Greater Milwaukee Foundation creates violence prevention fund

Following Google’s pledge to support crime reduction efforts in Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation has created a new fund to augment that initiative.

The GMF has committed $25,000 toward matching funds that Milwaukee is receiving from Google as part of the company’s effort to funnel $2 million in support of lowering gun violence in 10 cities nationwide.

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation offices, located in the Schlitz Park office complex.

“How safe people feel in their neighborhood and in their broader community has a tremendous impact on their quality of life,” said Ellen Gilligan, president of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. “It’s a value shared by us all. As a community foundation, we stand committed to investing in strategies that we believe will have a measurable impact, and we invite those who care about the safety and security of our community to do the same.”

Funding will be used to support violence prevention strategies identified in Milwaukee’s Blueprint for Peace, a citywide violence reduction plan.

“We stand united with our entire city to ensure that we are doing everything possible to make Milwaukee one of the safest places to live, work, and do business,” said Julia Taylor, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. “We are fortunate to receive this investment from Google into Milwaukee and it would be great to see the rest of our community help support violence prevention.”

In January, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and GMF partnered with city officials, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Northwestern Mutual, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, and 371 Productions to host the Safe MKE summit, which brought awareness to the issue of violence in Milwaukee.

The GMF’s Violence Prevention Fund is open to philanthropic support from throughout the community, including corporations, groups or individuals.

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