Herb Kohl foundation donates $1M to build homes for childcare workers

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A philanthropic donation will help build homes for early childhood educators in Milwaukee.

Herb Kohl Philanthropies, a foundation for the former U.S. Senator, donated $1 million to the Community Development Alliance and Acts Housing to help fund eight homes for early childhood educators in the Harambee neighborhood and other parts of the city.

The CDA wants to build more than 40 homes around early childhood centers in the area. The effort, which started in 2024, is supported by a Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development grant.

Educators will enter a lottery system to own the homes after completion, CDA officials said. Each home costs more than $250,000, but through public and private partners are offered for around $105,000, officials added.

Milwaukee-based Envision Growth LLC, led by Oby Nwabuzor, is the lead developer for the eight homes.

Officials spoke at Malaika Early Learning Center on Wednesday and discussed a proposed tax incremental district to build dozens of single-family and multi-family homes in the Harambee neighborhood.

The district will encompass the eight early childhood educator homes, a CDA map showed. The CDA is also partnered with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, which plans to add homes in and outside of the proposed tax district. Around 30 more houses will be built in Harambee and bordering neighborhoods in 2026, the map showed.

Event speakers include JoAnne Anton, president and CEO of Herb Kohl Philanthropies, Milwaukee Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs, Amy Pechacek, secretary of DWD, Teig Whaley Smith, chief alliance executive of CDA, Michael Gosman, president and CEO of Acts Housing, Brian Sonderman, chief executive officer of Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, Oby Nwabuzor of Envision Growth, Timothy Scott Sr., CDA board chairman and Tamara Johnson, president of Malaika Early Learning Center.