Business Loan

A safe place that helps under-served teens in Milwaukee is in danger of closing.”Like, what am I going to do?” Judith O’Neil, whose family goes to Walker’s Point Youth Center, said. The Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center is a lifeline for Judith O’Neil’s family. Her daughters depend on therapy in the city to cope with their mental health. “She baked cupcakes while she had therapy,” O’Neill said. The center also takes in teenagers who don’t have proper housing, many of whom are LGBTQ or teens of color. Now, services may halt because they lost about $200,000 in federal aid. “About 25% of our shelter budget, and that funds our emergency shelter and part of our therapeutic services,” Audra O’Connell, the executive director of Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center, said.Leaders said this house was built in the 1850s and has gone over several remodels since then, including this room at the heart of the home. It was called because it’s where kids can truly create magic. “It’s where we do art therapy. It’s where we do arts and crafts,” O’Connell said. While kids get serious help at the center, they also enjoy simple pleasures like game time or creating art. The impact of the facility closing could be felt beyond Milwaukee. “We’re the only shelter in southeastern Wisconsin for pregnant and parenting teens. And beyond that, there aren’t any youth shelters in the counties that surround us,” O’Connell said. O’Neil is crushed. “Mental health is a huge problem with our youth,” O’Neil said. Now, the center is scrambling to stay open in 2025UpdateWednesday afternoon Milwaukee Common Council members recommend sending $100,000 in grants to keep the shelter open.”So when you think of our young people in particular, we have to make sure as the weather starts to turn and get even colder that our shelters are able to keep their doors open. These guys were under threat of having to close their doors, and Peter and I and our colleagues, we’re not going to stand by and let that happen,” Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa said during WISN 12 News at 4:00. The full council will vote on the grant at the end of the month.If you would like to donate: https://walkerspoint.charityproud.org/Donate