First Annual Fundraiser for the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative a Success!

July 13, 2021

Wisconsin Metal Parts recently celebrated its first annual brat fry fundraiser for the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative on Saturday, June 26th at Nettie’s Irish Pub. MHVI was suggested by a Wisconsin Metal Parts employee who has many family members who have served in the military, so they felt a personal connection with the cause. Furthermore, multiple members of the Wisconsin Metal Parts workforce are veterans themselves! Employees, friends, and family all joined for some delicious food, drinks, raffles, a bags tournament, as well as open horseshoe and bocce ball! Not only did everyone have a great time, but we also successfully raised over $3,000 for MHVI! This money will go directly towards providing assistance to homeless and at-risk veterans along with their families across Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative was founded and has been run by veterans since 2008. MHVI offers consistent one-on-one assistance in developing short and long-term solutions for housing, medical care, clothing, food, and transportation. They strive to fulfill what other programs often miss and have six unique programs:

• Case Management: The Case Management Program connects veterans with the MHVI Case Manager so that they can build care plans and goals together. From there, they refer them to any additional services the veteran may need and check in with them in the future to see how they are doing.
• Outreach: MHVI conducts morning searches to reach out and offer food, clothing, and toiletries to homeless veterans. They also regularly visit shelters weekly to provide donations and bus tickets to help veterans get to job interviews and medical appointments.
• Women Veterans Initiative: WOVIN is a program created by female veterans for female veterans, whose needs often differ from male veterans. Their goal is to spread awareness and help women veterans and their families navigate complex problems they may be facing.
• Bikes for Stripes: The Bikes for Stripes program provides a donated bike, helmet, and bike lock for veterans who may not have another form of transportation.
• Emergency Food Program: MHVI has a food pantry available for veterans to get enough food for several days. They also deliver welcome baskets with food and cleaning supplies to get veterans started when they move into a new home.
• Home Support: The Home Support Program provides a free delivery of furniture, bedding, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and more household items that veterans may need after moving into a new home.

You can learn more about MHVI and their services here.

Thank you to everyone who attended our fundraiser and donated to this cause. At Wisconsin Metal Parts, we deeply value giving back to our community. You can read more about our Community Service here. We are proud and grateful to support an amazing organization such as the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative and look forward to continuing this as an annual event!