According to a BizTimes article, by Lauren Anderson, the Zilber Family Foundation recently awarded 17 grants totaling more than $3 million to nonprofits aimed at addressing poverty in Milwaukee’s Clarke Square, Layton Boulevard West, Lindsay Heights and other neighborhoods.

The latest round of grants brings the foundation’s total to $7.85 million in 2017.

Newly-awarded grants include:

• $50,000 to Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin to increase access to healthy foods for low-income households in Lindsay Heights and support an indoor agriculture program at youth-serving organizations. Together with 15 partners in Lindsay Heights, Feeding America will increase local production and distribution of foods that promote health, invest in local agencies to expand urban farming, and deliver food boxes to homebound senior citizens in the neighborhood.
• $200,000 over two years to Layton Boulevard West Neighbors to support capital improvements to Burnham Park. The park is the only significant green space in a 165-block radius. Renovations include the conversion of a small wading pool into a larger ADA-accessible splash pad, new playground equipment and new basketball courts. Construction is scheduled to begin by early summer of 2018.
• $100,000 to Revitalize Milwaukee to continue its partnership with Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative to provide specialized home repair services to low- and moderate-income residents of Clarke Square. Revitalize Milwaukee’s programs preserve affordable housing, improve vulnerable neighborhoods and keep older adults and disabled individuals safe in their homes. The grant will allow Revitalize Milwaukee and CSNI to complete more than 20 home improvement projects in the neighborhood, award home improvement grants to homeowners totaling $46,500, and host the annual Most Improved Home.
• $200,000 over two years to Running Rebels Community Organization to provide afterschool and summer programs for at-risk youth and young adults in Milwaukee. The grant will also support violence prevention programs in seven MPS schools and R-Life Café, a catering business where young people gain on-the-job experience in the food service industry.
• $20,000 to Silver Spring Neighborhood Center to expand its job readiness training, education, and career navigation services for adults in Milwaukee neighborhoods. Silver Spring serves residents of Westlawn, Wisconsin’s largest public housing development, and the surrounding community.
• $50,000 to Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers to support community engagement and environmental health programs in Clarke Square, Layton Boulevard West, and other south side Milwaukee neighborhoods. In partnership with other organizations, Sixteenth Street will design and deliver services in the areas of housing improvement, community safety, economic development, land use planning, environmental cleanup and grassroots leadership development. The grant also will support outreach efforts to more than 2,000 residents in the Kinnickinnic River Corridor.