Building Stability & Prosperity for Community Transformation
Building Stability & Prosperity for Community Transformation Project, Milwaukee, Wis.
- Sponsoring Organization: St. Marcus Lutheran School
- Grant Program: GrantsPlus
- Grant Amount: $300,000
- Dates of Grant Term: May 2021 – May 2024
Project Summary:
St. Marcus recognizes that an excellent education addresses social, emotional, spiritual, and academic needs of students and is critical for future success in life. Oftentimes, however, it is not enough. Students’ performance in the classroom can be influenced by life events unrelated to school. A stable home, employment, and abundance of food all affect a child’s academics.
Through its “Building Stability and Prosperity for Community Transformation” project, St. Marcus will use the three geographically close campuses with over 1,500 students as a platform to support families more broadly and build a racially and economically diverse Harambee neighborhood where children and families thrive. The community will have access to quality education, safe affordable housing, home ownership opportunities, health promotion and disease prevention, and cradle to college programming.
With the grant, St. Marcus will create one new staff position at the school and strengthen two existing positions that will provide services to school families that are designed to create stable household and productive learning environments. These include:
- Financial literacy classes
- One-on-one financial coaching/accountability
- Homeownership workshops
- Job networking
- Peer-to-Peer Community Support
- Crisis Stabilization (healthy food, supplies, shelter)
The community engagement specialist will further engage leaders and organizations in the community to build effective collaborations and partnerships internally and externally for the good of the whole community. These opportunities will give families the foundation for financial stability, independence, and prosperity and allow students to excel in the classroom.
