Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH)

MICAH Kicks off Campaign with Power

noemail@micahempowers.org — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:00:00 GMT

MICAH Launches New Campaign for Jobs

For Immediate Release

August 16, 2007

Contact: Christopher Boston, MICAH Director

414.264.0805

www.micahempowers.org

Leaders from Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope and ally organizations launched plans for a powerful effort called, “The People’s Campaign.” A standing room-only crowd at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church were challenged and inspired though stirring presentations of what emerged as an old-school civil rights meeting with a new school twist!

The meeting began with an emotional presentation called, “Creative Protest,” in spoken word by activist and poet Muhibb Dyer. “They cannot break us,” Dyer exclaimed while beating his chest as a dozen leaders from The Campaign Against Violence stood before the congregation during the presentation.

Following the opening were a series of presentations that were designed to add substance and information to the inspiration. Pam Fendt, Executive Director of the Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, stated, “Public investment should create public benefit.” Fendt, who also is a member of a MICAH congregation, argued the value of this campaign. “Residence Preference works in Milwaukee, but it has not been applied consistently.”

During the meeting, Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, when asked would he commit to support an ordinance to expand the Residence Preference Program, shouted before the crowd of 600, “Absolutely!” Hamilton, who represents the district where the meeting was held, pledged that he would sponsor the proposed legislation. It was Hamilton’s predecessor, former mayor and alderman of the first district, Marvin Pratt, who worked with MICAH in 1992 to pass the original legislation of the Residence Preference Program. Alderman Tony Zeilinski, also addressed the crowd and vowed to support the proposal.

The meeting also included a little humor. Before delivering the piece calling for support for the legislation, Fr. John Celichowski of St. Martin De Porres, stated, “I have the least sexy piece of tonight’s meeting but that make sense I am the only one up here to make a vow of celibacy.” In his call to action, Rev. Joseph Jackson, chair of MICAH’s Jobs and Economic Development Task Force, shouted, “This is about jobs, jobs, jobs.” Jackson added, “I heard a preacher say ‘Before God gave Eve to Adam, He gave Adam a job.”

MICAH intends to continue this campaign until a major shift in economic development matters has taken place. They plan to increase their focus on grassroots leadership training and development and pushing for the mayor’s support. While officials from the mayor's office were in attendance to show support, MICAH leaders still challenged the crowd to let him know how they felt. “Call him and tell him he should’ve been here and he missed a powerful meeting,” said MICAH President Rev. Louis E. Sibley, III.

16-Aug-07 10:00 PM

Campaign for Jobs Launched

noemail@micahempowers.org — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:00:00 GMT

www.jsonline.com | Return to regular view

Original Story URL:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=648078

Campaign for jobs launched

Group wants city to set hiring requirements on building projects

By TOM HEINEN
theinen@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Aug. 15, 2007

A coalition of faith groups will confront urban violence and other social ills by launching a campaign today demanding the creation of a city ordinance that would require major construction projects getting public assistance to hire unemployed or underemployed residents of low-income neighborhoods.

MICAH, or Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope, also wants Mayor Tom Barrett and the Common Council to impose the same hiring percentage for the businesses and industries that occupy newly built or redeveloped buildings.

The campaign, worked on over the past year by a task force, will include "Ten Commandments for Economic and Workforce Justice in Milwaukee" with a stone tablet logo reminiscent of Moses.

"I think it's exactly the kind of strategy that we need right now," said Marc Levine, director of the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who noted Milwaukee's jobless rate for black males is 44%.

"The problem in Milwaukee is purely and simply a shortage of available jobs, and the MICAH strategy is an interesting way of trying to ensure that public support for economic development actually creates jobs for local residents," he said.

A 30% goal for construction is "not at all unreasonable," he said, adding that the City Hall restoration project and the Marquette interchange reconstruction had met similar goals.

The MICAH proposal calls for the hiring requirement to be imposed on construction and development projects costing $500,000 and above. It also calls for using an established pre-apprenticeship program to recruit and prepare residents, and for an established hiring program to help recruit and prepare residents for permanent jobs.

The Rev. Joseph Jackson, chairman of the task force and pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church, said the loss of tens of thousands of family-sustaining industrial jobs in Milwaukee over past decades has eliminated many of the economic opportunities that enabled his and other families to rise from poverty.

"Our effort now is to not only mobilize our MICAH congregations but to get the general public and other congregations engaged as we look ahead to training and education sessions that would analyze the economic power structure of Milwaukee and do some work around organizing for economic justice," Jackson said.

