On Sunday, April 13, 2008, over 2,300 delegates from throughout Southeastern Wisconsin gathered together at the Midwest Airlines Center in downtown Milwaukee for the Founding Convention of Common Ground.

The convention was held to officially launch Common Ground as an organization and force for social change in Southeastern Wisconsin. The convention offered the opportunity to share Common Ground’s history, the urgent need for change in our region; stories about the damaging and lingering effects of crime, unemployment and inadequate health care on ordinary citizens; the issues Common Ground will address going forward; an introduction to and formal commitment of support by Common Ground’s founding members; and, finally, Common Ground’s next steps.

A wide array of speakers, sharing personal stories, set the tone and underlined the need for change in our region. Father Jeff Haines, pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish, spoke about the effects of job loss on a member of his own parish. Bernadette Davel, a member of St. Catherine’s Parish, shared the terrifying effects of high healthcare costs on her own family. Pa Vang, a member of Hmong First Baptist Church, described the residual effects of a home burglary on herself and her family. (more…)