Inside a classroom at Milwaukee Marshall High School, the sound of Lego bricks clicking together filled the room as children leaned over tables covered with colorful pieces and half-finished builds.
As they pieced together their creations, Nealita Nelson, the instructor behind the popular Milwaukee Recreation Lego classes, moved from desk to desk encouraging students to keep building.
Nelson, a Milwaukee native known online as “Builds by Nene,” began teaching Lego-building classes through MKE Rec after appearing on Season 4 of Fox’s “LEGO Masters” in 2023 alongside her brother, Paul Wellington.
A Lego minifigure head sits on a table with several containers of bricks before Nealita Nelson’s MKE Rec class.
Jeff McAvoy, whose 7-year-old son has been attending Nelson’s classes since they began two years ago, expressed his admiration for her teaching style.
“It comes down to a simple shared interest in Lego and building, but she approaches it with such care and interest in what each of the kids are doing,” McAvoy said.
Nealita Nelson sets down containers full of Lego bricks while setting up for her MKE Rec class.
A container full of Lego bricks sits on a table.
Several Lego bags and a box of blocks sit on a counter.
Nelson’s classes are typically divided by age groups, welcoming everyone from young children to adult builders:
LEGO Open Build (Designed for ages 3+): Focuses on beginner basics, open building zones and simple challenges.
LEGO Adventures: Encourages participants to step outside their comfort zones with complex, guided builds.
Learning LEGO (Designed for ages 13 to adults): Covers the history of Lego, advanced building techniques and creative design.
Nealita Nelson picks through a container full of Lego bricks.
Nealita Nelson builds a Lego set.
For Nelson, Lego-building classes are about much more than play or building toys.
“I see the need for help, and I see the need to get these kids out from in front of screens,” Nelson said. “I feel like it was my duty to give back to my community that helped me when I was younger.”
Nealita Nelson poses for a portrait with some of her Lego collection before her class at MKE Rec.
Raised on Milwaukee’s North Side, Nelson and Wellington spent a lot of their childhood building together, before their almost 10-year age gap inevitably drew them apart.
Paul Wellington and Nealita Nelson on the set of “LEGO Masters” Season 4. (Courtesy of Nealita Nelson)
Their close relationship became an advantage on “LEGO Masters,” where the siblings advanced in the competition, becoming third-place finalists.
“We’re both very different people. It helps bring out our best qualities and we’re able to work together well,” said Wellington, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee alum. “I’m very timid. She pushed me to believe in myself and that led us to succeed.”
The siblings competed again, this time internationally, on “LEGO Masters: Grand Masters of the Galaxy” in Australia in 2025. They also were the first all-Black team in the U.S. version of “LEGO Masters” to win a challenge.
Nelson said they intentionally incorporated a few references to the city and state into their builds throughout the competitions.
“When we were doing the TV shows, we tried to incorporate something from Milwaukee or something that symbolizes Wisconsin as a whole,” Nelson said. “In the first episode, we did the dairy boat.”
Nealita Nelson puts away Lego bricks during her class.
A container full of Lego pieces sits on a table.
While Nelson currently works in health care, she continues to build her public identity through her social media presence and Lego-building classes with MKE Rec.
“I felt like this was my calling, this is my passion. I love Lego,” Nelson said.
Registration for Nelson’s summer Lego-building sessions are open now until the first week of classes on June 22. You can register here.
Arlo Martin, left, 6, and his sister Nell, 3, play with Nealita Nelson during her class at MKE Rec.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
One Milwaukee organization is working to remove barriers that keep Black children and adults, especially beginners, from experiencing golf.
We Black We Golf was created after one of its founders was stared down by a white guy and responded with, “Yes, we Black and we golf!”
“Golf is not just a game of exclusivity,” said Richard Badger, director and golf mentor of We Black We Golf, a social organization that introduces Black individuals to golfing through clinics, community outings and mentorship without competition.
“We are open to everyone, but we’re intentional about serving our primary demographic.”
Experiencing a typical session
During its clinics, We Black We Golf invites individuals to a golf course and provides them with equipment to learn the basics, like how to hold and swing a golf club before introducing the ball.
After people determine if it’s a sport they would enjoy and like to continue with, We Black We Golf helps them find their first set of affordable golf clubs.
“Most clubs aren’t made the same, and most beginners buy the wrong ones from the wrong places,” Badger said.
Changing the perception of golf
According to Badger, the organization consists mainly of individuals who are 45 and up, but for the past two years, the organization has tried to attract younger people to the game.
“We need to tap into the 20 to 35 age range, and Black women are the fastest-growing demographic coming into the game of recreational golf,” he said.
Badger said fewer young people golf because of common misconceptions like it being a slow sport or too expensive and made for wealthy white men.
He said he notices more celebrities participating in golf and is concerned about that misleading young people by making the sport look more expensive and inaccessible than it really is.
“Many of the celebrities are being endorsed by companies,” he said. “DJ Khaled has a golf bag over $30k, which is not realistic for somebody in your demographic and does a disservice to the game.”
However, Badger is glad to see that younger people in Milwaukee are being drawn to local places like Luxe Golf Bays and Topgolf Swing Suite.
Another thing that hinders new golfers and keeps them from travel opportunities, he said, is that they feel they’re not competent enough for the game.
Badger wants individuals to know that golf is all about celebrating your victories.
“In other sports, like basketball, you talk about the errors and shots you missed, but in golf you talk about your makes,” he said.
Creating exposure for younger generations
Among the participants of We Black We Golf is Ti-mara Minefee-Tribble, a 53208 resident who got involved by attending a clinic with her husband in 2021.
“I’m not very athletically inclined and I didn’t want something where I had to run or join a league,” she said. “When golfing, we got to sit, play music, enjoy drinks and have a dope experience.”
Chandler Tribble stays focused after putting a golf ball into the hole. (Courtesy of Ti-mara Minefee-Tribble)
Eventually, Minefee-Tribble got her son Chandler Tribble, 21, involved with the organization.
“He took to the game like a fish to water,” Badger said.
Minefee-Tribble said her son enjoyed golf so much he bought his own clubs with allowance money.
“He was so interested in the sport that he joined the golf team at his school, too,” she said.
Chandler Tribble did additional things like take golf trips with his friends, assist Badger with mentoring and was a caddy driver.
“My son has done the traditional things like football, basketball and playing the cello in orchestra, but to see him encounter something new and be comfortable with it touches my heart,” Minefee-Tribble said.
She said parents should take more time and opportunities to expose their children to other things, including golf.
Badger said he would love to see more Black children play golf, particularly Black girls because of opportunities for scholarships.
“About $50 million in scholarships are returned in the golf space because they don’t have enough minority girls to reward those scholarships to,” he said.
Badger believes many Black children don’t play golf because they’re not exposed to it enough.
“Many of their parents and grandparents don’t watch or play golf, so the child isn’t introduced to it,” he said.
Others might try but not continue if they struggle at first. He wants them to keep trying.
More than just a sport
Badger emphasizes that golfing is a good networking space to build relationships and gain opportunities that would be harder to achieve in traditional settings like offices.
“Golfing is not just a leisure activity, it can be a professional skill and become your extended office,” he said. “People get country club memberships to host staff meetings there, too.”
A year ago, We Black We Golf partnered with Kwabena Antoine Nixon, an author and community activist, to host a business networking event called “The Build Up.”
Kwabena Antoine Nixon practices a few swings at a business networking event called “The Build Up” he hosted with We Black We Golf last year. (Courtesy of Kwabena Antoine Nixon)
Residents gathered for the event at Garfield’s 502, a restaurant and tavern in the Halyard Park neighborhood, to enjoy golf games, live music, food and more.
Nixon said although he isn’t an avid golfer, the conversations held around him during the event stood out the most.
“In a golf setting you can make deals with people and talk about things that elevate you as a person within that group,” he said.
Nixon said he appreciated how We Black We Golf created a safe space for the Black community in the sport while preserving Black culture.
“I love when Black folks get into something and we turn it into something,” he said. “That event became a gathering congregation spot where people were golfing but building, too.”
With over 20 years of golf experience, Badger has always kept his confidence and hopes that other generations will do the same.
“I own every room I walk in when it comes to golf,” Badger said.
For more information
We Black We Golf hosts various clinics throughout the year.
The children’s golf clinic is free and consists of learning basic techniques.
It’s generally held at Noyes Park Golf Course, 8235 Good Hope Road, in late July, and equipment is provided.
Sunday Fundays are free monthly golf clinics held at 9 a.m. at Lincoln Park Golf Course, 1000 W. Hampton Ave., for all skill levels.
The next clinic is scheduled for June 14. Click here to view dates for other upcoming clinics.
During winter, We Black We Golf hosts an eight-week clinic that includes 16 hours of instruction and three virtual classes.
The cost for this clinic is $450 but can be paid in installments.
If you are interested in becoming a part of We Black We Golf, click here to fill out an application.
In a statement, Evers said he was trying to move Wisconsin’s “justice system into the 21st Century by reforming our criminal justice and corrections systems to improve public safety, reduce the likelihood that individuals will reoffend when they enter our communities and save taxpayer dollars in the long run.”
Some supporters of Evers’ decision say people can change after decades in prison and that remaining there no longer serves any beneficial purpose.
Gov. Tony Evers restarted the commutation process in Wisconsin in April. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
However, critics question whether people convicted of serious violent crimes should ever be released early.
Jones sits at the center of these views.
He was sentenced in 2004 to two consecutive terms of life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
He said he fully acknowledges his crimes, which occurred during an armed tavern robbery in Racine, and continues to have remorse over them.
“No amount of right I have done would ever erase the wrong I have done to my victims and their families, and I understand that perfectly,” Jones said. “I also know that I am a transformed man, and I am rehabilitated.”
Applying for commutation
Jones said he decided to apply for a commutation the moment his wife, Jessica Jones, told him about Evers’ announcement.
There are two commutation tracks: a general commutation process for people convicted as adults and a separate process for some sentenced as juveniles.
Jones, who was 22 when he was sentenced to life and is now 44, qualifies for the first track.
Applicants qualify for this track if they are: incarcerated on a Wisconsin conviction, have more than one year left on their sentence, have served at least half their incarceration term or at least 20 years of a life sentence.
They also cannot be serving sentences for sex offenses, have unresolved criminal charges or warrants, or have committed violent misconduct in prison within the past five years.
Individuals who apply must provide information about the crimes for which they are seeking commutation, prior interactions with law enforcement, prison disciplinary history, rehabilitation efforts, and reentry plans.
Applications also require certified court records as well as letters of support.
“Emotionally, a person has to remain calm,” Jones said. “There is a sense of urgency that will be overwhelming at times.”
He said coming up with a clear plan has been vital to overcoming his panic.
“One box at a time. One task at a time,” he said.
For and against
Nationally, many politicians associated with “tough-on-crime” policies have opposed sentence reductions for people convicted of violent crimes, arguing rehabilitation cannot outweigh the harm caused.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said he would end commutations if elected governor. (Jeffrey Phelps for Wisconsin Watch)
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign told NNS that he would rescind the executive orders that allow murderers, including those serving life sentences, to be released back into the community after 20 years.
“He is making a commitment as governor that he will not release violent criminals early and will ensure victims and their families receive the full measure of justice,” said the Tiffany campaign.
Diego Rodriguez, coalition coordinator forJustice Forward Wisconsin, an advocacy coalition focused on criminal justice reform, said he understands the concerns people have but believes they are based on misunderstandings of the process.
Commutation is far from automatic, he said. The approval process includes multiple reviews, eligibility restrictions and detailed reentry planning requirements.