"There are many pieces to this nightmare of violence, but jobs is central," said Dennis Jacobsen, a task force member and Incarnation Lutheran Church pastor.

MICAH comprises 36 institutions of faith. It has expanded beyond the city to include some suburban churches, one suburban Jewish congregation and, as of May, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.

Previous initiative

The proposed ordinance would build upon the success of one of MICAH's earliest legislative efforts, getting the city to pass what is known as the Residents Preference Program, said Jacobsen and John Celichowski, pastor of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Parish and another task force member.

Begun in 1991, it initially required that 14% of all hours worked on city public works contracts be performed by residents in poor areas of the city; it now requires 25%.

"This is the launch of a rather long and sustained campaign that we are planning," Celichowski said. "It's not just going to be a press conference and a prayer service and then disappear. We're really trying to bring together the variety of concerns that we have about the quality of life in the central city of Milwaukee, much of which is driven by the economic conditions here."

MICAH has been networking with some aldermen and the mayor's office, Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen said Aldermen Ashanti Hamilton and Tony Zielinski have indicated support for the campaign.

Zielinski said a number of details need to be worked out, but he is fully supportive of MICAH's intent and plans to work closely with its representatives.

Hamilton could not be reached Wednesday.

Eileen Force, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office said there have been staff-level talks with MICAH representatives, but more information is needed before the mayor could commit his support.

Some of those questions include what the impact would be on small-business owners, the costs of monitoring for compliance, and whether the threshold of $500,000 would entail labor-intensive projects, she said.

The campaign will be announced at 6 p.m. today at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 2433 W. Roosevelt Drive.

JSOnline.com To read MICAH's Ten Commandments go to jsonline.com/links

MICAH Launching "The People's Campaign"

noemail@micahempowers.org — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:00:00 GMT

Members of the organization, MICAH, will launch a new campaign on Thursday, August 16, 2007, 6:00 p.m. at New Hope Baptist Church 2433 W. Roosevelt Drive. This new effort is designed to address economic injustices in Milwaukee and the surrounding region. "The People's Campaign," will be a strategic campaign aimed to educate, train, and organize congregation leaders and residents to improve the economic conditions of Milwaukee.

In a 2004 study by the U.S. Census Bureau, Milwaukee was ranked the seventh poorest city in the country. In a recent report released by the Center for Economic Development of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, black male unemployment was second in the country. Rev. Louis E. Sibley, President of MICAH, says that, "these statistics prove what people in our pews have been saying for years and we are ready to organize to turn things around."

Rev. Joseph Jackson, chair of MICAH's Jobs and Economic Development Task Force says that clearly our state of Milwaukee's joblessness is "unacceptable and no longer intolerable." Jackson adds, "Anyone who things we're okay as a city needs to walk with me through the neighborhood where I pastor and see the real deal."

MICAH also plans to release the "10 Commandments of Economic Justice," which is a guiding principles document that speaks to how economic development should be done. Following the release of this document, they pledge to organize and secure more public endorsement of these guiding principles.

For more information, contact Rev. Christopher Boston at 414.264.0805.

10-Aug-07 8:00 AM

Money to addiction programs cut back

noemail@micahempowers.org — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:00:00 GMT

Less federal money means less treatment, county says

By STEVE SCHULTZE
sschultze@journalsentinel.com

Posted: July 25, 2007

People needing drug and alcohol treatment in Milwaukee County can expect longer waiting lists and shorter stays in rehab as the county further downsizes its spending on addiction programs starting Aug. 1, county officials said Wednesday.

The retrenchment was forced by up to a two-month gap in availability of federal grant money and the likelihood of less federal treatment money in the future, said Jim Hill, administrator of the county's Behavioral Health Division.

Although the squeeze will curtail residential treatment, Hill said the cuts would not be drastic. He declined to give a specific reduction figure. In anticipation of the federal spigot delivering fewer treatment dollars, the county began cutting back on parts of its treatment services months ago.

A week ago, Hill told treatment providers that the county had to cut its residential treatment beds from 131 to 36. That would have meant an immediate halt to new admissions. Hill now says a recent $500,000 state Department of Corrections grant will help avoid such a severe shift.

Advocates for the programs, however, warned of dire harm to a population of destitute substance abusers.

