Common Wealth Development's quarterly newsletter for residents, commercial tenants, workforce participants, and supporters LIKE YOU.

Letter from the Executive Director ‌ Greetings Common Wealth Community,   Like everyone, we are continuing to find ways to adapt to our very surreal reality. We remain extremely grateful for everyone within the Common Wealth community, and are doing everything we can to remain as responsive as is possible so that we can continue to provide the programming, support and other services during this stressful time. Please do not hesitate to let us know if there are things that we could be doing to assist you and/or your family in weathering this pandemic. We are here for you.   On a lighter note, while nothing could ever compete with the excitement of the actual Willy Street Fair, we were happy to partner with Wil-Mar neighborhood center to host the “Porch and Bubble” tour, bringing amazing music, bubbles and fun into the Willy St neighborhood. Big thanks to Primitive Culture and the People’s Brother Band, and to all of the sponsors* who made the event a success. The music was such a necessary relief!! *Heartland Credit Union, Aprilaire, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, One Barrel Brewing Co., Schmidt’s Auto, Lauer Reality Group, the Willy Street Co-op, CMI Management, Martin Glass Co., and Wegner CPAs.   As always, we are here to support. Please do not hesitate to let us know if there are ways that we could be improving.   Be well, and stay safe!    Respectfully Submitted, Justice Castañeda Executive Director Common Wealth Development, Inc.

Healthy Housing

The New Faces of the Common Wealth Housing Team Join me in welcoming Susan Gaeddert to our team! Susan Gaeddert: Housing Specialist Susan joined Common Wealth Development as a housing specialist in June 2020 after graduating with an M.S. in Urban/Regional Planning from UW-Madison. In her previous career, Susan spent nearly two decades in the performing arts as a professional collaborative pianist and teacher. She still enjoys playing the piano and is always finding more ways to keep busy by knitting, baking bread, and spending as much time outside as possible. Welcome Susan, to our Housing team! We are very excited to have you! Susan can be reached at: susan@cwd.org C: 608-516-0420 Office: 608-620- 7863

Residents Assert Neighborhood Values, Community Cohesion Residents at Common Wealth’s properties made their voice heard this past weekend. Signs denouncing the recent increase in community violence dotted yards up and down the block of Balsam Road. While investigations are still ongoing, the disruptions in the community over the past month appear to be the responsibility of individuals who do not reside in the neighborhood. Typically a quiet residential area where children enjoy nearby Meadowood Park and families barbecue outside, the neighborhood has been shaken by three incidents of gun violence in the past few months. Regardless of what investigations discover, residents made clear they intend to take back the peaceful enjoyment of their homes. Meadowood is and will remain a place of community and well-being where families take care of each other and thrive.

Equitable Economic Development

Youth Workforce Development Youth-Business Mentoring Program This summer we have had some amazing students in our virtual Youth-Business Mentoring Program (YBMP) sessions. Over the course of the two-week training over zoom they learned: -         How to find and apply for a job -         Customer Service -         Financial literacy (including topics such as budgeting and credit) -         Wellness in the workplace and personal branding In the next few months, these students will be working with their mentor to find employment opportunities. We are excited to announce that we have two more YBMP sessions coming up this fall. The dates for these sessions are as follows: Training Dates and Times: Application Due Date: October 19 – October 30, 4pm -5pm October 9 by 5:00pm November 31 – December 11, 4pm -5pm November 20 by 5:00pm Completed applications include a youth and parent/guardian application. These must be submitted to Ashley Hoeft (ashley.h@cwd.org) by the due date for the training the youth is interested in attending. Applications can be found at our website: https://www.cwd.org/youth-development/youth-business-mentoring/ **Due to the current situation, all of our trainings for the rest of the semester to a virtual learning model and can be accessible to any student, ages 14 – 17 in the Madison/Dane County area but the student must be able to access a computer with a webcam. If you know of a student who would be interested in our training, please reach out to Annie Johnston at annie@cwd.org and we can answer any questions. Financial Literacy Workshops We offer free financial literacy workshops to groups around Madison and Dane County. If there is any interest in having Common Wealth staff provide a virtual training to your student group(s), please reach out to Annie Johnston at annie@cwd.org. Please note that we will be following Public Health guidelines for programming and we are not holding any in-person workshops for the remainder of 2020. If there is interest in having a virtual workshop, please reach out and we can discuss options. Updates from Summer 2020 Wanda Fullmore Youth Internship Program This program is a partnership between Common Wealth Development and the City of Madison, which typically hosts Madison Youth at different departments in the city in a paid internship structure. Due to the pandemic, this internship was moved virtually and youth were able to work on different projects around community engagement and providing a youth perspective in different issues around the city. Interns were then able to present their findings at the end of the summer, and talked about issues such as the need for transitional housing for youth aging out of foster care and group homes, a need for a Youth Summit that brings youth in to talk with City of Madison department heads about issues relevant to youth, and presented a proposal to have a youth work group that works on community engagement and neighborhood beautification to increase community involvement in these difficult times. We had a great group of 11 youth in this program who also learned professional skills throughout their summer. Program for Entrepreneurial and Agriculture Training This group of 8 youth worked out on a farm in partnership with Neighborhood Food Solutions (NFS). While this group was in person, being out on a farm meant that social distancing was easy! These youth learned about food systems, farming, and financial literacy, and got to spend some quality time getting their hands dirty and building relationships with fellow youth and adults in the urban agriculture world. They even got a chance to have a couple of socially distanced field trips, one of which was at a dairy farm. We look forward to our continued partnership with NFS in this program.

