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Join us for a resident-led tour of Lindsay Heights, where you'll get a unique perspective on our neighborhood assets, future activities, and key programs. Explore sustainable infrastructure, bio-swales, renewables, gardens, and orchards through the eyes of our residents. Don't miss this opportunity to get an insider's view of our vibrant community!

Tour of Lindsay Heights, sustainable infrastructure, bio-swales, renewables, garden and orchards. Experience the best of urban sustainability with the Lindsay Heights EcoTour, a project spearheaded by the City of Milwaukee ECO HOME GR/OWN initiative and Walnut Way Conservation Corp. This exciting tour immerses you in the heart of Lindsay Heights Neighborhood, where you'll delve into topics like solar power, local food production, climate change adaptation, and more. Start your journey at the Walnut Way Center, once a condemned home, now transformed into an epicenter for community revitalization and environmental stewardship. Discover how 14 former vacant lots have bloomed into productive gardens, peach orchards, compost systems, and stormwater management projects. Venture to the Wally Schmidt Redevelopment, a testament to energy efficiency with its green roof and porous pavers. Don't forget to stop by the Innovation and Wellness Commons, boasting a rooftop solar system. For a unique blend of education and exploration, book your tour today!

Welcome to the first floor along North Avenue in IWC Phase I, a versatile and modern meeting venue designed with flexibility and convenience in mind. This expansive space boasts seating for up to 20 individuals, making it an ideal choice for workshops, seminars, or team meetings. The room features eight small group tables that can be effortlessly reconfigured. Join them together for a large communal workspace or arrange them separately for breakout sessions or smaller group discussions. A 65-inch display is equipped with a virtual camera, ensuring seamless video conferencing experiences. A laptop is also available for presentations or digital collaborations. Jot down ideas or map out strategies on our whiteboard, a crucial tool for any brainstorming session. The conference space also includes a compact kitchenette, complete with a small refrigerator for refreshments. Elevator access ensures the space is easily accessible, and multiple bathrooms provide added convenience for attendees. One of the unique features of this room is its ability to be split into two separate sections, each spanning 550 square feet. This allows for simultaneous activities or provides an additional level of privacy if needed. Reliable WiFi connectivity enables real-time collaboration and ensures you stay connected throughout your event or meeting.

Standing up to a powerful utility like We Energies—the only major electric utility in the region—and Wisconsin’s largest philanthropic institution is an especially bold and risky move for Walnut Way. These entities hold considerable influence over public investments, policy decisions, and the flow of resources in Milwaukee and across the state.​ Challenging such dominant organizations can be dangerous for a community-based group. It risks future funding, stakeholder relationships, and the organization’s ability to participate in critical decision-making. Yet, Walnut Way’s willingness to challenge these giants reflects a commitment to genuine accountability and real community representation—actions that are rarely taken in a landscape as segregated and unequal as Wisconsin’s. Their stance is a necessary, courageous step to ensure that community voices are heard and that new projects truly serve local residents, even when facing serious institutional pressure. What’s happening: Major utilities are proposing new tariffs—complex energy pricing rules that could shape who pays for Wisconsin’s data center boom, how much, and what our communities get in return. Yet, without strong voices for equity at the table, these decisions risk leaving neighborhoods like ours behind. See Clean Economy Coalition A “tariff” is simply the set of rules that utilities use to decide how much everyone—families, businesses, and big companies—have to pay for electricity. Right now, utility companies and new data centers want the state to approve a plan to spend more than $16 billion building power plants and infrastructure just to supply these data centers, which could use more energy than all the homes in Wisconsin combined.​ Take a survey The problem? We energies wants regular people and small businesses to help foot the bill—by raising everyone’s rates—while the data centers and utilities profit. All this while making energy truly affordable for everyone in Wisconsin would cost less than $500 million. That means the resources exist to help families struggling with their bills, but the current plan puts corporate profits ahead of affordability and community needs. Why it matters: Tariffs have a direct impact on every household’s electric bill, the affordability of keeping the lights and heat on, and whether new money from tech giants will help or hurt frontline neighborhoods. Decisions made now will shape utility rates, infrastructure, and fairness for decades. Why Walnut Way intervened: Walnut Way is stepping up as an “intervenor” in the Public Service Commission (PSC) tariff docket—joining legal proceedings, submitting testimony, and fighting for our seat at the table. Intervenors have the power to cross-examine utility proposals, demand community benefits, and require utility transparency. If we don’t speak up, policies may be set that overlook equity, workforce development, local hiring, and bill assistance for those most in need. Across Wisconsin and the country, community benefits agreements (CBAs) are increasingly being implemented by tech companies, institutions, and utilities to ensure that major projects deliver tangible benefits for local residents—like workforce development, affordable access, and community investments. In Wisconsin, tech sector projects and utilities are beginning to include CBAs as part of new data centers and broadband infrastructure, promising collaboration with local organizations and direct investment in education, workforce, and housing.​ Elsewhere, tech giants such as Google and Microsoft have pioneered major CBAs tied to data centers and renewable energy projects. For example, Microsoft’s solar and data center agreements have included commitments for workforce training, supplier diversity, local hiring, educational partnerships, and millions in community funding. Google has also made similar investments in community infrastructure and broadband where it operates large technology campuses and data centers. These models are being adapted to Wisconsin’s landscape, offering new opportunities for local communities to shape the future benefits of tech and infrastructure development. What we’re fighting for: Community Benefits Agreements: Ensuring large energy users, like data centers, pay into funds that will support local renewable energy, weatherization, and job training. Ratepayer Protection: Making sure new utility infrastructure isn’t just a blank check that sticks residents with higher bills or stranded costs if data centers leave. Equity and Affordability: Advocating for targeted bill credits and affordability programs so low- and moderate-income families share in the benefits—not just the burdens—of these big energy deals. Transparency: Demanding that decisions about customer costs and utility profits are made in the open—not behind closed doors or via confidential deals with tech giants. How we do it: We join forces in coalitions with partners, attorneys, and advocates who share our commitment to justice and fairness. We submit direct testimony, participate in hearings, and file public comments. We push for settlement agreements that guarantee lasting benefits and system-wide improvements for all Milwaukeeans. The bottom line: By intervening, Walnut Way is ensuring that community voices are not only heard, but matter, in shaping Wisconsin’s clean energy transition and making sure the economic benefits reach those who need them most. Order Now

