The Stapels’ grandparents spent their honeymoon on a ship carrying them from the Netherlands to America in the 1950s, separated into respective quarters: men upstairs and women downstairs. The pair settled in Wisconsin and started a small farm. In the 1980s their son took control. Brody was born a few years later, and Jory a few more after that. 

Like many farm children, the boys spent their days feeding calves and cows, milking, picking rocks, throwing hay bales, and helping with field work. Having missed many Friday night football games, Brody was turned off by the never ending work on his father’s farm. So, after high school, he left. 

The Decline of Dairy Farms

Wisconsin was home to over 100,000 dairy farms in the 1950s. Today there are fewer than 10,000, and the number is still rapidly decreasing. With the rise of alternative dairy-esque beverages, restrictive trade agreements, and five consecutive years of depressed prices, many small Wisconsin dairy farmers are calling it quits. Still, although the number of dairies continues to dwindle, Wisconsin is producing more milk and cheese than ever before. 

“In the 1930s we hit a peak in dairy farm numbers in this country,” said Dairy Task Force 2.0 Chairman Mark Stephenson. “Since that time we have been consolidating farm numbers. They have been getting fewer in number and larger in size, and that’s true across the country.”

The United States Department of Agriculture houses the Census of Agriculture Historical Archives, with information dating back to 1850. Of approximately 165,000 men living in Wisconsin at that time, almost 41,000 were farmers.

After marrying his wife, Carolyn, in 2007 and getting ready to start a family, Brody Stapel felt a desire to get back into dairy farming. By 2012 he and his brother had taken over their father’s farm and expanded the herd by 150 cows. Today Brody, his wife and four children live on the farm. Jory lives half a mile down the road with his wife and two kids.

Looking out across his farmland, Brody noted that all of his neighbors would have been dairy farmers in the 1940s. Now there are only two. On one side of the house, just through a small patch of trees, a woman with a red barn milks 80 cows. On the opposite side, a man with another red barn also milks 80 cows. There’s one more dairy three miles down the road, but almost everyone else nearby has sold out. 

Photos: Elizabeth Sloan

“The only reason we can keep going is because my brother and I live on peanuts,” Brody said. “We own this thing, and we want it to survive, and we know that we have to do whatever it takes. So we scrounge and we dig, and it’s not any easier for us than the guy down the road. It’s just survival of the fittest.”

He says the farmers who will survive are those willing to change and adapt to become more efficient. Technology like John Deere’s self-driving tractors, waterbeds that allow cows a more comfortable rest, and robotic milking machines save farmers thousands of dollars and hours of time. The Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) announced an investment in dairy technology company SomaDetect, using artificial intelligence to improve the quality of milk and monitor the health of cows.

Almost every cow in the 220-head herd at Double Dutch Dairy is tracked by technology, similar to a FitBit, called Cow Manager System. The application monitors each cow’s ear temperature, eating and activity for the day. (Fun fact: when cows come down with a fever their ears get cold.) Brody set his phone to “moo” every time there is an alert. 

Some older farmers are proactive in using new technology on their farms, while others have chosen to sell out and use their expertise working on other farms. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Statistics Service, in 2018 alone Wisconsin will lose more than 600 dairy herds.

Tariffs Trump Trade

In 2017 the Office of the United States Trade Representative was authorized to investigate whether steel and aluminum imports pose a threat to national security, as well as look into acts, policies and practices of the Chinese government in relation to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation. In January 2018 the U.S. imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, to which China responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs on over 100 U.S. goods. The following months saw tit-for-tat tariffs from the U.S. and China on billions of dollars worth of goods and products. 

In May the Trump administration decided to end exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs for U.S. allies. In response, the Mexican government imposed retaliatory tariffs, most of which are on U.S. agricultural goods, including various cheeses. The Canadian government responded by imposing a 25 percent tariff on steel imports. The EU is also enforcing tariffs on US products, including Kentucky bourbon, Levi jeans and Harley Davidson motorcycles.

In July 2018, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the USDA would work to assist farmers hurt by the retaliatory tariffs. The Market Facilitation Program will provide payments for producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, hogs, shelled almonds, and fresh sweet cherries. Wisconsin farmers are set to receive $10 million, most expecting a check for around $2,000.

“This is a short-term solution to allow President Trump time to work on long-term trade deals to benefit agriculture and the entire U.S. economy,” Perdue said in the press release.

Across the country, farms of all kinds have been affected by President Trump’s ongoing trade war after spending years battling depressed prices and clawing for market access. In 2018 alone, 50 farms in Wisconsin have applied for Chapter 12 bankruptcy, reflecting low prices in corn, soybeans, beef and milk.  

Creating Wisconsin Cheese

According to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, dairy means more to Wisconsin than citrus to Florida or potatoes to Idaho. Wisconsin’s dairy industry generates $43.4 billion for the state’s economy each year. It produced 30.32 billion pounds of milk in 2017, of which approximately 90 percent was turned into cheese. The state consistently maintains its status as the nation’s largest cheese producer, turning out 3.37 billion pounds of cheese in 2017. 

Photos: Elizabeth Sloan

Plymouth, Wisconsin, which calls itself the “Cheese Capital of the World,” is home to four major cheese processing facilities. Down the street from Fleet Farm and a Chevrolet dealership sits the dark brown office building of the fourth-generation family-owned Sartori Company. Inside, the building is clean and beautifully designed. A giant decorative wedge of their BellaVitano cheese with white Christmas lights sits in a corner and large prints of happy cows are pinned on the grey cubicles.

Family farms are extremely important to our business.

Jeff Schwager, Sartori Company President

Milk cannot be held in silos like grain, so the cheese produced today was made from milk that was in a cow this morning. Dairy cows are usually milked two to three times per day, with each cow producing up to four gallons of milk each time. That milk is held in a large cooler, where it is kept clean and cold until transport. Each batch is tested for quality before the cheese making process begins. 

Stepping into a cheese factory like Sartori results in a sensory explosion, brought on by bright lights, loud machinery and pungent smells. To make the cheese, milk is first poured into vats to be pasteurized. A “starter culture” of good bacteria is added to convert the lactose into lactic acid. Next, a milk-clotting enzyme called rennet is added to curdle the milk. Once the casein, the main protein in milk, has curdled, whey protein is left behind as a thin, watery liquid. Cheesemakers dressed in white shirts and coats, hair nets, safety glasses and earplugs, oversee the stirring of the curds and whey until they have reached the desired firmness. The curd at Sartori is hand salted and then pressed into blocks. 

Sartori cheese is produced three miles away from the office at the original Sartori factory, which has been operating since 1939. 

In the future, Schwager hopes to see more research and innovation in the Wisconsin dairy industry. Similar to the way corn biomass was repurposed to produce ethanol fuel, he challenges someone to use the surplus of milk to find new uses for dairy.  

Photos: Brody Stapel

In the meantime, the Stapel brothers and their families will continue to wake up before the sun, six days a week. Brody hopes his kids will develop the work ethic and sense of responsibility he did growing up on the farm.   

An image from summer reminds him why working hard and scraping by are worth it. 

“So we’re down by the barn feeding the animals at 6:30 in the morning,” he said. “Here come my 9- and 7-year-olds walking to the barn, holding hands, jogging along, ready to feed calves. I just sat there and thought, ‘This is why I do this.’”

The post America’s Dairyland in Danger appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

Luis Medina

Luis Medina had one of the cleanest rooms in the building. Everything in his room had a place. His sobriety coins were stacked neatly on the side table next to his favorite chair.

The 52-year-old hair stylist got out of prison in March and had been trying to get his life on a healthy track, in part by living at Our Safe Place since September.

Five days a week, Medina went to intensive outpatient meetings through Matt Talbot Recovery Services in Milwaukee. He said he didn’t have withdrawals anymore. But he still had thoughts.

“Not all of the time, but they do still come,” he said.

Medina started using drugs when he was 15. Alcohol and cocaine were his favorites, but he said he has been sober since July. Medina is from Chicago.

“I had a girlfriend in Rockford. We broke up through my addiction, so I came to Milwaukee,” he said.

Medina has been sober several times throughout his life. Two weeks ago, he said that this time would be different.

“I just got awarded $6,000 dollars through disability, Social Security,” Medina said.

He was excited about the money. In many cases, money is a barrier for people in recovery. When addicts leave prison, they don’t have the resources to move to a different area or get into a recovery program, so they fall back into the life they lived before prison. Having money can be the ticket that brings addicts to sobriety.

Or, it can drag them back to addiction.

“A lot of guys are triggered by money,” said Andy Liss, program manager at Our Safe Place. Having money to spend can be a problem and can cause people who were previously doing well to relapse.

Medina was walking to the Kilbourn Kitchen, a corner store that has beauty supplies, meat deals and cheap cigarettes. He and Liss were together when a passerby asked them a common question in this part of Milwaukee: Want to try a sample?

They told the man no and kept walking. But the incident didn’t leave Liss’ mind. He worried about Medina.

“In the back of my head, I wondered if that was enough to get that thought going,” he said.

Medina relapsed later that night.

“It starts with a thought, becomes a craving and once you start craving it you can’t get it out of your head, you’re going to use,” Liss said.

Adam Hicks

The phone rang and he answered it.

“You know where I’m at now? 29^th and Wells,” Adam Hicks said.

Hicks moved to Our Safe Place about a month ago. Before this, he was at Matt Talbot, the residential recovery center. He says he likes this place much better.

An anomaly in the building, Hicks doesn’t have any kids and hasn’t done any time in jail or prison.

Starting when he was 22, he used crack cocaine off and on. In the last five years he says he got more heavily into the drug.

“Then, I said to hell with it, so I told my case worker to put me into rehab,” he said.

His life is a lot different now. Before, he said, people were always coming, knocking on his door and wanting him to get them drugs. Now he spends time going to meetings, programs and enjoying his favorite things in the room: “My flat screen and my Blu-Ray,” he said.

The Liss Family

Andy Liss’ parents bought the building in 2005 without knowing that it was operating as a place for people in recovery. They decided to continue that mission under the name Our Safe Place. As program manager, Liss handles daily operations for the building and residents.

Earlier this month, Liss called his wife and tell her it would be a long day. A U.S. Marshal had shot a suspect in a shooting across the street, a gas pipe had burst and there was a funeral for a resident. And this was all before lunch.

The building has a capacity of 50 people in about 25 apartments. Each apartment contains a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living space. One person lives in the bedroom, the other in the living space.

Most residents have their first 3-6 months paid for by the Milwaukee Behavioral Health Division. After that, if they want to stay, they begin paying rent.

Jack Schmidt

In 15 minutes, Jack Schmidt would be meeting a friend to go to the gym. There is a work out area in the building, but Schmidt said he and his friend would be going to a “real gym.”

Schmidt is one of three live-in staff members. He has been working for Our Safe Place for about 6 months. His main role is helping with random drug testing of the residents.

He attributes much of his success to drug court, a program where non-violent offenders are offered what amounts to a second chance if they follow a strict schedule of classes, meetings and drug tests. If participants successfully complete the program, charges can be erased from their records.

“I think it saved my life,” he said.

Schmidt is the first one to tell you his life wasn’t good before drug court.