Adult Workforce Development JOB SHOP Is back and ready to assist with your employment needs JOB SHOP provides drop-in services for anyone looking for work in Southwest Madison. HOURS: Wednesdays, 9am - 1 pm at the Meadowood Neighborhood Center (5734 Raymond Road) Some of the available services are: Résumé Writing & Cover Letter’s (provided my UW’s Madison Writing Assistance Center) Online Job Applications Public Benefit Applications  Housing Searches Resource referrals STEP, our comprehensive relationship-based employment initiative, is now fully operational again to help meet your employment goals. Participants are hired by Common Wealth Development as LTE employees and are paid a living wage while working temporary STEP positions designed specifically with individual participant’s goals in mind. Participants are paid for up to 10 hours a week ($13.62 per hour) to work at a community placement site while simultaneously working on finding employment. We now have now resumed regular service hours, Mondays through Friday, 9-4 at our Southwest office (5902 Raymond Rd). If you would like more information on STEP, or if you need help finding job leads, doing a resume, enrolling in FOODSHARE or would like to explore what resources may be available to you and your family during these difficult times, just call, email us or stop by our Southwest office, to speak with us about your situation. Staff and community members must always wear masks during face to face interactions. CWD will be happy to provide masks when needed. Please contact us with any questions about our available services or to set up an appointment. John Wroten, Adult Workforce Development Manager, 608-516-5332 or john@cwd.org Or Marquis Sanders, Coordination of Care Specialist, 608-516-1582 or marquis@cwd.org

BUSINESS INCUBATORS Let’s Welcome The Baked Lab By Rebekah Stephens Shawn Boldec and The Baked Lab has joined Main Street Industries!! If you love beautiful and delicious cakes and maybe even a good “bake along”, you are in luck! The Baked Lab has moved into Main Street Industries and is wasting no time in getting right into the swing of things.

Shawn is very passionate about baking and gathers his inspiration “color, texture and design”. He aims to “explore classic deserts through a new lens”. If you are looking to spend some time with friends or host a team building exercise (socially distanced of course, ‘cuz COVID-19), The Baked Lab offers classes to help you do just that.  We are excited to see, smell and taste what The Baked Lab is baking.

White Walls… By Rebekah Stephens White walls, void of color White walls, plain and bland White walls, void of excitement Need the work of an artist’s hand. The Common Wealth Gallery is normally home to beautiful local artwork, now the walls are just white and bare. I never realized how much seeing the colorful work of creatives in the Madison area truly brightened my day. You see, my office is right in the heart of the gallery. I look forward to the day that exhibits can be hung and viewed by the public and myself each day. Admiring the colors, reading the captions, and sometimes just reflecting on what each piece is saying to me. I am not an art aficionado, by any means, but I can appreciate the beauty and complexity, that is art. I am not sure when, but I look forward to the day I walk in and I’m greeted with creative beauty once again.

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Health Equity and Well Being

Community Based Crime Reduction News Democracy in the Park Over 70,000 City of Madison residents have absentee ballot requests on file for the November 3, 2020, General Election. Ballots will be mailed by September 17. Many City of Madison voters have been contacting the City Clerk’s Office to ask about options for returning their absentee ballots in person. In response to these questions, the Clerk’s Office is partnering with the City of Madison Parks Division to allow City of Madison voters to return their absentee ballots to poll workers stationed in more than 200 City of Madison parks. The Democracy in the Park event will be held 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM, Saturday, September 26 and Saturday, October 3. In the case of inclement weather, the event will be held Sunday, September 27 and Sunday, October 4 instead. Poll workers wearing high visibility vests and face masks will be available next to a "Vote" yard sign in 206 city parks to register voters and to accept the delivery of absentee ballots. The poll workers will be available to serve as a witness, if needed. Poll workers will practice social distancing and will sanitize materials after each use. When the event ends at 3:00 PM, an election official courier will bring the ballots back to the Clerk’s Office. The courier and the poll workers on-site will count the number of absentee ballots being returned to the Clerk’s Office and will seal them in a delivery package with a tamper evident seal that has a unique serial number. The number of ballots and the seal number will be documented on a chain-of-custody form that will be signed by the poll workers in the park and by the courier. Ballots will be taken directly to the City Clerk’s Office where seal numbers and the number of absentee ballots delivered will be verified by Clerk’s Office staff. Additional ballot drop-off locations will be announced as locations, dates, and times are confirmed. Most Madison Park are participating in the Democracy in the Park, for a full list of the 206 parks involved, check out the City of Madison website. The following is a partial listing of parks in west Madison that will be part of Democracy in the Park:

