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Zilber announces Neighborhood Initiative
Philanthropist gives $50 million more to city
By Lauren Robertstad
This $50 million initiative is different from the one Zilber announced a couple years ago.
Last Friday, Milwaukee philanthropist Joseph Zilber donated $50 million to local Milwaukee neighborhoods, part of an effort to improve the city he grew up in.
Zilber, 90, was born, and raised in the north side of Lindsay Heights Neighborhood, where his parents owned a grocery store. During his childhood he was taught the value of hard work. This lesson continues to resonate with him today as it is an important part of the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative.
Joseph Zilber resides in Hawaii but has always felt a close bond to Milwaukee. The initiative started with a pact he made with his late wife of 63 years. Whenever one passed, the other would make sure to take care of the city of Milwaukee.
The Zilber Neighborhood Initiative is a $50 million donation which will be donated over a period of ten years. Two neighborhoods were named as the first to receive grant money and aide. The next four will be named next year, and the remaining four in 2010.
The two community organizations named to start the initiative focusing primarily on Lindsay Heights. The Walnut Way Conservation Corp. will lead the initiative on the North side of Lindsay Heights, while the Journey House will head up the South side of Lindsay Heights.
Local Initiatives Support Corp., and United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee will partner up to run the initiative. The designer of the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, Susan Lloyd, who is also the senior advisor to the Zilber Family Foundation, will join the partnership as well.
This $50 million initiative is different from the one Zilber announced a couple years ago. The donation, called the New Potential for Milwaukee Initiative, included $10 million for UW-Milwaukee to create a proposed School of Public Health.
The $10 million from Zilber towards a UWM public health school matches Sheldon B. Lubar’s donation, for UWM’s School of Business, as the single largest donation made to the university.
Zilber will be 100 years old when the final neighborhoods are announced. Yet he plans to be there for the celebration of each of the announcements.
At a rally last Friday, he urged the community to get involved, as their hard work was key to the success of the initiative.
“We’re just here to help you,” said Zilber.
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