Enriching his roots

Published: November 1, 2009

Photo submitted by Zilber Ltd.

By Jessica Stephen

Developer Joseph Zilber left Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights neighborhood decades ago to make his fortune with Towne Realty Inc., but he never really said goodbye to the streets that shaped him.

“He recognized what this neighborhood could be,” said Mario Hall, program coordinator for the Lindsay Heights Neighborhood Initiative.

In 2008, Zilber chose Lindsay Heights on the north side of Milwaukee and Clarke Square on the south side as the first neighborhoods to receive grants from his Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, a 10-year, $50 million effort to develop community quality-of-life plans helping residents deal with commerce, education, housing and safety, among other issues.

The gift followed a $10 million donation in 2007 to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a $30 million gift, including $25 million for scholarships, that same year to his alma mater, Marquette University.

The former Marquette scholarship student’s gifts showed Zilber’s loyalty to the places where he got his start.

“His real passion in that gift was the scholarships,” said the Rev. Robert A. Wild SJ, president of Marquette. “He knows what a difference it made for him, and he wanted to give back.”

Zilber studied at Marquette as an undergraduate and a law student, Wild said. The philanthropist for years gave quietly but generously to provide scholarship money, Wild said.

“He began to get these letters back from the students basically telling him how important this was in their lives,” Wild said. “That, I think, really gave him a sense that, ‘I can really make a difference.’

“And he got a really good feeling in being able to make that difference and see it happen.”

Zilber had already made a difference in Lindsay Heights by sponsoring a Boys & Girls Club there, and Hall said he already is seeing even greater changes in the neighborhood as a result of the philanthropist’s initiative.

Some development projects had put the neighborhood on a path toward revitalization, but Hall said the Zilber grant really will carry the area forward.

“This gives us a chance to build on that development,” Hall said.

“There’s so much more work to be done.”