ThriveOn, a Community-Centered Collaboration, has Broad-Reaching Focus Areas

 

From the 9/25/2020 newsletter

ThriveOn: A Community-Centered Collaboration has Broad-Reaching Focus Areas

The community-centered collaboration led by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF), and Royal Capital Group has chosen the name of the ThriveOn Collaboration as the organizations continue deep resident and stakeholder engagement together to inform priorities and investments for supporting a thriving King Drive corridor and its connected neighborhoods.

The ThriveOn Collaboration champions a vision for a Milwaukee that is equitable, healthy and thriving for all. Achieving this vision will require durable partnerships with the community, focus on places where investment has been scarce, and supporting people of color, especially African Americans, who are disproportionately affected by health and economic disparities.

The ThriveOn Collaboration is built on the fundamental understanding that where a person lives has a tremendous impact on their health and wellbeing because housing, education, jobs, health resources and social connections are the underpinnings of healthy lives and communities. Consequently, a key component of the ThriveOn Collaboration is a place-based investment in the redevelopment of 2153 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. into a community hub with neighborhood amenities, and offices for key MCW centers, institutes and programs and the Foundation’s new headquarters.

Extensive dialogue with residents, deep analysis of local and national data, and years of expertise in their respective sectors has shaped the collaborators’ approach to identifying priorities and developing thoughtful contributions that will add value to the community. The ThriveOn Collaboration’s corresponding strategies are designed to counter systemic racism and disinvestment that has negatively impacted black and brown communities in Milwaukee for generations.

The ThriveOn Collaboration has identified five priority areas. Many of the priorities directly relate to MCW’s 2025 goal of “Health of Our Community.” The long-term goals under this overarching goal includes ensuring all subsets of our community thrive, enabling the greatest positive engagement with our community to faculty, students and staff and demonstrating improved health of vulnerable populations and overall health of our community by leveraging MCW’s strengths.

The priority areas of the ThriveOn Collaboration are informed by the social determinants of health, factors that contribute significantly to health such as where people live, access to healthy foods and affordable housing, and social support networks. 

• Housing – invest in the availability of safe, quality and affordable housing for area residents. The long-term goal is to increase the number of residents leasing, purchasing, and maintaining homes with a focus on keeping long-time residents in the neighborhood.
• Early Childhood Education – invest in the quality, access and sustainability of early childhood education in the city. The long-term goal is to improve education outcomes for youth.
• Health & Wellness – investing in access to health and wellness facilities, healthy food options and preventive health services in the area. The long- term goal is to reduce rates of chronic disease and increase quality and length of life.
• Social Cohesion – support the community in building positive social and business relationships, celebrating diversity and promoting a sense of belonging among neighbors. The long-term goal is to increase resources for resident-led events and organizations.
• Economic Opportunity – support small business and enhance equitable economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and the local workforce. The long-term goal is to increase the stability of the small business community and increase access to quality jobs.

“Health of our community and moving toward health equity is more important than ever before, as demonstrated during the global pandemic of COVID-19,” said Greg Wesley, Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Business Development for MCW. “By building upon MCW priorities, honoring this community's history, culture and people, and by listening and collaborating every step of the way, we are moving forward with GMF and Royal Capital Group to inspire change and action.”

The ThriveOn Collaboration reflects the values of the community shared through continuous dialogue and participation among residents, the collaborating organizations and other community leaders. The feedback helped shape the collaboration’s goals and how the work moves forward. Community engagement for the ThriveOn Collaboration remains active. Staff members currently are holding virtual office hours, and the team is establishing a Community Advisory Council (CAC). The goal of the CAC is to further integrate community perspective and participation by ensuring residents have additional decision-making power within the collaboration. The role of the CAC is to include a community voice in grantmaking and program initiatives that promote an equitable, healthy and thriving community with a focus on the Harambee, Halyard Park and Brewers Hill neighborhoods.

The ThriveOn Collaboration has been working to implement its vision and priorities. Its commitments in community have included:

• Helping to prevent resident displacement through partnership in the MKE United Anti-Displacement Fund. Housed at the Foundation, which contributed seed funding, the Fund so far has provided about $37,000 in property tax relief to 114 homeowners in the Harambee, Halyard Park,Brewers Hill and Walker’s Point neighborhoods, the majority of whom were over 60 years old.
• Approving approximately $100 million for joint investment in building improvement and development, including streetscaping and exterior art and green design.
• Providing more than $13.2 million in grants through the Foundation and in support of COVID- 19 relief, response, and recovery related to food, shelter, health, education, economic stabilization and more.

When redeveloped, the collaboration’s corresponding Milwaukee location on King Drive and, adjacent to Dr. Vel Phillips Avenue, will support health and growth, and be a destination where Halyard Park, Harambee and Brewers Hill neighbors can interact, learn and share.

MCW feels this is a return to its roots. For 34 years, from 1898 to 1932, MCW’s predecessor institutions (Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons, which became the Marquette University School of Medicine) were located in Halyard Park in a building located on the southeast corner of Fourth Street and Reservoir Avenue. Next to the medical school was its dispensary (now called outpatient clinics) where medical students observed faculty physicians treated indigent patients. Across the street from the medical school was St. Joseph’s Hospital, the medical school’s primary teaching hospital.

For more information or to get involved with the ThriveOn Collaboration, please visit our website atthriveoncollaboration.org.

Kevin Newell from the Royal Capital Group, Ken Robertson and Ellen Gilligan from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and Dr. John Raymond from MCW were instrumental leaders for this initiative.