

If you live near one of our Community Garden Health Hubs and would like to participate in healthy outdoor programming, fill out this form to let us know what types of activities you’d like to see in the gardens. We would love to see you there!

GARDEN NETWORK

We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities in the next month. Keep an eye out for weekly opporutnities on our Volunteer Sign-Up page and social media.

Compost Crusader Discount

We are excited about a new collaboration with Compost Crusaders! Compost Crusaders is offering discounted compost to gardens or partners affiliated with Groundwork Milwaukee. Compost will be discounted from $35 per yard to $30 per yard for orders of 3 yards or more.

Garden Network Volunteer Opportunities

We’ll be hosting volunteer work days at the below times on a weekly basis. View our sign-up page for specific times and locations.

KILBOURN GARDEN

On August 12th, we organized a day of support with approximately 20 incoming first year medical students at the Medical College of Wisconsin. They assisted us with various tasks at Kilbourn Garden including making new number labels for beds, sealing garden signs, mowing, compost management, and debris removal. For the Medical College of Wisconsin, the goal of this service program is to send their students into the community with an upperclassman mentor to learn about the city and get to know populations they will soon be serving as physicians.

Volunteer

Each Thursday at Kilbourn, we host a volunteer workday to keep the garden looking fresh throughout the season. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped us to keep the space tidy so far this season. If you’d like to come help out, follow the link below and sign-up for a ‘Weekly Kilbourn Workday’ time slot.

Maglio Farm

The height of harvest season is upon us! We are surrounded by huge squash and bright red tomatoes. In July we harvested more than 2,000 pounds of fresh produce! All of it was donated to local food pantries. Thank you to all of our hardworking and dedicated volunteers. We truly could not do this without you!

Volunteer

If you’re interested in supporting the Maglio Farm, follow the link below to see available work opportunities. This work depends heavily on volunteers. Thank you for dedicating your time and energy toward healthy eating and food sovereignty in Milwaukee!

shared harvest

Fruit Gleaning

Season’s gleanings, everybody! Fruit gleaning season is upon us. We’ll be gleaning on Tuesdays and Fridays (5:30pm-7:30pm), August through September. Fruit is donated locally and volunteers are encouraged to bring as much home as they’d like. Sign up at the link below. Select the ‘Fruit Picking (Gleaning)’ slots and we’ll reach out to coordinate the rest.

Register a Fruit Tree

Did you know we’ll harvest your fruit as well as your veggies! Register a fruit tree with us today and we’ll organize a crew of volunteers to come save those cherries, apples and pears from going to waste. We’ll rescue your fruit and bring it to a local food pantry. Register your tree at the link below.

Fresh Food Connect

Does your home garden have too many zucchinis? Overgrown collards? An abundance of kale?! We can help you donate it! If you’re a backyard gardener and would like to donate your extra garden produce to local food pantries, sign-up for Fresh Food Connect and our volunteer couriers will come pick-up your donation once a week. To sign-up, download the Fresh Food Connect app from the app store and create an account.

Urban Waters

Week 6 of Green Team was designated WATER WEEK! We did a week's worth of water-based curriculum and activities. This included rainwater harvesting system education, water quality testing, trash pickup along Lincoln Creek, and a water challenge (drinking enough water throughout the week). The Green Team tested water quality along the Milwaukee River at Estabrook Park. They tested for temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and identified different classes of macroinvertebrates. At Lincoln Creek, a tributary of the Milwaukee River, the Green Team collected litter. They collected roughly 1,400 pieces of trash! The crew also learned about the importance of green infrastructure like rain barrels and rainwater harvesting systems and discussed other ways that our garden network leaders obtain water for their spaces (fire hydrant permits and nearby houses with outdoor spigots). The week finished with a tour of the MMSD wastewater treatment plant on Jones Island. It was stinky, but the team perked up a bit when they learned they could start at $35/hour with a high school diploma. 

YOUNG FARMERS

Sherman Park

The end of July marked the end of Young Farmers for the two groups of Boys & Girls Clubs members growing at Sherman Park: Mary Ryan Boys & Girls Club and Milwaukee Academy of Sciences Boys & Girls Clubs. Over the six week training, youth learned about planting, caring for their plants, and, of course, how to safely harvest, wash and cook what they grew. The Young Farmers tasted all kinds of new fresh flavors. Some of their favorites were sour cherries, chocolate mint, kale chips, and mulberries. They really enjoyed cooking together!

