In honor of Milwaukee Day, here are 14 people making a difference in our city
Volunteers. Neighbors. Artists. Advocates. Business owners.
Every week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel highlights people doing things to make our community better in its "Difference-Maker" series.
People from across Wisconsin have been featured. In honor of Milwaukee Day, April 14, here's a look at 14 people making a difference in the city, listed in alphabetical order.
Clayborn Benson
After a nearly 40-year career with WTMJ-TV (Channel 4), Clayborn Benson founded the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum.
Benson still leads the society, which tells the story of African Americans in the state through personal narratives, art installations and community-centered programming. He also offers genealogy workshops for teens to help them better connect with history.
“Education is everything,” Benson said. “Kids don't see the value in (history). It’s everything. It's intangible, but it’s so important.”
Read the full story here.
Samantha Collier
Samantha Collier wants to help those who have experienced sexual violence to move from "surviving to thriving."
She founded her nonprofit, TeamTeal365, to do just that. Her work also led to Paint The City Teal Day, an annual event in April when Milwaukee landmarks are illuminated in teal, the color associated with sexual assault awareness.
"My mission is to empower, validate and motivate sexual assault survivors and now all survivors of violence," Collier said.
Read the full story here.
Tenia Fisher
For Tenia Fisher, running is about more than pounding the pavement. It's a form of activism.
The former Rufus King and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee track standout founded a running group: "Forget Everything and Run," known as F.E.A.R.
She wanted to show people there is no specific body type or socioeconomic status that defines a runner, and make the sport fun and accessible to young people of color.
"I wanted something more," Fisher said. "And that's when F.E.A.R. came along, and it just came at the most perfect time."
Read the full story here.
Marcela “Xela” Garcia
Xela Garcia helps young Milwaukee Latinos see themselves in art and education.
Garcia grew up on Milwaukee's south side and has served as executive director of the Walker's Point Center for the Arts for five years.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she minored in Chicano/Latina studies and American Indian studies and saw herself reflected in the class readings.
“It brought me back to that feeling of empowerment, of feeling seen,” she said. “This was something that was me.”
Read the full story here.
Lyle Ignace
Lyle Ignace has helped grow the Milwaukee health clinic named after his father, the Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center.
Ignace went into medicine like his father and his career took him across the country before he made a return to Milwaukee.
Ignace, who is Coeur d'Alene, Menominee and Oneida, said he has always had a "burning desire" to help Native health.
"This clinic has helped fulfill a lot of those medical gaps that individuals may not otherwise be able to afford," he said.
Read the full story here.
Christopher Klusman
The Rev. Christopher Klusman has dedicated himself to making sure those who are deaf and hard of hearing can participate fully in church.
Klusman was ordinated 10 years ago in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, becoming one of the few deaf Catholic priests in the U.S.
Only about 1% of the deaf community attends religious services of any kind, surveys show. One major reason is the lack of accommodations.
“My hope is to support more people and encourage more people to join any faith, just to be able to learn God’s word," Klusman said.
Read the full story here.
Darryl Morin
Darryl Morin, a Milwaukee businessman, believes in the dignity of every person.
He created Forward Latino to help people pursue the American Dream through "advocacy, civic engagement, education and service delivery." That group then brought together the 80% Coalition consisting of dozens of organizations working to pass gun violence prevention legislation.
“I like to think that when my day comes, people will not think of what I said, but what I did,” Morin said.
Read the full story here.
Tia Richardson
Tia Richardson is a mural artist who brings people together in Milwaukee.
Her murals can be seen across the city and nearly all of them are a product of strong community involvement, from those telling her what they want it to represent to those who help paint it.
"It's therapeutic; it's relaxing. It brings people together; there’s sense of unity," Richardson said. "Those are all the things that I want for our community. And that's what happens when we do that work."
Read the full story here.
Mag Rodriguez and Michelle Alfaro
Mag Rodriguez and Michelle Alfaro are the co-owners of Maranta Plant Shop, located at 1739 N. King Drive in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
As one of the few, possibly only, Black-and-brown-owned plant shops in the state, the two sell plants from the Caribbean, Central and South America and Africa as a way for people to reconnect with their heritage. They also host special events featuring local vendors.
"The goal is to make this a community space that is centered around plants, and the symbolism of plants and growth and community," Rodriguez said.
Read the full story here.
Michail Takach
Michail Takach is one of the most prominent researchers, writers and storytellers of Milwaukee's LGBTQ+ history.
Takach grew up in Oak Creek and settled into Milwaukee's Walker's Point neighborhood after graduating from college. Around that time, he found one of the earliest iterations of the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project website, which was created by Don Schwamb. Takack quickly volunteered to curate archival material and articles.
“My generation of LGBT history grew up with essentially no elders because everyone had died,” Takach said.
“There were very few people in the generation before us to coach or mentor us," he added. "We really consider ourselves the guardians of this history.”
Read the full story here.
Olga Thomas
Olga Thomas, a professional photographer, has made a difference in Milwaukee and abroad in Romania.
Last year, she started a chess club and hosted games on her Bay View front lawn to bring people together.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she housed refugee Ukrainian women and children at her AirBnB in Romania, where she was born and raised.
"Kindness is my biggest core value," Thomas said. "It's important for me to help others in need."
Read the full story here.
Artaynia Westfall
Artaynia Westfall is a chef, gardener and entrepreneur.
She gives cooking lessons at the "We Got This" garden in Milwaukee. She tends to more than two dozen raised garden beds at St. Ann’s Center for Intergenerational Care — Bucyrus Campus, where she also prepares meals and teaches classes.
And she runs a youth-based culinary school called “The NEST,” or Nutritional Educational Successful Training Culinary School, which shows kids and teens how to grow and cook their own food.
“They can feed themselves with knowledge, even if there’s no grocery stores around,” she said.
Read the full story here.
Tammie Xiong
Tammie Xiong has served as executive director of the Hmong American Women’s Association since 2014.
The nonprofit — known as HAWA — connects women experiencing domestic abuse or sexual violence with services in a culturally specific way. The organization serves members of the Hmong and broader Southeast Asian community in Milwaukee.
"Oftentimes, what we hear from our women is, 'If HAWA was not here, I don't know what I would do,' " Xiong said.
Read the full story here.
Know a Difference-Maker? Tell us!
Each week, we profile difference-makers in our community. Some may be newsmakers; some may be unsung heroes. If you have suggestions, please send them to jsmetro@jrn.com.
Contact Ashley Luthern at ashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.