“These are pretty thorough applications,” Rodriguez said. “If somebody still poses a threat to the community, they’re not going to let them out.”
Shannon Ross, a criminal justice advocate who works with Justice Forward to support the commutation application process, said people in prison who have genuinely transformed often have clear ways of showing that to be the case.
“If you’ve been doing the work, if you’ve been spending your time constructively, this is your moment,” Ross said.
Impact of victims
The impact of a commutation on victims and survivors will be part of how applications are evaluated, according to Executive Order #287. Also evaluated will be the potential impact on public safety, applicants’ prison conduct and their personal growth and development since conviction.
“What commutations allow is for the governor to come in and to step in and to identify people who have made changes,” Rodriguez said.
If someone is truly remorseful, has accepted responsibility and demonstrated long-term change, prison no longer serves any meaningful rehabilitative purpose, he said.
Rodriguez also said that commutations could improve public safety by helping reduce overcrowding inside Wisconsin prisons.
“Far more people are incarcerated than we even have space for,” Rodriguez said.
Under these conditions, Rodriguez said, prisons become less safe and less effective at rehabilitation.
“It makes our community less safe when we have overcrowded prisons because they’re not getting the same quality of treatment,” Rodriguez said.
Accountability
During a commutation application webinar organized by Justice Forward Wisconsin, former Wisconsin Parole Commission Chair John Tate II said accountability is central to the process.
“The thing that I would emphasize the most when we’re talking about a discretionary mechanism within the criminal legal system is accountability, accountability, accountability,” Tate said.
“Any minimization of what their role in that (crime) was is often seen as a lack of accountability,” he added.
Jones said his accountability starts with fully acknowledging the harm he caused and what kind of person he once was.
“I was a horrible person, and I took lives without mercy,” Jones said.
But Jones said decades in prison changed him.
His wife, Jessica, who met him while working at the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in Juneau County, said her views on rehabilitation have changed by getting to know people who are incarcerated.
“Most of the general public believes that all people in prison are horrible people, incorrigible and worthless,” she said. “I used to be one of those people. I believed everyone in prison could be nothing more than their worst day. Then, I worked in the prison and learned how wrong I was.”
She said she met many men in prison who shouldn’t be there anymore. She believes her husband is one of them.
“He does more good than many free people I know,” she said. “He does not let his sentence or crime define him even though it’s a daily reality.”
Open questions
Major questions about the process still remain, including how quickly applications will be processed and how many people could ultimately receive commutations.
There is also uncertainty surrounding the future of the process itself. NNS reached out to the governor’s office to ask whether the commutation process could change under new leadership but did not receive a response.
“This is a governor’s last term,” Rodriguez said. “When it comes to executive orders, those can be changed in an instant.”
Elvira Benitez Suarez stepped out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office in downtown Milwaukee on Monday to cheers from a crowd of supporters — her first time leaving the building without handcuffs.
The 51-year-old Sheboygan Falls woman left U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last week on bond; her daughter picked her up outside the northern Kentucky detention facility where she had spent the previous two months.
“I didn’t see daylight for 17 days, so I was very, very heartened and excited that I saw my family,” she said.
The Monday morning check-in in Milwaukee was her first interaction with immigration authorities since returning to Wisconsin. She arrived with her family, attorney and two members of the Milwaukee Common Council in tow.
Nearly a dozen other immigrants wove through the crowd to line up behind Benitez for their own check-ins; some picked up contact information from her attorney while they waited to enter the building.
Benitez’s time in Kentucky was her second stint in ICE custody in the past year. Benitez, who emigrated from Mexico as a teenager and lived without legal status for over three decades, first landed in detention after a wrong turn on a family road trip took her across the Canadian border in July 2025. U.S. immigration authorities arrested her when she reentered the country. Benitez had no prior interactions with law enforcement or the federal immigration court system.
In her absence, Benitez’s two adult daughters, both U.S.-born, took in their school-age siblings and helped manage their parents’ painting and cleaning business.
A federal district court judge in Ohio ruled last fall that Benitez is eligible for a green card, citing — among other factors — the hardships her children experienced in her absence. After waiting a month for immigration authorities to complete her background check, Benitez returned to Wisconsin in December, only to be arrested again during a check-in at the Milwaukee DHS office in March while the agency appealed the judge’s ruling.
“We checked in, everything went fine, and we were actually walking out the door when they stopped us,” recalled her attorney, Marc Christopher.
After stops in Chicago and Indianapolis, Benitez landed in a cell at the Campbell County Detention Center, a northern Kentucky jail that contracts with ICE to hold immigrants facing deportation proceedings. Benitez recounted finding fellow Wisconsinites in her unit; nearly two dozen other immigrants detained in Wisconsin have passed through Campbell County within the last year.
But a recent decision by an Ohio-based federal appeals court opened a door for Benitez to again return to Wisconsin. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that a year-old Trump administration policy requiring detention for most immigrants in deportation proceedings amounts to a violation of due process rights, joining federal appellate courts in New York and Georgia. Appellate courts in Louisiana and Missouri have sided with the Trump administration, and the appellate court based in Chicago remains divided on the issue.
The 6th Circuit holds jurisdiction over Kentucky, and its ruling allowed Benitez to file a bond motion in immigration court — an option once available to most immigrant detainees that largely vanished after the Trump administration introduced its mandatory detention policy last year. An immigration court judge in Memphis granted her bond motion on May 21, setting her bond amount at the minimum allowed under court rules: $1,500.
As a condition of her bond, Benitez will continue checking in at the Milwaukee DHS office.
Elvira Benitez Suarez leaves the U.S. Department of Homeland Security office in downtown Milwaukee on June 1, 2026, accompanied by Milwaukee Common Council members Alex Brower, left, and JoCasta Zamarripa and attorney Marc Christopher, right. (Paul Kiefer / Wisconsin Watch)
Benitez’s Monday morning check-in was brief and straightforward. Like other immigrants granted bond, she was directed by immigration officers to download a tracking app that will prompt her to take a photograph of her face once a week to compare against booking photos.
DHS is still appealing last year’s ruling that set Benitez on track to secure legal permanent residency. That appeal, currently in the hands of the federal Board of Immigration Appeals, is still pending.
“I would never put anything past the Board of Immigration Appeals,” Christopher said during a press conference on Monday, alluding to the board’s recent tendency to side with the Trump administration on immigration court rule changes. Nevertheless, Christopher added that he believes Benitez’s case is strong enough to defy the odds.
Benitez herself is still recovering. “I can’t sleep,” she said, recounting the grim details of her latest stint in custody — fellow detainees whose pregnancies ended in miscarriages, late-night bus trips with erratic drivers and no seat belts, and harassment from nonimmigrant inmates with whom she shared a cell in Kentucky. Benitez noted that she is in contact with the families of several fellow detainees who remain in Kentucky.
Her eldest daughter, Crystal Aguilar, also needs time to bounce back. In her mother’s absence, “my life was on hold,” she said. A return to normality still seems far away, she added.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
In 2024, a sheriff’s deputy working for the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department was forced out for being lousy at his job. But even though the deputy, Cristian Morales, was flagged in the state’s negative separation database, he ended up being hired a few months later by the Menasha Police Department.
Earlier this year, Morales was arrested and accused of stalking an ex-girlfriend using the city’s Flock camera system. He’s now facing criminal charges.
While some folks are suited for the difficult work of being a law enforcement officer, many are not. It’s hardly a controversial statement to say that police, who can arrest people and use force when necessary, should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us.
And yet our reporting at The Badger Project has found that police chiefs and sheriffs in Wisconsin often give these “wandering officers” second or third chances, despite research saying that officers fired or forced out for misconduct are more likely than other cops to reoffend.
At our last count, more than 300 active officers in Wisconsin had been fired or forced out of previous law enforcement jobs. Many of these separations involved novices who couldn’t cut it in a tough job during their probationary period, when the bar for termination is low. But some, we’ve found, lost jobs for misconduct, including drunk driving, writing misleading reports and using sexist and racist language.
In Wisconsin, law enforcement agencies can report to the state DOJ when they fire or force out an officer, so we can track when that cop goes on to get hired by another policing agency. But we are currently unable to track these wandering officers who have been fired or forced out in other states and come to work here because we don’t have a list of all law enforcement officers here.
Peter Cameron
That’s why The Badger Project, along with our partners at the Invisible Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit journalism organization, requested the full list of names and work histories from the Wisconsin Department of Justice and sued when it refused.
In April, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Rhonda Lanford ruled in our favor and ordered the DOJ to release the records. She cited a previous state appeals court ruling that said law enforcement officers “necessarily relinquish certain privacy and reputational rights by virtue of the amount of trust society places in them and must be subject to public scrutiny.”
Prominent members of Wisconsin’s law enforcement community have criticized the judge’s ruling, saying it goes too far. An appeal could be coming.
Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, wrote an op-ed saying the release of these records could put officers at “risk of harassment, doxxing and worse.” He said officers’ birthdates are part of the records whose release we are seeking. Not so: While our initial records request asked for birthdates or birth years (to distinguish between officers with the same name), our lawsuit only asked for birth years, not months and days.
The state DOJ raised another objection, saying release of the names would jeopardize undercover officers. But what cop uses his or her real name when working undercover? We did not request photos of the officers.
I salute and thank the men and women in law enforcement who are serving their communities. I don’t envy the chiefs and sheriffs who must staff their agencies at a time when finding good job applicants for law enforcement jobs is as hard as ever.
And you know what? We at The Badger Project are not against second chances for cops who screwed up. Perhaps an officer who made a fireable mistake has learned from it. Whether that officer should continue in law enforcement is not for us to decide. Our job, as journalists, is to shine a light on those in power and get facts to the public who are being policed by these folks.
If chiefs or sheriffs want to hire an officer with problems in the past, they should say so publicly and defend their decision. They just can’t make these decisions in secret.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to open government. Peter Cameron is managing editor of The Badger Project, a nonprofit news outlet.
After 35 years renting her home, a leaky and unkept roof forced Farina Brooks and her husband to move into a hotel.
It wasn’t a rash decision. For three years, Brooks said, she pleaded with the property management company to fix the roof as water damage spread and conditions inside the home worsened.
City inspectors eventually came, issuing citations and fines. Still, she said, little changed.
“We kept getting the runaround,” Brooks said.
Eventually, she and her husband entered Milwaukee’s rent abatement program. Even that failed to improve conditions, she said.
Now, she said, the couple is burning through their savings to pay for a hotel room while searching for stable housing in an increasingly expensive rental market.
Brooks said the situation was not always this way.
“For the 30 years or so (the landlord) was good, you know, she handled things,” she said.
But in recent years, she said she learned the woman had developed dementia and was placed under a conservatorship, a change Brooks believes coincided with the property’s decline.
Her story reflects a growing frustration shared by many Milwaukee tenants confronting deteriorating housing conditions and asking a question that local officials hear constantly: Why can’t the city force landlords to fix problems with their properties?
City response is limited
According to Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke, the answer lies in a complicated mix of state law, property rights and limited local authority that has steadily narrowed the city’s oversight powers on rental housing during the past decade.
The city has powers to do certain things, but not others, Goyke said.
“The federal government can limit what states can do, and the states can limit what municipal governments can do.”
State Sen. Dora Drake said Wisconsin law requires landlords to maintain rental properties, including making necessary structural and plumbing repairs and complying with local housing codes. But, she said, tenants often face barriers when conditions deteriorate.
“Under most circumstances, a tenant may not refuse to pay rent entirely unless the conditions are so poor as to force a tenant to move out,” Drake said. “If the conditions in the rental premises are poor where the tenant’s health or safety is affected, or the tenant is unable to use part of the premises, the tenant is entitled to reduce the amount of rent proportionately.”
