Ald. Donovan to introduce new group of Neighborhood Ambassadors

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A new group of Neighborhood Ambassadors will be introduced Thursday, September 5th by Alderman Bob Donovan. Neighborhood Ambassadors provide help cleaning up litter and debris, removing graffiti, and keeping an eye out for possible criminal activity in near south side neighborhoods.

“Not only are these individuals providing valuable community service work, but they are also a welcome presence in neighborhoods, providing extra eyes and ears for possible signs of trouble or suspicious activity,” he said. “This program continues to be a positive win-win slam dunk for the near south side and the city.”

In addition to working out on the streets on neighborhood beautification, each of the ambassadors will be exposed to leadership training, customer service training, police workshops, financial literacy training, resume writing training, and job search and interviewing training. Through Journey House’s Urban Career Institute, each ambassador will have an assigned career coach, financial coach, customer service coach and leadership coach.

Alderman Donovan said the ambassadors will be working in the Operation Impact area on a daily basis. The Operation Impact target area is bounded by W. Pierce St. on the north, W. Lincoln Ave. on the south, S. 16th Street/S. Cesar Chavez Dr. on the east and S. 38th St. on the west.

Between 15 and 20 ambassadors are expected to participate in the program, which is funded to operate through September 2014. Staff from Journey House and UMOS will be supervising the ambassadors, Monday through Friday.