“I was stealing tens of thousands of dollars from my parents. I was not respected by anybody and I didn’t have any respect for myself,” he said.

Schmidt still calls himself a heroin addict, though he has been sober for almost 29 months.

Robert Dockins

If you ask Robert Dockins where he is from, he will likely reply, “thank you very much,” in an Elvis-esque voice, just to throw you off.

Dockins moved to Milwaukee from Memphis. His parents got divorced. His dad was a player, he said. At a young age, Dockins began smoking marijuana and drinking beer.

“Anything you practice, you are going to be good at,” he said. “If you are using a lot of drugs and alcohol, you are practicing.”

Eight months ago, he decided enough was enough. He says he was becoming a slave to crack cocaine. Dockins attributes his addiction to hanging out with the wrong people.

“Peer pressure is one of the biggest reasons why people ruin their lives and do stupid things,” he said.

Terranzo Butler

“When you do the right thing, blessings fall out of the sky here,” Terranzo Butler said, donut in hand.

Butler came to Our Safe Place from Matt Talbot about a year ago. He used drugs his whole life, starting when he was 12 and tried marijuana. He says weed was a gateway for him.

For the first part of his life Butler lived in Chicago, where he was involved in drug use, crime and gangs.

In a gang-related attack, Butler lost part of his finger. A man put a gun up to his head and when butler grabbed it, the gun blew his finger off.

“I grabbed [the gun] and ended up taking it from him so he ran,” Butler said. “I lived a very crazy lifestyle in Chicago. All that’s in the past.”

His lifestyle changed drastically when he moved to Our Safe Place. He has eight kids and they come to visit him often.

“When I was out on the street, I didn’t care about anybody but me. I didn’t have the close-knit relationships I have now,” he said.

Willis Davis

Sitting in his room and meditating is one of Willis Davis’ favorite things to do. He might turn the radio on, but mostly he sits in silence.

Davis has been living at Our Safe place for six months and has been sober for seven. It was crack cocaine and alcohol that brought him here.

“I just lay back and think about the future. Sometimes I think about the past,” he said. “I just try to focus on being grateful because I’m clean today.”

The post In Recovery: Six People, One Building appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

Dehlinger, a Wisconsin resident, accompanies dying people and their loved ones through the final stages of life, providing support, resources and comfort.

Dehlinger is a part of a growing number of women becoming leaders in a new death movement.

It’s a calling, not a job.

Christine Dehlinger

Beyond the work of funeral homes, women are at the forefront of reawakening discussions and understanding of death.

The movement, sometimes called the Death Positive Movement, aims to enlighten people about death and dying.

As women like Dehlinger work independently within the death industry, there is a growing collective of women, and some men, who are connecting through groups like The Order of the Good Death.

The Order of the Good Death is an online collective that consists of funeral industry professionals, academics and artists who aim to make death a part of life by normalizing death and dying. The group was started by Caitlin Doughty, a mortician in California.

Members of The Order of the Good Death range from morticians to medical historians to animators, and even a cake maker whose work centers around death.

The group aims to take back what death once was: a female-driven operation.

For years, death care was a domestic task that women were in charge of. Funeral homes were opened in the 20th century by men, taking away the death experience from women.

Now, women like Dehlinger are reimagining  the death experience. 

While Dehlinger works to comfort and aid people as they die, Susana Alba, a Funeral Arranger at Doughty’s Undertaking LA, picks up where Dehlinger leaves off, by organizing funeral services for the deceased.

Undertaking LA is a progressive funeral home in Los Angeles, run by all women.

“What it means to be a progressive funeral home is to give death back into the family’s hands,” said Alba.

“We don’t do ‘traditional funerals’ unless the family requests it. We offer home funerals, dressing, and bathing a body at home. We don’t hide death.”

The number of women in the funeral services industry is rising steadily.

In 2014, according to Data USA, there were over 11,000 men and 2,300 women in the business. By 2016, there were around the same number of men in the business, but the number of women rose to over 3,500.

According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), nearly 60 percent of mortuary science students in the United States are women.

Despite this increase, there is still a significant wage gap between the genders.

The average male salary is 57,928 dollars, while the average female salary is 43,804 dollars, according to the NFDA.

However, women are working in the death industry in a different capacity than men.

While men run mostly traditional funeral homes, women are invested in natural burials, progressive funeral homes, and other non-traditional movements.

They aim to create a world where death is not something to be feared. They want to create the idea of a ‘good death’ and, in turn, a way to live a good life.   

The Evolving Mortician

Funeral Director Sarah Wambold has been in the funeral business since 2005 and seen a major change in the gender dynamic of the industry.

“It’s gotten a lot better,” she said.

“When I was coming into it, it wasn’t like there weren’t women in the business, but they were definitely really gendered roles.”

Women now own, manage, and work in funeral homes, something that Wambold was just beginning to see when she began her apprenticeship at Krause Funeral Homes in Milwaukee.

After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa, Wambold began her studies at Milwaukee Area Technical College, in their funeral services program.

Much of her graduating class was made up of women.

“I got to be a part of a generation of change and now it’s just like a lot of women are getting into the business and taking leadership roles. So, it’s really good,” said Wambold.

Although she notes that there is still some surprise when female funeral directors are mentioned.

“I think there’s still that sort of shock when people hear you are a funeral director and when women show up to do removals,” said Wambold.

And Wambold says sexism and harassment are still an issue.

People don’t understand decent behavior when women come in the work place and I’ve experienced that as well.

Sarah Wambold

Now located in Austin, Texas, Wambold is a member of The Order of the Good Death, and a pioneer in conservation burials.

A conservation burial stems from a green burial, which is a funeral that does not involve any invasive procedures, including embalming.

“You can have a container that does not use any sort of non-biodegradable material, so like a pine box or a shroud, or nothing if that’s allowed,” said Wambold.

“Families are usually encouraged to have as much involvement as they can. You can hand dig a grave or fill in the grave. And usually there is no headstone, it would be like a stone that is natural to the environment and flat to the ground.”

Wambold now leads program development for large-scale land and conservation burial in Texas.

“In doing a burial on the land, you are furthering to protect the land development and facilitate regrowth or rehabilitation of an area. You are kind of doubling your impact by conserving the land and protecting it,” she said.

Dealing with death every day is stressful, but it has given her a rare insight into people, and the value of life. 

“It can all go away, and you definitely appreciate each day a little bit more just because of what the stakes are. It may not be there tomorrow.”

A Mortician’s Education

The funeral services program at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), West Allis Campus, can only enroll 30 students at a time. It’s the only funeral services program in the state.

Glenna Cassini, of Muskego, Wis., graduated from the program in August 2016.

“It’s way more than just embalming and planning a funeral,” said Cassini.

“It’s meeting with families and understanding needs and wants when maybe they don’t even know. It’s learning ways to comfort a person when they are going through one of their worst days. It’s calling churches and cemeteries to make arrangements in a timely manner. It’s coordinating a whole day.”

Program coordinator Julian Jasper has been a licensed funeral director for 26 years.

Jasper noticed a growing trend of women entering the industry.

Traditionally it was more males. But we are seeing more and more females, so that is changing

Julian Jasper

Jasper says last year’s class included only three men.

According to Jasper, students complete their pre-requisite courses elsewhere, and then spend two semesters at MATC completing fifty-seven credits, as well as field experience.

Local funeral homes take on students as apprentices, which counts toward their field experience.

There are specific courses taken for each semester aimed at the funeral services program. Students also take business, and science classes that include microchemistry.

The embalming lab is where students begin to work with and prepare real bodies, donated to the college.

“They come from the ME’s office, unclaimed bodies. Also, we get donations of bodies from funeral establishments where they’ve checked with the family,” said Jasper.

Cassini’s favorite class was Restorative Art. 

“I learned how to look at face shapes, symmetry in faces, different techniques for making a natural look and colors. It was a combination of art and science which I really enjoyed,” she said.

In Restorative Art, students start out with a skull, and throughout the semester they must build up a face using wax.

“At the end of the semester they are graded on that, so we look to see if everything is on point with the measurements and how much it looks like the individual,” said Jasper.

Students also have to complete a mock arrangement, where they lead their classmates through making arrangements for a funeral.

Once they have completed their courses and field experience, students sit for their national and state board exams. They also must complete an apprenticeship before getting their license.

Jasper says two characteristics are vital for success in the business.

“I mean you can learn the techniques of how to embalm. You can learn the technical skills of restoring artwork, but when it comes to dealing with the family, it has to be innate. You have to have compassion and be ethical.”

The Doula and the ‘Good Death’

Christine Dehlinger is comfortable with the dying.

Dehlinger, a resident of Brooklyn, Wis., is a certified End of Life Doula, which allows her to accompany people with life-threatening illnesses and their loved ones through the dying process by providing emotional and spiritual support, love, companionship and caring.

In Greek, the word ‘doula’ means ‘to be of service.’

Many people are familiar with birth doulas who are present during the birthing process. An end of life doula hopes to fill somewhat the same role at the other end of the spectrum of human life.  

Christine Dehlinger

Dehlinger, who worked as a professional business communicator for nearly 40 years, realized her calling to become an end of life doula came after her mother died of colon cancer in 1989.

“She had what might be considered a ‘good death’ at the time,” said Dehlinger.

“Although she died in a hospital, she and my dad had the opportunity to express her wishes regarding medical intervention, and her wishes were respected. The nurses were caring and provided much comfort as my sister and I sat vigil the night before our mother died.”

After her dad died four years ago at the age of 90, Dehlinger was sure that becoming an end of life doula was her calling.

Dehlinger is in the process of satisfying criteria from the International End-of-Life Doula Association (INELDA), as well as working to earn the Proficiency Badge from the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance. She is a member of both organizations.

End of life doulas provide patients and their families with a variety of support services.

Most of Dehlinger’s training comes from hospice work, where she volunteers her time and skills. 

As a blossoming career focused on caregiving and comfort, it’s no surprise that the field consists of mainly women.

According to Dehlinger, the class that she took for training had only two men among the 30 participants.

“To date, the majority of our attendees have been female,” said Jeri Glatter, the vice president of INELDA.

“Often, we have two to three males (in a class of 30 or more). In addition, we have had an increase in individuals who do not want to identify as gender specific. We are also seeing an increase in people of color,” Glatter said.

End of life doulas hope to be able to facilitate a ‘good death’ for their patients, like Dehlinger’s mother had. 

According to an Institute of Medicine report, a ‘good death’ is,

“Free from avoidable distress and suffering for patient, family, and caregivers, in general accord with the patient’s and family’s wishes, and reasonably consistent with clinical, cultural, and ethical standards.”

Doulas wish to allow the patient and their family to not only have the support they need, but the knowledge and comfort in knowing that their wishes and decisions matter.

The Horses and the Hearse

Mary Jane Swedberg stood in the carriage barn with an ornate, black, horse drawn hearse, romantic and beautiful.

The hearse was made in 1885 and has belonged to Swedberg since 2012.

The dream of owning a hearse began years ago when Swedberg stumbled on a picture of a hearse in a magazine. 

The hearse has allowed Swedberg to be a part of some very special days in people’s lives.

“I feel very privileged, very special to be a part of their celebration,” said Swedberg.

