On Tuesday, July 22nd from 4-9pm, Our Next Generation is uniting with community partners to host the first annual Lisbon Street Block Party; a positive, fun, and engaging event for teens this summer.

With this event, Our Next Generation hopes to introduce local teens to each other, to Our Next Generation’s teen programming, and to local community organizations that offer healthy, productive, and fun resources for young adults. The block party represents the re-launch of Our Next Generation’s teen program, which will kick off this fall with the opening of our new teen center. In our neighborhood in Milwaukee, we know that only 30-40% of students graduate high school, and far fewer go on to any form of higher education. With our new teen center, students will have a safe place to congregate and socialize, meet for educational training and support, participate in college readiness programming, and work together towards creating positive visions for their futures and taking proactive steps to achieve those goals.

The block party will feature performances by local artists, dancers, and musicians – including Alex & Lil Vic (African Dancers and Poets), Mind, Body & Soul Dancers, Inc. (Urban Line Dancing), L.E.X, Genesis, and DJ Sherman. Tables, presentations, and activities by local schools and community organizations will also be featured– including Messmer High School, Hope Christian School, Urban Ecology Center, United Methodist Community Center, Wisconsin Bike Federation, and Wisconsin Black Historical Society.

The Milwaukee Flyers tumbling team will be giving free tumbling lessons to interested teens, and preforming their full act for the community as well. Lucky’s Barbershop will give cuts and linings for a $5 suggested donation, and a local chocolatier will give hands-on chocolate making demonstrations.

The District Three Milwaukee Police Department will also be involved, as part of an ongoing effort funded by a Federal grant from Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program to repair relationships with community members in the Washington Park Neighborhood. Representatives from the police department will be present to socialize with the community and to challenge Our Next Generation teens to a friendly game of “cans.”

This event brings together a wide variety of community partners who are working together to create engaging opportunities and outlets for youth, teens, and young adults of central Milwaukee.