Neighborhood Development

Riverworks Development Corporation (RDC) is usually associated with business and economic development, workforce development, and real esate development...and for good reason given our history of success in these areas. But RDC has also been directly tied to neighborhood and community development since its inception almost two decades ago. It's always been a goal of the organization to not only create jobs in the Riverworks Center area, but to connect area residents to them. Through job skills training and placement, job counseling, resume writing, etc. RDC has positively affected hundreds of families in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Today the organization is expanding and able to provide even more services to residents and local businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding the Business Improvement Districts. Our new Center for Family Prosperity (CFFP), with its focus on financial coaching and helping residents access work supports such as health insurance, is evidence of RDC building on its longstanding programs. Our recent focus on the Keefe Avenue and Holton Street corridors shows that we're expanding beyond the traditional Business Improvement District boundaries into mixed-use areas. In our efforts to redevelop these corridors, we are working alongside neighborhood associations and block clubs, universities, government, and national community development organizations. We're confident that our work will help bring new businesses and developments to these areas that will benefit neighborhood residents as well as the City of Milwaukee as a whole.

Housing Resources and New Staff

The Harambee neighborhood is home to the "Harambee Great Neighborhoods TIN," one of twelve current neighborhoods selected by the City of Milwaukee and NIDC for their Targeted Investment Neighborhood (TIN) Program. This program provides significant dollars for rehab projects to both owner-occupied and investor home owners. Recognizing the potential the TIN has to help spur home improvement projects in the Riverworks area and complement the other work RDC is involved in, Jezamil Arroyo-Vega was hired through AmeriCorps and the Public Allies Program at UW-Milwaukee. She will be working with us to promote not only the Harambee TIN but also other programs and resources related to home ownership, energy efficiency, home repair, and block improvement projects. The following link takes you to Jezamil's profile on our Staff page where you can learn more about her and how she can be contacted: Jezamil - Job Description.

For detailed information on the Targeted Investment Neighborhood program, please visit the NIDC website at http://www.mkedcd.org/housing/nidc/TINs.html. In addition to this general information you can click on the following two links for the map and brochure specific to the Harambee Great Neighborhoods TIN that Riverworks is helping support:

Map
Brochure

If you would like more information or updates related to RDC and neighborhood development, please feel free to contact Chris Grandt at chrisg@riverworksmke.org or by phone at 414-906-9650.