Milwaukee foundations can take the lead on poverty
Get more money to the people who need it
In the spirit of the Journal Sentinel’s new approach to opinions — more solutions, less partisan bickering — here’s a proposal to complement the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s recent On The Table discussions.
The discussions involved thousands of people coming together in both small and large groups to discuss improving the quality of life for everyone in Milwaukee, particularly people in our most oppressed communities. It was an important and admirable initiative. But even the foundation recognizes that it was only a start.
At the conversation I attended in the 53206 Zip Code, the emphasis was on “bootstrap” solutions — how the community can internally harness its resources. The conversation led to many good ideas. As several participants noted, however, a bootstrap approach has limitations: too many people in the central city have been forced to sell their bootstraps in order to put food on the table. Nor does a bootstrap approach involve any serious “ask” of the white community.
So what might one “ask” of the white community, in particular foundations and social service agencies whose mission is to improve lives, not turn a profit — and which, along with schools and churches, are the strongest institution in many neighborhoods?
Here are some thoughts:
Problem: Poverty, particularly in the African-American and Latino communities.
Solution: Get more money, right now, into the hands of people who need it most.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the region’s largest community foundation, with assets in 2016 of $756 million, is uniquely qualified to set an example. And it can do so right away. No bills need be passed, no companies need dip into their profits.
Specifically, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation could institute the following policies:
That projects/agencies funded by the foundation guarantee a $15-an-hour minimum wage to all workers hired by the project/agency.
That agencies/projects funded by the foundation, particularly in AfricanAmerican and Latino neighborhoods, guarantee that a majority of all jobs go to people who live in the neighborhood served. This would include not just entry-level jobs such as janitor or receptionist, but top management positions, including the executive director.
That symposiums on Milwaukee’s poverty and inequality be held in the central city, at Black and Latino-owned venues or churches, with catering provided by Black and Latino-owned businesses. That the glossy, four-color brochures promoting the event be designed and printed by a Black or Latino-owned
firm. And that the discussions be held at night so working people can attend, and free childcare is provided.
The first solution — a minimum wage of $15 an hour — is a no-brainer. Community foundations should promote family-sustaining jobs, not facilitate near-poverty wages. Social service agencies and foundations routinely pay six-figure salaries to their higher-ups. Why not pay people at the bottom more, even if it means paying people at the top a bit less?
A friend of mine recently picked her daughter up from her job at a well respected non-profit on the South Side, where she has worked for three years and earns less than $10 an hour.
As they left, they noticed a sign at the McDonald’s across the street — it was paying more than the non-profit. My friend’s daughter joked, “Maybe I should switch jobs. I’d make more money.”
In addition to paying better, jobs should be focused on neighborhood residents. This is especially important for higher-level jobs.
When I wrote an article on the 53206 Zip Code several years ago, I decided to only quote people who lived in the neighborhood. They understand the neighborhood’s strengths and weaknesses much better because they are there 24/7.
I became astounded that at social agency after social agency, I couldn’t quote the organization’s spokespeople because more often than not, after work they went back to the East Side or Shorewood, perhaps Mequon or Wauwatosa. They made a good living off the problems of 53206, with the luxury of going home to their safe neighborhoods at the end of the day.
The third solution — reconsidering venues for discussing the city’s problems — is the easiest to implement.
We are often told to think outside the box. OK. Next time there’s a citywide gathering to discuss Milwaukee’s inequalities, don’t hold it at the Pfister Hotel, or the Italian Community Center or Marquette University. Go to the central city or near South Side, to a Black or Latino-owned venue.
If nothing else, find a church in the Black or Latino community, rent out their basement/kitchen facilities, and hire a Black or Latino-owned caterer.
And please, enough of these conferences where professionals attend as part of their job while working people are, well, working. And provide childcare so you can hear from single moms, who bear the brunt of poverty in this city. Are these solutions the answer to poverty and inequality? Certainly not. But they’re doable and will have a lot more impact than yet another study or symposium.
Money talks. So let’s talk with actions, not words, and get more money into the hands of people who need it the most. We may find out that it’s not as hard as it seems.