Much of Milwaukee’s housing enforcement is controlled by Wisconsin state law, particularly by legislation passed between 2013 and 2017 that limited how municipalities regulate rental housing.
One major change, specifically state statute 66.0104, pushed cities into complaint-driven inspection systems – meaning inspectors cannot proactively inspect properties for violations unless someone files a complaint.
“The Department of Neighborhood Services can’t just walk up and down the street and say, ‘That house, that house, that house,’ ” Goyke said.
Instead, the city relies heavily on tenants and neighbors to report unsafe conditions to the Department of Neighborhood Services.
Drake said the current system leaves too many renters vulnerable before problems are addressed.
“We need more accountability measures and preventative measures and standards to prevent those situations from getting so bad with tenants,” she said.
Complaint-based enforcement
When tenants report unsafe conditions, Department of Neighborhood Services inspectors investigate and may issue written orders that require repairs within a specified time frame.
If the violations are not addressed, the city can issue citations and pursue penalties in municipal court. Unpaid judgments can eventually become liens on the property.
But that process can take a long time, especially for a city balancing thousands of complaints with limited staff and funding, according to Goyke.
He said many residents get frustrated because they expect immediate intervention.
Farina Brooks has had problems with her ceiling for the past three years. The problems came to a head when water started to come into the unit through the light fixtures. (PrincessSafiya Byers / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
The city can escalate serious or repeated violations into lawsuits in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. In extreme cases, courts can appoint a receiver to take over management of a property.
Under receivership, a court-appointed manager can collect rent and use it to make repairs if a landlord has failed to maintain safe conditions.
“It’s a very heavy hammer for the landlord,” Goyke said. “Somebody else is going to step in and fix (the properties) for you.”
Tenant fears and limited options
Housing advocates have long argued that complaint-driven enforcement creates another problem: potential retaliation or displacement of tenants.
Many tenants won’t report poor conditions out of fear.
Goyke said those fears are real, particularly for tenants living in severely deteriorated buildings who worry they could lose housing if the property is condemned.
“I feel terrible that people are placed in a position where they feel they need to live in unsafe conditions because it does beat living outside,” he said.
Under Milwaukee’s rent withholding program, tenants continue paying rent, but the money is held by the Department of Neighborhood Services until repairs are completed. Rent abatement, meanwhile, allows tenants to reduce rent payments when serious conditions affect habitability.
Legal and service organizations, including the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Legal Action of Wisconsin and Community Advocates, can help tenants understand their rights and options.
Property rights and bad landlords
Residents also frequently question why landlords with poor track records are still able to purchase additional properties, Goyke said.
Goyke said cities generally cannot interfere in private property transactions unless the city has a legal interest in the property, such as unpaid taxes or code enforcement judgments.
“If we do not have an interest in the property, we can’t stop it,” he said.
That limitation stems from long-standing American property rights protections, he added.
“It is not a shortcoming of some ordinance that could be tweaked,” Goyke said. “That question goes to core property rights in America.”
Drake said she has co-authored proposals aimed at expanding rent abatement protections and shielding renters from landlord retaliation.
“We know it happens,” Drake said. “Whether it’s Berrada or other properties that are known to have these stories, those are things that we can do.”
Berrada Properties owns more than 8,000 units and has been named in lawsuits by both tenants and the city attorney.
Drake also said the state should expand access to legal representation for tenants facing eviction or living in unsafe housing.
“We can create an office of civil legal aid to provide a right to appointment of counsel at the state’s expense for tenants in eviction actions,” she said.
Community action
Brooks said she was pushed to leave her home by her daughter and several local community leaders.
“They told me you cannot live here,” she said. “The final straw for me was when water started coming in through the light fixtures.”
Brooks said community leader Ajamou Butler shared a post about her situation that garnered support from the community and helped pay for her first several days in the hotel.
She said local leaders including Butler, Vaun Mayes and state Rep. Sequanna Taylor have supported her through the move. Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and Community Advocates have supported her search for accountability and a new home.
“It was hard accepting help, but it reminded me of how the community shows up,” Brooks said. “This made me worry for the people that don’t know who to call or have people to show up.”
Goyke encouraged residents to vote and stay engaged politically and also emphasized on-the-ground organizing and collective action to address housing issues.
He pointed to local organizations like Common Ground, the Community Development Alliance and the RON Coalition as examples of groups working to improve housing conditions.
“There’s a lot more that people can do individually that make an impact,” he said.
Goyke described a boarded-up house on his own block that has sat vacant for years, saying neighbors could potentially organize fundraising efforts to help support redevelopment.
“Don’t wait for somebody else to solve your problems,” he said. “There’s a ton of energy in trying to figure out how to do this, and it’s a great time for people to get involved.”
Milwaukee’s homelessness crisis is growing more visible, but advocates say there are still signs of progress.
A few years ago, Milwaukee leaders said the city was on track to end family homelessness. Since then, the number of people who are homeless has grown. Organizations on the front lines and others working on the issue still say Milwaukee has quietly become an example of how coordinated prevention efforts can work during a larger national crisis.
“When we talk about ending family homelessness, it doesn’t mean no family will ever experience homelessness,” said Krystina Kohler, impact manager at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County. “It means we’ve built a system that can respond quickly, prevent homelessness when possible, and rapidly connect families back to stable housing.”
Rising homelessness
Data collected through the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing and Homelessness shows more people are entering Milwaukee’s homeless service programs than exit it.
The 765 people who entered homeless service programs in 2025 had been without stable housing for an average of 88 days; 77% were homeless for the first time.
Ten percent became homeless again within a year.
According to David Nelson, chair of the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, the totals include people living in shelters and those sleeping in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not meant for habitation.
“On any given day, we have 750 shelter beds in our city,” Nelson said. “Beginning in November through the end of March, we have an additional approximate 250 shelter beds, which (are) our winter warming rooms.”
A worker distributes free clothing at MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary. (Courtesy of Sarah Lipo)
Even with the extra capacity, he said beds are almost always full.
Nelson said official homelessness figures fail to capture the full scope of housing instability because many people who temporarily stay with friends or relatives are not counted until those arrangements end.
“What we don’t count (are) people who are doubling up,” he explained. “If you let me stay on your couch through the winter, it’s not counted as homelessness. But the minute you say, ‘You gotta go,’ suddenly I become homeless.”
Sister MacCanon Brown is president and CEO of MacCanon Brown Homeless Sanctuary. She said her organization’s welcome center at 2461 W. Center St., which distributes clothing, food and household necessities and offers showers to people in need, saw 4,600 people in 2025.
Why homelessness is increasing
Most people leaving homeless service programs have no documented housing destination, making it difficult to know whether they are securing stable housing or eventually returning to homelessness, Nelson said. The percentage of people transitioning into permanent or temporary housing remains mostly unchanged.
Nelson said the end of pandemic-era federal housing assistance contributed to the rise in homelessness.
“During the Biden-Harris administration, we were sheltering people in hotels, and that was paid for by the federal government,” he said. “That funding is no longer there, and so you can see this gradual increase and then the spike in the number of people having to go back to homelessness.”
Other economic pressures are pushing more residents toward instability, especially low-income renters already struggling with rising housing costs.
“The people who are most squeezed are the people who are most vulnerable,” Nelson said. “Those at the lower ends of the economic spectrum are sometimes paying 50% and 60% of their income just to keep an apartment.”
People over 65 are now the fastest-growing age group entering Milwaukee’s homeless services system.
“It’s the fastest growing population in the country,” Nelson said. “If they go on Social Security, they are suddenly on a fixed income. The numbers don’t meet.”
Kohler said senior homelessness is becoming a major concern for local providers.
“Older adults experiencing homelessness for the first time in their lives is something that should never happen in our community,” she said. “They’re often widowed, on fixed incomes and one emergency away from losing housing.”
Kohler said she hopes homelessness initiatives expand beyond families to include seniors, single adults and people exiting facilities.
Nelson added that eviction records can trap people in long-term instability.
“The eviction stays on their record for a long time,” Nelson said. “Landlords can use CCAP and see there was a legal proceeding against them. Suddenly they’re charged first, last and middle month’s rent.”
Brown said that many of the housing unstable people she sees were renters.
“The lack of landlord regulation, the evictions and the prices have a lot to do with increased homelessness,” she said. “Some type of landlord regulation is crucial in keeping people housed.”
There have been assumptions by some that homelessness may be tied to migration from outside the city. But nearly everyone enrolled in Milwaukee’s homeless services programs during 2024 and 2025 was from Milwaukee County, according to local data.
Prevention efforts have worked
Kohler said Milwaukee’s prevention efforts increasingly focus on helping families before they lose housing entirely.
“We’re trying to get ahead of the trauma of homelessness,” she said. “Sometimes a family just needs help with a car repair, utility bill or mediation with a landlord before a housing crisis begins.”
She pointed to partnerships with schools and even animal welfare organizations as part of Milwaukee’s early intervention strategy.
“If a family is surrendering a pet because of housing instability, we can now connect them to services immediately,” Kohler said. “That’s a unique approach here.”
Though homelessness overall has risen, Kohler said Milwaukee has seen family homelessness remain relatively stable, or even decline, compared with many similar cities nationwide.
“Nationwide, family homelessness has increased dramatically, but Milwaukee is one of the only peer cities that has stayed relatively flat or even slightly decreased,” she said. “That’s because of intentional investments in prevention services and rapid rehousing.”
Working together to address homelessness
Organizations across the city continue working together through the Milwaukee Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, which includes nonprofits, universities, faith organizations, outreach teams and local government agencies coordinating resources and services.
“We have a really rich and robust system in our city,” Nelson said. “Homelessness is not a choice. It’s not something people choose to be in.”
Kohler said Milwaukee’s coordinated response system has become a model for other communities.
“Right now, there are no families on the literal homelessness list searching for shelter,” she said. “If a family is identified as needing emergency shelter, they should have immediate access to beds.”
She said Milwaukee’s collaborative approach deserves more recognition.
“The providers here are doing amazing work,” Kohler said. “Other communities are reaching out to Milwaukee to model what we’re doing.”
Kohler said Milwaukee’s response shows progress is possible even during a growing national housing crisis.
“Milwaukee is actually an example of success inside a larger crisis,” she said. “There’s still tremendous need, but we’ve shown that prevention and rapid response can work.”
She encouraged residents facing housing instability to seek help early by calling 211 and connecting with local support services before a crisis escalates.
“Keep calling and keep advocating for yourself,” Kohler said. “Sometimes resources open up quickly, and that early connection can prevent homelessness entirely.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
More older residents in Milwaukee are facing homelessness, according to findings from a yearlong study funded through a grant from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, which included Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Community Advocates is a social service agency that provides a number of services, including those related to housing.
Researchers examined why older people are at risk for homelessness and what changes need to be made to keep them housed.
“Older adults used to be stable and now there’s instability,” said Erin Cronn, director of nursing for the City of Milwaukee Health Department.
The breakdown
The study showed that the majority of Milwaukee’s homeless older adults are Black males between 55 and 65, who have a high school diploma or some college.
According to Community Advocates Public Policy Institute and the Medical College of Wisconsin, their homelessness was due to a loss of income, family conflict or health challenges.
Matt Raymond, supportive housing programs director for Community Advocates, said intakes of people 62 and older have doubled and sometimes tripled over the last 10 or so years.
Raymond said that many of the older adults had never been homeless and that accessibility to resources for them can be difficult.
“This is many of their first time experiencing homelessness and having to navigate a system that can be complex and nuanced,” Raymond said.
