T

The UEDA Story

By: UEDA Administrator  |  News & Events

Through the years, UEDA has transformed to fit the needs of our growing community and member base. We have grown into our role as a third-party intermediary, and have evolved with a focus on our members and our three c’s: collaboration, capacity building and connections.

UEDA’s membership network has over 300 individuals from more than 95 nonprofits, businesses and government agencies that represent the arts, disability, housing, small business, philanthropic, financial, corporate, local food, entertainment, and governmental sectors. Together, we work to invest in and support initiatives that strengthen Wisconsin communities and urban neighborhoods.

Continue reading

At the end of 2021 we reflected on the inspiring work we were a part of in the UEDA Community, took the opportunity to thank our members and partners, and shared our optimism for what to expect in 2022.  View our New Year video message here.

We also invite you to view our 2021 UEDA Impact Report and our UEDA 2021 Year in Review Slideshow, which summarizes last year’s programs, activities, and events. We helped increase collaboration, capacity, and connections in the community and economic development sector through:

  • Growth of our membership network by 8% and more people and groups participating in our programs and events.
  • A 42% year-over-year increase in outreach and educational webinars/events across all programs, reaching 1,100 people and connecting them to information and resources related to critical housing, community and economic development issues.

After experiencing program and staff growth for 2+ years, two of our staff transitioned to pursue new opportunities with State partners. We are excited to watch Johanna Jimenez continue shepherding the launch of Take Root Wisconsin and Jessica Wetzel supporting the growth and impact of the State of Wisconsin’s College Savings Program. We truly appreciate all they’ve done to support UEDA!

In November we welcomed Kat Klawes as our Communications & Events Coordinator and hope to add our next Take Root Milwaukee Program Director by the end of February 2022.

Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for Carnival Milwaukee Week, UEDA’s annual fundraiser, which will be held February 28-March 4, 2022

While 2021 continued to bring its challenges, it also offered up many moments of inspiration.

We THANK YOU all for your interest, engagement, and support of UEDA!

The Staff and Board of Directors at UEDA

Milwaukee’s homeownership racial disparity rate is one of the largest gaps in the country and a reflection of decades of systemic, institutionalized racist policies and practices most commonly referred to as “redlining.” In 1975 Congress enacted the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which required certain financial institutions to provide mortgage data to the public on an annual basis. This data helps show whether lenders are serving the housing needs of their communities, gives public officials information that helps to develop policies, and sheds light on lending patterns that could be discriminatory.

Since 2012, UEDA’s Take Root Milwaukee (TRM) program has performed an annual analysis of HMDA data to assess trends in the local mortgage lending market, who the top lenders are, the types of loans made, where loans are being made, to whom loans are made, and how this changes from year to year. 

In 2020 the TRM Education & Advocacy workgroup developed an educational series based on what we’ve learned, looking at additional tools in the HMDA data set to inform our work in sustainable homeownership, and encourage our members and partners to work to advance racial equity when it comes to accessing credit and the opportunity of homeownership. 

Thank you to our workgroup co-chairs, Bethany Sanchez and Lamont Davis, and other TRM members Bill Kopka, Maria Prioletta, and Irma Yepez Klassen for their support to plan the series. Stay tuned as this series will continue into 2022!


Below
you will find a brief recap and links to resources for each session, ancheck out this tip sheet for suggestions on increasing loans to people of color and in low and moderate income neighborhoods which was shared during our 2021 sessions.

What We Can Learn From Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data | 12/3/20
The first session explored 2019 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data for Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee, discussed how this information can be used to increase access to credit for non-white and low- to moderate-income borrowers, and reviewed lenders who appear to meeting the needs of their community with their loans. View the session recording here and presentation slides here.

HMDA Lending Disparity Profiles | 10/8/21
Our next presentation focused specifically on borrowers and reviewed loan applications, originations, and denials by race. We also discussed strategies to ensure all lenders, not just CRA staff, are doing everything possible to get potential borrowers to the table and close on a home loan. View the session recording here and presentation slides here

2020 HMDA Analysis & Credit Access | 12/3/21
The third session in this series focused on the release of 2020 HMDA data for the City of Milwaukee. We looked at top lenders, types of loans made, where and to whom loans were made, and changes from 2019 to 2020. We broadened our discussion to how racial disparities continue to persist in credit indicators that impact mortgage lending, and talked about strategies to increase access to credit for non-white and low- to moderate-income borrowers. View the session recording here and presentation slides here.

This recent blog from the Urban Institute Housing & Housing Finance provided important context to this year’s HMDA analysis: Closing the Homeownership Gap Will Require Rooting Systemic Racism Out of Mortgage Underwriting (October 2021).

Since 2018, UEDA has hosted the Emerging Topics in Economic Development Series to provide frequent and intentional opportunities for our members and partners to connect, learn new ideas, and feature best practices in the sector.  

