Government

Julia Means Appointed to the City of Milwaukee’s Board of Health

MILWAUKEE COURIER — Mayor Tom Barrett appointed Julia Means, Registered Nurse, to the City of Milwaukee’s newly created Board of Health last month on June 27. The nine-member commission will advise the Health Department on policy and advocate for public health practices that improve health outcomes for all Milwaukeeans. The citizen oversight board was created by legislation adopted by the Milwaukee Common Council and signed by the Mayor in February of 2019.

Published

4 years ago

July 17, 2019

Courier Admin

By The Milwaukee Courier

Mayor Tom Barrett appointed Julia Means, Registered Nurse, to the City of Milwaukee’s newly created Board of Health last month on June 27. The nine-member commission will advise the Health Department on policy and advocate for public health practices that improve health outcomes for all Milwaukeeans. The citizen oversight board was created by legislation adopted by the Milwaukee Common Council and signed by the Mayor in February of 2019.

Means, a Community Health Ministry Nurse with Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, part of Ascension Wisconsin, touches countless lives everyday through her faith-based work promoting education around chronic disease management, food security, infant mortality in our community and health navigation. Through Mean’s tireless work and dedication, she has made an incredible impact on many in the community.

“I don’t know Julia Means personally, but when I hear her name, the first word that comes to my mind is mentor,” said Kymm Robinson, Sherman Park neighborhood.

The importance of maternal and infant health cannot be overemphasized because it determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families and our community.

“My cousin was a participant in the Blanket of Love Program and my auntie isn’t around to help her, so the program was important,” said neighbor Justin Patterson. “Julia Means is a teacher, a protector, a rescuer and a second mother. She’s a guardian angel. Without her, I don’t know where my baby cousin would be right now.”

Means is an instrumental mentor to young women and men because she had powerful mentors in her own life.

“I would never be where I am today without someone pushing me,” Means said. “I can help others because I had help.

By combining her nursing skills and her faith, Means has made an impact on Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s and across Ascension Wisconsin. She created an innovative collaboration with church congregations, city officials, homeless shelters, neighborhood centers, community partners and programs to create the “Blanket of Love” program in 2004. The program connects participants to resources that can help lower stress, support wellness and eliminate the two most preventable causes of infant death in Milwaukee: premature births and unsafe sleeping environments.

In 1996, Means became the first Parish Nurse at Ebenezer Church of God Christ. As a Parish Nurse, Means connected the church with the community.

“I’m blessed to work for an organization that fosters and encourages people to have faith in God. Ascension Wisconsin not only allows but encourages me to do my work and not hide my faith,” said Means. “If you take care of God’s business, He’ll take care of your business.” Means truly believes this is due to the countless examples of how God continues to work in her life and the lives of her participants.

“I see myself as the bridge between the community and the hospital. I’m an advocate for people in the community that feel they have no voice,” she added.

While Means is out and about, people always approach her and tell her how she’s impacted their lives. Children even run to her and call her grandma. “I have a new grandchild every day,” Means said.

Means is honored and thankful to wake up every day and do this work. Although people give Means recognition for the work she does daily, Means credits God.

“It’s not my work, It’s God’s work. I am grateful He chose me,” said Means.

Ascension St. Joseph Hospital is holding their 22nd Annual Concerts in the Park Series, Celebrating 140 years of service to the community. All concerts run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Ballpark food will be on sale at all concerts, with proceeds benefiting a different neighborhood school each concert. There will also be free blood pressure and diabetes screening, fresh farmer’s market, courtesy of Mount Cavalry, and fun activities for children.

July 24 Eddie Butts Band August 7 Christopher’s Project
August 21 Joe Richter Band

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Courier.

Up Next

Waters to Facebook: Today’s Hearing is Only the First Step in Our Oversight and Legislative Process

Don't Miss

Looking for Civic Education tools and strategies? Register Now for CRFC’s 2019 “More Perfect Union” Summer Institute!

Courier Admin

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 31 = June 6, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 31 = June 6, 2023

Published

12 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 31 = June 6, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Activism

Community Opposes High Rise Development That Threatens Geoffrey’s Inner Circle

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

Published

4 days ago

May 30, 2023

Oakland Post

Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.

