Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention Grants Nearly Half a Million Dollars to Summer Youth Programs

MILWAUKEE – Many young people in Milwaukee are able to stay safe because of summer youth programs funded by the Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention (OVP). Through the Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), OVP provided funding to sustain programming form June 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022. The ReCAST grant is focused on serving youth ages 12 through 24 and their families. Chosen through a competitive request for proposals process, 12 youth-serving organizations were selected to receive a total of $430,000 dollars to support their summer programming.

“By supporting these agencies, we are adding to public safety. We are reaching young people in ways that offers support and direction, and that benefits Milwaukee now and into the future,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said.

“It’s important that OVP grants money to these programs as we continue to move through trying times with unprecedented amounts of violence in our community, fueled in part by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Arnitta Holliman, Office of Violence Prevention Director. “Young people need a positive place to go during the summer when they don’t have the safety net of school programming, and that’s exactly what this funding will help provide. This is just one example of how we use our office and our funding to make an impact in the city of Milwaukee.”

The list of grant-awarded organizations are:

• Artists Working in Education (AWE)
• Casa Romero
• City Champs Foundation
• Diverse & Resilient
• Center for Self-Sufficiency – My Sista’s KeepHer
• Our Next Generation
• The PEAK Initiative
• Running Rebels
• Safe and Sound
• Silver Spring Neighborhood Center
• Southside Organizing Center (SOC)
• Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center

The Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention is grateful for these community partners who continue to provide safe, fun, and educational programming for young people. For more information about the grant-funded summer programs, please reach out to the linked organizations directly.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.