Connecting Caring Communities
Restoring neighborliness to neighborhoods
Milwaukee’s Connecting Caring Communities Project Partnerships are made up of individuals and organizations working to enhance the ability of older residents to remain in and contribute to the life of their neighborhoods.
Over 200 people in seven neighborhoods are involved in organizating programs and advocacy that benefit older adults. While Milwaukee County Department on Aging no longer coordinates the work of the neighborhood partnerships, each neighborhood has sustained essential elements of its partnership with the help of committed partners including older adults as well as representatives from government, social service organizations, churches and businesses.
Connecting Caring Communities has developed partnerships in the following Milwaukee County neighborhoods:
- Layton Boulevard
- Sherman Park
- Rivereast Alliance
- West Allis/West Milwaukee
- South Shore
To learn more about the neighborhoods and partnership projects click HERE
Ideas and Ideals
Partners in Connecting Caring Communities believe that:
- Older adults want to stay in their neighborhoods as they age
- Neighborhoods want older adults to stay
- Connections among community residents can make this easier
From September of 2002 through January of 2008, Milwaukee County was one of 16 communities funded nationally under the Community Partnerships for Older Adults Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Our community partners came together to craft new ways to keep older adults active in their neighborhoods. With additional local funding generously provided by The Helen Bader Foundation, The Faye McBeath Foundation and The Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the vision and mission of Connecting Caring Communities took shape in two local neighborhoods. Today, over 200 people in seven neighborhoods carry on the work.
The Vision of Connecting Caring Communities:
Stakeholders work together to improve the care and services available to older adults, resulting in a community where older people are able to draw upon and contribute to the resources of their neighborhoods and the community at large. When older people need long term care, it is available, easily accessible, affordable, and of high quality.
The Mission of Connecting Caring Communities:
To strengthen the system of long term care for Milwaukee County’s older adults through developing, nurturing, and supporting partnerships with all stakeholders.