Swedberg, originally from a farm in Antioch, Ill., owns Hoof Beats Express, located in Oconomowoc, Wis. which offers myriad horse drawn services.

Hoof Beats Express does weddings, parades, community events, sleigh rides, and funerals.

Swedberg owns nine well-trained draft horses, but only five are patient enough to take part in funeral services.

“I need a pair that stands quietly when the casket gets loaded and unloaded,” said Swedberg.

Those horses stand quietly for about one to two funeral services a month, according to Swedberg.

The base fee for the horses and the hearse is 1650 dollars, and Swedberg will do it year-round, weather permitting.

A majority of the funerals that Swedberg is asked to be a part of are African-American.

“That culture celebrates life and celebrates the living that that person that has passed away did,” she said.

“And they choose to create an event around that funeral process.”

But some funerals are incredibly sad.

A few years ago, a little girl was shot and killed while sitting on her grandfather’s lap in her Milwaukee home. It was a death that rocked the city, and Swedberg was hired by a private benefactor to carry the casket.

What is usually a 25 mile an hour ride in a hearse slows to around three miles an hour when Swedberg and her team are involved in the funeral procession.

To Swedberg, horses bring an incredible presence to honor special people’s lives. She recalls one mother who lost her child in a tragic accident, who expressed gratitude to Swedberg for helping her honor her little girl.

That mom will now remember that her little girl went to heaven, went to the cemetery, in the hearse.

Mary Jane Swedberg

According to Swedberg, the hearse says a lot about how special and loved the person in the casket was. She hopes her presence at funerals allows for a lasting image for those who the deceased left behind.

“Bringing that special memory to the family, the one that when they think back on their loved one, they can think of the horses and the hearse.”

The Librarian and the Books Bound in Skin

Megan Rosenbloom is not afraid of the macabre; in fact, she’s fascinated by it.

In addition to her work at the University of Southern California Norris Medical Library, where she is the Associate Director of Instructions Services and a Medical Librarian, what piques Rosenbloom’s interest is a practice called anthropodermic bibliopegy.

“Anthropodermic bibliopegy is like the big fifty cent phrase for this practice that not many people know about which is binding books in human skin,” said Rosenbloom.

Occurring mainly in the 19th century, the practice was a melding of clinical medicine and book binding.

As doctors and their treatments became more widely accepted, they had to develop what’s called a “clinical gaze” with their patients in order to remain professional, according to Rosenbloom.

However, the development of a clinical gaze could go too far, as Rosenbloom notes that it was not uncommon for doctors to be doing dissections and saving a piece of skin to bind books in.

It was while Rosenbloom was working toward her Master’s in Library Science at the University of Pittsburgh, that she returned to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, a place she had grown up visiting, where she encountered the first of many books bound in human skin.

The Mütter Museum contains fascinating collections of anatomical and pathological specimens, as well as antique medical equipment.

Rosenbloom noticed a display filled with books. The books were normal, brown leather, and not particularly good looking. It wasn’t until Rosenbloom read the display’s caption that she realized what she was seeing.

“I couldn’t believe they existed,” said Rosenbloom.

Over the course of Rosenbloom’s academic and professional career, she would begin to encounter more and more books bound in human skin.

It wasn’t some evil doctors, you know some Hannibal Lector types, doing this work. They were often doctors who were totally well-respected in their field.

Megan Rosenbloom

Rosenbloom, completely intrigued, wanted to test rumored anthropodermic books, and it wasn’t until a chemist applied an old method of protein analysis called peptide mass fingerprinting to the books that they were able to, for the first time, separate the real from the fake. 

From this, the Anthropodermic Book Project was born.

Rosenbloom and her team travel the United States and other countries, testing rumored books to uncover the truth that lies in their bindings.

The team has tested 49 alleged anthropodermic books, with 18 confirmed as being bound in human skin.

Rosenbloom is interested in testing books in England that relate to the trial and execution of a prisoner. The books are rumored to be bound in the prisoner’s skin.

The stories that each book has to tell resonates with Rosenbloom, so much so that she wrote her own book about the practice and project entitled “Dark Archives,” scheduled to be published in 2019.

Rosenbloom is also a part of The Order of the Good Death as the Director of Death Salon, and a leader in the Death Positive movement.

The Order of the Good Death is all about death positivity, according to Rosenbloom.

“It’s like a mindset or a philosophy that tends to enrich people’s lives by realizing life’s limitations,” she said.

The ‘Memento Mori’ Jeweler

Angela Kirkpatrick receives some very odd mail.

What she finds inside those envelopes and packages are often pieces of human or animal hair, or cremains.

Kirkpatrick is a memorial jeweler, who takes the contents of those strange packages and creates something beautiful for people to remember their loved ones by.

She has run her own business, Wisp Adornments, out of her home in Olympia, Wash. for almost six years.

Kirkpatrick’s work is done in a Victorian antique fashion, reminiscent of the ‘Memento Mori’ tradition.

“’Memento Mori’ means remember death,” said Kirkpatrick.

From around the 15th Century to the 20th, people often wore jewelry that would remind them of not only their mortality, but also hold hair, ashes, or teeth of their loved ones who had passed away.

It is a tradition that Kirkpatrick believes needs a revival.

“I just really felt like the tradition of Victorian mourning jewelry should be something that we can revive because I think it’s useful to help people feel close to people they’ve lost,” she said.

Kirkpatrick has always liked Victorian antiques and was intrigued by mourning jewelry. Her interest started when she asked a neighbor to set some of her grandmother’s pearls in a bracelet for her, but her neighbor, instead, offered to teach Kirkpatrick to make her own jewelry.

When a friend whose dog had died, wanted a piece of jewelry with her dog’s ashes in it, Kirkpatrick considered making her passion a profession.

Kirkpatrick contacted mortician Caitlin Doughty, founder of The Order of the Good Death.

“She asked me if I could make a ring with her grandparents’ hair in it,” said Kirkpatrick.

Shortly after, Kirkpatrick joined the organization.

“Just being a death activist, being involved with The Order of the Good Death has changed my life, for me, pretty considerably but also I think it helps to be a person who’s willing to talk about grief and mourning and encourage other people to pay it forward with people that they know,” said Kirkpatrick.

It is through her work as a memorial jeweler that, Kirkpatrick believes, she is reclaiming some of that positivity around death.

Many of her clients have also become her friends, and Kirkpatrick has met many in person.

It’s those connections that she often finds are the most meaningful.

“I think sometimes when I meet someone, that those stories stick with me or they stick a little harder in my memory,” said Kirkpatrick.

The post Reclaiming Death: Women in the Death Industry appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

Animal poaching, the practice of killing animals that are against the law to harvest, or doing so at an illegal time or place, is something people might expect happens in far-off places. But rhinos and elephants killed for ivory tusks halfway around the world aren’t the only animals that are poached. Poaching happens everywhere, including here in Wisconsin.

In 2015, a local celebrity buck given the name “Bowtie” for the white marking on its neck, was shot and killed with a crossbow along the Menomonee River Parkway in Wauwatosa. Hunting is not allowed in Milwaukee County Parks, and the incident was reported by someone else exploring the area.

I’ve found at least 30 deer that were poached. One is too many, but this is ridiculous. 

Price County, Wisconsin Warden Joe Paul

In Price County in northern Wisconsin, more than 30 deer were found dead, killed in August and September of 2018. Very few of the animals had meat or even antlers removed – they appeared to have been killed and left to rot. Price County Warden Joe Paul said the animals were shined – shining a light at deer during nighttime – and then illegally shot, or purposely hit with vehicles. “One is too many, but this is ridiculous,” said Paul. Paul said it was mostly minors and a few adults that had killed the animals; his investigation is still ongoing.

City Deer at Risk of Poaching

In a rural setting, deer are more alert to the presence of humans. They have a keen sense of smell, and will startle at the scent of people. Deer also tend to congregate with turkeys; turkeys have superior vision. Between the two species, if any of the animals spook, they all run. The visual sign to other White-tailed Deer that potential danger is nearby is raising that signature white tail.

In an urban environment, deer are acquainted with the ever-present scent of humans. A city deer may register a human as a predator, but their sense of concern is often much lower than that of a rural animal. This can make city animals especially vulnerable to poaching; their guard is down.

During a walk at a Milwaukee County Park on Nov. 29, 2018, the deer in the above video displayed the exact behavior that puts these animals at risk. Without camouflage clothing or scent masking, while walking on a trail with an unobstructed view, I was able to easily approach within 20-feet of the animal. It displayed no signs of concern, and would look at me and then put its head back down and continue browsing food beneath the snow. As a bowhunter myself, I was baffled that this animal allowed me to get so close.

Unintended Human Threats to Wildlife

Animals so acquainted with people provide opportunities for photographers, but the habits of some photographers can present problems for wildlife. Some photographers can get caught up in the pursuit of capturing the perfect picture, leading them to get closer to wildlife than animals prefer.

Birds, and some other animals, can be particular about their habitats and surroundings, and if something is amiss they will leave. This includes human interaction. A human presence can sometimes result in birds not breeding, leading to dwindling numbers of the very animals that people hope to see, photograph, or conserve. This, of course, is not poaching, but is another reason why some people choose not to disclose where they take photographs of animals.

Zoe Finney is the staff photographer at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Bayside, a non-profit that is not a part of the Milwaukee County Park System. As a pastime and as part of her job, Finney photographs wildlife with a focus on birds.

Finney, whether at Schlitz Audubon or other natural areas, has a policy of not disclosing the specific location of animals she photographs. This can create friction in the birding community, as people have “life birds” – birds they wish to see within their lifetime. Some migratory birds will only appear for mere hours at a location, meaning the window of opportunity for seeing or photographing can be slim. Finney says too much human presence can affect migratory birds in particular.

“Snowy Owls are a great example,” said Finney. “They may irrupt [migrate] to Wisconsin in winter, already low on energy when they arrive. If a large crowd of people come to photograph the bird they could flush the animal, causing it to use energy it really doesn’t have.”

Rachel Love Nuwer is the author of Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking. She says the U.S. is the second largest market for the illegal wildlife trade. Nuwer has found that poaching is often not about securing food, she observed that exclusivity is an integral part of animal trafficking. Poachers, or people who purchase poached animals or artifacts, often want to possess something that other people can’t have. It’s a feeling of power they get from ownership. “The rarer the animals are, the more desirable they are, that’s how things tend to go in these communities,” said Nuwer.

Steve Swiertz is a warden for Milwaukee County. He says in the county parks and county lands, hunting and trapping is forbidden. “They are public access, meaning people can go explore and fish, but there is no hunting or trapping allowed.”

Swiertz says the most common issues are overbagging – taking a higher number than the daily limit of harvest – and improper licensing. “We come across shining and shooting and things like that, but generally more of the minor cases,” said Swiertz. When talking with Swiertz, he hesitates to provide any specific details related to poaching in Milwaukee. He doesn’t want to give potential poachers any ideas.

The best things folks can do is be observant and be attentive.

Milwaukee Warden Steve Swiertz

Warden Swiertz asks people exploring the parks to pay attention and contact local authorities if they see anything that looks suspicious – but asks people not to intervene directly.

