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Adams Garden Park 21-22
About the Project
Working with Adams Garden Park has taught us the history of Milwaukee, as well as the current issues the city faces, directly from those who have experienced it. Sharon and Larry Adams opened Adams Garden Park in 2020, with the vision for it to become an environmental, educational and economic hub in a historically disinvested community. By revitalizing blighted and abandoned properties in the Lindsey Heights Neighborhood, the goal is to ensure that residents can participate in sustainable change, while improving the quality of life in the area. We learned what a community needed: a space for creativity, education, the environment, and small businesses to grow and thrive.
Conducting oral history interviews also proved to be extremely informative. We spoke with Brenda Brown, CRA Loan Officer for Great Midwest Bank, and Reverend Michelle Townsend de Lopez of Cross Lutheran Church. Both offered insight as to how they have benefitted their community, and how similar actions can be taken throughout Milwaukee. Although the goal of our project was to help educate others, we have learned about some of the things that define Milwaukee, and some of the challenges its communities still face.
1836 W Fond du Lac Avenue ~ Milwaukee, WI 53205
email: sharon@hn-dev.com
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Highlights
Throughout our research, it became clear how a few people can have a large impact on their community.
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Brenda Brown serves as a CRA Loan officer for Great Midwest Bank and as the Chairperson for the Johnson Park Neighborhood Association. These positions have allowed Brenda to help African American families become homeowners in the Johnson Park neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods. When Brenda took over the position of Chairperson, she began to organize neighborhood cleanups. When these cleanups began, there were few participants, now these cleanups bring a large portion of the community together. Brenda’s efforts have helped instill a sense of pride and community in her neighborhood.
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Rev. Michelle Townsend De Lopez is a Reverend at Cross Lutheran Church in the Lindsey Heights Neighborhood. Aside from her religious work, Rev. Michelle has helped her community in many ways by helping provide physical and medical clinical services at her church as well as a food pantry for those in need. Rev. Michelle’s work also includes helping people to vote. During the initial COVID-19 lock down, Cross Lutheran Church provided many of its members with digital access to church resources and helped the community to stay connected virtually by providing internet access to many of its members.
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Both Rev. Michelle and Brenda Brown demonstrate how one person can have such a large impact on their neighborhoods. And that by building a sense of pride and community, within a neighborhood, restoration and growth can prosper.
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Listen For Yourself!
Rev. Michelle has been a member of Cross Lutheran Church for over thirty years and has served as a Pastor there since 2013. Having lived in Milwaukee for most of her life, Rev. Michelle works hard to help improve her community and the lives of those around her. She is extremely active in organizing and conducting community resource programs for those in need such as a medical clinic and food pantry located at her church. Rev. Michelle's passion for improving the wellbeing of her community has helped increase voting access and the overall connectivity of the Johnson Park and Lindsey Heights Neighborhoods.
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For more information, please visit: https://crosslutheranmke.org/the-reverend-michelle-townsend-de-lopez/?msclkid=527fc49acfb611ecbd9322fe0a639556
"...And so having a lens and you know, really preparing and being very intentional about breaking some of the systemic things that are not helpful to any of us, is part of like what we hope to do between like, Walnut Way, Adams Park, Cross, House of Peace, all of us together are really trying to make sure that, as we grow, we don't let people fall through the cracks, and that some of the things that have been a part of the past will continue to be a part of the future."
"I understood the history and a lot of the people here, but I also had a fresh perspective of how we needed to continue to be viable. That meant that some things that we had always done, we're going to have to change, and that we were gonna have to be flexible and look at, 'how do we be viable now?' You know, going into the millennium?"
Cross Lutheran Church
1821 N 16th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53205
Brenda Brown has been an active member of the Lindsey Heights community for the past 13 years. There she has played an important role as a CRA Loan officer with the great Midwest Bank to assist underrepresented individuals in the process of becoming home owners who may face racial discrimination or other adversities. Brenda Brown is a chairperson and leader within the Johnsons Park Neighborhood Association which strives towards community development and benefiting the wellbeing of community members.
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For more information, please visit: https://johnsonsparkneighborhoodassociation.wordpress.com/jpna-board/?msclkid=f5df67e7cfb211eca4561668b917732e
"…it was just very humbling to realize that one person can make such a huge impact. And that's the one thing Sharon [and Larry] Adams […] have done […] - They started with rehabbing and revitalizing one little house that is in the neighborhood that she grew up in, and it has just spiraled into something that's phenomenal."
"…when we have our neighborhood cleanups, at first maybe four or five people will come to my cleanup. Now, over the years, it suddenly grew to be, almost 60 - 65 people now come to our neighborhood cleanups. And it's because we make it fun. And everybody is just really enjoying everybody. And like you say it feels family friendly, and it feels like your home."
Milestones
Throughout our time working together as a team, we have achieved multiple measurable goals as well as passed milestones that can not be marked off a checklist. The most important milestones include the positive and collaborative environment we have created as a group that has made it possible for us to hold each other accountable at our weekly meetings as well as overcome roadblocks along the way. Specifically, we struggled to conduct oral histories over Zoom and ran into scheduling and technological difficulties. However our group was able to turn a frustrating situation into an opportunity to effectively communicate and problem solve. On a broader scale, our group learned how to conduct oral histories for the purposes of displaying them at the Adams Garden Park. This process included developing insightful questions for the interview, working together as a team throughout the process, and communicating with the interviewee to best conduct the oral history in a respectful and meaningful way. In addition to contributing two completed and transcribed oral histories to the collection, our group met with The Adams Garden Park Community with the intentions of listening to their needs to best support them throughout their projects. Furthermore, we developed meaningful questions for our community partner to then develop ideas for displaying the oral histories which have been collected from the community members. The positive and affirmative environment our group maintained throughout working together made it possible to complete the oral histories as well as continue to work with our community partners.
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About the Team
Eden
​I am a freshman Computer Science major. The most impactful aspect of this project to me personally, was learning through the individuals we interviewed. Specifically, gaining a new perspective of the ways I can interact with my community and communities around me.
Elliot
​I am a freshman Mechanical Engineering major. Throughout this project, I have enjoyed getting to better know Milwaukee, and the people who call it home. This project has helped me see how much a single person can impact and better their community.
Nathan
I am a freshman Civil Engineering major. Working on this project has helped me learn more about what makes Milwaukee unique by being involved in the community. It has been an amazing experience meeting new people who work to better their community every day.