Supporting local Milwaukee nonprofits is deeply important to our team at Forward Space MKE. One organization that continues to make a powerful impact across the city is Milwaukee Community Crossroads (MCC). MCC provides essential programs including Youth Development, Violence Prevention, Neighborhood Home Improvement, Community Building, Older Adult Wellness, and an Emergency Food Pantry.

Our showroom concierge, Julie Haas, connected with Andrea Gritter, the Director of Development & Communication, to see how Forward Space could support their work and mission. She was thrilled to hear from us as she had previously seen the education room makeover the team completed for the Shining Star program at Hope House MKE in November 2024, and was excited about the possibility of collaborating.

Andrea shared that MCC had recently undergone a rebrand and had several spaces within their main center that needed refreshing. Their mission wall, which featured photos and program descriptions, needed a full update to reflect their new branding. This meant removing the existing materials, cleaning and repainting the wall, and installing new content. MCC also envisioned creating an accent wall and a new “Hired Wall”—a space dedicated to celebrating YouthBuild graduates who have transitioned into careers in the trades.

Julie and Cathy Wille, the Director of Design and Customer Experience at Forward Space, met with Andrea to walk through the space and discuss how to bring their ideas to life. Together, they came up with a design plan to align the space better with MCC’s rebrand and to make it more welcoming and functional. The primary goal was to add flexible signage that could be easily updated as needed. This was solved by designing six custom acrylic signs, each highlighting MCC’s new brand colors and icons.

As they toured the MCC facility, Andrea pointed out “dead spaces”, underutilized areas that had the potential to serve the community better. Cathy and Julie quickly saw the potential and proposed revitalizing the areas with donations of select Steelcase and Smith System educational furniture, transforming them into functional and welcoming environments.

Together, the Forward Space team agreed the opportunity was the perfect project to tackle for their annual volunteer day. Just before Thanksgiving, they rallied together, made plans and assignments, knowing there would be much to accomplish in a single day.

To divide the workload and to make the most out of their volunteer day, the Milwaukee division split into two teams: one dedicated to assisting in the food pantry and the second focusing on the interior design projects.

The first team aided MCC’s Emergency Food Pantry by sorting goods and produce, checking for expiration dates, and assembling pre-packaged food bags. This work was invaluable as the food pantry supports over 500 adults and children each month, including providing supplies for those with infants and stock boxes to low-income seniors.

The Forward Space team also had a lot of fun designing the space to better support the Shining Star’s haircut program. Once a week, a local barber volunteers his time to come in and cut children’s hair. Previously, the Shining Star room had a lone barbershop chair for kids to sit on. To make the sometimes stressful experience of getting one’s haircut more exciting and whimsical, Julie’s team installed a full barbershop experience, including a mirror, lights, a barber sign, and, of course, a functional spinning barber pole. This quirky addition to the space was a massive hit with the children.

Through an interview with Hope House educational programmer Fred de la Rosa, the team learned that the Shining Stars room felt underutilized due to an inability to acquire commercial-grade furniture that is durable, functional, and easy to maintain. Julie took extra steps to reupholster a donated sofa to meet these requirements. Other durable furniture traditionally used in schools, such as Smith System tables, were donated alongside this sofa to ensure that Hope House gets the most use out of their refreshed space. 

The second team focused on painting and installation throughout the facility. Aside from the acrylic signs for MCC’s focus areas, the group also worked on hand-painting MCC’s housing icon on the wall, installing wall decals and faux biophilia, and setting up a wall monitor in the Older Adults Center to give digital updates and information. The MCC and Forward Space teams were thrilled to transform the “dead spaces” into welcoming and functional environments to better serve their local community.

Our team has a deep commitment to each other and to the communities we serve. Working alongside nonprofit staff who are so fully dedicated to helping others is a humbling and inspiring experience. Even simple changes—like fresh paint, updated signage, and thoughtfully selected furniture—can transform a space and uplift everyone who walks through it. Volunteering together strengthens our sense of purpose and reminds us how important it is to pay it forward.