Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper Digital Edition Issue October 20, 2022

Weekly Newspaper

Prince Hall Masonic Temple hosts "Voter Registration Day"

On Thursday, October 13, 2022, the members of Prince Hall Masonic Temple, 1218 W. North Ave, along with the WI State Grand Assembly. OGC, PHA and two WI joint consistories joined with Souls to the Polls to sign up voters for the upcoming general elec tion on November 8, 2022. At this event you not only could find out where your polling site is, but also what documents new and/or registered voters need to vote.

Pictured at the event are (from left) LL Valerie Nel son-Member, Milwaukee Assembly #28, OGC, PHA

Most Illustrious Deputy, Marshall E. Tharp; Deputy of the Orient of WI, United Supreme Council, AASR, PHA; LL Marsha L. McHenry State Grand Associate

Loyal Lady Ruler, Order of the Golden Circle, PHA; and Ms. Anita Johnson, Souls to the Polls Outreach and Education Specialist.

Employ Milwaukee hosts their first fundraiser luncheon

On Thursday, October 13, 2022, Employ Milwaukee held their first fundraiser luncheon at the University Club Milwaukee. The goal of the fundraiser was to support summer youth employment, training, reen try programming and more. It was well attended and the guest speaker was Billye Aaron the wife of the late Hank Aaron. Billye Aaron has been an educator in the Atlanta Public Schools and at Spelman College, Morehouse, Morris Brown College and South Car olina State University. In 1968, she became the first African American woman in the Southeast to co-host a daily talk show, Today in Georgia, and later hosted a weekly talk show, Billye, on Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV. The Donald "Don" Sykes Community Impact Award was given to the Social Development Commission (SDC) Director and CEO Dr. George P. Hinton. Pic tured are (top photo, from left) Billye Aaron's niece, John Daniels, Cecelia Gore, Employ Milwaukee CEO Chytania Brown, keynote speaker Billye Aaron, Mil dred Coby, Erma Daniels, Gerry Sykes (wife of the late Don Sykes), Amanda Porterfield; (bottom photo, from left) Employ Milwaukee CEO Chytania Brown, Gerry Sykes, and Dr. George P. Hinton.

On Saturday, October 15, 2022, the Epsilon Kappa Omega Chapter of Al pha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc® and Re pairers of the Breach Resource Center paused to recognize years of preparing meals and serving soul food luncheons, cozy chili bowls, and scrumptious des serts – all to benefit deserving patrons. For decades, the chapter has spearhead ed warm clothing and sock drives, toi letry collections, and monetary con tributions. The bench donation brings patrons a safe space to connect with others of similar and inspiring life ex periences. Sorority members, along

with the general public, were invited to share in the event with bottled water drop-offs on October 14 and 15.

“Journalistic Excellence, Service, Integrity and Objectivity Always”

Photo by Yvonne Kemp

Photos by Yvonne Kemp

Epsilon Kappa Omega marks 20 years of service to Repairers of the Breach during bench dedication

Photos by Kim Robinson

New green and healthy schoolyards are open at five MPS schools

Students celebrated last week at five Milwaukee Pub lic Schools (MPS) as Green and Healthy Schoolyards were officially opened. Na thaniel Hawthorne, Benja min Franklin, Hayes Bilin gual, Neeskara, and Zablocki schools have completed work that removed old asphalt playgrounds and trans formed spaces into outdoor classrooms, prairie-style gar dens, and recreation spaces.

The improvements are part of an ongoing partnership among MPS, the MPS Foun dation, Milwaukee Metro politan Sewerage District,

City of Milwaukee, Reflo and partners. Each year, five MPS schoolyards are chosen

for redevelopment. The pro cess to select 2023 projects is currently underway.

“Research indicates that green space and exposure to the environment during school hours can increase students’ learning capacity, attention span, social-emo tional well-being, and desire to explore additional learn ing opportunities,” said Na thaniel Hawthorne Principal Shantee Williams. “School yard redevelopment projects that support outdoor learn ing and recreation can help improve student experiences at school while also becom ing a positive space for the surrounding community.”

