ABOUT RON

Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods Coalition

Our Mission

RON’s mission is to improve the quality of housing in Milwaukee through resident-engaged, data-driven strategies that stabilize neighborhoods, support homeowners, and influence policy and investment.

RON’S Key Objectives

RON focuses specifically on physical housing conditions and the systems that shape them. The coalition’s work is guided by four core objectives:

Help low- to moderate-income homeowners access resources that ensure the safety and stability of their homes
Hold landlords accountable for the condition of their properties
Triage distressed properties that, if left unaddressed, would negatively impact surrounding homes and compromise community quality of life
Provide on-the-ground, comparable data to advocate for city programs and housing resources

These objectives shape how RON prioritizes properties, engages stakeholders, and advances housing quality across Milwaukee.

Who We Are

Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods Coalition (RON) is a citywide alliance of neighborhood organizations working together to address housing conditions across Milwaukee’s low- to moderate-income neighborhoods.

RON functions as a collaborative model that amplifies neighborhood leadership and aligns public agencies, advocacy groups, academic institutions, funders, and elected officials around shared housing data and action.

Why RON Exists

Milwaukee’s neighborhoods—particularly low-income Black and Brown communities—have experienced decades of redlining, disinvestment, and housing policies that have contributed to aging housing stock and deferred maintenance.

In 2013, residents in the Sherman Park neighborhood began inventorying housing conditions house by house in a grassroots effort to reclaim their community. That work evolved into RON — a coalition committed to improving housing quality through data-informed, resident-engaged action.

How RON Approaches Homeowners & Renters

RON’s work centers on improving physical housing conditions.

For homeowners, this means identifying maintenance and safety issues and helping connect residents to available technical assistance and financial support.

For renters, RON’s role is not direct service delivery. Instead, the coalition documents unsafe or unhealthy housing conditions and uses neighborhood-level data to elevate concerns, pressure investor owners and landlords to address deficiencies, and advocate for stronger enforcement and accountability.

By focusing on conditions and accountability, RON works to ensure all residents live in safe and healthy housing.

A Coalition Model Built For Action

RON brings together neighborhood organizations, public agencies, advocacy groups, academic institutions, and funders to ensure that housing data leads to coordinated action and informed policy decisions.

Commitment to Neighborhood Leadership

Neighborhood organizations are at the center of RON’s work.

Each participating organization leads survey efforts and resident engagement within its own geography, ensuring that data collection, follow-up, and advocacy are community-driven and locally informed.

This commitment to neighborhood leadership helps ensure that solutions are responsive to resident needs and grounded in the realities of each community.