A Large Deer Population

Bev Bryant is a naturalist at Wehr Nature Center. She says that photographers can be an important asset in park safety. They spend so much time on the land that they see a lot of what employees may not notice. “Some of the photographers are so helpful, they’re very observant of what goes on and let us know of any possible problems,” said Bryant.

Whitnall Park has a long and sometimes tumultuous relationship with deer. In 1996, a deer culling program began because the animals were eating too many of the plants raised for Boerner Botanical Gardens. Deer can be destructive to native plants and trees, not just ornamental varieties. “Too many deer can lead to a decrease in wildflowers and tree regeneration,” said Bryant.

Sharpshooters are contracted for the deer culling effort; it is not an open season for hunters. In the past, meat from killed deer had been processed and donated to food pantries. However, since Chronic Wasting Disease was found in Milwaukee County, pantries no longer accept donations of venison.

Technology and Poaching

Internationally, wildlife sanctuaries are requesting that tourists not post locations of animals they see or photograph. “South African authorities have picked up on situations in which people have posted pictures of elephants while on vacation, and then poachers went and killed that animal,” said Rachel Love Nuwer. 

What if somebody was poaching or setting illegal traps and a kid got hurt?

Brooke Gilley, Outreach Naturalist at Wehr Nature Center

At Wehr Nature Center, Brooke Gilley accepts that in nature, death is a part of life. She doesn’t get shaken up when animals are killed by other animals. Her main concern that the people who visit public parks are able to explore nature safely. “For me it’s about the people,” said Gilley. “What if somebody was poaching or setting illegal traps and a kid got hurt?”

Brooke Gilley has a daily reminder of the legacy of poaching in Milwaukee. The mount of Bowtie, the buck that was shot with a crossbow in Milwaukee County in 2015, is now on display inside the entrance to Wehr Nature Center.

A listing of wardens and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources personnel can be found on the DNR website. Milwaukee Warden Steve Swiertz asks that anyone with information about possible deer poaching  call the DNR tipline at 1-800-847-9367.

The post Deer Poaching in Wisconsin: Illegal Harvests in the Heartland appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

During their first visit to the Fiserv Forum, Courtney Schultz and Lydia Witte walked around the Christkindlmarket in front of the Fiserv Forum on a chilly winter night just minutes before the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons tipped off.

Schultz was surprised by the transformation of the space in front of the arena.  “I wasn’t expecting this beautifully paved area, the beer garden and the future Good City Brewing building,” said Schultz.

“We’re not even here for the [Bucks] game. We’re here for the Christkindlmarket,” said Witte.

Bars and restaurants on Old World Third Street were in for a surprise once news broke back in June 2016 about the Milwaukee Bucks constructing what would become the Fiserv Forum.

Since the opening of the new arena in late August, these bars and restaurants have gotten their first taste of how the Bucks’ new home will impact their businesses.

The first concerts and events have so far resulted in an increase in foot traffic, and in food and liquor sales.

Rob Settecase has been the owner of Ugly’s since it opened in 2013.  He says that the 17,000-person capacity of the Fiserv Forum alone will impact Ugly’s.  “If we get less than 10 percent of a crowd for a concert or Bucks game, that’s around 500 people and we can’t even handle that,” says Settecase.  “I knew our dinner service would be slammed just because of the math.” 

In spite of the optimism, research shows that new arenas in other cities usually provide little to no economic impact on surrounding businesses.

According to a study done in 2000 by Andrew Zimbalist and John Siegfried, sports teams in cities like St. Louis account for less than 0.3 percent of local economic activity.  For a large city likeNew York, a baseball team contributes less than 0.03 percent of economic output.

This lack of impact is due to what Zimbalist and Siegfried call “the substitution effect.”

“The money one spends taking a family to a game typically is money that is not spent at a local bowling alley, golf course, restaurant, or theater,” wrote the authors. “The net effect in the metropolitan area then is zero, or very close to zero.”

Zimbalist and Siegfried found that sports teams may rearrange the spending and economic activity, but they’re unlikely to add much to it.

Another study by Dennis Coates and Brad R. Humphreys in 2004 was focused on Washington D.C. and the economic impact of the local baseball team.

“Fans will bring their entertainment spending from the suburbs into the district -unless, of course, they would have frequented D.C. restaurants, bars, nightclubs, parking lots, and other businesses even without a baseball team in D.C.,” the authors wrote.

Coates and Humphreys suggest that there could be small exceptions to the research, though. They say certain areas around the stadium could benefit.

Griffin Myers did a study in 2017 that explains how certain businesses that are within the vicinity of a new arena can have some success.  

“Most cities that saw positive influences of sports stadiums were located in their city’s central business district,” wrote Myers. “The cities that see the most economic benefits… usually have stadiums located in heavily commercialized areas that consumers can patronize before or after games.”

Myers also says that basketball arenas tend to offer the best opportunity for positive economic effects because they can be used year round. Although the numbers suggest that the Fiserv Forum may provide little to no economic impact on these surrounding bars and restaurants, owners and managers tend to disagree with the research.

Donovan Romo has been managing Carson’s Prime Steaks and Famous Barbeque for more than a year.

Even before the new arena was built, Romo says Bucks games were good for business at Carson’s since the Bradley Center was the focal point of the area.

“Now that the arena is a block closer, it’s been pretty good for us when there are events just because people want something that’s closer [to the arena] with the cold weather approaching,” Romo says.

Bobby Wiltgen is the owner of many establishments on Old World Third Street including Cantina, Oak Barrel and Who’s on Third.  All three locations are within a block of the Fiserv Forum. 

He was aware of previous research on other cities, but says new arenas have helped in places like Kansas City.

Cantina and Oak Barrel were opened up in anticipation for the Fiserv Forum, according to Wiltgen.  He says it was their plan to be planted in the entertainment district.

Wiltgen says Cantina has had many postgame rushes because of its location near the entrance to the beer garden.

He says the Fiserv Forum is the first part of a Milwaukee transformation.

“Everyone talks about how Milwaukee is the best-kept secret. I think that that is not a secret anymore,” says Wiltgen.  “Putting the Fiserv Forum along with big events like Summerfest puts us on the map.”

Settecase says being right next to the beer garden is great for business.

“It’s a lot different now. With the Bradley Center, we wouldn’t see a lot of traffic unless it was a big rivalry game,” says Settecase.  “Now we get hit for any game because we’re so close.”

Lawrence Starks Jr. is director of operations at Ugly’s and has been in charge of entertainment coordination since it opened.

Starks says that business has been great since the opening of the Fiserv Forum, despite what previous studies may suggest.

“Live viewings in the beer garden when there are no events going on in the Fiserv Forum are still huge draws and have increased foot traffic on Third Street tenfold,” he says. “Overall, our numbers have gone up significantly in food and liquor sales.”

Despite the research on new arenas in other cities, Milwaukee appears to defy the odds so far.

Starks says it’s largely due to the Bucks’ ownership group working with surrounding bars and restaurants.

“I think [the owners] didn’t want to just get into the business of making money for them but also how can they generate revenue for these other streets that surround [the Fiserv Forum],” says Starks.

The post So Far, Fiserv Forum is Luring Customers to Neighboring Businesses appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

“I just ended up calling Planned Parenthood and speaking to this amazing lady,” says Kelly. “I don’t know what her name was, but I will never, ever forget her. She should keep her job there forever, because she’s phenomenal.” The woman on the phone told Kelly she had an abortion once, too, and walked her through Wisconsin’s process.

When Kelly arrived at Planned Parenthood, she skimmed through some paperwork and was whisked away by a nurse into a huge recovery room, filled wall-to-wall with reclining chairs. “I was the only one back there,” says Kelly. “You know how you see on the TV shows, with people on the stretchers and there’s just like, hospital lights above them?” she asks. “That’s the intensity I felt.” 

During her procedure, Kelly says the nurse tried to comfort her, and the OBGYN mostly spoke about the medical aspects of abortion. After making necessary small talk, he three women quickly learned they all shared one thing in common. “There was a lot of conversation about how we all hated Scott Walker and Donald Trump,” says Kelly

It’s no secret that abortion access in the state of Wisconsin is extremely limited. Even though Wisconsin has been considered progressive in other political areas, reproductive rights in the state are frequently challenged by citizens and politicians alike. Wisconsin has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the county, and the state’s “purple” political climate often creates a tug-of-war affect with abortion legislation. Both pro-choice and anti-abortion advocates are actively working to undermine one another’s efforts, and organizations on both ends of the abortion spectrum are trying to assist women experiencing unplanned pregnancies.

An October 2018 political survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 58 percent ofAmericans believe abortion “should be legal in all or most cases.” Conversely, 37 percent believe the procedure should be outlawed in all or most cases. The survey found “deep disagreement between – and within – the parties over abortion,” stating “the partisan divide on abortion is far wider than it was two decades ago.” A religious landscape study conducted by the Pew Forum found that 53 percent of Wisconsin residents believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 45 percent believe abortion should be outlawed. These numbers are noticeably different from the national averages, and they’re reflective of Wisconsin’s current political climate and attitudes toward abortion.

According to “Abortion Laws in Wisconsin,” a document created by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, performing abortions was criminally prohibited in the state from 1849 until the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was challenged in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a case that “upheld the essential holding” of Roe v. Wade but also “held that certain state restrictions on abortion are permissible.” The case put abortion rights into the hands of individual states’ lawmakers, and Wisconsin would begin to feel the effects shortly after the case was complete. 

‘I Haven’t Had a Safe Feeling in Eight Years’

Extremist attitudes toward abortion have made headlines in Wisconsin for years. In 2011, a Planned Parenthood office in Grand Chute, Wis. was damaged after a homemade bomb was placed on a building windowsill after business hours. The bomb did not detonate, but concern for patient and provider safety became a high priority for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Five years later, the clinic closed its doors due to security concerns. Also in 2011, Marshfield, Wis. resident Ralph Lane was arrested in a Madison motel room after his gun accidentally fired. Lane was found guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide for plotting to kill a Planned Parenthood abortion provider inside the Madison clinic, admitting that he was planning to “mow down” the clinic’s staff.

Seven years later, Wisconsin abortion clinic employees are still worried about their own safety and the safety of patients. Jessica* works at an abortion clinic in downtown Milwaukee, and says constant protests often leave staff feeling on edge. “It’s a really hostile environment,” she says. “It makes an already overwhelming situation even more overwhelming. I just try to get inside and stay inside all day until I leave.” Jessica says that anti-abortion protestors target clinic employees with different tactics, including offering monetary assistance to find a new job. “I try not to think about it too much,” she says. “Sometimes the protestors overstep their boundaries and touch patients, or just act creepy and weird. I don’t fear for my safety, but I don’t want to say they’re harmless.”

Only one provider works at Jessica’s clinic, and she notes that employees work hard to ensure the doctor’s safety. “We try to protect her the most because she’s the most important part of our clinic,” she says. “It’s not a hot job that people want to do. Doctors get killed doing this job.” Media representatives from Aurora Healthcare and Froedtert were unable to find doctors who were willing to comment on how they manage patients who are interested in obtaining abortions in the state of Wisconsin. 

