Zilber Family Foundation

05/10/2026

Mother's Day always hits a little different at the Zilber Family Foundation. This year, we want to highlight just one story from the 122 moms who make up The Bridge Project in Milwaukee. 🌸

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Alyssa Salcedo sat down with Natasha Houle – a Bridge Project mom who lost her partner to gun violence, kept a promise to him to go back to school, moved her family to a new home, and is now one semester away from earning her public health degree at Alverno College, all while raising five kids.

Through the support of The Bridge Project, Natasha has been able to take steps toward a brighter future for her family by finding the breathing room, stability, and opportunities she deserves.

👉 Catch Natasha's full story in today's print edition of the Journal Sentinel or online:

The Bridge Project provides expecting mothers with cash during pregnancy and the first 1,000 days of their baby’s life.

05/08/2026

Last month, a couple of our team members took a trip to Washington, D.C. for the 2026 NCRC Just Economy Conference, coming together with other community, foundation, and policy leaders from across the country working toward an economy where all Americans can build wealth and thrive.

We're proud to stand alongside our grantee partners representing Wisconsin - doing this work on the ground every day. The conversations at the conference reflected the same values that drive our grantmaking here in Milwaukee.

05/06/2026

Congratulations to our grantee partner United Community Center on 56 years of building community on Milwaukee's south side! 🎉

The organization recently celebrated their anniversary with its annual gala. In 2025 alone, UCC served 18,000 individuals, including supporting 566 people in recovery and over 900 first-time homebuyers navigate the path to homeownership. We're proud to support UCC's work – including their substance use disorder program and homebuyer counseling services.

Here's to over five and a half decades of service and to the stronger tomorrow you're building. 💙

The celebration, spotlights the people, programs, and partnerships that have shaped a thriving and empowered community for over five decades.

05/05/2026

At the April 2026 board meeting, the Foundation’s Board of Directors approved 30 grants, equaling an investment of $8,064,000. These dollars support nonprofits working to improve the well-being of people and neighborhoods across our community. We look forward to seeing how our grantee partners use these resources to expand their work and drive meaningful change through their missions.

Funding decisions are made three times a year through our Economic Stability, Basic Needs, and Sector Support programs, helping us respond to community needs year-round.

👉 Learn more about our grantee partners: https://zilberfamilyfoundation.org/grantee-partners/

04/29/2026

When communities’ stories are seen and heard, real change follows. That's why we're proud to support the kind of local journalism that goes beyond the headlines.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's community-funded reporting in 2025 is a powerful example of what happens when newsrooms show up for neighborhoods: illegal dumping cleaned up, senior residents safer, food access gaps addressed and stories told that reflect the richness of Milwaukee's people. This is what investing in Milwaukee's journalism looks like.

Read more about the work the Neighborhood Dispatch has been doing in our community to create a ripple effect of change:

Grants and reader contributions in 2025 expanded coverage of Lake Michigan, city neighborhoods and education - and helped train future journalists

04/28/2026

This is Jasmine, proud participant of The Bridge Project in Milwaukee. She is a special education teacher and a mother of three. Her days start early: getting her children ready for school, managing a caseload of nearly 20 freshmen, and balancing the demands of work and family. On paper, her life looked stable. But when she became pregnant shortly after losing her mother, fear settled in. It would be the first baby she carried without the person who had always made her feel safe: her mother.

That’s when The Bridge Project became part of her support system. What began as financial assistance quickly became something more. It became a safety net during a vulnerable time. The Bridge Project funds helped her pay for professional licensing fees and graduate school textbooks as she pursued her master’s degree, allowing her to continue advancing her career while preparing to welcome her baby. Just as important, the program connected her to resources, encouragement, and a network of people she knew she could rely on.

Today, Jasmine is proud of how far she’s come, not just as a mother, but as a professional and a leader. She sees the impact of her hard work every day in her children, in her students, and in the women she now mentors through The Bridge Project. She says the experience taught her something powerful: needing support isn’t a sign of weakness – it’s what helps families keep moving forward.

04/25/2026

Responsible fiscal stewardship makes bold investments possible. This person ensures the Foundation's financial resources are effectively managed and aligned with our strategic goals. His work helps sustain the foundation’s ability to support communities for years to come.

This is: Joel Firkus!

04/23/2026

A new chapter is almost here at Meta House, Inc. as they prepare to open its new campus in the coming weeks. ✨ This expansion will increase Meta House’s capacity to serve more women and families, with outpatient services and administrative operations relocating this spring and the residential program to follow later this summer.

You are invited to attend their upcoming annual gala, "A Day for Meta House" – a one-hour program celebrating more than six decades of impact and investing in what comes next. Guests will enjoy a light breakfast or lunch, hear a powerful story from a Meta House graduate, and view a short film highlighting the new campus.

🎟️ Tickets are free! Register online:

We are just weeks away from opening our new campus, first relocating outpatient services and administrative operations this spring, with the residential program to follow later this summer. This expansion will significantly increase our capacity to serve women and families and provide new opportunit...

04/21/2026

This is DMaya, one of the moms from The Bridge Project in Milwaukee. DMaya had been stable, working full time and taking care of her family. Ten years after becoming a mother the first time, she found herself starting over with a new baby and a pregnancy that was far more difficult than anything she had experienced before. She became very sick, was in and out of the hospital multiple times a week, and eventually had to stop working. The financial security she once relied on quickly began to slip away.

Through the Bridge Project, DMaya had support during a time when she couldn't work. The stability of consistent cash transfers helped her cover essential expenses, focus on her health and prepare for her baby without the constant fear of falling behind. It also connected her to resources, community events, and other mothers who understood what she was going through.

Today, DMaya says she’s proud of how she kept going – showing up for her children, taking care of her health, and leaning into the support around her. Her dream now is simple but powerful: to keep getting stronger, give back to her community, and one day become a homeowner. She believes programs like The Bridge Project matter because life can change without warning - and having consistent support can make it possible to move forward.

04/18/2026

This person works with community partners to understand what people need and invest in solutions that help families access money, build stability, and create opportunity. Her approach centers relationships, trust and long-term impact.

This is: Yalanda Ludtke!