Housing

We have taken pictures of 450 foreclosed homes.  150 people participated in taking these pictures.  We have met with bankers, real estate agents, home rehabbers and community leaders.

We are holding a public hearing on Foreclosed Homes on November 19 at 7:00 pm at the Milwaukee County War Memorial.  Please plan to attend

Health Care

The Health Care reform discussions in Wisconsin are impacting our work on the Health Insurance Cooperative.  We expect to be able to “roll out” the Co-op in January with the insurance in effect in March or April.  The behind-the-scenes planning for the marketing and administration of the Co-op continues.  Whatever reforms are approved will take two or three years to implement so we expect the Co-op to be operative and strong and perhaps play a part in whatever the future brings.  We thank everyone for their patience.  We get calls each week about the Co-op.  Last week a lady called from a non-profit telling us that their rates are to be increased by 42%.  Believable and appalling.

Friends of Common Ground

We continue  efforts to raise $300,000 over the next years in order to hire 1 1/2 new organizers to staff Common Ground.  To date we have 38 gift commitments for $120,732.  There are a number of major gift requests we hope to hear about very soon.  Thanks to those who have contributed.  If you would like to make a gift contact our treasurer, Bob Connolly at 414-272-0101 or bconnolly@jamescompany.com

Youth Jobs

Common Ground leaders have been working closely with the Milwaukee Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB) to develop a strategic plan.  A planing meeting with 17 business and government leaders was held on October 21st to strategize as to how we might get more private sector participation for 2010 Summer Youth Jobs.  Some of the organizations attending were Wisconsin State Fair Park, Pearls for Teen Girls, Palermo’s Pizza, Johnson Controls, GRAEF, Summerfest, Marcus Corporation, and We Energies.

The next Youth Jobs team meeting is December 1 at 7:00 pm. If you are interested in attending please contact Denise Fried at 414-453-8025.

Sherman Park/North Milwaukee

The Sherman Park/North Milwaukee team continued to meet in October with the aldermen from the area to continue work on our list of items.  We are making significant progress with school signs erected, lighting fixed and replaced, and construction at an intersection.  Our next meeting will be with Aldermen Murphy and Hines on November 9th.