MKE Urban Stables: A Home, A Hub & A Haven for Healing

BY NASTASSIA PUTZ, PUBLISHER

Development of the MKE Urban Stables is well underway and will be completed sometime this spring. Located at 143 East Lincoln Avenue, the stables will be first and foremost a dual program to benefit Milwaukee youth and Veterans, while allowing the community to intermingle with police officers in a positive manner according to Kent Lovern, chief deputy district attorney of Milwaukee County.

Lovern is the board president for the stables and is excited to see the transformation that may come from officers and youths viewing the world through each other’s eyes. Ideally, these stables will help break down barriers between the two (often opposing) cultures and create a dialog in which both see the humanity in each other. He notes that youths will also be able to learn from the Veterans in the same capacity.

Ed Krishok, the vice president and treasurer of this project, says the facility, which will be a home for the MPD Mounted Patrol’s horses, will be ready sometime later this year for equine-assisted therapy, but a date has not yet been confirmed.

The MPD is partnering with the VA and Hamilton High School to make this therapeutic program possible according to Lovern. Hamilton High School is the largest Milwaukee public school with the largest number of special needs students. So students would benefit from a local facility geared towards helping them. And currently veterans have to travel to use a facility in Illinois for therapy.

Krishok would like to mention how grateful the stables are for its community partners who are responsible for bringing this “one-of-a-kind equine center and community gathering place to life.”

GOALS:

• Provide Equine Programs & Experiences That Keep Youth & Veterans Coming To MKE Urban Stables

• Improve Police and Community Relations by Helping to Build and Support a Human Connection Between Both

• Build a Culture & Appreciation of Service

• Establish MKE Urban Stables as a Multi-Cultural Gathering Place Reflective of Our City