Potawatomi Hotel & Casino’s signature charity program Heart of Canal Street is giving $100,000 to Milwaukee-based nonprofit Pathfinders Milwaukee Inc.
Potawatomi officials today announced the organization has been chosen as the 2018 campaign’s “charity of choice.” Pathfinders provides housing and other services for Milwaukee’s homeless and at-risk youth.
“Partnering with Pathfinders allows us to give back to an organization doing crucial work in the region,” said Rodney Ferguson, chief executive officer and general manager of Potawatomi.
Pathfinders will dedicate the funds to its New Paths program, which provides services to youth who are being sex trafficked. Those services include crisis counseling, safety planning, case management, emergency needs and dedicating an advocate to accompany youth to medical exams and law enforcement interviews.
“We are extremely grateful that Potawatomi Hotel & Casino is using its Heart of Canal Street platform to address some of the most pressing needs of youth in our community,” said Tim Baack, Pathfinders president and CEO. “In addition to raising awareness about the sexual exploitation and trafficking of Milwaukee’s most vulnerable young people, a critical issue impacting our city, their financial support will allow us to provide more resources to better serve them.”
Heart of Canal Street funds are raised primarily through Canal Street bingo games played during every bingo session from August through mid-December. Potawatomi will announce the ten signature charities that will receive funding at the 2018 campaign kickoff on Aug. 9. Twenty additional organizations will be randomly selected for the program in November.