At each site, multiple green infrastructure strategies to manage stormwater are en gaged to reduce local flooding and keep more than 320,000 gallons of water out of Lake Michigan during large storm events. Students will learn how stormwater can be cap tured, filtered, and managed to keep pollutants out of riv ers and Lake Michigan.

MPS is grateful to partners who made this work possi ble and are helping to make the Milwaukee community a healthier place to live and learn.

Alderman Rainey lauds Milwaukee Anchor Collaborative plan to hire and spend more with City’s underserved

Exciting news for Milwau kee’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods comes as the Milwaukee Anchor Col laborative (MAC), which includes healthcare and ed ucational institutions, has pledged to hire more people of color and spend more with minority-owned businesses in the most challenged neigh borhoods of Milwaukee.

Alderman Khalif J. Rain ey, who announced his sup port of MAC when it was launched last year, said the plans include a focus on hir ing residents, and purchasing from businesses, in eight Mil waukee ZIP codes: 53204, 53205, 53206, 53208,

53210, 53212, 53216, and 53233. The combined pop ulation of the targeted areas is 206,000, with 33 percent living in poverty.

The Milwaukee Anchor Collaborative is composed of Advocate Aurora Health, Ascension Wisconsin, Chil dren’s Wisconsin, Froedtert Health, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette University, and the Universi ty of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“Anchor collaborations have proven to be success ful in many cities across the nation, and we applaud the member institutions in the MAC who are committing

to using their collective eco nomic power to employ res idents, and purchase from businesses, in disinvested neighborhoods,” Alderman Rainey said.

MAC has set these goals for the City of Milwaukee:

• Collectively increase pur chasing with businesses owned by people of color in the affected ZIP codes by $5-million annually by 2026

• Collectively increase hir ing of residents of color within the affected ZIP codes by 33 percent by 2026

To oversee these efforts, the MAC has established hiring and procurement councils as well as an advisory board, all made up of representatives from the anchor institutions.

JobsWork MKE, a local nonprofit, spearheaded the creation of the collaborative in 2021 and has been over seeing its efforts. It is holding “matchmaking” sessions, in troducing potential vendors to purchasing agents from anchor institutions.

“We look forward to fur ther discussion of the Co-Op initiative and are confident in the Milwaukee Anchor Collaborative’s ability to uplift neighborhoods and small businesses, and antic ipate seeing positive results it brings to people and busi nesses across Milwaukee,” Al derman Rainey said.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

The Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper

Louvenia Johnson Luther Golden Nathan Conyers (1981-2008) (1981-2005) (1981- 2018 )

Harold D. Turner, Sr., Publisher Jacquelyn D. Heath, Editorial Page Editor

Publisher/President Harold D. Turner, Sr.

Graphic Artists William Gooden Michelle Anibas

Founders Louvenia Johnson Nathan Conyers Luther Golden

The Milwaukee Times Weekly newspaper is published each Thursday at 2238 N. MLK Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53212 Telephone: 414-263-5088 • Fax: 414-263-4445 Email: miltimes@gmail.com http://milwaukeetimesnews.com

Alderman Khalif J. Rainey

By: Jacquelyn D. Heath Special to The Milwaukee Times

Learning to manage change

There is an old saying that goes, “The only things that are unavoidable in life are death and taxes.” There is one more irrefutable fac tor – namely, the element of change.

Nothing in life is stat ic; even the dead change as their earthly remains decom pose in the grave. Although change is inevitable, it can and should be managed to ensure the likelihood of a de sired outcome, or at least to minimize any negative possi bilities.

To manage change effec tively, one must understand the characteristics of the

change process. All change is comprised of six basic ele ments that, when combined, work together to result in continuous improvement.

However, if one of the ele ments is left out, the result can range from “not exactly what I had in mind” to “fullfledged disaster.”

Every change process re quires the following: vision, skills, incentive, resources, an action plan, and a means to evaluate the change process. So, let’s take a look at what can happen if one of the ele ments is omitted.

Vision is the first step on the road to change, because you need an idea of what the challenge is and what the de sired improvement may look like. If there is no vision, but all the other elements are in place, the result is confusion.

Let’s say you have the vi sion and all the other ele ments, with the exception of the skills necessary to make

change happen. Without proficiency, your result will be constant anxiety over the effectiveness of the change. You will always wonder if your solution was suitable for the challenge.