Our 2021 series featured recent housing development and planning efforts in Milwaukee, highlighting different yet collective approaches to affordable housing work. Below you will find a brief recap and links to resources for each session.

We’d like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the following sponsors for their support of this educational series.

 

UEDA 2021 Emerging Topics Series Sponsors are Chase, US Bank, We Energies, Associated Bank and PNC Bank

 

Session 1: Revitalization Through Preservation | July 13
Husch Blackwell and the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance joined us for an informative session on how to approach different types of historic preservation projects, the benefits of using historic tax credits, and also received an in-depth look at the Milwaukee Soldiers Home restoration project. View the session recording here. And more recently, the Soldier’s Home project was recognized in December 2021 with an award for Excellence in Historic Preservation by HUD and highlighted in a recent story on WUWM.

Session 2: City of Milwaukee HUD Consolidated Plan Navigators | September 15
This session took a deep dive into the City of Milwaukee’s HUD-approved 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan, sharing what types of data are included, how to find and use that data, and how community-based organizations and private sector partners can align their work to complement the goals and outcomes outlined in the plan. The UEDA team created 10 topic “navigators” designed to help people easily access information in the plan. View the session recording here and find the full plan and Navigator tools at www.ConPlanMKE.org

Session 3: Milwaukee’s Collective Affordable Housing Strategic Plan | October 22
Our last session featured Milwaukee’s Collective Affordable Housing Strategic Plan (released in September 2021), and was held in partnership with the Community Development Alliance (CDA) and City of Milwaukee. It was an active, virtual session with attendees providing feedback on how to best structure implementation of the three top approaches that have been identified as priorities for 2022. View the session recording here and presentation slides here.

On September 16, 2021 Bank On Greater Milwaukee (BOGM) celebrated their two-year anniversary with a virtual awards ceremony that recognized six local entities for their efforts to improve the overall financial health of the Milwaukee community.

As a program of the Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin (UEDA), Bank On Greater Milwaukee serves as a collaboration between financial institutions, community-based organizations and local governments to provide residents safe, affordable, and certified banking accounts.

“A basic transaction account is an important first step to participating in the financial mainstream”, said Constance Alberts, Bank On Greater Milwaukee Program Manager. “We are extremely fortunate to engage a coalition of community organizations, banks, credit unions, and governmental entities who are dedicated to ensuring more households belong to the financial mainstream by developing low-barrier accounts and providing supportive financial education services.”

Continue reading

M

Milwaukee County Dine Out Program

By: UEDA Administrator  |  Projects

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer sit amet pellentesque nisl. Pellentesque mattis, sem et bibendum ultrices, ipsum neque molestie tellus, ac rutrum ex tortor in eros. Integer cursus, metus sit amet blandit interdum, elit tortor scelerisque dui, ut ornare nulla tortor ut ex. Curabitur aliquet tristique elit, id consequat tortor. Sed vitae sollicitudin elit. Donec in diam convallis, lobortis nulla nec, malesuada metus. Donec vel congue ex. Suspendisse risus lectus, viverra quis nulla at, pretium facilisis velit. Ut neque magna, imperdiet eget elementum eget, fringilla ut quam.

Donec placerat nunc nec purus condimentum gravida. Suspendisse potenti. Fusce sagittis aliquam maximus. Duis varius pharetra vehicula. In viverra tristique ante nec scelerisque. Nam ac mollis neque. Nullam diam sem, ullamcorper et vehicula ac, malesuada ac purus. Nunc in iaculis orci, quis condimentum massa. Fusce mattis lectus et nisi gravida, vitae mattis dolor suscipit.

K

Kin – Fiscal Sponsor

By: UEDA Administrator  |  Projects

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer sit amet pellentesque nisl. Pellentesque mattis, sem et bibendum ultrices, ipsum neque molestie tellus, ac rutrum ex tortor in eros. Integer cursus, metus sit amet blandit interdum, elit tortor scelerisque dui, ut ornare nulla tortor ut ex. Curabitur aliquet tristique elit, id consequat tortor. Sed vitae sollicitudin elit. Donec in diam convallis, lobortis nulla nec, malesuada metus. Donec vel congue ex. Suspendisse risus lectus, viverra quis nulla at, pretium facilisis velit. Ut neque magna, imperdiet eget elementum eget, fringilla ut quam.

Donec placerat nunc nec purus condimentum gravida. Suspendisse potenti. Fusce sagittis aliquam maximus. Duis varius pharetra vehicula. In viverra tristique ante nec scelerisque. Nam ac mollis neque. Nullam diam sem, ullamcorper et vehicula ac, malesuada ac purus. Nunc in iaculis orci, quis condimentum massa. Fusce mattis lectus et nisi gravida, vitae mattis dolor suscipit.