In 2021, we began working with the Academies of Racine to focus on FAFSA completion. We worked with Racine Unified and partners to organize, plan, and facilitate a weeklong FAFSA completion campaign, focused on ensuring more students understand the options available for them post high school, and how completing the FAFSA can help them achieve their post-secondary goals.

Over the past year, we have engaged in strategic reflection, collective learning, and transformation. Much of our work in 2021 focused on lifting up community voices. We looked at current practices and reflected on what it would look like to truly co-create with rather than for, our community.

Over the past 2 years, we’ve been working on increasing the number of community members who have influence over decisions that directly impact them. We know that those closest to the challenges in our systems are often the ones closest to the solution to overcoming those challenges. Our partners, institutions, and organizational leaders, even with the best of intentions, don’t always understand the full picture.

On Wednesday, December 14th, we had a virtual annual report event to highlight some of the great work of our team in 2021, and some exciting opportunities for community members to be engaged in our work.

Racine county partnered with Gateway Technical College and Higher Expectations for Racine County to contribute more than $100,000 to fund at least 15 more internet access points across high-needs areas in the county.

The Brookings Institution shared data from How We Rise: How social networks impact economic mobility in Racine, WI, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC. This study focused on the differences in an individual’s social networks and how those differences impact economic mobility. City of Racine Alderman, Maurice Horton, represented the Racine community in a panel following the presentation.

We are proud of our community showing, once again, that we can have a greater impact when we work together to create change in Racine County. As we close out this year, take a look at all the great work our partnership has accomplished in 2020 in our new, digital annual report format.

We are requesting proposals from active community members in and around the Racine community to be a Community Power Consultant, create and implement our community engagement strategy with Higher Expectations. Proposals are due by November 25th, 2020 and the Community Power Consultant will begin work with us in January 2020.

On Friday, June 5th, after navigating a few speed bumps, four pallets of foods and drinks filled with healthy snack items, meal sides, coffee k-cups, drink mixes, protein bars, and candy were donated to the YMCA to distribute to families!

The Higher Expectations team mourns the loss of the precious lives that have been taken too soon as we’ve collectively failed to address racism in our systems and structures.

As an organization committed to eliminating barriers for our community, we understand that in order to create true change in our system we must listen to and be led by those most impacted by racist structures. We are committed to doing this work.

In the spring of 2019, the City of Racine was selected as one of nine cities to participate in the What Works Cities (WWC) Economic Mobility initiative, a new program designed for cities to increase their residents’ economic mobility prospects and to share how cities and local communities can help reverse the national trend of declining economic mobility.

We want to talk to more families to get a better idea on what matters most to Racine residents when it comes to child care and show decision makers just how many families could be impacted by new, or improved, child care policies.