Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative Will Close
But VIA Community Development Corp will take over much of its work.
Kevin Kuschel, executive director of Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, said his organization will stop programming at the end of August. (Photo by Meredith Melland/NNS)
VIA Community Development Corp. is taking over much of the community-oriented work of the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, which will cease independent operations at the end of August.
Concerns about sustained funding led Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative, or CSNI, to make plans with VIA CDC to continue its work in the community.
“I enjoyed working with the community and the neighbors quite a bit,” said Kevin Kuschel, the executive director of CSNI. “And so it’s been a process and humbling at the same time, but I’m also very excited to see what VIA will do in the Clarke Square neighborhood.”
VIA CDC, formerly known as Layton Boulevard West Neighbors and founded by the School Sisters of St. Francis, has served the South Side neighborhoods of Layton Park, Burnham Park and Silver City for 30 years in the areas of economic development, housing and community building. The Clarke Square neighborhood is in close vicinity to all three neighborhoods.
“Because we’ve had such close relationships over the years, VIA is happy to step in and continue the work to make sure that Clarke Square neighbors continue to have access to the resources that they need to have a good quality of life,” said JoAnna Bautch, executive director of VIA CDC.
Funding challenges
Kuschel said residents were surprised when the transition was announced at a neighborhood meeting in June because the organization hadn’t publicly discussed funding challenges.
“It wasn’t really against VIA. It was more like, ‘Wait, this is happening?’,” he said.
During a subsequent neighborhood meeting on July 30 at Clarke Square Park, community members created lists of questions, concerns and things they would like to be maintained.
CSNI considered changes in operations after meeting with the Zilber Family Foundation in April 2024, Kuschel said.
At the time, Zilber Family Foundation was preparing to launch a strategic plan in 2025 to update its funding priorities for the next five years.
“We were informed there that while we were welcome to apply for grants, the ones that we had historically been getting would likely not be available to us anymore,” Kuschel said.
He said he explored grants from local and national philanthropic organizations, as well as different governmental funding opportunities, before turning to VIA.
Lianna Bishop, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation, said the foundation is supportive of the transition and remains committed to the Clarke Square neighborhood.
“We look forward to supporting efforts to strengthen economic stability in Clarke Square in partnership with VIA CDC and other community partners, building on the neighborhood’s past efforts,” Bishop said.
Bautch said that the two organizations have a long history of working together, run similar programs and are almost like cousins, so having one administrative structure to leverage funding would make sense.
“We believe it would be beneficial for all of those efforts to just be coming out of one organization, and the idea is that we’ll be even stronger now,” she said.
CSNI’s recent programming included community cleanups; small business and housing workshops; neighborhood meetings; and exercise and democracy training with the Milwaukee Turners.
The organization is also part of the Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods Coalition, through which it conducted housing surveys in the neighborhood and partnered with Revitalize Milwaukee for housing resources.
“We’re going to continue all of those housing surveys, and we’re going to grow the Home Improvement Matching Grant to reach Clarke Square neighbors,” Bautch said.
VIA CDC invested $132,963.60 of Brew City Match funding in Clarke Square businesses in 2024, has developed two turnkey homes in Clarke Square and also hosted activities on Pierce Street, according to Bautch.
Both VIA CDC and Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative received funding in the past through the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, which invested $50 million over 10 years to improve the quality of life in the Clarke Square, Lindsay Heights and Layton Boulevard West neighborhoods.
Over the years, CSNI hosted Milwaukee’s first Ciclovía, or cycleway event; created public art initiatives; and supported small businesses during the pandemic.
CSNI owns a building at 1636 W. National Ave., which the organization has been unable to redevelop.
What residents should know
At 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 27, Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative will host its last neighborhood meeting at the Clarke Square Park pavilion, 2330 W. Vieau Place. The meeting will include a presentation from VIA CDC, which will have all of its staff in attendance to meet neighbors.
After August, neighborhood meetings will be held together, Bautch said.
VIA CDC holds meetings for residents on the second Wednesday of every month at its office at 3524 W. National Ave. The next resident meeting is Sept. 10. VIA CDC hosts meetings for business and property owners in the neighborhoods on the second Tuesday of each month.
“We’ll continue to hold dialogue and conversations to get feedback throughout the rest of the year,” she said.
VIA recently hired Patty Luévano as a community outreach and volunteer specialist, who Bautch said has worked for many years in Clarke Square. She said VIA is looking to add two additional staff members by next summer.
The Milwaukee Turners’ programming of yoga and tai chi on Mondays and know-your- rights training on Thursdays in Clarke Square Park will continue into the fall and next year.
VIA CDC is also considering other ways to use the park and pavilion, such as holding its annual housing resource fair there, Bautch said.
What’s next
The two resident members of the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative Board were invited to join the VIA CDC board.
Paul Grippe, a longtime Clarke Square resident and CSNI board member, said he plans to join.
“They’re really enthusiastic about working together,” Grippe said.
Kuschel will continue to work through the transition until the end of September. CSNI’s two other full-time employees, Joaquin Rojas, community engagement specialist, and Lucio Segovia, economic development manager, are finishing up in August.
“They’ll be given opportunities to interview with VIA once VIA steps up, but in the meantime, we’re looking to find any kind of opportunities for them,” Kuschel said.
Bautch said VIA CDC has a plan for the transition and to sustain its work in all of its neighborhoods, but it asks that neighbors and partners be patient as it navigates this new period of growth.
“We’ll have to keep evolving the plan as we continue to hear from neighbors,” Bautch said. “We’ll have to keep restructuring, refining, improving, editing. And all of that comes as we go.”
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Very grateful for strong community partners, JoAnna Bautch and VIA, stepping in during this hard time. Hope programming desired by the residents can continue.