Cherry Street Community Garden

Young Farmers at the Cherry Street Community Garden learned to test soil for nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and pH level. They also learned to use special tools to remove the pits from and caramelize cherries. Obviously, when they were done, they tested out the final product on some ice cream!

Thurston Woods Community Garden

The Thurston Woods Young Farmers have been hard at work taking care of their beans, squash and pepper plants. They planted 30+ flower plants in five of their raised beds. They also learned to prime the inside of the raised beds by carefully removing any soil and applying primer with a sponge brush. With each painter at their station, they completed the priming of three beds in the record time of 10 minutes!

GREEN TEAM

Green Team has officially ended for the 2021 season. We had a great time with our crew and wish them all the best as they head back to school. Some highlights from the summer were: hiking through Havenwoods Forest and learning about the importance of physical activity for our mental and long term health; learning about resume and cover letter writing from Groundwork Milwaukee’s Deputy Director of Programming and Operations, Damien DeBuhr; learning about remote sensing and how it can be a tool to address environmental injustice from NASA scientists with help from Groundwork Milwaukee’s Deputy Director of GIS, Lawrence Hoffman; meeting artist, Akira Yashema Mabon, who taught the crew how art can be a catalyst for social change; and, on the final day, they all played basketball and went to the beach. To hear about the Green Team’s experience this summer directly from the crew, check out the Green Team Blog 2021.

GROUND CORPS

Ground Corps completed monthly maintenance at the bioswales early in the first week of the month and ended that week with nearly all of our Ground Corps receiving limited CPR AED training. The team is now certified for one year. This month we were able to begin construction on three Healing Spaces Initiative sites (All Peoples Church, Solomon Church and Harambee Tot Lot on 1st and Keefe) digging pathways and erecting structures for shade sails. We also painted little libraries scheduled to be delivered to other Healing Space Initiative locations and planted 30+ perennials with the help of members of the NDIC and Eras Senior Network volunteers.

Newsletter, July 2021

June was another busy month for the Groundwork Milwaukee crew. We provided direct support through infrastructure improvement, programming and volunteer workdays to more than 14 of our garden locations and so much more. Thank you to all the supportive community members and volunteers that have made invaluable contributions! Scroll down to learn more. Watch for opportunities to get involved! Click the tiles below for program-specific updates or just scroll down to read it all.

health hubs

garden network

Kilbourn garden

maglio farm

shared harvest

urban waters

ground corps

HEALTH HUBS

Groundwork’s Health Hub programming is in full swing. We’ve been providing educational opportunities at Health Hub gardens. Our Food Systems Specialist, Samson has been holding training events at the gardens. Below are a few great photos from these events as well as a list of upcoming gardening and yoga workshops being held at Health Hub gardens in the near future.

Upcoming Health Hub Workshops

If you’re interested in participating in Health Hub programming, we’d love to see you in the gardens! Check-out the list below for upcoming Health Hub events.

Want to participate in Health Hub programming?

If you live near one of our Community Garden Health Hubs and would like to participate in healthy outdoor programming, fill out this form to let us know what types of activities you’d like to see in the gardens. We would love to see you there!

GARDEN NETWORK

Last month Groundwork provided direct support through volunteer workdays or original programming to 14 gardens in the Garden Network, including: Peace Park, Uptown Crossing, Kilbourn, Discovery World, Maskani Gardens, Beauty from the Root Healing Garden, Thurston Woods, We Got This, Cherry Street Garden and Scooters Garden of Hope. We’re proud to support our inspiring gardeners and look forward to working together as the season continues. Here are a few of the highlights from last month.

Planting at Maskani Apartment Gardens

With help from residents we held a community event for the Maskani Apartment Gardens. We turned over the soil in garden beds, added new soil and planted various plants such as tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, and squash. Over a dozen residents and their families came out to enjoy the nice weather and plant with us!

Vel R. Phillips Block Beautification

On June 5th, we partnered with Safe and Sound and local residents of the 3800 block of Vel R. Phillips Avenue to orchestrate a neighborhood-wide clean up and beautification. Groundwork Milwaukee volunteers worked with residents of the block to cut their grass, remove debris and trash and plant beautiful flowers along all of the homes.

Compost Crusader Discount

We are excited about a new collaboration with Compost Crusaders! Compost Crusaders is offering discounted compost to gardens or partners affiliated with Groundwork Milwaukee. Compost will be discounted from $35 per yard to $30 per yard for orders of 3 yards or more.

