Hope Street Ministry is preparing to break ground in August for its planned $3.5 million community center on Milwaukee’s north side.
The proposed 13,000-square-foot center is planned for an empty lot at the intersection of 26th Street and Capitol Drive. Plans for the building include a gym, classrooms, cafe and event spaces, and it’s intended to serve people living in the nonprofit’s housing, the 53206 zip code and broader Milwaukee community. The community center will be called Shechem, meaning a place of refuge.
Hope Street purchased the site at 2510 W. Capitol Drive, which is adjacent to the nonprofit’s existing building, from the city for $1 in 2017.
As it prepares to break ground, the nonprofit has set a goal of raising $100,000 through its “Bruised but not Broken” fundraising initiative, which runs from July 20-25. The event will allow supporters to purchase and paint a reed with different colors on each side, which will then be hung together on a wall in the atrium of the new building. The art installation will have the effect of appearing to change colors as people walk by it.
“It will represent people coming together and the changing of perspectives,” said Kendall Schoenike, operations director for Hope Street.
Hope Street said it has raised nearly $750,000 for the project to date.
The organization said the new center will have a focus on reconciliation and restoration, at a time when recent protests have sought to bring attention to racism, segregation and discrimination.
“It’s definitely an opportunity to reach across the table and get to know one another,” Schoenike said. “…When we can start to break down all those notions we have about one another, we can create a more whole community.”
The facility will complement Hope Street’s existing three-story, 24-unit building located at 2522 W. Capitol Drive, where the ministry has provided housing and shelter to the community.