"This means that large numbers of people who need and want help to overcome their addictions will be added to waiting lists, with little hope of getting help," according to a statement from Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope, which is organizing a lobby effort for local money to make up for the loss of federal aid.

An infusion of about $1.6 million would be needed to cover the two-month federal funding gap.

Hill said Milwaukee County's much publicized financial problems and the predicted $3 million shortfall for his division for 2007 means that the county is in no shape to make up for the shrinking federal support.

"It is necessary for us to do what we told (treatment providers) we need to do, that is, to begin ramping back the program," Hill said. "Otherwise we run up an already problematic deficit."

Smaller sum expected

The county has had $7.5 million annually since 2004 under the federal Access to Recovery program, the county's largest source of drug treatment money. That funding for this year will be used up by the end of this month and a smaller sum, perhaps about $4 million, is expected for 2008, Hill said.

Some state funding will soften the blow a bit next month, he said. But by shifting some clients to other funding sources means those will be depleted faster this year.

Local agencies said if the treatment money dries up, some will be forced to lay off experienced drug counselors and later hire new ones - assuming the county's smaller federal grant is renewed as expected by the end of September. That will create a lag of several more months before new counselors can be hired and trained, further disrupting the system, said Jim Beer, quality assurance administrator for Meta House, a local treatment program.

Shift to outpatient

The likely result of the cuts will be to shift more clients from residential treatment to faster and cheaper outpatient drug and alcohol programs, Beer said. But doing that would be a waste of money because those people need more intense treatment, he said. Residential program stays typically run from two to six months or even a year.

The county cutbacks already have had a "drastic effect on our agency," said Kit Murphy McNally, executive director of the Benedict Center. The center's clients all have been arrested, charged or convicted of some offense, and participation in a treatment program often is keeping them out of jail or prison, she said.

"When there's no money to serve them, they are on the streets and . . . back in the system sooner or later," she said.

Appealing to donors

McNally said the center will try to avoid turning away potential clients by appealing to donors for help.

Hill said juggling treatment money was "a very difficult balancing act."

"We'd rather not do this," he said. "It's a headache."

In addition to the federal money, county taxpayers contribute $1.8 million for drug and alcohol treatment this year, federal welfare reform money provides $3.5 million and other grants provide $1.4 million.

Conor Williams, a spokesman for the Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope, said untreated addictions lead to jail and prison, where the costs are significantly higher than treatment. A 1994 Rand Corp. study showed that $1 spent on addiction treatment saves $7 in law enforcement and jail costs, he added.

He said if the county was able to bail out the Milwaukee Public Museum, it should be able to find the money to provide needed drug and alcohol treatment.

Tom Heinen of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

25-Jul-07 10:00 AM

MICAH's 15th Annual "To Do What Is Just" Banquet

noemail@micahempowers.org — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:00:00 GMT

MILWAUKEE INNER CITY CONGREGATIONS ALLIED FOR HOPE (MICAH), MILWAUKEE’S PREMIERE SOCIAL ACTION FAITH NETWORK, WILL HOST THE 15TH ANNUAL “TO DO WHAT IS JUST” BANQUET ON SATURDAY JUNE 2ND AT 6PM AT THE MIDWEST AIRLINES CENTER. THE EVENT IS TO CELEBRATE THE WORK OF SOCIAL JUSTICE & EQUALITY IN MILWAUKEE. THIS YEAR’S “TO DO WHAT IS JUST” HONOREES ARE:

M&I CORPORATION FOR CORPORATE PARTNER IN JUSTICE

THE MICAH HOLY GROUND TASK FORCE FOR DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP

SISTER ROSE STIETZ FOR JUSTICE LEGACY. MR. MUHIBB DYER OF THE CAMPAIGN AGAIANST VIOLENCE AND THE CHILDREN ARE CRYING INC. WILL RECEIVE THE "TO DO WHAT IS JUST" AWARD.

THE FEATURED SPEAKER IS VAN JONES, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST WHO SERVES AS FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE ELLA BAKER CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN OAKLAND. TICKETS ARE $55 FOR MICAH MEMBERS AND $100 FOR CORPORATIONS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. PROCEEDS WILL SUPPORT MICAH’S WORK OF JUSTICE IN MILWAUKEE. FOR TICKET INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL DONNA ROSS AT 264-0805, THAT’S 264-0805 OR STOP BY THE MICAH OFFICE, 2821 N 4TH ST. SUITE 148. HURRY, SEATING IS LIMITED!!

17-May-07 10:00 AM