Garden Network Volunteer Opportunities

We’ll be hosting volunteer work days at the below times on a weekly basis. View our sign-up page for specific times and locations.

KILBOURN GARDEN

Each Thursday at Kilbourn, we host a volunteer workday to keep the garden looking fresh throughout the season. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped us to keep the space tidy so far this season. If you’d like to come help out, follow the link below and sign-up for a ‘Weekly Kilbourn Workday’ time slot.

Maglio Farm

We’re entering a full harvest season! We’ve been picking peas & beans for a few weeks now, and are just entering harvests of zucchini, cucumber, and tomatoes!

As always, our “harvest help” shift is a great way to come out to the farm if your time is short.

shared harvest

We’re six weeks into our food rescue program Shared Harvest. Combining gleaned produce (produce rescued from backyard gardens) with harvest supplemented from our farm, that’s 180 lbs of produce donated to local food pantries together.

Fresh Food Connect

Does your home garden have too many zucchinis? Overgrown collards? An abundance of kale! We can help you donate it! If you’re a backyard gardener and would like to donate your extra garden produce to local food pantries, sign-up for Fresh Food Connect and our volunteer couriers will come pick-up your donation once a week. To sign-up, download the Fresh Food Connect app from the app store and create an account.

Register a Fruit Tree

Did you know we’ll harvest your fruit as well as your veggies! Register a fruit tree with us today and we’ll organize a crew of volunteers to come save those cherries, apples and pears from going to waste. We’ll rescue your fruit and bring it to a local food pantry. Register your tree at the link below.

Urban Waters

In June, we planted nearly 300 plants from MMSD’s annual plant sale! We also installed two pollinator garden beds at Kilbourn Garden and another perennial garden was planted at Village Roots in Bay View.

Milwaukee River Water Monitoring in Estabrook Park

This year, Groundwork Milwaukee is partnering with Milwaukee Riverkeeper to monitor the quality of our waterways. We monitored our section, near Estabrook Park, with the help of Rebecca from Milwaukee Riverkeeper in May. These were our first samples of the season.

Seeking Youth Water Monitors

We are looking for a youth group that may be interested in monitoring with us the last week of August. Reach out to jacelia@groundworkmke.org for more information!

GROUND CORPS

This month The Ground Corps began working on the first of 10 Healing Spaces to be constructed throughout the city from now through September. On Saturday, July 10th, with the help from some phenomenal volunteers we began to revitalize a portion of the Beerline Trail near Holton and Townsend. A Pergola was constructed, 40 perennials were planted, and the frames for what will be two garden bed benches were built. We expect to begin work on another healing space along the Beerline Trail next week. During this month we have also started a farmstand and rainwater catchment structure at Scooters garden and constructed five additional garden beds on site, while continuing to wrap up construction on the outdoor kitchen at We Got This on 9th and Ring. This week the outdoor triple burner stove for the kitchen arrived for pick up and we managed to find a free sink perfect for the kitchen donated to us by  one of our Riverwest neighbors.

Ground Corps constructs a pergola on the Beerline Trail.

Ground Corps building a farm stand and rain catchment structure at Scooters Garden of Hope.

Progress being made at the outdoor kitchen at the We Got This Garden.

GREEN TEAM BLOG: WEEK 7

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021

On Tuesday, August 3rd, we went to McGovern Senior Center. One group worked on last weeks blog while the other group weeded, mowed, and weedwacked. In the morning, we played scattergories. In the afternoon we went to Aldi’s for lunch where Da’Janique and Marii bought 24 ice cream sandwiches. Then we went to Havenwoods State Park and talked about SMART goals, physical activity, and created a goal for our team. Afterwards, we went for a hike where we saw butterflies. One of them looked burnt. Then we danced on the deck. We saw a frog, too!

Wednesday, August 4th, 2021

On Wednesday, August 4th, we went to Florence Lambert Community Garden. We cleaned out the gutter on the rainwater harvesting system, fixed garden beds, weeded the pathway, and moved out rotting wood. Marii tried to sell his phone at lunch and bought a lot of stuff at Pick n’ Save. Then we went back to the office, and Damien led a resume and cover letter workshop. Elias and Todd won the first round of resumes, but everyone got a Groundwork Milwaukee tote bag and water bottle.