Sarah* is a Milwaukee-based Planned Parenthood employee who has worked both in health centers and in the downtown administrative office. She started volunteering for Planned Parenthood after getting an abortion a few years earlier. “If you’re not passionate about the issue – if it’s not important to you – you’re not going to make it very far past the protestors, past the politics,” she says. “My goal is to make sure that nobody has to go through [an abortion] alone.” She began working at Planned Parenthood in 2011 – the same year as Scott Walker’s election, the Grande Chute bombing and the Madison shooting. “Those types of things are always in the back of our minds,” says Sarah. “When you work in a health center, [adversity] is daily – protestors are constantly yelling various things at you.”

Sarah says she tries to keep a positive attitude about her workspace, but thoughts linger in the back of her mind. “I know why I’m there – I’m passionate about it. It kind of just rolls of my shoulder,” she says, “but I’m very cautious checking my car before getting in at night.” She says many employees are “hyper-aware” of their surroundings, going as far as protecting their online profiles to prevent harassment. She says Planned Parenthood’s abortion doctors face protests in their homes. “I haven’t had a safe feeling in eight years,” she says. “It’s a really difficult way to live.”

The abortion clinic employees’ worries don’t end when they walk out the door. Wisconsin’s attitudes toward abortion follow them home, and job security is often on their minds. “I think the people I work with that spend a lot of time on social media, watching the news are feeling extra stressed – and so are the patients that are more socially aware,” says Jessica. “It’s just crazy that misogyny is thriving so well.” Sarah echoes the same sentiments, saying that Planned Parenthood’s support ebbs and flows depending on the current political climate. “It’s kind of a catch-22 when there’s a supportive governor or president,” she says. “It’s a better environment for the sake of our jobs – like, we don’t have to worry on a daily basis if they’re going to shut us down – but donors don’t give as much.”

Elizabeth Nash, senior states issues expert at the Guttmacher Institute, and Mel Barnes, the Legal and Policy Director at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, have compared Wisconsin’s abortion laws to those of Texas, a state nationally recognized for its restrictive abortion laws. “Wisconsin and Texas aren’t that dissimilar,” says Nash. “They have a lot of the same kinds of restrictions and the same kinds of impacts, including limited access to abortion clinics. There are a lot of ways in which Texas and Wisconsin are similar, and that may surprise people.”

In 1996, Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson signed a law that requires women seeking abortions to participate in a state-mandated counseling session followed by a 24-hour waiting period. The law was seen as the first major attack on abortion rights in Wisconsin, but it wasn’t until Scott Walker took office that abortion rights became an extremely pressing issue for state politicians.

‘Medically Unnecessary, Unconstitutional’

Barnes notes that even compared to neighboring midwestern states, Wisconsin’s abortion laws are atypical. “Illinois has laws that are more based on medical evidence and patient safety,” she says. “Wisconsin has a lot of laws that aren’t based on any sort of medical evidence and that are really politically motivated to make it harder for women to access care in this state.” Barnes notes that Wisconsin already had many restrictions on abortion access before Walker was elected, and says the state has seen a few pieces of copycat anti-abortion legislature make their way through the courts. She says Wisconsin’s abortion laws tend to be “medically unnecessary, unconstitutional, designed to bully women and prevent them from accessing abortion.”

In 2012, Walker signed his first piece of anti-abortion legislation, a ban on telemedicine abortions in the state. Telemedicine abortions allow women to choose the “pill abortion” process, which can be done at home with support from a doctor via webcam. The law also required that any pills administered for a medication abortion must be given to a patient by the same doctor who performs her state-mandated counseling appointment.

The following year, Walker signed a controversial bill requiring women to get an ultrasound prior to having an abortion. Women are read a state-mandated script describing what is on the ultrasound screen, and are given the option of viewing the ultrasound results. Two years later, Walker signed a law enforcing a 20-week abortion ban, making abortions performed after 20 weeks of pregnancy illegal. “Wisconsin is definitely one of those states that people now think of as a restrictive state,” says Nash. “15 years ago, Wisconsin wasn’t considered that way at all; it was much more of a middle-of-the-road state, and this is really reflective of how the political climate has really changed since around 2011.”

Because of Wisconsin’s strict laws, only three clinics in the entire state perform abortions; two in Milwaukee and one in Madison, according to Planned Parenthood. A fourth clinic in Sheboygan provides limited pill abortions. The locations of these clinics mean that rural women are disproportionally affected by Wisconsin’s restrictive laws; the clinics are each located in southern, metropolitan areas. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 96% of Wisconsin counties have no abortion clinics, and 67% of Wisconsin women live in those counties.

2018 was a landmark year for political changes, both statewide and nationally. With the controversial appointment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a woman’s right to choose has been in the news far more frequently than years past. Barnes notes that there’s been a focus on women’s health and reproductive rights in general, not just abortion care. “I think it’s particularly relevant in Wisconsin because Wisconsin has a criminal ban on abortion that existed before Roe v. Wade was decided,” she says. “For some reason, if Roe v. Wade was overturned, that law would go back into effect in Wisconsin, making all abortion a crime.”

‘It’s a Living, Breathing, Heart-Beating Baby Inside of Me’

Wisconsin Right to Life is an anti-abortion group whose main goal is to “protect life from the moment of conception until natural death.” Executive director Heather Weiniger says the organization works with legislatures to promote anti-abortion laws and spread an anti-abortion message. “When it comes to legislation, we obviously work on introducing bills that we want to get passed,” says Weiniger. “We also work on fighting bills to overturn current laws we might have.”

During the 2018 midterm elections, Wisconsin Right to Life was busy working with candidates who align themselves with the organization’s staunch anti-abortion message. “During an election time, we talk about who favors life, who doesn’t, what their positions are,” she says. “We spread that message to our members, as well as other pro-life members throughout Wisconsin.” Notable 2018 endorsements include Scott Walker, congress member-elect Bryan Steil, and Leah Vukmir.

“Oftentimes, when someone is elected to office, an elected official is not an expert in every single subject they’re going to be voting on,” says Weiniger. “It’s our goal at Wisconsin Right to Life to educate them on what a bill will do, how it will protect human life, and help get them to the point where they understand what they’re going to be voting on.”

Wisconsin Right to Life faces challenges not unlike those of Planned Parenthood, even though they have completely different views on a woman’s right to choose. Weiniger acknowledges that Democrat Tony Evers’ 2018 election will create setbacks for the group in the coming years. “Obviously, the challenge is when a party is in office who doesn’t hold pro-life values, we don’t have something signed into law,” she says. “But when that’s happening, we’re still working with legislatures to introduce bills. It’s a great time for us to work with the public to spread our pro-life message.”

One piece of legislation that Weiniger is especially proud of is Wisconsin’s mandatory ultrasound law. “Now, women who are seeking an abortion have an option to see that unborn child on an ultrasound,” she says. “When you see that baby, it’s a reality of ‘This is no longer what they’re telling me it is,’ – it’s a living, breathing, heart-beating baby inside of me.” Weiniger believes that Wisconsin Right to Life and similar organizations have directly influenced Wisconsin’s abortion laws. “Using our taxpayer dollars to end the life of an unborn child is something we will continue to fight each and every day,” she says. “Our job is to work with the legislature, help them craft legislature, give our input and testify.”

According to Weinigher, there were 5,612 abortions performed in Wisconsin in 2016, and she says that number has dropped significantly throughout recent years. “As those numbers are dropping, people are obviously looking at other options,” she says. Weininger notes that Wisconsin Right to Life works closely with “pregnancy resource centers” – otherwise known as crisis pregnancy centers – to give women the option to keep her unborn baby. “Our job, I believe, is to get women through the door of those centers,” she says. “They are the ones who are skilled, offering education and navigating parenthood.”

‘A Nice Place for Women to Come and Feel Comfortable’

Milwaukee is home to a number of crisis pregnancy centers, including Women’s Care Center, CareNET and Eyewitness for Life. “These pregnancy resource centers are great resources after women have the baby,” says Weiniger. “Many of them offer basic skills to be able to live life and sometimes that’s all it takes.”

Women’s Care Center has two locations in the Milwaukee area; one is located across the street from Affiliated Medical Services, and the other is located across from a Planned Parenthood clinic on Milwaukee’s south side. According to Sarah Campbell, Women’s Care Center development coordinator, the organization takes around 33 clients a day between their two Milwaukee locations. Last year, 1,317 babies were born to Women’s Care Center moms in Milwaukee – according to Campbell, that’s 1 in 10 babies born in the city of Milwaukee.

Walking into the Women’s Care Center on Farwell Avenue is comparable to walking into a high-end plastic surgeon’s office. The furniture looks new, the walls are a soft shade of beige and background music is playing softly. Volunteers with smiling faces greet visitors at the door, immediately asking what brings them in. “We always try to have it be very warm and welcoming,” says Campbell. “Just a nice place for women to come and feel comfortable.”

Women’s Care Center boasts free “medical grade” pregnancy tests and free ultrasounds for women who believe they’re pregnant. The building houses various counseling rooms, an ultrasound room and their “Crib Club,” a small boutique-type room where clients can take home free items for their baby.

The first step for Women’s Care Center clients is receiving counseling from the organization’s staff. “Our counseling is a very nonjudgmental approach,” says Campbell. “Everything that a woman says is met with love.” Women’s Care Center doesn’t refer for abortions, but Campbell says counselors “go through the process” with their clients. “If a client does want to talk about the option of abortion, we are happy to talk about that with them,” she says. “We talk about the surgical abortion, the chemical one at home, and just explaining the medical facts.”

Photos: Lauren Keene

The center’s staff consists of paid employees, who Campbell says undergo “intensive” six to eight-week training. Women’s Care Center employs four sonographers to perform ultrasounds, but no other medically licensed staff are on the payroll. James Linn, MD is the medical director for Women’s Care Center, and he oversees ultrasounds and other medical aspects. (Linn’s medical profile mentions he’s a member of the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs.) The counseling staff members aren’t required to have a social work or psychology background, but Campbell says the organization is selective regardless.

The most arresting part of Women’s Care Center is the Crib Club. The tiny room is full of clothes, blankets, toys, toiletries – a dream come true for a struggling mother-to-be. The items are paid for using “coupons” that clients earn for attending classes held at the center, with topics ranging from breastfeeding to potty-training. “We kind of take a learn and earn approach,” says Campbell. “We view it as a hand up, not hand-out kind of deal.” Parents earn one coupon per class, and if they bring a “support person,” such as a father or grandmother, they’re able to earn two – as long as the support person is consistent.

Most of the Crib Club items are donated by individuals or through parish-organized drives. The racks are stocked with tiny baby snowsuits, onesies and even formalwear – one Christmas dress had a tag for $56. The strollers, car seats and cribs are purchased by the organization to ensure safety standards are being met. “We’re really fortunate,” says Campbell. “People are really generous towards us.” Smaller items, like clothing and diapers, are one coupon while larger items can range from ten to 12 coupons.

Campbell says Women’s Care Center no longer provides services to mothers after their children turn two – unless, of course, they have another baby. The organization claims that overall, 92 percent of women who visit Women’s Care Center decide to keep their baby.

