By Felicia Williams, LST Program Director
When we joined together in 2020 to clean up the Harambee area due to rioting and property destruction over the death of George Floyd, something amazing happened. Over 2,500 people from all over the city of Milwaukee and its neighboring suburbs rolled up their sleeves and put on their walking shoes to help clean the devastation that was left behind.
The neighborhoods were looking and feeling full of despair and WestCare Wisconsin and other collaborating agencies wanted to bring a little hope.
Each agency worked with families to do mini-block cleanups while following safety guidelines during the pandemic. The agencies took names and addresses for ‘ghost deliveries,’ a friendly ‘ding dong ditch’ of generosity, per se. We masked and gloved up to deliver supplies on the porches of those who were interested and by doing this, we were still able to make a difference in Uplifting the Human Spirit.
In commemoration of Earth Day, WestCare Wisconsin joined Harambee residents and other community partners for our 4th Annual MKE Harambee Clean Up! Our residents and the businesses that reside in this area love where they live and work and that love was truly shown! What makes this collaboration so amazing? The agencies who tirelessly planned to pull it off, which consisted of Keeping Greater Milwaukee Beautiful (KGMB), Safe & Sound Inc., Riverworks, Bader Philanthropies, District 6 – Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, Northcott Neighborhood House, Milwaukee’s District 5 Police Department, King Drive Business Improvement District (BID #8), Running Rebels, Colliers Training Institute and of course, WestCare Wisconsin!
With all of the hard work and effort combined, we had over 250 participants to help clean the one hundred and sixty blocks that encompass the community of Harambee. It was a job and effort well done.
HARAMBEE = COMING TOGETHER.
