United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
In Milwaukee’s Amani neighborhood, residents are working to revitalize the once thriving, vibrant neighborhood. Helping to build this better future are Maricha Harris and the team at Dominican Center.
What started with a focus on adult education in 1995 – so women could read and write grocery lists and read to their children – has expanded to priorities including housing and economic development, education and family well-being, and neighborhood safety. The homes in the Amani neighborhood are often generational and despite over 60 years of divestment, the residents take pride in the neighborhood and helping each other.
With funding help from United Way’s Racial Equity Fund, the Dominican Center has been able to address housing concerns with their Block by Block initiative, which helps residents restore housing. The funding has also helped to create a housing coordinator role, helping residents navigate complicated applications for accessing city dollars. Prior to the Racial Equity Fund grant, no application had been approved by the city, and now, ten residents have been able to get their homes up to city code.
In addition to the grant funding, the Dominican Center was able to get a Project Lead alum to sit on their board, providing valuable insight and talent for the organization.
“United Way has been one of our most important lifelines for sustaining the work that we do,” said Maricha, who is the Executive Director of the organization. “United way has been an incredible partner.”
We’re so pleased that Maricha and the Dominican Center have been able to use grant money from the Racial Equity Fund to build collective power and create powerful change within the Amani Neighborhood. By walking alongside the neighborhood’s residents to build a better future, they are truly embodying what it means to Live United.
Your donation to the Racial Equity Fund supports Black- and Brown-led organizations like the Dominican Center through a community-based advisory committee.
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