By Ken Epstein

An outpouring of community supporters – young, old, jazz lovers, environmentalists and committed Oakland partisans – spoke out at a recent Planning Commission hearing to support Geoffrey Pete and his cultural center – The Inner Circle – an historic Oakland landmark whose future is threatened by a proposed skyscraper that out-of-town-developer Tidewater Capital wants to build in the midst of the city’s Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

The speakers argued passionately and persuasively, winning the sympathy of the commissioners, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the Commission unanimously approved the high-rise to be built either as a residential building or office tower on Franklin Street directly behind Geoffrey’s building.

Mr. Pete has said he would appeal the decision to the City Council. He has 10 days after the hearing to file an appeal on the office building. His appeal on the residential tower has already been submitted.

Mr. Pete said the Planning Department still has not published the boundaries of the BAMBD. “Tidewater’s applications and subsequent applications should not be approved until the Planning Department fully acknowledges the existence of the BAMBD,” he said.

“This (proposed) building poses a grave danger to the historic (Inner Circle) building next to it, arguably Oakland’s most meaningful historic building,” Pete said.

“We’re here to advocate for what’s best for the African American district and community that has gotten no representation, no advocacy, as of yet,” he said. “The (commission) is guilty, the City of Oakland is guilty, and Tidewater is guilty.”

One of the first speakers was Gwendolyn Traylor, known as Lady SunRise, who directly addressed the developers.

“With all due to respect to your business, it’s not a need of this community. I would like to ask you to reconsider the location …What is being (promised) here does not add to the healing of this community,” she said.

Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance emphasized that Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a treasure of Oakland’s history.

“Our first concern is the integrity of the historic district, in particular the former Athenian-Nile Club, now Mr. Pete’s equally historic venue, which has been the location of a great number of important community events,” she said. “It would not be OK with us if the integrity of the building were damaged in any way, no matter how much insurance (the developer bought) because it is very difficult to repair a historic building once it’s damaged.”

The Inner Circle was previously owned and operated by the Athenian-Nile Club, one of the Bay Area’s largest all-white-male exclusive private membership club, where politicians and power brokers closed back-room deals over handshakes and three martini lunches.

Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson pointed out that commissioners and the city’s Planning Department have “acknowledged that you went through the entire design review process without even knowing that the Black Arts Movement and Business District existed.”

The district was created in 2016 by City Council resolution. “At the heart of the opposition to this building is the desire to further the legacy of local Black entertainment and entrepreneurship exemplified by businesses like Mr. Pete’s … a historical landmark and venue (that serves) thousands of people who listen to jazz and other entertainment and hold weddings, receptions, and memorial services,” said Uncle Bobby.

This development is taking place within a context in which the “Black population in Oakland has decreased rapidly … because of the city’s concentration on building houses that are not affordable for people who currently live in Oakland,” he said.

John Dalrymple of East Bay Residents for Responsible Development said, “This project will result in significant air quality, public health, noise, and traffic impacts. He said the city has not adequately studied the (unmitigated) impacts of this project on the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

“This project is an example of what developers are being allowed to do when they don’t have to follow the law, and they don’t have to be sensitive to our city’s culture and values,” he said. The commission should “send a signal today that we will no longer be a feeding ground for the rich.”

Prominent Oakland businessman Ray Bobbitt told commissioners, “Any decision that you make is a contribution to the systemic process that creates a disproportionate impact on Black people. Please do yourself a favor, (and) rethink this scenario. Give Mr. Pete, who is a leader in our community, an opportunity to set the framework before you make any decision.”

Though the City Council created the BAMBD, the 2016 resolution was never implemented. The district was created to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support the contributions of Oakland’s Black artists and business owners and the corridor as a place central historically and currently to Oakland’s Black artists and Black-owned businesses.”

The district was intended to promote Black arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area, and to bring in resources through grants and other funding.

Activism

Community Meeting on Crime and Violence

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

Published

4 days ago

May 29, 2023

Oakland Post