‘They Gave Us the False Information That Abortion Could Hurt a Woman’

Even though Women’s Care Center and other crisis pregnancy centers claim that they provide options options for clients, abortion is still often stigmatized and ignored. Cynthia* found out she was pregnant in 2018, and wanted to weigh her options before deciding how to proceed with her pregnancy. She suffers from endometriosis, and she notes that there was only a 50 percent chance that her pregnancy would be successful through labor. She was initially leaning towards keeping her baby, assuming her health didn’t further complicate her pregnancy 

Cynthia works in the NICU at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and she knew ultrasounds and other pre-natal care could be costly. She decided to visit both Planned Parenthood and Women’s Care Center to learn more about her options. She visited Planned Parenthood first, she says, because “Women’s Care Center and the crisis centers have the reputation of keeping your babies, and I just wanted a completely neutral opinion.” Planned Parenthood was unable to provide an ultrasound for her pregnancy despite Cynthia’s condition, and she was still concerned about her health of her pregnancy. She walked out of Planned Parenthood and decided to visit Women’s Care Center to receive an advertised free ultrasound. 

Upon arriving at the center, she took a pregnancy test and was taken into a room alone to discuss her pregnancy with a counselor. “The lady doing the counseling, she had a cross necklace on, and it’s one of the things I noticed from the very beginning, knowing I might be getting into a very biased situation,” she says.“I don’t feel like all of her information was accurate, especially because she told me an abortion with endo could make me not have a kid, or stuff could go wrong with an abortion that could make me infertile.”

According to “The Safety and Quality ofAbortions in the United States,” abortions performed in the United States have minimal risks and are generally safe procedures. The study says that  “abortion-specific regulations in many states create barriers to safe and effective care,” and that many of the laws have no basis in medical research. Abortion safety has been echoed by Planned Parenthood, who says that abortions are a very “safe, simple and common procedure.” 

Cynthia says her counselor was hesitant to discuss termination, even despite Cynthia’s medical condition. “Talking to the woman, she was really trying to lean me towards the options of adoption or keeping it,” Cynthia says. “There was no mention of my choice of abortion until I brought it up.” Cynthia was aware that the medical information provided to her by Women’s Care Center was incorrect. “She gave us pamphlets and tried to tell me with my endo that an abortion could hinder me to have children in the future, which I know was false,” she says. “They gave us the false information that abortion could hurt a woman.”

Due to her endometriosis, Cynthia received two ultrasounds from Women’s Care Center and decided to carry her pregnancy to term. She says she doesn’t know if she could handle “going through with” an abortion, but her experience with an unplanned pregnancy changed her opinions on pregnancy termination. “I was actually pro-life because I work with babies and children,”she says. “Everything I went through with a pregnancy being difficult, I have now actually changed my mind completely to pro-choice.”

‘Our Goal Is to Love a Woman, Support Her and Give Her Help’

Less than two blocks north of Women’s Care Center is Care Net, another crisis pregnancy center providing free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests and support for moms-to-be. Care Net shares many similarities with Women’s Care Center; nearly all items are donated, and they aim to help women before, during and after their pregnancies. One of the first noticeable differences is Care Net’s apparent Christian affiliation. “Our mission is to share the love of Christ with women facing an unplanned pregnancy,” says executive director Rachel Schepp. “The way we share that love is by offering free services.”

Schepp says that 80% of Care Net’s clients are low-income women who live in Milwaukee’s inner city. Care Net clients are invited to visit the center every 30 days and pick up necessities like diapers and formula free of charge. “We know that women are in need, and we want to be a support for them,” says Schepp. According to Schepp, 90 percent of women who visit Care Net decide to carry their pregnancies to term. Care Net sees an average of 25 clients per week, but Schepp says that’s “definitely an average,” as the number of clients fluctuates day-to-day.

Photos: Lauren Keene

Like Women’s Care Center, Care Net does not provide referrals for abortion. “In the case where someone is set on making that choice, we would provide medically accurate information on the procedure, making sure she has all of her questions answered,” says Schepp. “What we want to do is remove barriers to women for choosing life. If a woman comes in and says, ‘I want to have an abortion,’ we ask how we can help.” Care Net also offers post-abortion counseling for women feeling remorseful about their abortions. Only one volunteer provides the counseling, using a bible-study curriculum called Forgiven and Set Free.

Schepp says Care Net doesn’t get involved in the political side of abortion, and notes the organization doesn’t take a stand on legislation regarding laws or access. “We never want to manipulate or try and make someone feel bad about a decision,” says Schepp. “Our goal is to love a woman, support her and give her help.”

‘The Last Frontier of the Civil Rights Movement’

Both Women’s Care Center and Care Net receive support from Pro-Life Wisconsin, a Christian, anti-abortion legislative organization that works closely with politicians to restrict abortion access in the state of Wisconsin. Legislative director Matt Sande — who refused to be recorded during an interview — describes the group’s views on abortion as “countercultural.” The group does not support a woman’s choice to end her pregnancy even in the event of rape or incest, believing that a conceived child is a blessing after a traumatic event. They also have controversial views on abortion if the mother’s life is at risk, and believe birth control has an “abortion-causing effect.” 

Much like Wisconsin Right to Life, Pro-Life Wisconsin works closely with anti-abortion politicians to pass anti-abortion legislation. Since 2011, the organization has had a heavy hand in 12 pieces of Wisconsin legislation stripping away abortion rights. Pro-Life Wisconsin has worked on a number of noteworthy anti-abortion bills, including multiple bills that have attempted to defund Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. They were also instrumental in banning telemedicine abortions and the bill requiring mandatory ultrasounds. Other noteworthy efforts include bills that prohibit abortion coverage under “Obamacare” insurance plans and bills ending abortion coverage for Wisconsin state employees.

Sande says the group believes that political and legal designation needs to be made as soon as a person exists – in their opinion, at conception. He describes their anti-abortion efforts as “the last frontier of the Civil Rights Movement,” comparing the effects of abortion to racism. The group trains anti-abortion Wisconsinites to serve as “sidewalk ministers” outside of abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood and Affiliated Medical Services. Sande says Pro-Life Wisconsin also tracks their number of “saves” – pregnancies that were carried to term due to their outreach efforts. Sidewalk ministers are trained by volunteers on how to talk women into turning away from abortion clinics and “choosing life” instead. 

‘It’s Impossible to Predict the Future’

Wisconsin’s ever-shifting political landscape means the fight over abortion rights is far from over. On Nov. 6, 2018, Democrat Tony Evers defeated eight-year incumbent Scott Walker in the race for governor. Evers vocalized his pro-choice stance throughout his campaign, and many pro-choice activists breathed a brief of relief when it was announced that Evers won the election. 

Despite Evers’ victory, Wisconsin’s legislation is still Republican controlled – as is the Supreme Court. Many abortion rights activists worry that Brett Kavanaugh’s 2018 confirmation could mean “bad news” for reproductive health legislation, especially in restrictive states like Wisconsin.

“It’s impossible to predict the future,” says Barnes. “He’s made it very clear that the constitution does not protect the right to abortion, and I think it’s very possible he could reverse Roe.” Barnes notes that many Wisconsin women opt to terminate their pregnancies out of state where laws are less restrictive, particularly in Illinois and Minnesota. “The right to access abortion care,” she says, “is not the reality for many women in Wisconsin.”

Heading into 2019, it’s very likely that both pro-choice and anti-abortion camps will face unique challenges surrounding reproductive rights. Regardless of which political party is in charge, one thing is certain: due to passionate advocates on each side of the debate, challenges won’t be going away any time soon.

*Names have been changed to protect those who fear harassment.

The post Tug of War: Inside Wisconsin’s Deeply Politicized Abortion Divide appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

Discrimination is at the heart of the conversation about natural hair. It has caused setbacks for professional success, acceptance, confidence and even hair care knowledge and practices. Today, natural hair is at the heart of a growing movement in black beauty salons across the country, and it’s gaining acceptance — but it’s slow to come to Milwaukee. 

To change the narrative, Milwaukee women finish the sentence: My natural hair is…

The post Carrie’s Curl Conversation: Natural Hair in Milwaukee appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

Laura Johnson, 33, sits quietly on her couch, pulling her black cardigan tighter around her slender shoulders. Her black hair is pulled back into a simple bun, her eyes are sparkly and her smile is warm. Johnson absently stirs her frozen dinner as steam rises from it. The Lifetime Channel is on. She has just put her 1-month old down for his nap, she explains, and this is the only time she gets to eat. Her baby lays beside her, wrapped up in a blanket and cooing every once in a while. Johnson is on maternity leave. She has spent her time at home with her baby and her other two children, while planning new projects for her IAmLauraJohnson organization. Her calm demeanor shows no trace of the trauma she has survived.

More than 10 years ago at a women’s group, Johnson realized that there was a name for what had happened to her at the age of 14. 

“I am trafficked,” Johnson had said, surrounded by women with similar stories, “I didn’t know there was a word for that.” 

In Milwaukee, as many as 340 people under the age of 25 have been victims of sex trafficking, according to a study from the Medical College of Wisconsin. The study found that 97 percent of victims estimated are female and 65 percent are African American. 

“I think [the number is] higher,” Johnson said. “The reason I say that is I know a lot of people that it happened to that haven’t talked about it.” 

“From 14 to 17, I was basically a missing person,” Johnson said. “Back then, the police were so naive. ‘She’s a runaway, she’ll be back.’”

Growing up, Johnson’s mother was a drug user who bounced her family around Milwaukee. During this period, Johnson would become anxious if they stayed in a place for more than two days. She always had a backpack ready by the front door. 

With the uncertainty of home and bullying in school, Johnson felt unsure of where she belonged and turned to books as her escape. She spent her free time reading, and earned good grades. 

When she was 14 years old, she met a man who paid attention to her and encouraged her to travel with him out of town. 

“He was an escape route from trauma in my early years,” Johnson said. “I just wanted attention, to feel loved, for someone who was there.” 

While staying with her trafficker, he would take pictures of her and post them online. He trapped Johnson, taking her away from her family and home. Johnson thought she had escaped the abuse she had faced as a child but instead stumbled into a new cycle of abuse.  

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, many victims are recruited with false promises of better living or working conditions. In most cases, the traffickers tend to be significant others, grooming the victims for abuse. 

“They feel like no one will believe them because of aspects of their lives,” said Bianca Williams, founder of A Cry for Help Foundation, which advocates for sex trafficking and abuse victims in the community. 

“I’ve seen so much in these girls that I’ve seen growing up,” Williams said. “Not having fathers’ support. [They] just want to be seen, loved, accepted, to have someone to listen.” 

Williams said many victims of sex trafficking believe they bring it on themselves, but the victims don’t choose i–they are forced into it. 

Educating young adults has been a project for Williams, who said that it is a hard subject to teach in schools because of the politics. Many of William’s educational talks revolve around healthy relationships, self-care, and how low self-esteem can take a toll on a young person. 

A Cry for Help Foundation is currently working on opening warming shelters, catered to abuse and trafficking victims and their families in the Milwaukee community.

“We are collecting supplies so these girls can work on getting their GED, so they can work, and they can have a safe space,” said Williams.

Speaking Out

Johnson is no longer paying attention to the Lifetime channel. Instead, she picks up her baby, bottle in hand, and repositions herself so she can comfortably feed him. Snuggling deeper into her brown couch, she said that May 5, 2011 will always be a special day for her. 

