• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Northcott a ‘home away from home’ for half a century

Northcott a ‘home away from home’ for half a century

December 6, 2012 by Patrick Leary and Caitlin Miller Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

George Warner participated in a job training program at Northcott Neighborhood House in 2007. Shontaine Walker took part in youth programming when she was a child. Corey Collins went through the Fresh Start construction program.

All three still spend a lot of time at the 50-year-old community center in the Harambee community. Warner is now an employee; Walker volunteers at Northcott, where her children are in the youth program; and Collins is the father of a 3-year-old in the Head Start program.

“I chose Northcott because I’m comfortable with everybody here,” said Collins. “There’s nobody working in this building that I’m not comfortable with my kid being around. This is a good surrounding for him to start his first couple of years before he gets into MPS.”

Northcott’s mission is to support family stability by providing educational and recreational opportunities for community members. It offers a wide array of programs – from preschool to job training.

(Photo by Caitlin Miller)

“Fifty years ago, it started out as a small community center, a Head Start center,” said Warner, who has worked as an accounting assistant at Northcott for five years. “It’s just grown from there.”

For a social service agency, Northcott has been unusually successful financially; its operating budget doubled in the past five years. Warner credits the organization’s job training programs for the funding increase. Milwaukee Builds serves adults 24 and over, and Fresh Start is an 18-month program for 18- to 24-year-olds. Nearly three-quarters of Northcott’s 200 employees work in the programs, Warner said.

The jobs programs provide temporary work for people who have been laid off, have been incarcerated or are under the supervision of the State Department of Corrections.

“People who can’t get a job, for whatever reason, we’re essentially a temp service for them,” Warner said. “We get them employment at any business that agrees to hire them after a certain (number) of months.”

Regardless of how important the jobs program is to Northcott financially, the organization’s primary focus is youth programs.

“You’re not just here to play,” said Walker, whose children are 10 and 4 years old. “You get involved with arts and crafts, you get involved with tutoring, you get involved with computers…it’s a tremendous, excellent program for us.”

The youth program offers after school and summer sessions for nearly 3,000 pre-teens and teens at the center and at two Community Learning Centers (Keefe Avenue School and Greenfield School). Popular programs include day camps, training in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for middle school kids and drivers’ education for young adults.

Many children get involved in the youth program through sports. The Northcott basketball team and fully padded football team play against other community centers in city leagues. Northcott program director Robert Johnson is a former Milwaukee Bucks player.

“He’s the point man for the youth programs,” Warner said of Johnson. “He does the football, he does the basketball, and he does the drivers’ ed. He’s also a staple in the community because kids come in here and they know him.”

The youth activities keep kids coming back day after day and make Northcott a vital cog in the neighborhood’s operations.

“Northcott is a home away from home for a lot of people,” Collins said. “Me especially, I don’t leave this place. I feel like I’m here all the time.”

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Carousel, Community, Economic Development, Education, Harambee, Home, Neighborhoods, News, North, Public Safety Tagged With: adult program, Community, Economic Development, Education, Northcott Neighborhood House, Public Safety, Teen program, video, youth program

Avatar

About Patrick Leary and Caitlin Miller

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement

How To …

How to avoid stimulus check scams

A new round of stimulus checks will likely also bring out a new round of scams. Here’s what to watch out for.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in