Thursday, August 5th, 2021

On Thursday, August 5th, we were at the office all day. In the morning, we finished working on blogs for the last two weeks. Then an artist came to talk to us! Afterwards, we saw before and after satellite images of places and played a map game. During our NASA meeting, we accidentally kept unmuting ourselves, and everyone could hear us. We accidentally deleted everyone’s stuff from the Jam Board, too. Ooops!

Friday, August 6th, 2021

It’s our last day! In the morning, we went to play basketball at Reservoir Park and found a stray dog. Then we went to Crossroads Collective and Mad Chicken for lunch. Afterwards, we went to the beach. We took photos by a Lamborghini and then the guy let us take photos inside! Later we found a wallet on the beach and recognized the guy on the ID. He gave us a football. Then we looked all around the beach for him but couldn’t find him. Right before we left we found him, gave it back, and he gave us $20!

Planting Trees to Offset the Legacy of Racist Housing Policies

Joe Purtell, Undark, August 16th, 2021

Undark magazine explores the relationship between urban green space and the legacy of redlining. The article focuses on Richmond, CA and features interviews with members of Groundwork Richmond. To aid the conversation, Climate Safe Neighborhoods maps prepared by Groundwork Milwaukee were included. View full article.

GREEN TEAM BLOG: WEEK 6

Tuesday, July 27th, 2021

On Tuesday, we weeded to clear a space for a future reading nook at Scooters Garden of Hope. It will be called “Reading Thyme”. Ahmed used the weed whacker and the rest of us used loppers. Matt came after we were done, and we all went to the office to paint the benches and finish our designs.  

Wednesday, July 28th, 2021

On Wednesday, in the morning, we went to our adopted river section from Milwaukee Riverkeeper between Sherman and Hopkins along Congress on Lincoln Creek. We played a game we created, called “bendo”. We had to pick a color and the color we chose was blue. For every blue piece of trash we earned two points and for every other piece of trash we earned one point. We split into two teams and whoever had the most points were the winners. Our end results were 734-721. Da’Janique, Nia, and Ahmed were the winners and they each received a prize the next day. After we finished the game, we walked on the bridge above the river and took pictures. Later on in the afternoon, we went to Estabrook Park. We measured water temperatures and captured insects to identify them. We skipped rocks. Ahmed had a high score of ten. We found crawfish, snakes, water penny’s, mayfly larvae, stonefly larvae, pouch snails, and shells.

Thursday, July 29th, 2021

On Thursday, we weeded and picked tomatoes at Maglio. We even got to try some tasty cherry tomatoes. Elias and Ahmed put tomatoes in a basket for a story TMJ4 was recording about Maglio.  We put up the equipment, ate lunch and had a NASA training. During the NASA training, we talked about red lining in the city. We looked over a map of the city and looked over each part of the city that had red lining. The parts of the city that had the red lining were mostly in the inner city. The places that weren’t redlined were mostly in the suburbs. This led to places in the city having less funding and resources. Neighborhoods that were redlined are hotter and have fewer trees than other parts of the city.

Friday, July 30th, 2021

Photo from mmsd.com.

We brought a bench that we built and painted to the Nia ‘Purpose’ Garden. Shanece showed us how to identify girl and boy plants. We got water from a fire hydrant and from the water barrel to water the beds. We also picked up trash. Then we went on a field trip to the MMSD waste water treatment plant. We learned about where our pee and poo goes. It smelled really bad. We also learned that the pay starts at $35 an hour.

Doors Open Benefit and Other Things to Know in Milwaukee Food and Drink News this Week

Elaine Rewolinski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 9th, 2021

This article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentions Groundwork Milwaukee’s Shared Harvest programming. If you’d like to donate your excess garden produce to local food pantries, sign up for Fresh Food Connect in one of our operating zip codes and we’ll come pick up your produce right from your front door step. View full article.

Resilience and Equity in a Time of Crisis: Investing in Public Urban Greenspace is Now More Essential Than Ever in the US and Beyond

Jean C. Bikomeye, et al., International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, August, 8th, 2021

Jean Bikomeye of Medical College of Wisconsin, alongside a team of researchers and community partners, recently had this article approved for publication by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The article includes an exhaustive literature review that indicates the importance of equitable expansion and improvement of public greenspaces in urban settings. A more thorough argument for Groundwork MIlwaukee’s mission has probably never been written. We’re proud to have had the opportunity to review and contribute. View full article.