COVID-19 Updates & Resources

As Milwaukee and the rest of the state begin to open for business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Safe & Sound has been working on a plan to continue our essential work to community organize, engage youth, and bridge the gap between community and police while keeping residents, our team and partners safe and healthy. On March 23rd, Safe & Sound’s office closed, and the team pivoted our work to a virtual world by calling residents and youth to check in on their needs, hosting weekly Virtual Youth Plug Ins, increasing social media presence and information dissemination, coordinating neighborhood and partner meetings via Zoom, staying in close contact with the Milwaukee Police Department for resource referrals, working with partner organizations to distribute resources, and more.

In Milwaukee, the summer is an essential time to connect neighbors and engage blocks, so we are adjusting our work again while keeping the health and safety of residents and staff our top priority. Starting this week:

Staff will begin distributing informational flyers in the community, including a vetted weekly resource guide full of timely information on food, jobs, events, mental health, civic engagement, and more. Face-to-face front porch conversations are suspended until further notice.
Staff are required to wear masks while working in the community, and additional masks will be made available for distribution in the community.
Community organizers, youth organizers and neighborhoods safety coordinators will continue virtual meetings and events with residents, youth, law enforcement and partners, and in-person meetings with external stakeholders are suspended until further notice.
Our work will be guided by bi-weekly safe summer themes including fire safety, CDC guidelines related to COVID-19, domestic violence awareness, mental health awareness, and drug prevention.
We will continue to develop a plan ensuring all workspaces will be thoroughly sanitized and support social distancing before staff members return.

While our 2020 summer will look different than any other, we still have many events and meetings to engage the people we serve. If you’re interested in getting involved or need assistance, please reach out to us at info@safesound.org or check out our event calendar! You can also check out the video below featuring Executive Director Joe’Mar Hooper answering your questions and talking about what we’re up to. Thank you for your ongoing support, and we will continue to keep you updated. Stay safe and stay healthy!

Family Meal Nominations: Open Until 5:00 PM, Tuesday, May 12th
May 11, 2020

In April, Safe & Sound introduced the “Family Friday Meals” campaign in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 100% of the donations received went toward the preparation and delivery of a comforting meal from a local Milwaukee restaurant to families who needed a life. Today, we are asking YOU if you know of any Milwaukee families who would like to receive one of these meals in our next round of deliveries. If you do, please click here for the full nomination form. If you need the nomination form in Spanish, click here. The nomination form is open now (Monday, May 11th) through Tuesday, May 12th at 5:00 PM. All nominees must be a City of Milwaukee resident. If you submit a nomination, a Safe & Sound team member will reach out with more information by the end of this week (May 12th – May 16th). All nomination information will be kept confidential. If you have any questions or concerns, please email bridget@safesound.org.

Daily Resource Guide
May 8, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
May 6, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
May 5, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
May 4, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
May 1, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 30, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 28, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 22, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 21, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 20, 2020

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Safe & Sound and local restaurant work together to deliver families a hot meal during pandemic

April 17, 2020

By Talis Shelbourne
Check out this great article featuring our “Family Friday Meals” campaign and Ms. Darlene Jose, a Clarke Square resident leader.
Click here to read the article.

Daily Resource Guide
April 17, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 16, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 15th, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 14, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 13, 2020

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Safe & Sound Announces “Family Friday Meals” Campaign
April 13, 2020

Safe & Sound is always connecting residents to resources, facilitating youth programming, bridging the gap between community and police, and more. During this difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are continuing our essential work and being the “connectors” in new and exciting ways! We are reaching out to residents everyday asking what they need to be successful, hosting virtual youth programming via Facebook Live, contacting residents regarding nuisance issues their neighborhoods and sharing a daily resource summary on our social media outlets. In addition to these amazing activities, we wanted to help our residents feel even more supported and comforted.

Today, Safe & Sound is launching the “Family Friday Meals” campaign! Donate today through this Friday and 100% of your gift will support the preparation and delivery of a comforting meal from a local restaurant to a resident leader and their family. Help us support residents during this time of hardship and uncertainty while supporting a Milwaukee small business, Mi Casa, Su Cafe!

To learn more about the campaign and what our team is doing to support the residents we empower, visit safesound.org/FamilyFriday or follow us on any of our social media outlets!

Daily Resource Guide
April 10, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 9, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 8, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 7, 2020

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Daily Resource Guide
April 6, 2020

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COVID-19 Organizational Update
April 1, 2020

During this time of uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, Safe & Sound remains committed to working with our partners and residents in the neighborhoods we serve. Our leadership continues to remain up to date on guidance from federal, state and local levels. Since last week, Safe & Sound has followed the “Safer at Home” orders from the city and state, and our entire team is working remotely. Our organization was well positioned to continue our work virtually as each team member is issued a laptop and cell phone with VPN access when starting at Safe & Sound. Each day we conduct a virtual all-staff video check in to connect with one another, ask for support and check in. Additionally, our programming and initiatives are continuing in creative ways.

Community organizers are calling the residents they work with to check in on their well being and connect them to necessary resources. Last week, community organizers called 104 residents and talked to 37 residents directly regarding their needs.
Youth organizers are calling youth they work with to make sure all of their basic needs are met. They are also hosting a virtual youth programming session from 3:00 – 4:00 PM on weekdays (5:00 – 6:00 this week) via Zoom.com and Facebook Live. Last week, youth organizers engaged 23 youth in this virtual programming.
Neighborhood safety coordinators (NSCs) are no longer working out of the Police Districts, but they are reaching out to residents to distribute resources and follow up on calls for service. To address neighborhood nuisances and blight, NSCs abated six instances of nuisance last week.
Our entire team is working on compiling community resources during the pandemic. Throughout the last two weeks, we have shared eight resource summaries via social media with timely resources for the same day. These daily updates and resources have engaged 10,908 people on Facebook alone. Follow and like us on social media to see these daily updates!

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