Milwaukee youth center roof replacement; organization raising money

MILWAUKEE - The future of a faith-based non-profit is at risk due to a deteriorating roof.

Sunday afternoon, April 7, rain showers brought clouds and the strong potential for problems at Ma'ruf Youth Center.

Bilal Arshad is Ma'ruf’s director of operations and finance. 

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

"Ma’ruf is actually a term in our faith, doing good," he said.

Ma'ruf Youth Center

The nonprofit rooted in Muslim faith offers free after-school programming for over 100 children on Milwaukee's northside..

"This is like the worst time for the roof because it just accumulates water, the drains are not properly working," Arshad said.

The organization's president Elhadji Ba said it’s at risk due to its rapidly deteriorating roof. Footage from atop the roof shows large pockets of water.

"There is a huge liability with a youth center with an unsafe roof and the last thing we want is for parents to think we are not looking out for their kids," Ba said.

With watermarks visible throughout the building, the nonprofit said if the roof is not replaced soon, it could force them to pause some of their free services.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

"This is actually very critical at this time," Arshad said. "The worse possible problem could be that the roof could actually collapse because there is so much weight on this."

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Ma’Ruf get a new roof.

After years of patchwork, they're now trying to raise $90,000 to replace the 8-thousand square feet roof of their building on West Hampton Ave. A replacement roof that could cover and protect the next generation of changemakers.

"The youth are our future," Ba said. "And I feel like our reality is that if the most disenfranchised do better, we do better as a society."