THE FAMILY LIFE CENTER OF SAINT STEPHEN CONGREGATION Service Learning Instructor: Lynn Kaestner A presentation by: Taylor Green, Brady Hammerer, and Garrett Knuth 1

Background of The Family Life Center (FLC):  Located at 1441 West Oakwood Road, Oak Creek, WI  An emergency food pantry and clothing bank for children and adults.  Only pantry in Southeastern Wisconsin that provides dental assistance (toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss).  Partners with the Hunger Task Force and Feeding America to stock food pantry.  Food and clothing donations often come from the congregation. The Family Life Center’s mission is:  To provide a nurturing and supportive environment for growth.  Becoming advocates for families to become resourceful for themselves by helping to feed and clothes those in need.  Working together with other community resources in the area to fulfill these needs.  Meeting needs of participants and working hard to provide food and clothes for those in need within surrounding area. 2

3 FLC Eligibility: Admits individuals with addresses from nine specific Milwaukee County zip codes. An adult participant must bring a photo ID and a current piece of mail (within last 30 days). Proof of minors. Income Eligibility Required Family of 1 $1,799 Family of 2 $2,425 Family of 3 $3,051 Family of 4 $3,677 Family of 5 $4,303 Family of 6 $4,929 Monthly Family Income Levels: (for each additional person add $626)

GOALS OF COMMUNITY MAPPING PROJECT  To find poverty stricken areas where people are in need of food assistance in specific Milwaukee County zip codes.  These zip codes accepted by the FLC: Cudahy (53110), Greendale (53130), Hales Corners (53132), Franklin (53154), Oak Creek (53220), Greenfield (53228 & 53235), St. Francis (53172), and South Milwaukee (53172).  To create four maps that each illustrate different categorical qualities of poverty in the specified zip codes.  All four maps identify poverty stricken areas with different approaches. 4

MAP ILLUSTRATION  These maps include legends and scales that help give a visual representation of the statistical evidence.  Each map contains a note dictation that describes the information that is being presented within the specific map.  The maps include the name of the city with the corresponding zip codes along with all of the food pantry locations within the nine zip codes. Street edges have been made transparent to understand pantry locations.  A directional compass is also incorporated to understand geospatial positioning. 5

RESEARCH QUESTIONS  Which zip codes contain the highest amount of married couples with a yearly income of less than $10,000?  Which zip codes contain the highest amount of families (4+) with a yearly income of less than $10,000?  Which zip codes contain the population with the most individuals below the Federal Poverty Level of $11,770/yr.?  Which zip codes contain the households that are enrolled in the Food Stamp program? 6

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES USED  Obtained US Census Tiger shape files from to download our base maps to ArcGIS.  Poverty related data obtained from the American Community Survey.  Went online used to find food shelters in comparison with the designated zip codes.  Federal Poverty level guidelines webpage at  Used Geocoding techniques - Matching different addresses of food panty locations. Helpful in linking the different locations for more accurate data.  Used the “join” feature to connect each base map with the desired data.  Utilized the “cookie cutter” technique to isolate the sought after Milwaukee County zip codes. 7

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RESULTS  Cudahy had the worst score on three out of four maps (except for married couples yearly income).  There seems to be a grouping of zip codes for married couples with yearly incomes less than $10,000 (Greenfield, Hales Corners, and Greendale).  St. Francis scored the worse on two out of the four maps for both married couples and family income levels less than $10,000, and second to worse for food stamp usage and total population below poverty level. 12

RESULTS CONT.  Franklin and Oak Creek were similar throughout all four maps (except in for Food Stamps - Franklin scored very low whereas Oak Creek was at the medium mark).  The most food pantries are located in Oak Creek (this is also where the population total is the highest). 13

INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS: SUGGESTIONS  Overall, Cudahy and St. Francis are in need of the most assistance.  More resources for St. Francis, Cudahy, South Milwaukee, and Greenfield (53220) since they are listed as very below to extremely below the Federal poverty level.  Direct those living in St. Francis and Cudahy to Project Concern of Cudahy for their poverty needs.  The Risk Factor: Direct domestic abuse resources among the three zip codes clustered together for married couples yearly income, which are Greendale, Hales Corners, and Greenfield (53228).  Future mapping could include domestic abuse incidents on the married couples yearly income map to see if hot spots exist/develop. 14