Sacred Places Summer 2009 | Page 5

UPDATE on Partners: New Dollars/ New Partners Plus RECENTLY, PARTNERS BROKE NEW GROUND for its New Dollars/ New Partners program in Milwaukee, WI. The New Dollars/New Partners Plus program incorporates increased one-on-one work with congregations, as well as repair-planning grants, thanks to the generous support of the Bradley Foundation and the Uihlein Charitable Trust. In the summer of 2006, Partners began working with representatives of several denominational offices and historic preservation staff of Milwaukee’s Department of City Development to explore interest among inner-city congregations for the New Dollars program. Meetings with senior leaders and staff, site visits to individual congregations and a citywide tour helped Partners become acquainted with the array of congregations, the scope of their challenges and a sense of how the city’s sacred places are integrated into its overall landscape. Partners also conducted an initial orientation, sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), which drew close to a dozen congregations. New Dollars will help congregations learn how to build relationships with new community members and prospective donors to create sustainable partnerships. Additionally, planning grants will provide each congregation with approximately $3,000 for building conditions reports, which assess necessary repairs to a property and its systems, present a plan for phased repairs, and estimate the cost of each repair. If congregations have an up-todate assessment in hand, planning grants can be used for asset mapping, special fundraising consulting, space-use surveys or strategic planning. Partners is excited to be entering this latest phase of our successful New Dollars/New Partners program! Many Thanks to • David E. Gall, AIA, a Professional Alliance member, Winston-Salem, NC • Susan Knack-Brown, P.E., Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, a Professional Alliance member, San Francisco, CA, and New York, NY • Stephen Tilly, Stephen Tilly Architect, New York City who