Help your neighbors vote! Earn $21.62 per hour working as an election official. Have an impact on our community working as an election official. Poll sites are available in our neighborhood! Visit this website for more information: https://Http://www.cityofmadison.com/EO

Welcome Sheray and Mike! Community policing efforts in Southwest Madison is getting some help from two well-known community leaders, Sheray Wallace and Mike Alston who will serve as Community Safety Workers. Wallace and Alston have been hired by Focus Interruption in a 3-month pilot program to help mediate and solve problems to reduce the need for police in certain low-level incidents.  Our CSWs, the first in the City of Madison, will serve as neighborhood-based conflict mediators, social service connectors and systems navigators. They will work in the neighborhoods within the current Community Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) grant area in Southwest Madison that includes Meadow/Balsam, Theresa Terrace/Hammersley, and Park Edge/Park Ridge areas for 20 hours per week, Tuesday-Saturday, approximately 4 pm to 8 pm. Our team will be present and accessible in the neighborhoods, work proactively to strengthen relationships and understand and share networks of support services and actively seek out and work to resolve neighborhood tensions that undermine public safety.

Sheray and Mike will work to build on existing assets and attributes to improve neighborhood quality of life and prevent the necessity for police response to low level neighborhood conflict. They will also assist in de-escalating tension in the aftermath of low-level disruptions to neighborhood peace and quality of life issues. Funding for the pilot is through the CBCR, that has provided mentoring, safe passage, fatherhood, and driver’s license support to local organization serving southwest Madison and a donation from the Madison Community Policing Foundation. Email Sheray at swallace@focusedinterruption.com or Mike at malston@focusedinterruption.com.

Marquette Minute News from the Marquette Neighborhood Association   Friends and neighbors, MPD Report Shared Officer Ken Brown reports that despite the mass of people currently living at McPike Park, there have been relatively few calls for service. MPD has been doing proactive walk-throughs of the park several times daily. The park doesn't officially fall under the Mayor's Temporary Permanent Encampment (TPE) order because it is within 500 feet of residences. Options for relocating individuals living there are being considered as colder weather approaches.  Asked about drag racing on area streets, particularly on East Washington, and what neighbors should do about this, Officer Brown asked residents to use the non-emergency line to call and report this unless there is an imminent significant risk. A camera has been installed at East Washington and Paterson to aid with tracking vehicles. Alder Report Shared Alder Rummel reported that city staff did not have time to take a comprehensive look at the BUILD II plan to recommend updates. The current plan is to simply re-designate the 900 block of East Main “Employment AND Mixed-Use” rather than just Employment, in order to allow for Brink’s proposed mixed-use building amongst all the office space also being constructed. Regarding the proposed demolition of buildings along Baldwin Street in McPike Park, City staff have a walk-through session on October 8th and will come up with potential options for the space. There’s a movement to save the Trachte building on the site, and some interest in preserving it for use of the Farmers' Market.  P&D Projects Approved Three projects that had received full support from the Preservation & Development Committee got the go-ahead from MNA. They are: Curt Brink’s addition to the Archipelago project on the 900 block of East Washington and East Main. This phase of the project is the housing aspect fronting East Main. Brink reports that 20% of the units will be available to low-income renters. Neighbor Steve Ohlson said he would like to see larger units rather than a building full of efficiency apartments. Brink reports that they were able to add six more two-bedroom units to the building, and are reconfiguring even the smaller units to allow for study areas in the apartments, creating more space.  Vata Edari of CocoVaa is applying for a license to sell wine and liquor with gift sets.  MG&E plans to add vehicle charging stations to the parking lot they own at 722 E Main Street. Traffic Improvements Request Supported The Board approved a request for MNA to co-sign a letter with the Tenney Lapham Neighborhood Association asking the City for the temporary traffic engineering solutions put in place during Covid-19 be made permanent. Namely, longer side-street green lights at Paterson, Ingersoll, and Baldwin, which make it easier for pedestrians to cross East Washington in one light signal, as well as easier for more bikes and vehicles to get through the light. The added benefit is stopping East Washington traffic longer at each light, slowing the average speed. Halloween Fun Considered The Board gave support to the Neighborhood Enhancement Committee to move forward on promoting safe options for celebrating Halloween in the neighborhood, following recommendations of the Department of Health Services. The committee may consider some sort of organized event.  MNA Election Details Finalized Board member Lynn Lee is resigning from MNA as of the annual meeting, which opens a one-year seat to finish his term. Simply Voting, the online voting platform that will be used for the election, allows for a separate special election to take place alongside the regular vote. The Board agreed that holding a special election would be preferable to having the president appoint a new member to the seat. The subcommittee recommended an annual membership term in order to make management of the membership list and the renewal process more efficient and transparent; in other words, all memberships expire on one date rather than on a rolling basis. The Board approved a move to an annualized membership renewal format. Anyone who has joined MNA or renewed membership since the 2019 Annual Membership Meeting is a member and eligible to vote at the 2020 annual meeting. Details on running and voting in the MNA election will be sent out this week in a separate MNA Minute. Budget Approved The Board passed a lean budget for 2020-21 that anticipates no festivals/festival income. If festivals become a possibility next summer, the budget can be revisited.  Instagram Launched The Board agreed to establish an MNA Instagram account in an effort to reach younger members of the community. Follow it here: https://www.instagram.com/keep.willy.weird/   Appreciation Shared The Board voted by unanimous consent to thank Lynn Lee for his years of leadership on MNA and countless volunteer hours devoted to our neighborhood. We look forward to holding him to his promise to continue his dedicated service as a civilian.   Want to hear even more MNA news? You can receive periodic updates from MNA delivered directly to your email box. Sign up at this link: https://marquette-neighborhood.org/contact-us/.