Believe it or not, some peo ple try to institute change without an action plan. The fact is, effective change does not happen without a stepby-step road map to follow. Without a plan, the change process is fraught with false starts and never gets off the ground.

We often find ourselves facing change without the necessary resources to ac complish the task. We end up with a feeling of frustra tion and inadequacy; and the effort expended will likely have little to no effect on the

challenge at hand.

All change processes re quire an incentive to be suc cessful. That is because when it comes to human behav ior, people need motivation to act; i.e., a reason to per form. Without an incentive, change may still take place, but at a slower, more gradual pace.

Now, you have a vision, along with the requisite skills, the motivation, adequate and proper resources, and a plan of action. Your change pro cess gets off to a good start but then reaches a point and gets stuck there. One more ingredient is needed – that is, a means of evaluation. You need to know where you’ve been, what you’ve tried, what has worked, and especially, what has not been effective. Without the ability to gauge what, when, where and how to adjust, your progress will be stymied at a plateau.

Change for the purpose of improvement requires con certed effort and constant at tention. The bottom line is, change is inevitable; but the outcome based on input and awareness can be controlled. By being in control, this em powers you to make the most of the challenges and oppor tunities that are a part of ev eryday life.

Keith P. Posley, Ed.D.

Superintendent

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Donell Allen,

Lamb of God

Baptist Church

Church

Mt. Moriah Baptist Church

DOUG JANSSON LEADERSHIP AWARD LAUREN FEASTER

FRANK KIRKPATRICK AWARD KEITH STANLEY

WILLIAM C. FRYE AWARD RALPH HOLLMON

PRESIDENT’S LEADERSHIP IN RACIAL EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARD JOSÉ OLIVIERI

Spotlight on

A few years ago, while he was living in Texas, new Mil waukee resident Marlon V.R. Ross, was informed by his doctor that his blood pres sure was elevated and that by body mass index (BMI) stan dards, he was overweight. The doctor, Ross said, told him that he needed to go on a diet.

She never gave him any in formation about how to lose weight safely and effectively, not even a referral to a dieti cian, Ross said. “Doctors are quick to prescribe medica tion, but sometimes not so good with other things.” The

average primary care pro vider has more than 2,000 patients, according to Ross, who added that initially Wellacy Health will primar ily market itself to provider practices and health clinics.

“The doctor will introduce the patient to the platform,” he said.

Partially as a result of his previous experience, Ross founded Wellacy Health to help doctors and health care providers figuratively “ex tend the capabilities of their office,” more specifically to “help fix our nation’s bro ken health care system” by improving care delivery and health outcomes for patients

with chronic diseases and eliminating racial disparities in access to quality health care, Ross said. The company is scaling up to launch a new internet-based application for consumers and currently employs three people, having recently relocated from Tex as.

On September 27, 2022, Wellacy Health was one of five startup, tech companies to be accepted into the fall 2022 class of the Black Accel erator grant from Northwest ern Mutual, in partnership with generator, a venture capital firm. Each startup

receives a $100,000 invest ment, a 12-week business training program, access to venture capital partners and individualized coaching from industry-leading insurance, finance and start-up profes sionals.

“Northwestern Mutual’s Black Founder Accelera tor is designed to tackle the pronounced racial funding gap by giving black entrepre neurs greater access to ven ture capital and opportuni ty,” said Abim Kolawole, vice president of financial plan ning excellence and strategy at Northwestern Mutual. “We are proud to support the growth and resilience of black-founded startups and nurture the positive impact these entrepreneurs will have on future generations.”

Ross said he understands what people in underserved health-care communities are going through, having been raised in poverty on the South Side of Chicago. In 2019, he said a family mem ber died prematurely due in part to complications from diabetes. That experience also contributed to his desire to found his own health care company.

“I had a front-row seat to the devastating effects of poor health care access,” Ross said. He cited results from a recent study which conclud ed that the racial disparity in the health care system costs the U.S. economy $135-bil lion per year, $93-billion in excess medical care costs and $42-billion in lost productiv ity.

