Rocket Community Fund,
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and
INPOWER on Wednesday announced the launch of Neighbor to Neighbor, a community engagement program they say will give Milwaukee residents access to neighborhood and city-wide resources aimed at preventing displacement.
Over a four-month door-to-door and online survey campaign, Neighbor to Neighbor partners will connect with 8,000 Milwaukee households in high-risk areas for property tax foreclosures and evictions, a press release states.
The launch of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program follows Rocket Community Fund’s $300,000 investment in the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County’s Safe and Stable Homes initiative, which it
announced in September. Canvassers assisting with the effort will function as guides, according to the press release, connecting low-income residents with resources focused on tax foreclosure prevention, utility assistance, home repair support, eviction defense and other services to achieve greater stability and improve their quality of life.
“Stable housing is the foundation for success in every part of our lives,” said Laura Grannemann, executive director of Rocket Community Fund. “Too many Milwaukee residents experience housing challenges despite existing resources. ‘Neighbor to Neighbor’ literally meets residents where they are at, simultaneously connecting families to those services and identifying gaps to inform future partnerships and investments.”
A critical area of focus of the program in Milwaukee will be eviction support, leaders say. In 2022 alone, Milwaukee saw 13,635 evictions filed – an average of nearly 270 households per week. To combat that issue, Neighbor to Neighbor will focus on neighborhoods with the highest rates of eviction filings and tax foreclosures, including those in the 53206, 53210, 53212, 53208, 53209, 53204, 53216, 53205, 53215 and 53218 ZIP codes.
The United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County will support Neighbor to Neighbor through its connections to local safety net resources and will provide fiscal oversight, the press release states.
"United Way is proud to partner with Rocket Community Fund and INPOWER for the ‘Neighbor to Neighbor’ project," said Gerald Coon, director of key initiatives. "United Way believes in bringing comprehensive approaches to every challenge, actively listening and responding to local needs. This collective partnership means we can share innovations and scale impact to improve housing security in Milwaukee."
INPOWER, a Milwaukee-based social impact and good cause marketing agency located in the Harambee neighborhood, will oversee the recruitment and management of community mobilizers, manage program data, and provide targeted messaging for the Milwaukee neighborhoods in the canvassing footprint.
"INPOWER is thrilled to empower Milwaukee's communities with the tools and information they need around critical housing issues," said Aziz Abdullah, co-founder of INPOWER. "We are equally delighted by the opportunity to create employment opportunities for over 20 individuals residing in these very neighborhoods. They are central to this project, making a significant contribution and collaborating with us to build a more robust and interconnected Milwaukee, one neighbor at a time."
The launch of “Neighbor to Neighbor” builds on Rocket Community Fund’s existing philanthropic efforts in Milwaukee. In 2023, the Rocket Community Fund invested $460,000 in partnership with the RON Coalition to commission a parcel survey to understand the overall state of Milwaukee’s housing conditions. The survey provided valuable data that informed the development of Neighbor to Neighbor, the release states.
Neighbor to Neighbor was first launched in Detroit, where it focused on property tax foreclosure. Between 2015 and 2019, the number of occupied homes entering the Wayne County tax auction decreased by 94% as a result of Neighbor to Neighbor outreach and associated programs. The initiative expanded to Cleveland in 2021 with a focus on housing and digital inclusion, and then to Atlanta in 2023, where it focused on legacy resident retention, the release states.
