Michelle Mooney
Just off Downer Avenue is a three story apartment building, built at the same time as the stores on Downer, in the 1920s. In one of the apartments, now converted to beautiful condos, lives an ordained minister with a remarkable record of social activism. She has been Deacon of St. Mark’s church across the street for the last ten years since her ordination, but she has been a socially committed resident of the Downer Avenue neighborhood and the city of Milwaukee for much longer. Michelle Mooney, a vigorous woman with well-cut grey-white hair, sharp blue eyes that concentrate on what you are saying, and a no-nonsense, yet modest demeanor, has a record of social justice work that is inspiring. She was the first Executive Director of The Gathering, Milwaukee’s premier volunteer group providing meals and other services to the hungry since 1982. She now serves as a board member of Common Ground and the newly formed Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative formed out of the Accountable Care Act. Starting January 1, 2014, the Healthcare Cooperative will offer low cost health care statewide to those who cannot otherwise purchase it. Yet she is just as involved with the Downer Avenue community, where she has created a neighborhood produce garden on unused church lawn. The garden is a place where neighbors can come to meet and work together, while raising organic produce. Michelle’s blue eyes light up when talking about the hours she spends in the garden with her neighbors.
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Asked if she has an opinion on how to improve the neighborhood, she replies that while the neighborhood is not “heaven on earth,” it comes close. It is an area “well served”—from the amenities of Lake Park to the local library which will be moving into fine new quarters. While some families who might have stayed in the neighborhood have moved to the suburbs, the neighborhood continues to thrive as more people appreciate the features of the neighborhood. As she put it, “I love Downer.”
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- Michelle Mooney, interview by Fran Assa, Daniel Cho and Yuko Nakamura, Milwaukee, June 18, 2013.