Common Wealth Development, Inc.

Common Wealth creates economic opportunities in our community through affordable housing, financial literacy training and job placement for teens age 14-16, workforce development for adults, and business incubation for 30+ growing businesses in two incubator facilities.

 

Your donation through The Big Share will help us advance our programming. You can donate anytime before or on March 1 to count toward The Big Share. Please also help us on March 1 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am (central time) for a chance at a $500 bonus through the Power Hour!

A portion of your donation will be matched by Madison Community Foundation to support our work of creating economic opportunities for generations to come.

There are times when our core program areas come together. Mario Mack participated in our Youth-Business Mentoring Program during the 1996-97 school year while he was a student at Madison East High School. After he completed our 3 week training, he was placed in a job at the Willy Street Coop as a bagger and did some pricing, and “it was the beginning of adulthood for me.” Mario worked at the Coop through 1999 when he graduated from high school.

Fast forward to today: Mario is now a father of 3 and works as a parent liaison at Falk Elementary School on Madison's southwest side. As the parent liaison for the school, he is trying to help kids now and into the future.

“A lot of times, kids are so stuck on what society thinks,” said Mario. “Common Wealth helped me build a strong work ethic.” He recalls choices he had to make, including weekends where he declined hanging out with friends for the day so he could go work and make some money.

Mario has many hopes for his own kids and for the community at large. He’s hoping his daughter will participate in the Youth-Business Mentoring Program at Common Wealth when she enters high school. He wants to instill a strong work ethic in all his kids. He is also planning on getting more involved with Common Wealth’s newest program, the Southwest Partnership, by helping adults in Falk Elementary’s neighborhood with workforce development through Job Shop, where we provide employment training and resume services in partnership with Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ and Joining Forces for Families through Dane County.

“Common Wealth had a huge effect on my life and development into adulthood. I wouldn’t be who I am today without that guidance. Now I want to give back.”

There are many other stories from people who benefit from Common Wealth. Check out these links for more stories:

Commonalities Blog:
http://www.cwd.org/blog/

Common Wealth's YouTube channel:
http://bit.ly/CommonWealthYouTube

 Common Wealth's Facebook page:
http://bit.ly/CommonWealthFacebook