Herb Kohl Philanthropies donates $1M to affordable housing in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Herb Kohl Philanthropies will donate $1 million to invest in homes in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood.

Organizers and other local nonprofits say they want to help families in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood become homeowners, helping create additional stability here for generations to come.

The money will be donated to the Community Development Alliance and will go towards helping early childhood educators purchase homes in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood.

Nonprofit leaders say early childhood educators are often severely underpaid and spend a substantial portion of their income on rent and housing.

With this donation, eight homes will be built and sold to educators for $105,000. Nonprofit leaders say they want educators to buy homes in the neighborhoods they live in to help communities like Harambee thrive.

“Homeownership is at the core of quality of life in any community. If you are in stable homes, you have better education results, better safety results, better workforce results and better overall health results. So that’s really what we’re aiming for is stable housing as a way to improve quality of life for everyone,” said Teig Whaley-Smith with Community Development Alliance.

The eight homes will be built early next year.