To help get older adults the housing resources they need, Cronn said, there needs to be a better way of sharing important information.
“A lot of information is disseminated in electronic ways and there’s a lot of isolation, so word of mouth doesn’t always work,” Cronn said.
The study also revealed that many older adults would prefer for all services to be in one place and have better transportation and more places to stay.
Understanding the hard truth
Although the study highlighted promising solutions, Emily Kenney, director of strategic initiatives and transformation at the Milwaukee County Department of Health & Human Services, said there’s still no housing system, which is why older adults struggle.
Matt Raymond, Emily Kenney, Dr. William Calawerts and Erin Cronn, left to right, shared insight about housing instability among older adults. (Courtesy of Community Advocates)
She believes that homeless shelters, housing programs and landlords should be functioning under one system instead of operating separately.
“When you think about the criminal justice system, health or behavioral system, those systems work together with you from beginning to end, but not for housing,” she said.
She said this gap causes a lack in prevention support for older adults and only assists people when they’re already homeless.
“When I was running a coordinated entry system, what I heard all day was people were on the brink of losing their housing and needing resources, and the only solution was to come into a homeless system first,” Kenney said.
Homelessness and the health care system
Family medicine specialist Dr. William Calawerts said he’s received older patients with high blood pressure, diabetes and other health challenges but can’t help if they don’t have stable housing.
Without a home, older adults can’t take their medicine or attend doctor appointments, which will make them more ill, he said.
“Their health issues are usually extremely complex and serious, but oftentimes we’re not able to address that adequately in the outpatient setting,” he said.
Cronn said health can mean different things to homeless older adults compared with health care professionals.
For older adults, it means having safe housing, clipped nails, ability to wash their hands or having clean and dry clothes, but professionals may see health as traditional doctor visits, he said.
“As a practitioner, it’s hard to prioritize health and the folks we’re seeing because their version of what their needs are is different than what we’re seeing,” Cronn said.
Calawerts said when he’s training medical students about homeless patients, he teaches them to take their time, have compassion and treat them beyond their illness.
“We try to tell them that you’re a human first and a physician second,” Calawerts said. “I think we’ve lost the humanism component in a lot of things we do.”
Affordable housing challenges
Kenney raised concerns about housing programs that give out vouchers to help with paying rent but have been a contributing factor to older adult homelessness.
She said developers are using loans to build houses, and the way the loans get paid off is through rent.
“Developers can’t offer rent at a price people need because the tax credits they get aren’t enough,” Kenney said. “The people who get the vouchers have already entered the homeless system.”
As a result, Raymond said some older adults have been moving into permanent supportive housing. These programs help homeless individuals get their own long-term place and additional services to help.
Community Advocates refers some of its intakes to Autumn West Safe Haven, an apartment on Milwaukee’s North Side that gives homeless or mentally ill individuals a place to stay short term until they find stability.
According to Community Advocates, 36 individuals who were homeless or mentally ill received services and housing through Autumn West Safe Haven, while 101 individuals who were chronically homeless and living with a disability received immediate help in 2025.
“Over the last few years at Autumn West Safe Haven, we’ve gone into outreach community centers to offer on-site telepsychiatry care to our residents and established a relationship with Advocate Aurora to bring in their mobile clinic on a monthly basis,” Raymond said.
Hopes for the future
Overall, community leaders want people to know that existing organizations need to make their population broader and do a better job at synthesizing resources, even though it may take time.
“There’s no reason for Milwaukee not to be at the forefront fighting this nationally,” Kenney said.
Calawerts also mentioned the resilience of older adults, having heard many success stories of them getting through mental health, homelessness, unemployment and other challenges.
“Those stories are the ones that give me hope, and with more robust services that are connected in these spaces, we can see more of those successfully,” Calawerts said.
This article was produced by the nonprofit journalism publication Bolts, which covers the nuts and bolts of power and political change, from the local up.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office will stop using dozens of AI surveillance cameras posted up across Madison and surrounding towns, after the county Board of Supervisors pulled funding from a contract with Flock Safety, the latest setback in this state for the Atlanta-based tech company.
Flock has swiftly grown a sprawling, nationwide network of cameras that photograph passing cars and use AI to track their movements with precision, with thousands of law enforcement agencies installing Flock cameras in exchange for access to the company’s database. But many local governments are nowbreakingoff their agreements with Flock after numerous instances where the cameras were misused and breached, or where the data they collected ended up in ICE’s hands.
Within Dane County, the cascade started when the city of Verona pulled its three automated license plate readers from the Flock network in November, after police officers elsewhere in the country accessed Verona’s cameras on behalf of immigration agents. Bolts previously reported that Flock ignored demands by Verona officials to take down the cameras for months after they ended the contract, and the city eventually covered the surveillance cameras with black plastic bags to protect residents’ privacy. Verona Mayor Luke Diaz told Bolts at the time that the county government’s contract with Flock was “the next big domino” to fall in Wisconsin.
Verona’s representative on the Dane County Board, Supervisor Chad Kemp, then proposed defunding the sheriff’s agreement with Flock, and the board voted 32-1 in April to strip $80,000 from the budget allocated to paying for the cameras. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett’s office confirmed to Bolts via email on April 30 that he will abide by the board’s wishes and cease using Flock.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett contracted with the tech surveillance company Flock Safety without the approval of the county board. His office says it’s considering alternatives to Flock after the county board pulled funding. He is shown at the Wisconsin State Capitol during a May 21, 2021, meeting of the Speaker’s Task Force on Racial Disparities Subcommittee on Law Enforcement Policies and Standards. (Will Cioci / Wisconsin Watch)
Other Wisconsin cities have dropped their Flock contracts since Dane County’s vote, including Monona, a suburb of Madison, and Oshkosh, in Winnebago County, where the police chief not just ended the contract but also covered cameras in plastic bags after Flock allegedly misrepresented how its data was used.
Diaz is heartened by this ongoing domino effect that’s rocking Wisconsin. “If police chiefs are bailing on it, that really shows momentum,” he saidin a follow-up interview this month. “I feel like, at least politically, it is a sign that we’re winning.”
“It really shows that local activists can make a really big difference,” he said. “Small communities can be laboratories of democracy, and we can stand up to be an example for other communities.”
Now privacy activists are pushing to remove Wisconsin’s remaining Flock cameras, including those operated by the Milwaukee Police Department and by the University of Wisconsin-Madison police.
But beyond targeting any specific Flock contract, they’re also pressuring local officials across the state to set proactive guardrails around AI surveillance technologies.
They hope to stop law enforcement agencies from responding to their wins against Flock by just turning to Flock’s competitors to install similar systems of automated license plate readers (ALPRs).
A spokesperson for the Dane County Sheriff’s Office told Bolts that the office is already exploring other vendors to replace Flock.
Law enforcement agencies often deploy invasive technologies like ALPRs without notifying the people being spied on and without approval from elected officials, said Jon McCray-Jones, a policy analyst with the ACLU of Wisconsin. He warns that, without robust protections limiting what police can do, residents will be “playing a game of Whack-A-Mole with surveillance companies” as police seek lesser-known companies like Motorola.
“We’re starting to miss the forest for the trees, where the conversation has been about how bad Flock is,” McCray-Jones told Bolts. “Sure, the headline changes with a slightly better company. But the innate issues around ALPRs don’t. You still have similar cameras, similar databases, similar mass, warrantless tracking. You just have a different logo on the contract.”
The Dane County sheriff was able to install the Flock system initially without getting approval from the board since it was paid for by a $68,750 grant funded by a separate surveillance company, Axon Enterprise. Axon used to have a partnership with Flock but has since severed it. The sheriff’s spokesperson ruled out seeking outside funding again.
Jade, a Madison resident and privacy advocate who created Deflock Dane, a project that maps the cameras that watch over the area, warns that a new technology could just as easily be installed to replace the Flock cameras without any public input. (Jade agreed to talk using only their first name for privacy concerns.)
“Some regulation has to be put in place,” Jade said. “Reacting to whatever secretive contract is signed in the future might work, but it is not ideal to have a revolving door of surveillance companies.”
A Flock Safety camera is aimed toward traffic traveling near a gas station, April 15, 2026, in Stoughton, Wis. (Angela Major / WPR)
In the absence of state restrictions, the ACLU of Wisconsin is advocating for local governments to adopt ordinances that give elected officials oversight over police surveillance. A model policy endorsed by the ACLU called Community Control Over Police Surveillance, or CCOPS, would require law enforcement to get approval from a city council or county commission before using new surveillance tools, as well as develop use policies and provide annual reports on them.
According to the ACLU, 26 jurisdictions nationwide already have a CCOPS ordinance in place, but the city of Madison is the only one in Wisconsin. (Madison police currently have no ALPR contract.) Dane County has no such ordinance, which gives the sheriff a lot more discretion.
Supporters say CCOPS ordinances allow cities to better vet the vendors that are hired, while also allowing residents to weigh in on what level of surveillance and risk they are willing to accept before the technology is used on them. McCray-Jones says elected officials can make informed decisions “instead of having to look into these technologies on their own and after the fact, in the aftermath when the damage is already done.”
But efforts to curtail AI surveillance in this way are hitting a wall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s most populous city, which became a cautionary tale for Flock when a police officer repeatedly used the cameras to stalk a romantic partner. The police chief quickly revoked most officers’ access but the city is continuing to use Flock cameras at this time.
In March, four members of the common council wrote a letter calling on the city to adopt a CCOPS policy. They also demanded other checks on surveillance, such as a requirement for officers to list a case number to justify searching the network, routine civilian hearings and independent audits, and a ban on ALPRs being used for immigration.
Even as they push for stronger oversight, though, a 2023 state law known as Act 12 has sharply limited Milwaukee’s ability to regulate police surveillance.
Though primarily a tax bill aimed at stabilizing pension debts, Act 12 forced Milwaukee to abandon civilian oversight in exchange for the funds. It stripped the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission of its oversight authority, gave the police chief broad control over department policy and restricted the city council’s ability to set new rules.
Until then, the commission had offered a relatively strong model of civilian control, like when it banned officers from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants, putting it in the crosshairs of the local police union. Act 12 made it into a “rubber stamp” for the police.
Attendees protest facial recognition technology during the Feb. 5, 2026, meeting of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. (Devin Blake / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Several council members told Bolts that Act 12 also interferes with their ability to forbid the Milwaukee Police Department from using Flock cameras, enact a CCOPS policy or set standards for how the city uses surveillance technology.
“We cannot propose that law here,” said Ald. Alex Brower, who cosigned the letter endorsing CCOPS. “It was extremely frustrating to find that out. There is less democratic control than there should be.”
Another council member who signed the letter, Sharlen Moore, echoed Brower’s concern, saying, “We do not have a lot of power and say-so around how they spend their budget.”
Moore and Brower are hopeful that the state could eventually restore some level of outside control over Milwaukee police; voters this fall are electing a new governor and Legislature, and Democrats hope to win control of the state government for the first time since 2010. But until the state takes action, the council members say they’ll have to rely on the police to voluntarily restrict their use of surveillance.
Brower told Bolts, “The police chief would not have banned facial recognition technology on his own if it hadn’t been for the groundswell of regular people.”
Now he hopes for a similar public outcry against ALPRs and other AI surveillance. Echoing the Madison-based advocates who say they’ll keep fighting contracts in Dane County, he said, “We need an active and engaged and organized population that is fighting for their liberties.”
Flood Hope 500 organizers are raising concerns about the city of Milwaukee’s policies and calling for changes as residents continue to face flood recovery challenges.