Before deciding to relocate his company in Milwaukee, Ross said he visited multi ple cities in five states: Indi ana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio. “Of all those places, I feel like Mil waukee is making a really concerted effort to find, fund and cultivate a diverse tech ecosystem," he said. “We think there is great potential for growth in Milwaukee,” he added.

Arthur Reid,

Founder

Sheila Reid, President/C.E.O.

Marlon V.R. Ross

"Hold on to your dreams of a better life and stay committed to striving to realize it."

– Earl G. Graves, Sr.

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Join seniors, like Allen, and spread the word about FoodShare

Allen, a retired veteran living in Milwaukee, heard about FoodShare through a friend. “I didn’t know about FoodShare until a friend told me about it,” said Allen. “I might have seen it on TV or something, but it didn’t register that it was for me. I’m single and I’m not really hungry because I know how to budget, so I didn’t think it was for me.”

Allen said he thinks many people are hungry because they don’t know about Food Share. He feels people who are older, single and on a fixed income don’t know the qualifications and think it’s for a family with children or people who care for kids.

He believes it’s important to reach out to people and ask them if they need help.

Allen’s friend told him to visit the Hunger Task Force’s Robles FoodShare Resource Center. There Allen sat with one of the FoodShare Advo cates, who answered all of his questions and then walked him through his application and submitted it online. “I was retired and wondered if I was eligible,” said Allen. “When I went to the center, I got help with FoodShare and also received information that helped me get a Senior Farmers Market Voucher and box of food to take home that day.”

FoodShare has helped Al

len manage his budget bet ter. With food prices on the rise, increases to rent and the

cost of medicines, FoodShare has helped him feel comfort able and not worry about his other expenses. “FoodShare helps me save money. I can also buy better foods,” said Allen. “I’m trying to get bet ter with my nutrition, I’m not getting any younger, so I have to be careful with what I buy. FoodShare helps me buy healthy foods.”

Allen feels that people should reach out to fami ly and friends and spread the word about FoodShare.

“Now that I have FoodShare, I reach out to others in my building and other people I know who are retired and on a fixed income,” said Allen.

“The next time you come

You can now buy hearing aids over-the-counter, experts offer tips for consumers

It’s official: Older Amer icans with hearing loss can now stroll into a big box store or pharmacy — or just visit a website — and buy hearing aids without a prescription.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently ap proved this new class of overthe-counter hearing aids in order to lower prices and im prove their availability.

About one in three Amer icans between 65 and 74 — and half of those who are older — have hearing loss severe enough to affect their daily life, according to the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Com munication Disorders (NID CD).

But the American Acade my of Audiology said about 70 percent of those who need hearing aids haven’t taken steps to manage their hearing loss.

“Hopefully, the price will come down for hearing aids so they can be more accessible to more people,” said Kath leen Cameron, senior direc tor of the National Coun cil on Aging’s Center for Healthy Aging. “I also hope that as a society, we look at hearing aids differently, too.

I’m hoping it’s going to help reduce some of the stigma associated with wearing hear ing aids and the ageism often associated with those.”

But before you go shop ping for an over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid, there are some questions you should keep in mind.

How do I know if I need an OTC hearing aid?

The FDA specifically de fines OTC hearing aids as medical devices intended to treat mild to moderate hear ing loss in adults 18 and old er. You don’t need a hearing

exam or prescription to buy them, and they are designed so you can fit and tune them yourself.

There are some specific signs that you have the sort of hearing loss that these de vices are intended to address, the NIDCD said. They in clude:

• Finding that speech or other sounds regularly seem muffled.

• Having trouble hearing over background noise.

• Struggling to under stand speech in a phone call, on the television, or when you can’t see who is talking.

• Regularly asking others to speak more slowly or clearly, to talk louder, or to repeat themselves.

• Getting regular com plaints from family or friends that you’ve turned the sound up too loud or aren’t hearing them prop erly.

Hearing problems more severe than that — for ex ample, requiring someone to speak to you loudly even in a quiet environment — likely means that your hearing loss is outside the range intended for OTC devices, according to the Council on Aging.

I don’t need to see a doctor or audiologist, but should I consult with one anyway?

