Tia Richardson is a Milwaukee-based community artist who provides visual arts programming as a tool for community-building for young people and adults, focusing on how community art reinforces empathy and cooperation with one another. She met Davita and I at Menomonee Valley one afternoon to share how she became a member of the Urban Ecology Center about two years ago, and how membership continues to provide her with an essential extension of her community and her home.

Pat Mueller and Roger Coleman are two of the most familiar faces at the Riverside Park Urban Ecology Center, each one sharing a history with the Center that goes back nearly two decades and an appreciation that persists to this day. You’ll find Pat volunteering behind the reception desk every Thursday morning and Roger back in the office 5 days a week completing his Volunteer Program internship. They met with us at Riverside Park one afternoon to tell us their thoughts on nurturing, growth, and taking care of what you have.

Steve & Barb Weinstein have lived in the Riverside Park neighborhood since 1978. Steve bikes the Oak Leaf Trail every day, at times stopping to rest and take in the sounds of children playing in the park. He strolled into Riverside Park one evening after work and told me about his history with the Center; thinking back to when this building was nothing but a dream and his daughter was too young to work, he spoke of the Center’s growth with a strong sense of pride and a hint of nostalgia.

Michelle Young is an MPS teacher and proud mother of two extremely bright girls, Jada & Kennedy. She’s been nominated for Teacher of the Year for the past 3 years, but has yet to accept the award: “When you teach from the heart, you don’t get your validation from adults; you get it from the kids." Her family signed up for membership soon after Jada and Kennedy joined the Young Scientists Club in 2010/2011, and they’ve been actively involved in our educational programming ever since. She met Davita and me at Washington Park to tell us about her profound appreciation for what she’s learned here and how it shaped her life and career.