The group was created by a group of community organizers to help North Side residents with disaster relief after flooding.
Flood Hope 500 organizers Vaun Mayes, Aziz Abdullah, Montreal Cain and JaQai Ali help residents with water pumping, debris removal and mold remediation and provide other flood recovery support.
“We’re always dealing with a situation where the government moves slower than the people,” Abdullah said. “Flood Hope 500 shouldn’t exist.”
With backgrounds working with youths and younger adults, the organizers were able to also include individuals between the ages of 13 and 25 to volunteer and get compensated for their work.
Abdullah said after the latest flood that Milwaukee lacks innovation and the financial capacity to come up with quick solutions.
“The mayor in New York had the fiscal capacity to hire residents and pay them $30 an hour to stop at neighborhoods and shovel snow,” he said.
When disasters occur, Abdullah thinks the city should be open about its capacity and give its residents the opportunity to help.
Then, work to reallocate funds from sources like the American Rescue Plan Act, funds from property tax levies and more.
“For Flood Hope 500, we catalyzed our own money and resources before anybody ever gave us a dollar,” Abdullah said. “We were just showing up because we knew people needed help.”
Abdullah said he went to Ozaukee County during the August flood to purchase four water pumps, and a local donor also pitched in to help.
Mayes said there were times when Flood Hope 500 had to complete unfinished work by the city or other organizations.
“You have some residents who may have started with an organization, but then that organization didn’t complete all the work, so we had to go in and pick up where they left off,” Mayes said.
Creating better systems and partnerships
Mayes, also founder of ComForce MKE-Disaster Relief Division, said he feels like the city of Milwaukee hasn’t put much thought into investing in disaster relief, despite the recurrence of severe weather.
“I don’t want them to drop the ball, so I would encourage them to be more inclusive and open to having things in place when it comes to this,” he said. “So we’re not scrambling every time this happens.”
He said there should be a shared system or database developed where flood relief tasks are tracked across all organizations because it can be hard to determine which homes have been helped or not during the recovery phase.
“You have bigger organizations that are doing their own thing and have their own listing of people that they help,” Mayes said.
Abdullah also said that the city should build more trusted partnerships with organizations that can assist in emergencies.
Abdullah said that Flood Hope 500 drew financial support from organizations that saw its collaborations and also that they were involving youths in efforts. Among them were the Brewers Community Foundation and Mental Health America.
Other financial support comes from Safe & Sound Inc., the fiscal operator that manages the organization’s finances and gives reimbursements.
He said both are an example of how collaborations can draw financial support and quick problem solving.
“The city doesn’t have an agile structure to respond to those mechanisms and measures,” he said.
‘Volunteering is more of a privilege today‘
Abdullah said he recalls when people used to have more time and stability to help each other. Today, many residents don’t have the support they need, so it becomes harder to help others, he said.
“Volunteering is more of a privilege today,” he said. “The people who are closest to the issue also are experiencing the highest level of disenfranchisement, disengagement and divestment that we’ve seen in modern history.”
Mayes said there are people who mean well and want to help when disasters occur but can’t always do that without compensation.
“If you get people in the mindset to only work when they get paid for it, that kind of does a little bit of a disservice,” Mayes said. “When dealing with certain things like disaster relief, it must be done carefully.”
Getting involved
If you are a youth or young adult interested in becoming a part of Flood Hope 500, click here to register.
According to Mayes, participants can receive $50 for a half day or $100 for a whole day.
Individuals who want to donate can give monetarily or supply industrial garbage bags, water pumps, gloves and other supplies.
Contact Mayes at 262-289-0412 or email comforcemke@gmail.com to arrange a time to drop off supplies.
If you are a North Side resident in need of assistance from Flood Hope 500, click here.
An immigration court judge in Tennessee granted a $1,500 bond for Elvira Benitez Suarez on Thursday morning. Benitez will remain in custody at the Campbell County Detention Center during the 30-day window in which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security attorneys can file an appeal.
Thursday’s bond hearing came just over a week after the Ohio-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Trump administration’s year-old policy requiring mandatory detention for most immigrants facing removal. Benitez’s attorney, Milwaukee-based Marc Christopher, told Wisconsin Watch that the short turnaround reflected agreement among Benitez’s legal team, a federal district court judge and DHS itself that her case merited speedy consideration.
Original story, May 12, 2026:
A Sheboygan Falls woman is poised to test a new federal ruling reopening the door for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees to seek release on bond.
An Ohio-based federal appeals court ruled Monday against the Trump administration policy requiring mandatory detention for most ICE detainees, the latest blow to a rule adopted last summer amid an escalating nationwide immigration enforcement crackdown.
Detainees “should have a forum to explain that their backgrounds and connections to their communities justify release on bond while they undergo their removal proceedings,” 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Eric Clay wrote in the panel’s majority decision. Denying bond hearings, he added, amounts to a violation of their due process rights.
The court’s ruling sent Wisconsin immigration attorneys scrambling to file bond motions for their clients detained in Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky — all under the 6th Circuit. Among those now able to seek bond: Elvira Benitez Suarez, currently detained at the Campbell County Detention Center in northern Kentucky.
She fled an abusive household in Mexico at 15, crossing the border with a younger sibling and settling in the Midwest. Though she remained undocumented for decades, she had no run-ins with law enforcement or immigration authorities until a GPS error on a family road trip through Michigan in July 2025 led her across the Canadian border.
The incident landed her in an Ohio immigration detention facility for six months. In her absence, her two adult daughters — both U.S. citizens — took in their school-age siblings.
A major shift in federal immigration court policy last year left Benitez unable to post bond.
Since 1996, federal law has required immigration authorities to detain — without bond — anyone found crossing the U.S. border without authorization. Prior administrations applied that rule relatively narrowly, meaning immigrants arrested in the interior of the U.S. could often seek a bond hearing in immigration court.
The Trump administration cast that precedent aside in July 2025, when ICE Director Todd Lyons issued a new interpretation subjecting anyone in deportation proceedings to mandatory detention without the possibility of bond. The Board of Immigration Appeals, a panel of judges who set the rules for the federal immigration court system, signed off on the interpretation in September.
The board has more frequently sided with the Department of Homeland Security than immigrants facing deportation for at least a decade, but the distribution of decisions is more lopsided than ever: The body has favored DHS’s position in more than 90% of decisions issued since President Trump returned to office last year, a recent NPR analysis found.
The rule change triggered an ongoing legal battle over the validity of the Trump administration’s interpretation; more than 400 federal district court judges have ruled against the White House’s position, while roughly 50 have backed the new policy. Judges in Wisconsin’s Western District Court have uniformly ruled against the mandatory detention rule, while those in Wisconsin’s Eastern District are divided.
Federal appellate courts are also split: Aside from the 6th Circuit’s Monday decision, the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled against the mandatory detention policy, whereas the Louisiana-based 5th Circuit and the Missouri-based 8th Circuit have sided with the Trump administration.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Illinois and with jurisdiction over Wisconsin, remains divided.
With bond off the table, thousands of immigrants in ICE custody have turned to a backup option: habeas corpus petitions, filed in federal district courts — administered separately from the federal immigration court system — to challenge their detention.
When a federal district court approves a habeas petition, the court generally orders an immigration court judge to hold a bond hearing.
Benitez’s first habeas petition produced a more unusual victory: Judge Richard Drucker of the Cleveland immigration court, citing the emotional toll on her younger children, canceled her deportation and set her on the path to legal residency, though a delayed background check added more than a month to Benitez’s initial stay in a detention facility.
Elvira Benitez is shown at a birthday party. (Courtesy of Crystal Aguilar)
Released in late December, Benitez reunited with her family in Wisconsin while DHS appealed Drucker’s order. She continued attending mandatory check-ins at the agency’s field office in downtown Milwaukee, where ICE agents re-arrested her on March 10. After a stop at an ICE detention facility outside Chicago, the agency transferred Benitez to Campbell County, where nearly two dozen immigrants detained in Wisconsin have spent time within the last year.
Marc Christopher, a Milwaukee immigration attorney who represented Benitez during her first detention, told Wisconsin Watch in March that no statute required DHS to detain her while awaiting the outcome of its appeal. Her arrest, Christopher wrote, served “no legitimate public safety purpose.”
“It separates a mother from her vulnerable U.S. citizen children despite a federal immigration judge already recognizing the extreme hardship her removal would cause them,” he added.
Following the March arrest, an ICE spokesperson told Wisconsin Watch that “being in detention is a choice,” arguing that Benitez could leave custody by agreeing to self-deport.
Benitez’s new Ohio-based attorney filed a habeas petition on her behalf with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in March. Judge Chad Meredith, a Trump appointee, joined the court’s bench last fall. He has received more than 80 habeas cases involving immigrants in ICE custody since his confirmation, most of which are still active; he has yet to side with an immigrant detainee, but he has denied a half-dozen habeas petitions outright.
The 6th Circuit’s latest ruling could give Benitez a shorter route out of custody. Christopher filed a bond motion for Benitez “the minute (the ruling) came out,” he told Wisconsin Watch. “Given the unusual circumstances of her case,” Christopher added, he plans to ask Meredith to order a bond hearing on a short turnaround, rather than waiting more than a week. DHS can appeal bond decisions.
Christopher isn’t alone in his haste. Aissa Olivarez, an attorney with the Madison-based Community Immigration Law Center, filed a bond motion for another client held at the Campbell County Detention Center just after the news broke — a first since the Board of Immigration Appeals approved the mandatory detention rule last September.
“We are now working to identify other people who have reached out in the past,” she added, “to see who might be eligible for bond now.”
Olivarez and other immigration attorneys are still awaiting a decision from the 7th Circuit; the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion requesting expedited oral argument on Monday.
The issue may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It’s up to the justices whether they want to take the case,” Christopher said, “but traditionally on cases involving immigration, cases where there’s been a clear circuit split, and where it affects literally tens of thousands of people, I think it’s going to be near the top of the issues they want to resolve.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Housing instability for young adults in Milwaukee is a growing problem. Looking for solutions, young adults, residents and leaders gathered at Wellpoint Care Network in late April to discuss systemic gaps and realities young adults face with renting and homeownership.
“Homeownership is a privilege when it shouldn’t be,” Tamia Abney, youth-coordinated entry liaison at Pathfinders, said.
The convening challenged members to think of possible solutions to the young adult housing crisis.
Basic needs aren’t being met
A 2024 Wisconsin Policy Forum study revealed that half of Milwaukee renters are using at least 30% of their income to keep a roof over their heads.
Joe Peterangelo, research director at Wisconsin Policy Forum, shares information from a study that found home prices are outpacing incomes in Wisconsin. (Courtesy of Wellpoint Care Network)
In 2024, the average monthly rent in Milwaukee was $1,177. Workers in common jobs like fast food, retail, nursing assistants and other occupations earn between $28,000 and $44,000 a year and can only afford approximately $720 to $1,100 in rent, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
“Those are important jobs that make up most of our society,” Abney said. “The income isn’t meeting the needs to pay for their living.”
During the convening at Wellpoint Care Network, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said there are young people who have decent jobs and still struggle with affordable housing.
“When you make that first good job out of college and make a certain dollar amount, everybody thinks you have it when that’s not the case,” Johnson said. “I lived it, too.”
Milwaukee housing shortage
One reason for the high rent prices in Milwaukee is that the number of people needing homes is growing faster than the number of housing units available.
According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, Milwaukee’s households increased by 17,335 between 2010 and 2024, but only 11,038 housing units were available, leaving an underproduction of 6,297 units.
“There’s a shortage for low-income families because somebody else has already snatched it away from them,” said Carl Mueller, founder and chairman of Mueller Communications.