In Lindsay Heights, faith and innovation have come together to spark a new era of health and digital opportunity. Driven by a partnership between Walnut Way Conservation Corp, Marquette University, neighborhood residents, and leaders from local churches—including the active engagement of Pastor Teresa Thomas-Boyd organizing congregations—this study reveals how deep-rooted community trust can unlock lasting change.​ Study Findings Through wearable health monitoring devices and technology-centered health education, African American residents saw improved chronic disease management and better mental health outcomes. The effort was grounded in trusted faith spaces, with churches hosting learning sessions and empowering residents to track their health, ask questions, and receive culturally responsive support from leaders they know.​ The Team and Their Commitment Pastor Teresa Thomas-Boyd’s leadership, alongside Cassandra Flagg, Dr. Nilanjan Lodh, Dr. Aleksandra Snowden, Dr. Praveen Madiraju, Mr. Antonio Butts, Walnut Way staff, and dedicated church volunteers, was critical. Their patient, sustained involvement built bridges across faith, health, and technology—ensuring that digital tools served real neighborhood needs, not just abstract goals.​ Outgrowth: Digital Literacy and Affordable WiFi The faith community’s involvement illuminated a new need: digital literacy and access. By teaching residents to use technology for self-care in familiar, supportive church and neighborhood environments, and launching affordable WiFi, Walnut Way and its partners have begun closing the digital divide. Church events and trusted gatherings made learning accessible, while new connectivity now enables ongoing virtual support and broader opportunities for families.​ Emerging Initiatives With digital literacy growing and affordable WiFi reaching more homes, Lindsay Heights stands ready for the next generation of community health, education, and faith-based empowerment. This collaboration demonstrates that, when faith leaders, trusted nonprofits, academic partners, and residents unite, they not only solve today’s problems—they set a trajectory for future generations to thrive. See more on affordable wifi here: Resilient Resident Affordable WIFI Open Monday - Friday 10am - 2pm

May brings fresh momentum to Walnut Way as we nurture roots of change in the neighborhood. From garden prep to tech access and café innovations, we're planting seeds that uplift community resilience and equity. Catch up on recent wins, events you won’t want to miss, and how you can get involved in shaping a vibrant, thriving Lindsay Heights.

Board Members LaVonda Graham Board Chair Member Since 2015 Read More Monique Graham Secretary of the Board Member Since 2017 Read More Dea Wright Board Member Member Since 2023 Read More Annie Robinson Vice President Member Since 2012 Read More Heidi Moore HR Committee Chair Member Since 2018 Read More Earl Ingram Board Member Member Since 2023 Read More X'Zayvion McCoy Treasurer of the Baord Member Since 2018 Read More Emonia Barnett Board Member Member Since 2022 Read More

Job Listings Blue Skies Landscaping - GI and General Services Crew Member Milwaukee, WI, USA View Job Café Team Member Milwaukee, WI, USA View Job Urban Agriculture Coordinator Milwaukee, WI, USA View Job Community Wealth Building Manager Milwaukee, WI, USA View Job Communications Assistant Milwaukee, WI, USA View Job

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