Meadowood Neighborhood Association By Terry Evanson, President MNABoard1@gmail.com   Common Wealth Development Groundbreaking at 5802 Raymond Road My name is Terry Evanson. I am the President of the Meadowood Neighborhood Association. I am thrilled to be here today as Common Wealth Development embarks on this new undertaking to serve low-income families and creates a sense of new energy and possibility in in Meadowood. When my husband and I purchased our home in Meadowood 40 years ago, the Benisch Meadowood Service station stood at this property. The gas station closed in the mid-90s but left a legacy of soil contamination. A large amount of soil was removed, and the property was deemed “closed” by the Dept. of Natural Resources in 1998. This property has stood empty and unused in the middle of our neighborhood for 25 years. I spent the bulk of my career at the DNR working for the very program that oversaw the cleanup of this property and promotes redevelopment of properties like the Benisch Service Station. For 25 years I have fervently hoped that someone would have the vision to redevelop this property in a way that would serve our neighborhood. Common Wealth Development and Justice Castañeda have a vision for serving families, building community, and helping ensure a healthy, safe, and vibrant environment for our neighborhood. Part of their vision is seeing an empty lot transformed into an 11-unit apartment building that will provide affordable housing to working class families. It will bring a new vitality and curb appeal to Raymond Road. It will house offices of Common Wealth and other non-profits, making those organizations more accessible to all residents in the southwest corridor of Madison and providing modern facilities for those who staff the organizations. I applaud Common Wealth Development for the significant investment they have made in Meadowood. As a landlord, Common Wealth is a stabilizing presence in our neighborhood. Their first commitment involved purchasing more than 35 existing apartment units and remodeling them to provide good quality apartments to low-income residents in our neighborhood. They have based an office in Meadowood, headed by Stephanie Bradley-Wilson, that provides on-site support to their residents. Common Wealth makes extraordinary efforts to create a unified community among their residents and to support struggling families. Before COVID-19, they held picnics and meetings of their residents and encourage them to get to know each other. Common Wealth partners with other non-profit organizations, such as Joining Forces for Families, Early Childhood Initiative and Road Home who provide support not only to Common Wealth residents but to families throughout the southwest corridor of Madison.  The Meadowood Neighborhood Association has been a strong supporter of this development. We are grateful that Stephanie and Justice have included us in the planning of this new apartment building, held public meetings and embraced the surrounding community in this development effort. We know it has taken a consistent vision, fortitude and sleepless nights as financing has been arranged. We are grateful for the significant financial investment this building represents in Meadowood. This new building helps cement Common Wealth’s commitment and presence here for many years into the future. On behalf of myself and the Meadowood Neighborhood Association I extend our deep gratitude for your belief in the power of building individuals and families by providing safe, affordable housing. We sincerely look forward to welcoming the new families who will occupy this building to our neighborhood. Thank you for all you are doing for us. We look forward to our continued collaboration and hope that you will have the opportunity to make additional investment in Meadowood in the future.

Common Wealth Development news@cwd.org P: 608.256.3527