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If you’re in a relationship, how did you meet your partner? If you’re single and looking for a relationship, where do you usually go to meet people? If volunteering doesn’t spring to mind, maybe it should. In sharing the experience of serving a meal, reading to kids, or conducting a craft project at a senior center, you may find that you get more out of the experience than you give. We talk to newlyweds Lauren and Bill Bradley about what volunteering taught them about one another, get their advice for single people on whether volunteering could make a good first date, and the eternal question: what makes volunteering so darn sexy?

Here at United Way, we recently said goodbye to Living Local co-producer Rebecca Schimke, who moved on to an excellent position with Palermo’s Pizza. In her honor, let’s revisit one of her favorite interviews from 2016.

This week we talk to Shaquita and Adrienne, two women who spend a majority of their time on the streets. They aren’t homeless but spend their time helping youth who may be experiencing homelessness, young people who need help finding resources, or maybe just need a friend. They are outreach specialists on the Milwaukee Street Beat team through Pathfinders and the Walker’s Point Youth & Family Center.

There are many ways to affect change in our community. Here at United Way, we raise funds and mobilize volunteers around our communities most difficult issues. In Madison at the Wisconsin State Legislature, Representative David Crowley works with his peers on both sides of the aisle to advocate for issues affecting an area of Milwaukee that is close to his heart: the near-North West side. Representative Crowley intimately understands this neighborhood – it is where he grew up playing on the playground near his Grandma and Uncle’s house, and where he now resides with his family.

Between engagements, Rep. Crowley stopped by to chat about the issues he advocates for in the Legislature – quality early childhood education and reducing black male incarceration - and why these are important to him. He also shares the quotes he lives by (hint: Yoda is involved), as well as his aspirations for our community. Finally, he shares how a local organization, Urban Underground, “saved his life” as a teen growing up in Milwaukee.

What kind of Community do you want? What is keeping us from making progress? Who do you trust to take action? These are some of the questions that the 330+ participants in United Way’s Community Conversations project answered in 2016. Participants from 70 zip codes, diverse in race and income level, and ranging in age from 12 to 95, shared their candid thoughts on what they see in their community when they walk out their front door every day. The four biggest themes across all conversations were, in no particular order, a violence-free community, equity and inclusivity, a clean and green community, and community connectedness.

What would happen if we threw our rules out the window and started from scratch?

This is the question Audra O’Connell asked her staff at Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center’s Emergency Shelter when she began her tenure as Executive Director in 2016. The shelter, which serves teens, had a list of rules governing everything from behavior to dress, but Audra did not see how these rules were helping impact the broader issue of youth homelessness in Milwaukee. In fact, 6 months after trying to run the shelter without rules such as “no baseball caps in the house,” Audra and her team found themselves serving more youth than ever before.

“Dare to fail differently” is the model that Audra O’Connell lives by. Today on the podcast, she shares how a degree in Comparative Religion has helped her in surprising ways during her career working in housing and homeless services, the advice she has for young nonprofit professionals, and what she still hopes to achieve in her work. Says Audra, “In ten years, I don’t want to be in the shelter business…I want to be in the prevention business.”

Trigger Warning: This blog post and podcast contain recollections of and information about sexual assault.

At the age of 21, Dawn Helmrich experienced a brutal sexual assault. This life-altering event had many negative outcomes for Dawn, including rampant victim blaming and lack of support during a traumatic experience on the witness stand. As a result of these experiences, Dawn has become one of Milwaukee’s most vocal advocates for victims of Sexual Assault through her leadership of the annual Denim Day. Each April, Denim Day brings awareness to sexual violence and helps end victim blaming.

At the age of 21, Dawn Helmrich experienced a brutal sexual assault. This life-altering event had many negative outcomes for Dawn, including rampant victim blaming and lack of support during a traumatic experience on the witness stand. As a result of these experiences, Dawn has become one of Milwaukee’s most vocal advocates for victims of Sexual Assault through her leadership of the annual Denim Day. Each April, Denim Day brings awareness to sexual violence and helps end victim blaming.

“It came up casually in conversation. He died. What? No one thought that would be something I would have liked to know? It happened years ago, but to me it was like yesterday, every day. I relived the abuse daily. It affected so many facets of my life.” These are the words that Rebecca Schimke used to open the doors on a story she shared for Sexual Assault Awareness Month last April, 2016. We sat down with Rebecca, at the time a United Way employee, for this podcast interview last April. Rebecca shared her experience with sexual assault as a child, what it felt like to tell her story, and what happened after.

This episode is bittersweet: Mary Lou Young, who has served as president & CEO of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, will retire from her position after eight years of service. We talk with Mary Lou about the high points of her career, her advice for her successor, and why she is a champion for women in the workplace.

In this two-part episode, Joel and Greg talk frankly about the role race has played in their lives, and where and why their lives have diverged because of it. Episode 1 of 2.