“Make A Difference”: Literacy Services of Wisconsin | Wrap Up

We’ve spent the last eight weeks taking a look at organizations through the eyes of their volunteers, staff, and clients. Each and every story has been a joy but also somewhat of a struggle to tell. Doing justice to the personality and passion of each person was a challenge and an investment, but that was [...]

“Make A Difference”: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis | Wrap Up

Volunteering can seem hard. All the time and energy and logistics can be daunting to a person with a busy life.
However, sometimes you can make a world of difference by giving of yourself on the most basic levels. This is evident in youth mentorship, as most kids are simply looking for someone to spend time [...]

“Make A Difference”: Milwaukee SCORES | Wrap Up

Last Thursday, I spent the late afternoon with Milwaukee SCORES at Windlake Elementary School, conducting our three volunteer interviews, hanging out with the kids, and getting a chance to see how it all operates. As I was biking away, the pieces already started coming together in my head.
Milwaukee SOCRES is the kind of organization [...]

“Make A Difference”: ARCW | Wrap Up

Unfortunately, I was sick this past week (like everybody else, it seems) and out of the office for stretches, which prevented me from editing the audio tour I recorded of the ARCW’s downtown facility on Kenilworth. However, to be completely honest with you, it would have been impossible to do their four floors of service [...]

“Make A Difference”: Habitat For Humanity | Wrap Up

Listen: My week with Habitat For Humanity met my expectations in some ways, but consistently surpassed them in so many others. When Habitat For Humanity is mentioned, a few very definite ideas come to mind for most people. House building. Volunteering. Jimmy Carter? However, seeing the organization in action, I’ve gained a new appreciation for both [...]

“Neighborhood Project”: One Last Time From Johnsons Park

Listen: Over the last two months, I’ve had a chance to hone my one-minute explanation of the Neighborhood Project. I’d start, “Milwaukee is a city of neighborhoods…” and continue, “… many of these neighborhoods fly under the typical media radar…” and finally, with understated bravado, I’d crescendo “…  we’re attempting to tell the stories of solved [...]

“Neighborhood Project”: Looking Back at Lincoln Village

Listen: Each Neighborhood Project piece was a process — hunt for stories, schedule interviews, gather audio, sort through the tape, construct the narrative, fine tune, write an intro/outro, and last but not least, the music. We paid painstaking attention to finding the right music; it had to fit the overall sound of the station, but more [...]

“Neighborhood Project”: Sherman Park Wrap Up

Listen: 40,000 People. 10,000 Housing Units. North Avenue on the South Side, Capitol Drive on the North Side, from 60th Street east to 30th and 38th streets. Sherman Park. How does one tell the story of a massive residential neighborhood that stretches over the heart of Milwaukee? By population, it would be the 16th biggest city [...]

“Neighborhood Project”: Silver City, Grand Finale

Listen:  During the two months of the Neighborhood Project, each neighborhood took a turn as my favorite — as we rummaged around for the ideal story, its pieces would snap together immediately, a complete, colorful narrative, nearly readymade. On other occasions, the stories were maddeningly elusive. Oftentimes, the story we wanted to tell seemed so simple, [...]