By Candace Romano, Associate Director of Marketing

MILWAUKEE (March 31, 2022) – CFI has been awarded a $100,000 grant that will create strategies to address the impact the pandemic had on employment within marginalized communities within Milwaukee County. The grant is from Mobilizing Communities for a Just Recovery (MC4JR) through the Department of Health Services Division of Public Health.

The awarded agencies and community-based organizations will develop new and build upon existing relationships and partnerships within the community and adapt strategies to meet identified needs and build community empowerment.

Under the guidance of our office of Diversity and Inclusion, a Community Grant Organizer will develop strategies that addresses the economic environment experienced by Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) community members resulting in unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the strategy are plans to address the economic environment experienced by the BIPOC community that were exacerbated by the pandemic.

While BIPOC individuals reside throughout Milwaukee County, there are six zip codes where more than 25 percent of families live below the federal poverty level and will likely be the initial focus for this project.

CFI plans to engage stakeholders in thoughtful conversations leading to diverse and culturally responsive conversation that provide approaches that breakdown barriers for increased employment.

We are thankful for this opportunity to increase our efforts in community social responsibility, to foster change and be part of solutions toward building more health and hopeful communities of the future.

For more information about CFI’s diversity program, click here.