The mayor, who declared 2026 the year of housing in Milwaukee, said the city is working to increase housing supply so rent can become cheaper and change how tax dollars are being used to support young professionals.
“We still invest in affordable housing, but what we’ve done now is open it up to make investments in workforce housing, so young professionals don’t end up in situations where they’re spending 30% of their income, too,” Johnson said.
Mueller and other community members suggested the city build developments similar to NeuVue and ThriveOn King, which bring housing and community resources together.
Community members have breakout sessions about how housing instability can impact younger adults and families. (Courtesy of Wellpoint Care Network)
Additional challenges
Another reason for the local housing shortage is that residential projects take the longest to get approved.
According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the median time it takes for a Milwaukee building project to go from zoning to final building permit approval is 145 days, but for residential projects it takes about 224 days.
Johnson said when he came into office, he challenged the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services to speed up the permit process.
“I think if we had been more aggressive and if we had cut more red tape over the years, then a lot of the development that’s happening in some of the surrounding communities would have happened in the city,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that Milwaukee’s zoning policies need to be updated so more properties can be built.
“We haven’t had a whole-scale zoning policy since John Norquist was mayor,” he said.
A need for a better quality of living
Al Smith, chief operating officer at Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, said youths, families and young adults are living in places with high rent prices but are experiencing poor conditions – lead issues and infestations among them.
“Some are paying up to $1,500 a month for places they don’t want to live in, but it was the only option they were left with,” Smith said. “We need a better quality of housing stock.”
Iasia Sawyer, 21, a member of the Wisconsin Youth Advisory Council and participant of the Youth Transitioning to Adulthood program, said she’s already in her second apartment and has faced ongoing challenges with her landlord over mold and pipes.
Smith said more young adults and families in stable housing would bring an increase in graduation rates and other benefits.
“When I think about education or even kids having to switch schools constantly, there’s no stability in that,” he said.
Johnson recalled how traumatizing it felt when he had to attend six Milwaukee Public Schools throughout his childhood because of housing instability.
“As mayor, I’m working to make sure that more kids in Milwaukee have the stability that I didn’t have growing up,” Johnson said. “It’s not just about housing support; you guys are also providing the foundation for everything else in life.”
Homeownership can be attainable for young adults
Smith said he found it disheartening to know there are some who have no desire to become a homeowner.
“If you’ve seen multiple generations of your family that were only renters and never owned a home, they don’t think homeownership is a possibility for them,” he said.
He said the best way to encourage young adults into homeownership is through community support to address credit, bankruptcies and other barriers so they can make the adjustments to become eligible to buy a home.
Smith said Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity is teaching individuals how to financially prepare for homeownership.
According to Smith, it takes about $275,000 for the organization to build a home, and families who participate in the program only pay about $150,000 for their first mortgage. The program provides additional financial support to help keep monthly payments affordable.
“You’ll also get the benefit of building wealth and equity into that,” Smith said.
Sawyer said she wants young people navigating adulthood to know that although finding stable and quality housing is a challenge, it can be attainable.
“There are people who are ready to give up because they don’t have the right support around them for their situation,” she said. “Now it’s about moving forward.”
Isaac Solis knows all too well how taking a pill bought off the street can lead to tragedy.
His son Isaac Solis Jr., known as “Bubba,” died in 2019 after taking what he thought was the prescription drug Percocet.
Instead, it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can kill in trace amounts.
Isaac Solis’ son Bubba died in 2019 after taking a fake Percocet laced with fentanyl. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Since then, he’s been on a mission to help prevent others from losing loved ones through his “One Pill Kills” awareness campaign.
His message is being amplified in time for Fentanyl Awareness Day, observed nationally on April 29, through three billboards that feature his son. The billboards direct residents to the 1pillkills.org website and social media pages and include the message: Together We Will Save Lives.
“It’s about spreading awareness obviously that even one pill can kill you, one line can kill you,” Solis said. “If one family sees it and reaches out to their loved one and one life is saved, that’s our goal.”
Two of the billboards can be seen off of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee near West Becher and South Fourth streets, and the other is a north/south display on South 27th Street and West Morgan Avenue. The billboard near West Becher will be up for eight weeks and the one on West Morgan for four.
Solis’s campaign has utilized several billboards over the years to increase community awareness on fentanyl.
The message on the first billboard, he said, was very aggressive.
“Our grief was a bit more raw at that time,” Solis said.
Another billboard featured photos of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl.
“Eight families put their angels up there,” he said.
Drop in overdose deaths
Fentanyl has fueled the opioid epidemic nationally and a rise in overdose deaths.
The drug had devastating impacts on Milwaukee County, which experienced multiple years of record high drug overdose deaths in the 2010s and 2020s. Those totals peaked at 674 in 2022 and 667 in 2023, according to data from the Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl alone or in combination with other substances.
Since then, the number of fatal overdoses has fallen. Last year 387 died, with 236 of those cases involving fentanyl.
County Executive David Crowley credits increased funding for opioid prevention and collaboration for the decrease.
“Thanks to the investment of opioid settlement dollars, increased access to free harm reduction supplies, and efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, fewer people are dying of overdose, which means more opportunities for treatment, recovery and a path forward,” Crowley said in a statement.
A OnePillKills billboard is on display next to I-94 near the intersection of South 4th and West Becher streets in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Fentanyl still a major problem
While Solis said the drop in fatal overdoses is great, it’s also concerning.
“The troublesome part is we don’t know what amount of people are addicted to fentanyl and using it daily,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.The closer we get to zero deaths, the better.”
He said fentanyl products continue to evolve and get more potent, and it can be in powder or liquid form, and even in vapes.
“It can be hidden in something but you can have no idea what,” Solis said. “There’s always a threat of it being in any type of drug.”
Working together
Like Crowley, Solis credits collaboration for the progress made in addressing the opioid epidemic. He partners regularly with Team HAVOC, a grassroots South Side group.
Rafael Mercado, founder of Team HAVOC, said Solis’ story and “One Pill Kills” message are having an impact.
“He does a lot to bring awareness by way of billboards, social media and pop-ups,” Mercado said. “He has lost a son to this, so he knows firsthand the pain and suffering a family goes through and the ripple effect of addiction on a family.”
Solis also partners with Samad’s House, a Milwaukee-based sober living home and behavioral health clinic dedicated to supporting women. He said he’s working with Tahira Malik, founder and chief operating officer of Samad’s House, to help organize a Walk for Lives event on July 11. Walk for Lives is a nationwide movement to raise awareness about those who died from fentanyl.
Solis said he wishes he could do even more but knows that ending the fentanyl crisis won’t happen quickly.
“The problem didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s not gonna be any one group, not any one solution. Together we will save lives.”
Isaac Solis Jr., who died in 2019, had a passion for working on cars. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Initial damage assessment reports indicate that this month’s flood damage is smaller in scale to last year’s storms and will not meet the requirements to request federal assistance, according to county and city officials.
Milwaukee County is coordinating with municipal emergency managers to evaluate damage using resident reports to 2-1-1 and communication with local and regional partners, according to Emily Tau, public affairs director with the Milwaukee County Office of the County Executive.
“While the impacts to affected households are significant and taken seriously, at this time, the impacts from this flooding in Milwaukee County do not meet the thresholds required to initiate a FEMA Preliminary Damage Assessment and potential Presidential Disaster Declaration,” Tau said.
The FEMA Disaster Recovery Area at McNair Elementary School provided assistance to residents affected by the August floods. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Ryan Zollicoffer, director of the City of Milwaukee Office of Emergency Management, said joint teams from the Department of Neighborhood Services and the Milwaukee Fire Department are continuing on-site evaluations of the most impacted residential areas.
Based on preliminary reports, both Zollicoffer and Tau said the magnitude of damage to date appears substantially lower than after August’s flooding, when historic rainfall exceeded 10 inches in parts of Milwaukee. Rainfall totals from April 13 to April 15 topped 5 inches in the city.
The city and county will then work with the state to determine whether any additional recovery resources or support mechanisms are warranted, he said.
Some elected leaders have expressed interest in exploring options to request aid.
Governor’s effort
On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers announced that he directed Wisconsin Emergency Management to submit a request for FEMA to assist the state in conducting a formal federal preliminary damage assessment from recent extreme storms and flooding throughout the state.
Wisconsin Emergency Management is the division of the state’s Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
Evers signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency on April 15 and authorized the Wisconsin National Guard to assist in relief and recovery efforts from flooding, hail, strong winds and tornadoes that hit communities across Wisconsin in April.
In an April 17 letter, Evers requested Wisconsin’s two U.S. senators and eight U.S. representatives help urge the Trump administration to reconsider the denials of the state’s requests for assistance from August’s storms and approve outstanding requests.
President Donald Trump approved individual assistance to Wisconsin homeowners and residents after the August flooding. However, the administration denied requests for assistance to repair public infrastructure and for the hazard mitigation grant program.
Wisconsin appealed both decisions to FEMA but was once again denied public assistance and is still waiting on a response for the hazard mitigation grant.
“These denials and delays have left Wisconsin more vulnerable to this next wave of storms and flooding,” Evers wrote.
Wisconsin does not have its own standing assistance program to help property owners make repairs from flooding or storms, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management, the division of the state’s Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
Next steps
Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell authored a resolution to be introduced at the outset of the new board term in May that requests the county Office of Emergency Management conduct a comprehensive assessment of the damage from April’s storms, according to Erin Caffrey, communications specialist with the Milwaukee County Clerk’s Office.
The countywide review of damage would be used to inform recovery efforts and strengthen future applications for state and federal aid, she said. It would also support the development of a coordinated flood preparedness, response and communications plan that would create a flooding information alert system and help supervisors effectively engage with residents, Caffrey said.
“This resolution is about bringing our partners together, assessing the damage, improving communication with residents and making sure we are better prepared before the next storm hits,” Nicholson-Bovell said in a statement. “Our communities deserve a coordinated response and the long-term investments needed to protect homes, neighborhoods and businesses.”
Ald. Andrea Pratt introduced a communication file to the Milwaukee Common Council to discuss city intersections and areas that are hot spots for flooding, which was on the agenda for a Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday morning at City Hall.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Executive Director Kevin Shafer formed a Flood Mitigation Task Force to evaluate mitigation efforts to reduce impacts from future storms and solicit feedback. It is expected to meet soon.
Other resources
Anyone can report storm damage or request to be connected to volunteer cleanup resources by calling 2-1-1 or submitting a report online through the 211 Wisconsin website.
The Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church, in partnership with UMCOR and Team Rubicon USA, is organizing 100 volunteers to assist families with cleanup in Milwaukee County in the coming weeks and months, Tau said. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army are also active in support efforts.
Organizations interested in coordinating with partners through the Southeast Wisconsin Community Organizations Active in Disasters can visit sewicoad.org or contact coadsewi@gmail.com.
Residents who lost food purchased with FoodShare can apply for replacement benefits through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services until the extended deadline of May 4..
Call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 for free, 24/7, confidential, multilingual emotional support.
The Department of Neighborhood Services’ Compliance Loan Program helps owner-occupied properties address building code violations with a no-interest, deferred payment loan. Residents can apply if flood damage is under the purview of the program and they meet the requirements.
Jeremy McGovern, marketing and communications officer for the Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services, said the department would not be opposed to waiving permit fees related to flood damage repairs like it did for the August floods, but doing so would require Common Council authorization.
He also said the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Project inspectors and plan examiners can be resources in helping navigate timelines and repairs.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
The mayor’s office and the Milwaukee Department of Public Works are defending the city’s parking enforcement during last week’s flooding.