It was the day she first told her story. From her trauma as a little girl to her time as a fosterchild to the day she was first trafficked, Johnson told a group of women her story and they inspired her to share it on a larger scale. 

At 24 years old, Johnson revealed her story to an audience at the Share Hope Conference. Share Hope is an organization set on preventing sex trafficking and bringing justice to it’s victims. 

Johnson said the goal behind her story was simple: “Don’t feel sorry for me. Here is how it happens.” 

Johnson believed that telling her story opened more doors for her and helped create more safe spaces. 

“I felt like I won,” Johnson said. “The guy, he doesn’t have anything over me.” 

She continued to work in the community, at hospitals and school. She created her independent organization, IAmLauraJohnson, and began working with Dana World-Patterson, a member of the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee. 

The Task Force of Greater Milwaukee was first created in 2008 as a subgroup meant to help the Milwaukee Police Department with recommendations and responses to human trafficking in the city.  

“The misconception is that [the victims] want to be there,” said Dana World-Patterson, a key member of the Human Trafficking Task Force. “There has been a journey from changing the conversation from prostitution to human trafficking.”

In 2012 the task force was taken from county to state level to address public awareness, education, legislation and service provisions throughout the Milwaukee area. The meetings are open to the public to give recommendations and bring in more community organizations. 

Patterson said the key definition of human trafficking is force, fraud or coercion that keeps the victim trapped in a cycle of abuse.

Lt. Dawn Jones from Sensitive Crimes for the Milwaukee Police Department has also worked with the Human Trafficking Task Force.

Jones said that the goal of the MPD working with groups such as the task force is to work continuously to “share knowledge, saving the world, saving our children and helping victims in our community.” 

Lieutenant Jones also said that she believes the age trends in human trafficking haven’t gotten lower, but that the Milwaukee Police Department has been able to find victims right away. 

A common issue when helping victims is that most don’t identify as victims, and judges don’t understand the victim’s mentality, both Patterson and Lieutenant Jones said.

“When people are vulnerable, they will be exploited in different ways,” said Lotus Legal Clinic Founder, Rachel Monaco-Wilcox. 

The Lotus Legal Clinic, founded in 2013, works to give victims of abuse and trafficking legal counsel as well as advocates in the community. 

Lotus also works to change laws in Wisconsin that have created systematic barriers for victims of sexual abuse and trafficking. 

“I really think we need to address safe harbor,” Wilcox said. “Stop prosecuting victims, [and] remove barriers for individuals coming out of that life.” 

Safe Harbor is a law that recognizes minors as victims in cases such as prostitution. Minors who are caught as prostitutes are not booked by the MPD but are taken to treatment centers. However, in some cases, some of the victims are brainwashed and leave the center before treatment can begin. 

Wilcox said that Lotus came from MPD asking her to take cases involving trafficking victims, and realized the need they had for legal services. 

Stopping the Cycle

Laura Johnson leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees, hands clasped together in front of her. She is talking about her two older sons and their growing personalities. One likes to sketch, she explains, while showing off her son’s work. She says perhaps it’s part of God’s plan to bless her with three boys so that she can teach them how to be better than the men she had in her life growing up. 

Johnson plans on going back to school with a focus on human services and child development to try to help others who were like her. 

She has worked with social services before, after coming back to Milwaukee at age 17, and she felt the services failed her. She advocates for resources to help set up a program for young adults aging out of the foster care system as she had. 

“It’s hard working with victims [because] I understand the trauma,” Johnson said. “I always feel good helping, and it helps them.” 

Johnson and her group are working to produces mini-docuseries on Johnson’s life and the impact of human trafficking. She says it’s important to get her story out so that it could help others. 

Both Johnson and Wilcox credit the survivors for speaking out about what had happened to them and bringing public awareness to the issue.

“I think what made the difference is that survivors started coming forward and started talking about what happened to them,” said Wilcox. “They became change agents. They got the attention of people in the justice system, and started the change.” 

The post The Fight to Stop Sex Trafficking in Milwaukee appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

A woman in a hoodie sat among a group of tents, folding clothes. She said that she had been living in the park for three months and planned to move when the temperature drops. It was October and the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn yellow and red. A man walked in from the northwest corner of the park holding a train ticket and talking excitedly. The name on the ticket read Ray Cosby. Cosby said he was grateful for the ticket, which he got from a local ministry.

An Illinois native, Cosby said he had spent four months living in the tent city and a month in the county jail before that for a crime he didn’t commit.

“Look at this. You’d never see this in Chicago,” Cosby said as he pointed to the overflowing trash spilling onto the grass. There weren’t any restrooms for the people of the tent city to use, Cosby explained. The only place was the Public Library – and that was closed at night.

An Old Issue Is New Again

As the seasons changed and the temperature dropped, the cold concrete of downtown offered no protection from sharp winds that cut through tents and froze flesh.

The number of homeless people in Wisconsin has been dropping since 2012, but the tent cities in MacArthur Square and under the highway show that this is still a pressing problem in Milwaukee. According to a study by the Milwaukee Continuum of Care, 871 people live without a permanent home in the city. More than 550 people live in emergency shelters and 161 live unsheltered, sleeping on benches or under bridges.

At a press conference with Milwaukee Aldermen Bob Donovan and Mark Borkowski on November 20, a few protesters showed up to voice concerns. Standing in front of one of the freeway pillars at 6th and Clybourn, retired MPS school teacher Patricia Crerar held a cardboard sign reading, “Homes for the Holidays!” next to the press podium.

The high temperature that day was 35 degrees, with a low of 28. “People are sleeping under bridges and sleeping bags in this kind of weather,” she said. “That is not acceptable.” Breath was visible, exposed skin froze and the wind cut through jackets and pants.

Donovan stepped to the podium and talked about Thanksgiving, two days away.

“I’m certain that celebration will include a lot of great food, will be surrounded by family and friends and we’ll be doing it all in the comfort and security of a home,” Donovan said. “That’s not necessarily the case for the people living behind us.” Behind the alderman sat brightly colored tents, their fabric walls rippling in the wind.

Donovan announced that he had sent a letter to Marquette University asking to use the Ramada Inn across the street as a temporary homeless shelter before it would be demolished. He had distributed the open letter to members of the press and curious bystanders. Later that day, Marquette released an official statement turning down the proposal.

“…Marquette is simply not in a position to use its facilities – vacant or otherwise – to house nonresidents and assume the significant, complex responsibilities that come with operating a shelter,” the statement read.

Milwaukee’s homeless do have options. Organizations like the Salvation Army open lodges for families at risk. If people cannot get to shelters, the Street Angels will come to them with food and provisions. The Milwaukee County DHHS Housing Division releases vouchers for Section 8 Rent Assistance, and said it had released 120 vouchers between the end of October and the beginning of November this year.

Housing First

Luke Rosynek, a Housing Program Evaluator, said that the Milwaukee County Housing Division adopted the Housing First approach three and a half years ago, and that it has been cheaper and more efficient than the previous “treatment first” approach. Housing First aims to house homeless people before assessing any disabilities, mental illnesses or addictions they may suffer from.

“Housing First makes it easier for people to get rehabilitated,” said Rosynek. “Half of the people in the earlier program spent most of their time in shelter.” When someone is brought off of the streets and into housing, they meet with a case worker and the case worker finds out what they need to stay in a home. The members of the Housing Division believe that Housing First can help bring an end to chronic homelessness.

Members of the Housing Division visit homeless encampments every day at every location in the county. They identify and document homeless people at camps and connect them with services like the Salvation Army and Guest House, who are in contract with the Housing Division to assign case workers. 

The Housing Division also takes charge of cleaning up encampments after people who have lived there get rehoused. They throw away trash, confiscate tents and dispose of them after their occupants have been sheltered. Many private organizations bring food, tents and blankets to homeless encampments, but not all of these provisions get used.

Rosynek said that the Housing Division’s main challenge is money. Gaining funds from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is key to keep their outreach programs running and to release vouchers for rent assistance. Rosynek said that the reason the Housing Division was able to release over one hundred Section 8 vouchers this fall was due to extra funding from HUD for their performance.

According to Rosynek, the encampments in MacArthur Square and at 6th and Clybourn represent a social issue. “These encampments are not dangerous,” he said. “These people are extremely vulnerable and need help.”

The Salvation Army 

One shelter that follows the Housing First philosophy is the Emergency Lodge Homeless Shelter provided by the Salvation Army. Converted from a hotel built in the 1970s, the Emergency Lodge is a 120-room homeless shelter on North 7^th Street. Those who call 211 can apply to get a room here, though the rooms are usually filled. The shelter offers a 30- to 90-day stay, which gives occupants time to find employment and make enough money to rent an apartment.

As in the Housing Division, case managers work with people who get off of the streets to try and get them treatment or fill any other needs they may have. The Salvation Army documents individuals who come in and monitors people as they try to get back on their feet. Homeless individuals’ income is tracked and so is the amount of money they come in with and leave the Emergency Lodge with.

Tom Flatley has worked at the Emergency Lodge for 10 years. He says that the success rate of getting people back into permanent housing is at 87 percent, and that successful housing has been steady since he started working there. Many of the cases he deals with are diverse and complicated, and he meets a wide array of people who are looking for housing.

“We see a whole bunch of people from other states that come up here,” Flatley said. “Some people seek jobs in Wisconsin or a place to stay with family, but their plans end up falling through.” He even mentions meeting a highly paid pharmacist that ended up living in the Emergency Lodge for some time.

“People have stereotypes of what they think homeless people look like, but we have all types of people who come here,” Flatley said. “All walks of life.”

The Emergency Lodge is a squat, concrete building with two floors and a basement. Rooms line the halls of the building and are usually large enough to hold entire families. The basement has a recreational room, a children’s center and a cafeteria. Though it is a temporary shelter, the Emergency Lodge devotes much of its space to rehabilitating people.

The Salvation Army also holds seasonal programs like Coats For Kids to help ease the burden of those in houses. Loni Fitzgerald is the director of the Child Development Program at the Emergency Lodge. “That helps meet the needs of the community so that families can focus the funds that they do have towards maintaining housing,” Fitzgerald said. “Instead of having to choose, ‘Do I feed my child lunch today, or do I pay the rent?’”

Drugs and alcohol are banned from the Emergency Lodge, and Fitzgerald said that the shelter does its best to connect people to treatment. If a person in the Emergency Lodge is addicted to drugs, a case manager can work with them to get outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment or move them to a neighborhood where they won’t run into trouble.

“It’s not just finding people housing, but finding people housing where people will be successful,” she said.

Street Angels’ Outreach

Street Angels, Inc. is a volunteer outreach group that goes out three nights a week to meet with homeless individuals at encampments and give them supplies like food, socks, gloves and blankets. As a nonprofit group, the Street Angels get their supplies from community donations, or out of their own pockets. The Street Angels also works with the Milwaukee County Housing Division to document homeless individuals and connect them with housing.

Co-founders Eva Welch and Shelly Sarasin take turns driving the bus that hauls their supplies. For the approaching holidays, they decorated the interior with Christmas lights, wreaths and bells. In their black ‘Hope Dealer’ hoodies, Welch and a group of volunteers hand out hot food donated from other volunteers and provided things like underwear and socks to those who asked.