There are a number of red flags that should lead you to consult your family doc tor before purchasing an OTC hearing aid, experts say. These include injuries or medical problems like:

• Fluid, pus or blood com ing from an affected ear.

• Sudden or fluctuating hearing loss.

• Better hearing in one ear than the other.

• Ringing or buzzing in

both ears.

• Constant pain in one or both ears.

• Vertigo or dizziness.

• A full or plugged feeling in an ear.

These “are an indication where you wouldn’t want to rush to get an over-thecounter product. You really should see a physician that makes sure that there’s not a medical condition,” said

Barbara Kelley, executive di rector of the Hearing Loss Association of America.

You might even consid er consulting an audiologist anyway, although it’s not required, Cameron added.

Audiologists can sell OTC hearing aids and help you fit them.

“I think for many older adults, they do need an au diologist to really measure

across an older person, es pecially someone that could be on a fixed income, you should just ask them.”

If you or someone you know needs FoodShare, vis it www.ACCESS.wisconsin. gov to apply. If you need help applying for Food Share, visit one of Hunger Task Force’s FoodShare Re source Centers. Alicia’s Place FoodShare Resource Center is in the Midtown Center at 4144 N. 56th Street and the Robles FoodShare Resource Center is at 723 W. Histor ic Mitchell Street. People can also call Alicia’s Place at 414.988.6501 and Robles at 414.238.6484.

their level of hearing loss,” she shared. “Particularly for those who might have waited a long time to get a hearing aid, perhaps their hearing loss has progressed and they might need a prescription level of hearing aid instead of the OTC kind.”

Some companies selling OTC hearing aids offer on line hearing tests as an (Continued on pg.14)

Holy Cathedral Church Of God In Christ

The Upper Room Baptist Church

Christian

for training and employment be given to low- and very low-income residents of the project area, and that contracts for work in connection with the project be awarded to business concerns that provide economic opportunities for low and very low-income persons residing in the metropolitan area in which the project is located.

7. The terms of the proposal are fair and proper and not tainted by any collusion, conspiracy, connivance, or unlawful agreement on the part of the proposing entity, or any of its agents, representatives, directors, employees, or parties in interest.

8. Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County [HFHWC]

the

and

Mrs. FuMbanks' birthday salutes "Wishing you all the best!"

October 19th Sariya Holland

October 22th Jessica Chamberlain Brenda V. Jackson

October 23rd Michelle Graham

October 24th Solea Holland

October 29th Dejah Fumbanks Aaron Williams Frannie Smith

October 30th Andrew Green, III October 31st Au’Zhane Chamberlain

Hearing aids

(Continued from pg. 10)

option, “but I’ve yet to see how those compare to an in-person assessment of hear ing,” Cameron said. “I wish I knew that right now.”

What should I keep in mind when shopping for an OTC hearing aid?

Return policies: The FDA requires that a return poli cy appear on the packaging of OTC hearing aids. The first device you buy might not adequately address your hearing problems, so it’s im portant that you know the time period in which you can return it.

“It does take time to ad just to a hearing aid, even if you have a mild or moderate hearing loss. It’s important that the products have a re turn policy so people have the time to try them out,” Kelley shared. “There’s not a one-size-fits-all for hearing loss, so if I tell you that I just bought this OTC hearing aid and it’s great, it still might not work for you.”

Set up: Many of the new OTC hearing aids require a smartphone to adjust the de vice.

“Older people might not be savvy about downloading an app or fiddling with their smartphone,” Kelley added. “It should be clearly labeled on the box if you need an ad ditional piece of equipment like a smartphone to make a device work.”

Battery: The package also should tell you what kind of battery the device uses, Cam eron said.

“Some of the older versions of hearing aids have replace able batteries. Some of the newer ones have rechargeable batteries, where you just plug them in every night,” she added. “It can be very diffi cult for older people to take out the batteries or replace the batteries, so understand ing that aspect of hearing aids is important.”

Customer support: Before you buy, know what kind of help the company will pro vide if you have a problem later.

“If you do have problems and want to address your issues, what’s going to be available? Is it only going to be through a website? Do you actually talk to some one? What other support is provided?” Cameron noted. “That varies, I think, from company to company.”

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