From April 15 to April 16, the city issued 4,666 parking citations, according to data provided by the Department of Public Works, or DPW.
Officials said enforcement is still necessary during extreme storm-related conditions.
“Severe weather events make it particularly important for people to obey the posted parking restrictions,” said Jeff Fleming, spokesperson for Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “During rain events, quite a number of parking restrictions are in place to enable full street cleaning.”
Fleming also said flooding can be exacerbated when street cleaning is impeded by parked vehicles.
South Side resident Jacob Quinones said he was too busy dealing with the flood to worry about parking.
“My basement flooded, and I was late to work because of getting towed,” he said.
Parking enforcement looked much different during the historic storms on Aug. 9 through Aug. 10, which also caused severe flooding throughout the city.
According to DPW data, 991 citations were issued on those days, which occurred over the weekend.
Behind the numbers
The 4,666 parking citations issued on April 15-16 include all standard parking enforcement activity, said Tiffany Shepherd, DPW marketing and communications officer.
Citations were issued earlier on Wednesday before the storm and after conditions improved on Thursday, she said.
She said officers did adapt during the most intense conditions.
During a peak storm window, from roughly 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., parking enforcement continued but focused on responding to complaints, resulting in 141 tickets, said Shepherd.
She said safety concerns limited enforcement during that time.
“Our staff is not going to be driving through flood waters or anything like that. That’s just not safe,” Shepherd said. “For those two hours where things were really bad, no tickets were being issued.”
Response in August
During the August floods, there was a period when parking enforcement was formally suspended and staff redirected to flood-related work, said Lisa Vargas, administrative specialist with DPW, in an email.
Overnight enforcement was also formally suspended in the days following the storm, from Aug. 11 to Aug. 14. Enforcement was not suspended as a result of last week’s storms.
Staff assisted stranded or abandoned vehicles, conducting 88 free relocation tows, Vargas said. During last week’s floods, four free relocations were provided.
A flooded-out car parked on West Burleigh Street in Milwaukee on April 10, 2026. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
‘It cost me $566’
When Quinones’ car was towed near his home on South 13th Street and West Ohio Avenue, he said it left him with no real alternatives.
“It’s my only form of transportation,” he said. “It cost me $566 plus a favor from a friend for the ride to the tow lot.”
Quinones said being ticketed and towed while also dealing with flooding created a great deal of stress. He said the city needs to rethink its approach.
“If severe weather is on the horizon, keep your meter maids and parking checkers safe at home,” he said.
The importance of parking enforcement
Shepherd emphasized that although most enforcement took place before and after flooding conditions, weather is still not an excuse to park irresponsibly.
“What you’re going to find out is the majority of these tickets don’t have anything to do with anyone being affected by the flood,” she said. “Just because there was bad weather, you can’t block a hydrant.”
Appealing citations
The mayor’s office has no plans to forgive tickets issued during last week’s floods, but residents do have an option to appeal.
“The appeal process is pretty straightforward, so we do not have plans for any blanket amnesty,” Fleming said.
People can go through the appeals process if the flood was pertinent to the ticket, and the city will look at that on a case-by-case basis, Shepherd said.
On the streets of Milwaukee, Carter Wilkins and his mom, Carlicia Wilkins, can be spotted picking up aluminum cans or handing out bagged lunches and hygiene items. They do it as an act of kindness for the homeless and to help grow a new organization called Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc.
In March, Carter, 9, founded Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on environmental awareness. The organization uses collected aluminum cans to help fund and support individuals experiencing homelessness in Milwaukee.
“I was so happy when I turned in my first bag of cans,” Carter said.
The idea started when Carlicia Wilkins was on a car ride. She was reflecting on the passing of Carter’s dad in 2020 and about experiencing homelessness three years ago and sleeping in her car.
“This is our reality five years later, and I wanted to figure out how I can continue to make Carter’s life better,” Carlicia said. “He’s a gamer and asks for (Fortnite) V-Bucks, so I figured I could teach him responsibility and how to make his own money while gaining a purpose because it’s not about the money for us.”
Carlicia wanted to show Carter how to use the money to help others.
“Homelessness can be on the street, sleeping on somebody else’s couch, living in someone’s basement or living out of your car,” Carlicia said. “If you are somewhere that’s not yours, then that’s homelessness.”
After discussing the idea with Carter, he wanted to get started as soon as possible.
Carter and his mom Carlicia Wilkins hand out homemade lunches and personal hygiene products on April 3, 2026, in Milwaukee. Carter, with help from his mom, Carlicia, started the Carter Can Collect Community Initiative. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Day-to-day collecting
Carter, a Sherman Park resident, typically spends an hour after school collecting aluminum cans from sparkling water, energy drinks, beer and more while his mom pays him $10 an hour out of her own pocket.
“We pick a block and go around neighborhoods,” Carter said.
Once a month Carter and his mom take the collected cans to All Scrap Metal Recycling Inc., 3330 W. Fond du Lac Ave., to recycle them for cash.
“Everything that we need is already around us,” Carlicia said. “We throw things away when it could really bring financial gain.”
Carter said he recently made $73 after filling five bags of aluminum cans in one month. The bags weighed 90 pounds.
“My goal was about 60 pounds of cans at first,” he said.
Preparing food and essentials for the homeless
Carter Wilkins collects aluminum cans every day in neighborhoods across Milwaukee to help the homeless. (Courtesy of Carlicia Wilkins)
Once he receives the cash, Carter goes to local stores to pick up food and hygiene items to make care kits and cold bag lunches for the homeless.
The kits typically include dental products, socks, wet wipes, deodorant, hair care, towels and soap.
The lunches include water, fruit, a snack and sandwich.
At the beginning of April, Carter and Carlicia gave away 25 bag lunches and 20 care kits to the homeless across Milwaukee’s North and South Sides.
“I was nervous at first when I did my first aluminum can turn-in, but the more I started collecting, then I got more comfortable,” Carter said.
Witnessing the impact
Dier Vaughn, a family friend who volunteers to help the organization, said he’s never seen a duo like Carter and his mom come up with a concept like this.
“You don’t see many young kids who are motivated to give back to their own community,” Vaughn said.
From picking out the organization’s name to shopping for essentials, Vaughn has witnessed the process since day one.
“I really love how Carter and Carlicia actually go out to talk to people to see what they want and need instead of buying what they think people need,” he said.
Carter Wilkins makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give out to homeless individuals on April 2, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Vaughn said Carter has qualities of a community activist and always has a willingness to listen and show empathy.
Carlicia describes Carter as a go-getter since she’s been giving him the space to lead with the initiative.
“He’s getting better at telling other youth about his initiative,” Carlicia said. “I’m learning to let him be a kid and have a voice with entrepreneurship at the same time.”
The initiative was meant to teach Carter and other youths about work ethic, financial literacy, communication skills, responsibility and more.
For youths eager to make a difference in their community but are unsure of where to start, Carter said the first step is being open to trying new things.
“You don’t have to try everything, but at least try one thing,” he said.
Dier Vaughn fills lunch bags with chips and other items to give out to homeless individuals on April 2, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Helping out the new organization
Carter and Carlicia said their long-term goal is to find more youths ages 9 through 14 to help Carter on his mission.
“Carter’s big cousins joined him and were so excited that they couldn’t stop,” Carlicia said.
Youths who join him will receive a reward like monetary pay or get treated to a social outing like roller skating, Chuck E. Cheese and more.
The next volunteer opportunity for youths to help Carter and Carlicia is 4 p.m. Friday, April 24. The youths can crush cans before they turn them in at the scrapyard.
Also, Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc. is in need of board members, sponsors and community leaders.
“We’re looking for people and local leaders who may know more about homelessness and can possibly give us more information,” Carlicia said.
For more information
Other ways residents can help Carter and Carlicia is by donating hygiene products and food or by saving aluminum cans at your home that they will come pick up.
Items can be sent to Carter Can Collect Community Initiative Inc., P.O. Box 90104, Milwaukee, WI 53209
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
For Samantha Gamble and Ishon Arnold, this week’s rain only exacerbated issues they were already having in their home.
Despite reporting their unsafe living conditions in their Lincoln Creek home a few weeks ago, they have had rain pouring in every room for the past two nights. Their upstairs ceiling buckled, and they have buckets everywhere.
The ceiling fell inside of Samantha Gamble and Ishon Arnold’s Lincoln Creek home. (PrincessSafiya Byers / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
“The first night it got really bad,” said Arnold at a news conference Thursday. “Then the second night it got worse.”
They are not alone.
Severe thunderstorms and flooding across Milwaukee this week have left some residents with waterlogged cars, no food, damaged homes and a difficult cleanup.
Another round of severe thunderstorms is forecast for Milwaukee County on Friday night, and a flood watch for flash flooding is scheduled from 1 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Although the full extent of the damage is still unknown, local government leaders and neighborhood groups are preparing to help with the aftermath. Other Milwaukeeans are looking ahead to see how these disasters can be avoided in the future.
Homes near the intersection of West Pierce Street and South 23rd Street where heavy rainfall caused flooding on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Neighbors helping neighbors
VIA Community Development Corp., which works on community, housing and economic development projects in Silver City, Clarke Square, Layton Park and Burnham Park, reported several Milwaukee neighborhood areas had experienced flooding.
“Our team is actively connecting with neighbors and business owners to check on their homes, storefronts and properties to better understand the extent of the impacts and identify where support may be needed most,” said Christian Oliva, marketing communications manager of VIA CDC.
Both VIA CDC and Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, a community and social justice organization focused in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood, encourage neighbors and business owners to report any issues — including flooding, property damage, power outages and fallen trees — to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works, their alderperson’s office and their local neighborhood organization to track damage.
Melody McCurtis, the deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, said neighbors experienced flooding in streets and basements, cars getting stuck in high water, property damage from wind and mudslides in some areas.
“Flooded streets and detours have made it difficult for our team and neighbors to physically reach residents who need support, limiting our ability to respond as quickly and directly as we would like,” she said.
People ride scooters toward several stuck cars underneath the railroad crossing bridge on West Burleigh Street after heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout Milwaukee on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Residents who receive FoodShare benefits and lost food because of the storm may be eligible for replacement benefits. To submit for the reimbursement, FoodShare recipients should fill out the Request for Replacement FoodShare and/or Summer EBT Benefits form.
Requests must be submitted within 10 days of the weather event.
Help available in Amani neighborhood
Amanda Clark with the Dominican Center, which has served residents in Amani for over 30 years, said Amani residents should reach out if they need help.
“We may not have all the answers, but we’ll do our best to assist and connect residents to resources,” she said. “They don’t have to try to figure this out alone.”
How HACM residents can get help
Folks living in Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee properties can notify their property manager about any issues. If they aren’t available, then they can contact the 24/7 public safety dispatch center at 414-286-5100.
IMPACT 211 connects residents to services like housing, food, mental health support, and crisis counseling. It is supporting the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management by collecting reports of property damage caused by flooding such as water/sewage in basements, collapsed walls and lightning-related incidents.
“IMPACT has turned on our local disaster switch this morning as Milwaukee County is now activated for disaster relating to the flooding event,” said Vickie Boneck, the director of marketing and communications with IMPACT 211, on Thursday.
Harold Lewis, owner of Ready to Go Towing, attempts to move a stuck car out from underneath the railroad crossing bridge on West Burleigh Street after heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout Milwaukee on Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Looking ahead
Oby Nwabuzor is the founder of Envision Growth, a public health-driven real estate development firm. She put together a legislative framework that breaks down five specific actions organized by what can happen right now at the Common Council level with no state approval needed, what can move this budget cycle at the county and state level and what needs to be built and introduced in 2027.
