METCALFE PARK COMMUNITY BRIDGES INC
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Mission Statement
The Metcalfe Park Community Bridges’ mission is to cultivate resident-led community development rooted in social justice.
About This Cause
Metcalfe Park is a neighborhood of concentrated poverty on Milwaukee’s north side. 42% of Metcalfe Park residents live below the federal poverty level. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice selected Metcalfe Park for its Building Neighborhood Capacity Program to build infrastructure and access to resources for better results in education, employment, health, housing, and safety. Metcalfe Park’s Danell Cross was the only resident hired as the BNCP coordinator in any of the participating eight neighborhoods nationwide. Danell engaged her neighbors, listened to them, and championed their concerns. Danell and fellow residents wrote the Metcalfe Park Community-Led Investment Plan, based upon resident-identified needs, and solutions. Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, Inc. (MPCB) was incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit in 2017, to serve the Metcalfe Park community, and act at residents’ direction. All efforts are led by MPCB Executive Director Danell Cross, the MPCB staff, and neighbors who build partnerships, leverage resources, and engage the community to implement culturally competent programs consistent with the Metcalfe Park Community-Led Investment Plan, whose five focus areas are: public safety; civic engagement; intergenerational wealth and housing; health and wellness; and cultural connectedness. COVID magnified the inequities experienced by residents. Metcalfe Park experienced accelerated displacement, evictions, and consolidation of intergenerational families into cramped spaces. The exogenous shocks of 2020 and 2021 created more challenges as MPCB improved communications, provided new opportunities for resident engagement, and co-created new rituals. MPCB recent accomplishments include: 1) During COVID, MPCB responded to the scarcity of food and supplies with its Mutual Aid program, based upon principles of justice and social equity. It opened the Mutual Aid Shed in 2022 that is managed by residents as an extension of its Mutual Aid efforts. MPCB received the Milwaukee LISC/MANDI Associated Bank Trailblazer Award. 2) MPCB Get Out the Vote Activities increased voter education, registration, and turnout. MPCB efforts were featured in the 2021 Peabody Award documentary film "Whose Vote Counts" from PBS Frontline. 3) MPCB expanded its relational organizing and activities, using mobilization techniques, community meetings, surveys, and updated digital and annually print over 10,000 Resource Guides and community newsletters this year that include information about health, housing, safety, voting, Mutual Aid, etc. 4) MPCB and residents collaborated with the city of Milwaukee and partners to develop Butterfly Park in vacant lots and deter reckless driving and improve street safety around the park. 5) MPCB created the Green Team that includes lawn care, basic landscape, and soft skills training residents. The team cleans and maintains Butterfly Park, Metcalfe Park Rising, and the Metcalfe Park Gardens; monitors illegal dumping; and help senior citizens. 6) Metcalfe Park’s experience with structural racism was featured in the October 2022 Harvard Public Health Journal, “Metcalfe Park: Inside Structural Racism’s Invisible Net”. ISSUES and Status: 1) Resident Civic Engagement -Create a leadership pipeline complete with employment opportunities and resources for residents as they assume more leadership roles in the community and as potential MPCB staff members. -Refine Metcalfe Park Community Bridges’ power building strategies and leadership training to give residents new opportunities to lead and develop community internal resources for self-sufficiency, 2)Health and Wellness -Organize regular wellness, food, and resource events. -Create new strategies to combat the “climate gap” and environmental toxins in Metcalfe. -Increase resident participation in environmentally responsible practices. 3)Public Spaces and Safety -Increase amenities in existing public spaces and surfaces in Metcalfe Park that are within walking distance and safely accessible to all. MPCB recently purchased vacant lots for Metcalfe Park Gardens and for a healing space designated as North Star Park. -Promote open spaces for community engagement to combat social isolation and promote safety. -Deter reckless driving and speeding in the neighborhood. Installing traffic calming devices, 4)Intergenerational Wealth/Housing -Increase affordable housing opportunities for the community. -Address community and environmental health issues driven by housing conditions. -Connect residents with resources regarding tenant and homeowner rights, credit recovery, financial literacy, lead and asbestos abatement. 5)Cultural Connectedness -Install culturally relevant art in the neighborhood. -Promote culturally relevant performance arts. MPCB is working with the Milwaukee Rep to present new play on Life of Ralph Metcalfe for whom Metcalfe Park is named. -Increase programs and opportunities to celebrate and express Black Joy.