“We have been asked at the courthouse not to give out any more tents,” said Welch. “Because the camp at the courthouse got very big very fast. And if you give out tents at the courthouse, you can see the homeless people.” The more people aware of homelessness in the city makes more people that are contacting the city or the county about it.

Aboard the Street Angels bus, Welch jokes with the other volunteers and the homeless people she serves, but she remains firm with her clientele. The Street Angels also offers Welch a way to connect with the homeless. “It’s like if you have a few kids, you know who got what and who didn’t get what,” Welch said.

Welch agrees that Housing First works to get people off of the streets and in homes again, but believes that chronic homelessness will never go away. “Every time someone gets housed, someone is moving into their tent,” she said.

As winter descends on Milwaukee, most of the tent city outside of MacArthur Square has dispersed, but some settlements still remain around the Safety Building. People still sleep on benches there at night.

The post Milwaukee’s Homeless: In Full View appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.

Just around the corner from the desk is a stairwell leading up to patient rooms. At the top of stairs, light pours in from the building’s original tall windows. Back on the first floor, opposite the waiting room, is a long, wide empty hallway featuring original neoclassical architecture from when the building was dance hall, historically named Dorsey’s Dancing Academy.

The historic building is not known for its beauty, but instead for the protests, violence and harassment that have been at its doorstep for over 20 years. The building is now the home of Affiliated Medical Services, one of only two abortion clinics in Wisconsin.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Affiliated Medical Services and other legal clinics providing Wisconsin with abortion services were targeted by protesters either acting alone or belonging to churches of different denominations, from in and out of state.

I strongly believe in reproductive rights, what the clinic does and it’s services. [Escorting] resonates with me. I feel like I am doing good. I’m acting on my convictions.

Adam, Affiliated Medical Services clinic escort 

To battle these protests, staff implemented what started as a “clinic defense” and is now called escorting. Volunteers are still seen almost everyday standing outside clinic wearing a rainbow vest with “clinic escort” in bold letters on either side. These volunteers have made it their job to help patients and continue the fight for women’s reproductive rights.

Milwaukee Escorts Today

Adam, who asked that his last name not be used, is part of the new wave of clinic escorts at Affiliated Medical Services. Adam, who is in his late twenties, says his job is to get patients in and out of the clinic with as little interaction with the protesters as possible. He says activism is important to him and clinic escorting is something he could do to help.

Tactics like following patients blocks to their cars, preaching bible verses and confronting the partner of the patient while entering the clinic are something Adam sees protesters do every time he escorts.

“The idea is to let them work themselves up, let them be the loud, angry emotionally charged ones,” he said. “We’re there to give these patients a sense of calm, a sense of comfort, and to distract them from the anti’s that will hound them all the way to the door.”

Adam says protesters will be waiting outside of the clinic and across the street before he gets there and before the clinic opens. When patients arrive, he walks with patients as far as necessary to shield them from sometimes violent protesters.

Last summer, Adam took a protester to court to request an injunction after the protester grabbed him by the vest and pulled him away from a car that he had walked a patient to. Although he didn’t get the injunction, Adam said just taking the protester had a chilling affect and he hasn’t seen him since.

Adam escorts at the clinic twice a week in addition to his full-time job and other volunteer work. He began volunteering at the clinic for the same reasons as the other escorts–to ensure women have access to clinic services.

The Clinic 

Affiliated Medical Services is located on Farwell Avenue on Milwaukee’s East Side. The clinic is Wisconsin’s only independent abortion provider, and provides over half of the state’s abortion services with only one doctor on staff.

Unlike Planned Parenthood-the only other abortion provider in Wisconsin-Affiliated Medical Services has no public affairs, no marketing or human relations, no security and no fundraising. These jobs are instead taken on by clinic director Dawn Balistreri.

Balistreri said working at an abortion clinic brings a sense of paranoia, but staff members are adamant that abortion needs to stay safe and legal.

“You never escape if you are an abortion provider. It is constantly in the news, on billboards, even at the Thanksgiving table,” she said.

Although the court ruling Roe V Wade legalized abortion, clinics like Affiliated Medical Services and their advocates are fighting to keep the law in place.

Since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, the president, who says he is “pro-life with some exceptions,” has increased regulations and restrictions on abortion services.

In Wisconsin and across the United States, restrictions on abortion have made it more difficult for women to obtain abortion services, which have impacted funding and accessibility to clinics.

In 2018, Wisconsin made abortions harder to get. Since May, women must receive state-directed counseling, which according to the Guttmacher Institute, includes information designed to discourage them from having abortions. After that, they must wait 24 hours to have the procedure.  

Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape and incest, and when the procedure is necessary toprevent long-lasting damage to the woman’s physical health. Under the Affordable Care Act, an abortion is only covered if the woman’s life is endangered, her physical health is severely compromised, or in cases of rape or incest.

These changes to abortion rights also come at a time when the #MeToo movement brought to light the number of sexual assault victims, followed by recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s denial of sexual assault allegations against him.

Milwaukee’s Veteran Escorts 

Long-time volunteer and head of escorts Maureen Taylor has helped protect patients from protesters since the 1990s. Taylor, a 75-year-old veteran escort from Waukesha is originally from Great Britain, and still has the accent to prove it.  She has worked with the clinic since the 1990s because of her concern about women’s rights.

Taylor says her job as an escort is to act as a barrier tostop interaction between the anti’s-a term for the antiabortion protesters-and the patients.

Taylor has been working with Wisconsin abortion clinics since 1992, when the protests were most frequent. Back then she became part of the Milwaukee Clinic Protection Coalition. This group acted as “clinic defense” and helped patients through crowds of protesters who filled parking lots and sidewalks while shouting scripture trying to stop patients from entering the clinic.

Taylor had read in a local newspaper that volunteers were needed at clinics because of an influx of demonstrators who were planning to protest clinics around the Milwaukee area.

“They were looking for volunteers. I got out my map and found out where it was, and I’ve been involved ever since,” she said.

At that time protesters came out by the hundreds, crowding Milwaukee streets, homes of doctors and positioned at the doorsteps. These clinics included Affiliated Medical Services, Imperial Health Center, Wisconsin Women’s Healthcare, Summit Women’s Health Organization and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin clinics faced constant protesting for years until the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance Act (FACE) was passed in 1994.The act prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Before the FACE act was passed, protesters’ tactics included blocking access to clinics by gathering in front of the doors, driving their cars into the front doors of the building and crowding the sidewalks. Protesters were also known for putting super glue in the locks of the doors to the clinic and putting acid under the doors so that the clinic would have to close due to the smell.

In addition to physical protesting, protesters associated with religious groups such as Missionaries to the Preborn, Youth for America and Collegians Activated to Liberate Life used scripture and praying as a form of protesting. Protesters recite bible verses and pray in front of the clinic, something that is still common today.

Taylor has seen protesters follow harass patients while following them to their cars, put religious pamphlets in their car windows and beg patients not to kill their baby.

Taylor has also seen the dangerous side of escorting at an abortion clinic.

“I’ve taken different ways home, I’ve had them follow me in a car,” she said. She has had lug nuts on her tires loosened or pulled off, and almost run off the road.

While Taylor says some protesters are just praying, others are “lawless and do not abide by the rules.”

Another veteran escort, David Ritz, also began his volunteering as a member of Milwaukee Clinic Protection Coalition, working alongside Taylor. Prior to volunteering, Ritz had his own business recording performances by top classical musicians for Milwaukee Public Radio. He was also a photographer and scuba diver, and he and his wife traveled the world to combine photography with their love of scuba diving.

His wife at the time was an abortion clinic volunteer when Missionaries to the Preborn, a Christian pro-life extremist group, was protesting abortion in Milwaukee in 1992. She invited him to join her.

I didn’t feel as threatened with a school of 100 sharks as I did around protesters.

David Ritz, Affiliated Medical Services clinic escort 

“I said, ‘What’s going on here is wrong and I will do my part to ensure access to the clinics,’” said Ritz.

Shortly after, Ritz began documenting protesters with his camera at different clinics five or six days a week to help identify protesters for police and in court hearings.

“I didn’t think I had the temperament for it. I had heardstories of what these people were like,” said Ritz. “So I thought I would lose it, I thought I’d go ballistic.”

Ritz’s photos were shared with Wisconsin State police, theFederal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshalls office, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Interpol.  In Milwaukee, the photos were most commonly used in court for contempt motionsagainst protesters.

Over time, Ritz witnessed the extreme actions of protesters. He photographed protests against Bernie Smith, the doctor who was performing abortions for AMS at the time, car blockades in front of clinics and tactics like “speed bumps,” where protesters would lay in front of cars entering clinic parking lots, and “hood surfing,” where protesters would throw themselves on the hoods of cars as if they had been hit.

Ritz was one of the volunteers who began serving injunctions to protesters who threatened the safety of patients and escorts. Some of these protesters, as young as 10-years-old, could be seen crawling on their hands and knees across Farwell Avenue to the clinic as a part of their demonstrations.

After photographing protests for almost three years, Ritz was asked by clinics in 1995 to no longer come to the protests because his presence was deemed inflammatory. Ritz says that this may be because of the number of protesters he testified against in court, or because of the number of death threats made against him.

After being involved with Wisconsin clinics for years, Ritz is able to pick out specific dates and incidents off of the top of his head. Stories that would shock the average person are easy for him to discuss. He can slip in a joke, shrug his shoulders, and continue on to the next story.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Ritz would come back to Affiliated Medical Services as a clinic escort.  

“I doubt [protesting] is ever going to stop,” said Ritz.

Phyllis, who asked that only her first name be used, began volunteering at Planned Parenthood in 1992 after word had spread about anticipatedprotests for the upcoming summer in Milwaukee. She attended meetings and learnedhow to protect patients from protesters after deciding it was “something that needed to be done.” She, like Taylor and Ritz, has seen the worst of the protests and faced similar threats.

She often hears protesters yell things like, “You should know better. You’re old enough to know that. You’re going to burn in hell!”

After Planned Parenthood stopped using escorts, Phyllis came to Affiliated Medical Services and has been with the clinic ever since.

Phyllis said she has seen some of the same protesters from Planned Parenthood also come out to Affiliated Medical Services. She says it’s not the fear that patients will be physically harmed by the protesters, but the intimidation and what the patients have to listen to.

“[Abortion is] a decision that the patients have made and thought about before they came. They don’t need to hear that they’re doing the wrong thing,” said Phyllis. “’Don’t kill your baby’ is the way they phrase it. They have no idea what the situation is for the patient,” she said.

Now that there are far less protesters at the clinic these days, the older escorts are ready for younger generations to fill their shoes. Adam says that what may motivate a younger crowd to start escorting to support abortion rights is the current occupant of the White House and his appointments to the Supreme Court.

“I think specifically with the election of Trump and everything that’s been going on,”he said, “I think more and more younger people are coming around to the idea that this is something that actively needs to be fought for.”

The post Abortion Clinic Escorts Mark 25 Years in Milwaukee appeared first on UWM JAMS 602 Specialized Reporting Projects.