“The storm is weather, but who floods, how badly, and whether it happens again at the same scale is a policy problem, and we have the data to prove it,” she said in a Facebook post. “What we do not have is legislation, and that is what I put together.”
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges is mobilizing support to repair the Northstar Healing Space’s fence, which was destroyed in the storms, and gather clean-out supplies, air purifiers, dehumidifiers and volunteers to help reduce neighborhood residents’ exposure to mold.
Recovering from vehicle damage
Since Monday, Milwaukee residents have faced dangerous commutes as some were forced to leave their vehicles stranded while others may have been trapped inside their vehicles because of flooding caused by recurring heavy storms.
According to the Milwaukee Fire Department, the North Side of the city was impacted the most, and the fire department responded to approximately 50 calls for water rescues because of submerged vehicles on April 14.
If you are driving and happen to come across a street with flooding, the Milwaukee Fire Department and Tiffany Shepherd, marketing and communications officer for the city of Milwaukee, urge drivers to avoid driving through flood waters.
If a driver’s vehicle is stuck in the middle of an intersection, Shepherd said to report it by calling the Department of Public Works at 414-286-2489 so that a representative can assess the situation and possibly relocate the vehicle.
What to do if your vehicle is under water
When your vehicle has been submerged in water, the American Automobile Association recommends drivers to never start their vehicle as its main parts like the battery, transmission and engine are damaged, even though they may not look like it.
“Unless every part is thoroughly cleaned and dried, inside and out, problems caused by corrosion can crop up weeks or even months after the flooding,” AAA said.
It’s best to have your vehicle inspected and repaired right away by AAA or another auto repair shop of your choice.
Cars drive through a flooded South 43rd Street across from Jackson Park as heavy rainfall caused flooding throughout Milwaukee on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Navigating automobile insurance
Drivers should also contact their insurance company immediately about comprehensive coverage in their auto insurance policy to determine next steps with repairs and costs.
Comprehensive coverage is a type of insurance that pays for the damage done to your vehicle like flooding, fire, theft and more.
The cost of repairing flood damage can easily exceed a car’s value, depending on the make and model, according to AAA.
Dealing with basement flooding
Department of Neighborhood Services Commissioner Jezamil Arroyo-Vega gave tips for what to do if your basement flooded:
If you’re a renter, call your property manager or landlord first. If they don’t respond, then call the Department of Neighborhood Services.
High-level waters in basements can affect electrical breakers and can be dangerous for residents. Do not enter a flooded basement with electrical appliances until those waters have lowered.
Don’t use any electrical equipment that was submerged in water, including the water heater, washing machine, dryer or any other appliances in the affected area. These can create serious hazards including a fire risk.
Once the water has lowered and it’s safe to enter your basement, document the damage by taking photos for insurance.
Don’t attempt to restore your own breaker box or water heater. Call a licensed electrician or plumber.
Check your house for structural damages. Signs of a compromised foundation include various sizes of cracks. A foundation contractor can help identify problems and create a repair plan. Search for contractors approved to work in the city of Milwaukee here.
If you experienced more catastrophic foundation damage, such as a wall collapse, call the Department of Neighborhood Services immediately. The department will send out an inspector as soon as possible. Not only is this necessary for determining the safety of your home, but the inspection could be necessary for insurance claims.
PrincessSafiya Byers, Alex Klaus, Meredith Melland, Chesnie Wardell and Jonathan Aguilar contributed to this story.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Brenda Hines still likes to refer to her son, Donovan Hines, as her “favorite son,” the same way he liked to refer to himself before he was killed on Nov. 13, 2017.
Donovan was driving near North 29th Street and West Hampton Avenue in Milwaukee when he was struck by a stray bullet and crashed through a fence and into a home in the 4700 block of North 29th Street.
In the months that followed, Brenda Hines said she sank into such a deep, dark grief that she cried daily, unable to eat or work. She even contemplated taking her own life.
“It took me a while to get out of the state of shock,” Hines said. “It was very difficult, spiritually, for me to come back.”
Now, almost a decade later, she has turned that pain into hope by building The Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co., a Milwaukee nonprofit that offers consistent, community-based support for families grieving violent loss.
Brenda Hines, president and CEO of The Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co., sits at a desk in her office.
“Exuberance means vibrant. And that’s what Donovan was. He always came out with a smile on his face,” Hines said.
After the unexpected loss of her son, Hines connected with the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Project UJIMA, a collaborative, multidisciplinary program geared to stop violent behavior patterns and reduce the number of children hurt by violence. Meeting with Project UJIMA once a month was helpful and inspired Hines to begin her own grief group that met more frequently.
“Being a person of color, we don’t seek therapy, and we have so much trauma, so much violence going on,” Hines said.
Hines hosted her grief group weekly for about a year, with the support of the late Bishop Sedgwick Daniels of Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ.
“That was the beginning of my healing process,” Hines said. “Not only listening to someone else, but being there for myself.”
A whiteboard full of encouraging words and prayer hangs on a wall in Brenda Hines’ office.
Seven months after her loss, Hines was asked to continue her work with The Salvation Army Chaplaincy Program, in partnership with the Milwaukee Police Department. She was asked to serve as a chaplain on a case that hit close to home, helping a family who had just lost their son, who was the same age as Donovan, to suicide.
“It gave me something to hope for,” Hines said. “That’s when I started coming back out and decided to start having empowerment groups and transformation stuff for grief.”
Ever since then, she’s kept going, growing her nonprofit in any way she can, whether it be through the Summer Meal Program for children, the emergency food pantry or stockboxes for older adults.
Brenda Hines, president and CEO of The Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co., and James Ferguson, senior partner and chief operating officer at Kingdom Partner Alliance, pose for a photograph with a pallet of stockboxes.
Henry Cox loads his truck with stockboxes. A stockbox contains healthy food provided by the Hunger Task Force.
“I just kept going and going. I was like, ‘OK, I’m still not doing enough,” Hines said. “The more I help others, it seems like, the more it helps me.”
Hines, along with several other Milwaukee nonprofits, hosted a survivor-led candlelight vigil to join a National Moment of Remembrance in December. The vigil centered on healing and the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to live.
Brenda Hines, founder of The Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co., leads a conversation during a candlelight vigil for those who have been victims of violence in Milwaukee.
Candles with photographs of those who were killed by violence in Milwaukee sit on a table during a candlelight vigil for the National Moment of Remembrance hosted by The Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co., and several other nonprofits, on Dec. 10, 2025.
On the hardest days, what keeps Hines going is “God first, my family and the foundation.”
Brenda Hines, president and CEO of The Donovan Hines Foundation of Exuberance Co., poses for a portrait in front of a Bible verse at Kingdom Partner Alliance.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Researchers say this means there could be a critical but often overlooked window for intervention.
It also suggests there is a group of people who can be targeted for various forms of novel intervention, the authors of the study conclude.
Those more likely to report thoughts of shooting others were individuals who are younger, male, Black, living in the Midwest and in urban areas, according to the study.
For Vaun Mayes, a community organizer who also does violence interruption for the city of Milwaukee’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety, the study’s conclusions ring true.
“There are definitely usually signs of escalation prior to the results we see,” Mayes said. “Young people most definitely give notice before violence, and Black folks specifically culturally do as well.”
Millions report thoughts about shooting someone
The study found that roughly 8.5 million people said they had seriously thought about shooting someone in the year before being asked. Over a lifetime, that number rises to more than 19 million.
Although most never acted on their thoughts, the study estimated that 1.5 million U.S. adults had brought a gun to a specific location with the intention of shooting someone.
Fewer than 1% temporarily handed their firearm over during a time of crisis.
The study found that gun owners are not the only people who are at risk of using a firearm, but those in the vicinity of gun owners as well.
In other words, access to a firearm, rather than ownership, is a key predictor.
A temporary crisis and fatal outcome
James Bigham, a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, pays a lot of attention to when and how firearms are accessed, especially during times of poor mental health or mental health crisis.
Access to a gun can turn a temporary crisis into a fatal outcome, Bigham said.
“If we could shift our culture where it’s normal … to transfer firearms during a time of crisis, we could really reduce the rates of death,” Bigham said.
Mayes said it’s because of the gap between consideration and action that violence interrupters can intervene to deescalate a situation.
The authors of the study suggest this is especially true in states with red flag laws.
Red flag laws, also known as Extreme Risk Prevention Orders, allow judges to issue court orders to temporarily restrict access to guns by individuals who could pose a threat to themselves or others.
More than 20 states have a version of a red flag law, but Wisconsin does not.
For those who are interested in places to safely store a gun, the Wisconsin Gun Shop Project’s “Live Today – Put It Away” program partners with participating gun shops – including several in Milwaukee County – to provide firearm safety information and temporary off-site storage options, often for a low fee.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Common Ground and its new branch, Tenants United, are leading efforts to hold private landlords accountable, starting with David Tomblin of Highgrove Holdings LLC.
Highgrove Holdings is an out-of-state landlord with more than 260 properties, mostly on Milwaukee’s North Side. A significant number of homes are reportedly vacant or boarded.
Common Ground and Tenants United documented dozens of violations and examples of neglect, from mildew and mold to broken windows and holes in the ceilings.
Now both groups alongside other advocates and Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke have set out to “evict” Tomblin, owner of Highgrove Holdings, from control of his properties through a novel lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
A complaint filed by the city of Milwaukee is asking a judge to appoint a third-party receiver to manage Highgrove’s portfolio if hundreds of alleged nuisance and code violations are not fixed within 60 days. If granted, it would effectively strip Tomblin of operational control over his Milwaukee properties.
“The point of this is to get them to comply,” Goyke said. “No one should need to be sued to be code-compliant. It shouldn’t come to this, but if this is what it takes, so be it.”
Tenants United
Last August during unprecedented storms, Ebony Martin’s ceiling fell in. Not only was she hospitalized as a result of the collapse, but she said her property management company, Highgrove Holdings Management, never fixed the leaks.
Stories like hers led Common Ground and Tenants United to get involved.
Tenants United formed several years ago during a campaign against the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.
The group’s advocacy for Housing Authority residents led to a change in leadership and some operations.
Charlene “Peaches” Bell said she initially joined Tenants United as a resident of the Housing Authority because she saw a need for change and accountability. She’s still there because the need is still there.
“We have to help each other,” Bell said. “They say it takes a village. What kind of world will we have if we don’t do this now?”
The strategy
Tenants United members said Highgrove Holdings has accumulated hundreds of code violations and leads the city in orders for lead abatement. They also pointed out rising delinquent property taxes and ongoing legal disputes with lenders and investors.
Tomblin, who previously lived in California and now resides in Washington, has marketed Milwaukee as a profitable market for investors. He cited strong returns tied in part to Opportunity Zones, federally designated areas intended to spur redevelopment.
Common Ground leads a tour of dilapidated Highgrove Holdings homes in the Harambee neighborhood in Milwaukee. (PrincessSafiya Byers / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Nearly 100 tenant leaders and community advocates gathered on March 26 alongside Goyke to announce a legal campaign targeting Tomblin’s company.
Tenant leader Kiante Shields, who helped launch the campaign, described the lawsuit as a turning point in holding corporate landlords accountable.
“This is about drawing a line,” Shields said. “If you neglect hundreds of homes, there are consequences, not just fines, but losing control.”
What comes next
The lawsuit now heads to circuit court, where a judge will decide whether to order repairs or appoint a receiver to take over management.
Advocates say the case could set a precedent for how Milwaukee and other cities handle large-scale landlord neglect.
“This isn’t just about one landlord,” Shields said. “It’s about changing the system.”
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