Press Release: DOA Visit Highlights How State Investments Help Those in Greatest Need in Wausau

STATE OF WISCONSIN

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION

Tony Evers, Governor

Kathy Blumenfeld, Secretary

DOA Visit Highlights How State Investments Help Those in Greatest Need in Wausau

Wausau, Wis. – Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld today met with community leaders and local stakeholders to highlight how state investments are helping those in greatest need in Wausau.

Blumenfeld met with Mayor Katie Rosenberg, as well as the two founders of Community Partners Campus, Inc., Kevin Noel and Brian Gumness, to learn more about the Campus and its operations. The facility opened earlier this year and brings multiple human services nonprofits under one roof, with an emphasis on food, shelter, medical care, and social well-being. The campus was funded with the help of a $1.5 million Neighborhood Investment Fund grant from Gov. Tony Evers and houses more than a half-dozen organizations, including the Wausau Free Clinic, Wausau Area Mobile Meals, Marathon County Human Services, and the North Central Community Action Program (NCCAP).

Blumenfeld toured the Campus with Rosenberg, Noel and Gumness; visited Campus organizations; and met with Steve Frodl, NCCAP AmeriCorps director, and several AmeriCorps members to learn more about their work as mentors and tutors for potentially at-risk youth in the area. Serve Wisconsin, which is headquartered at DOA, administers AmeriCorps programs inside Wisconsin.

"Wausau has produced a blueprint for building stronger communities," Blumenfeld said. "Partnerships, innovation, and compassion have all come together to create a state-of-the-art facility that provides folks a one-stop-shop for assistance. I’m proud that the State of Wisconsin played a role in bringing the Community Partners Campus project to fruition."

"It was an honor to welcome Secretary Blumenfeld to Wausau again and show her the progress our community is making on some of the big social and economic challenges facing communities across the nation," Rosenberg said. "Staff from the non-profit and government agencies that make up the Community Partners Campus had the opportunity to share their work, successes, and collaborative victories directly with the secretary as they reflected on how this public private partnership took shape and was actualized over the last few years. But Secretary Blumenfeld didn’t just show up to listen, she asked great questions, shared best practices from communities small and large, and thanked the people who have put in so much muscle and heart to make our community a reflection of our ideals."

From left to right: Kevin Noel, co-founder of Community Partners Campus in Wausau; DOA Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld; Donna Ambrose, executive director of the Neighbors' Place; Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg; and Brian Gumness, co-founder of Community Partners Campus.

The Neighborhood Investment Fund program was initially announced in August 2021 with additional investments announced in May 2022 and has provided local and Tribal governments with capital investments to meet ongoing community needs, especially in areas impacted by the pandemic. Grants are administered by the Department of Administration and funded through the American Rescue Plan Act.

In his 2023-25 budget proposal, Gov. Evers called for $150 million to expand the successful program to meet ongoing workforce challenges throughout the state. Unfortunately, Republicans on the Joint Committee on Finance voted to remove that investment along with more than 540 other provisions from his budget.

Visit BadgerBounceback.wi.gov to view pandemic-related assistance information as well as the latest data and success stories about how COVID-relief investments are making a difference across the state. For updates on other recovery-related grant opportunities, sign up for the Badger Bounceback update list.