COA is having an incredible 110th anniversary year, and we are really excited about the future in the Amani, Riverwest, and Harambee neighborhoods we serve. This March we won two MANDIs (Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation); COA’s Executive Director Tom Schneider best expresses just how proud and excited we are: “It was humbling and [...]

We are proud to announce that after being closed for 4 months, the Holton Center (510 E Burleigh) reopened December 28, thanks to a new partnership with COA. Teens and preteens from throughout the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods now have another safe and supportive place they can go every day after school. Stop in today! [...]

COA is proud to be nominated by the Milwaukee Association for Neighborhood Development Innovation’s (MANDI) prestigious BMO Harris Cornerstone Award for its efforts in the transformation of the Amani neighborhood. To add to the excitement, the Milwaukee County Parks Department and partners have been nominated for the Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award for opening [...]

Cousins Subs awarded a $2,000 grant to COA Youth & Family Centers for its Home-based Literacy Program for Preschoolers (HIPPY). The grant funds will be used to sponsor families in the HIPPY program. Although HIPPY is free for participants, the program cost per family is around $1,000. This includes the cost of books, activities, family [...]

A new KaBOOM! playground was built at COA Youth & Family Centers’ Burke Early Education Center on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten volunteers from US Bank worked tremendously hard with COA staff to complete construction of the play area in a single day. The playground “Build Day Blitz” concluded with a community celebration and cookout, where families from the neighborhood could [...]

COA Youth & Family Centers will kick off the ninth annual Skyline Music Series in COA’s Kadish Park on Tuesday, July 7. The series is made possible by generous sponsorship support from Jim and Deb Poliak, the Law Offices of Allen Silverstein and Ron White and will include art activities for children provided by the [...]

Seventy preschoolers graduated from Milwaukee's HIPPY program on Saturday, May 16th at Milwaukee Public Library - Centennial Hall. HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) is an internationally known early literacy and parental engagement program for children provided by COA in partnership with The Parenting Network. The event included a graduation ceremony for families completing [...]

A recent article from WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio sheds light on violence and hope in the Amani neighborhood. An excerpt from the article about COA is below: "The threat of violence is always present, according to Quintrell Boyles. “It’s affecting everybody tremendously. I mean, for some of us, it’s right on our front doorsteps. For others, [...]

COA and the Amani neighborhood celebrated the groundbreaking for the new Burke Early Education Center at COA Youth & Family Centers' Goldin Center on Friday, April 17th. The event marked the start of construction for COA's second early child education center, which was made possible by a $2 million capital grant from The Burke Foundation [...]

The Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service recently featured teen participant Joshua Leonard in an article about COA's free drivers education program. From the article: "About a decade ago, students participating in COA’s three-day youth leadership institute camp proposed a scholarship-based driver’s education program to alleviate the barriers they were facing in getting their licenses. A pilot program [...]