Meet Maria. Maria Beltran is a proud home-owning resident of Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights neighborhood. She is active in efforts to improve the community. Maria participates in the health and wellness challenge, is involved in the Neighborhood Improvement District (NID), participates in the city’s lead abatement program, and opens her home to community gatherings.

“I love my house and I don’t want to leave from it. Because it’s a family house. It’s somewhere where everyone gathers, even neighbors.”

She grew up at 29th and North Avenue and has fond memories of coming to Lindsay Heights as a child. “My grandmother didn’t know how to drive so we would walk from 29th and North to 16th and North to the grocery store, Galst, to get her flour to make her tortillas. And we’d walk back. There was J.L. Marcus [department store] where we’d come down here to get our school clothes. There was also Sears on Fond du Lac and North.”

Maria has called Lindsay Heights home since 1992 and owned her own home here since 2002. She’s raised seven children in the neighborhood.

“The neighborhood’s always been beautiful. Over the years it took its toll, like decline, but the community—the people are still the same, and it’s beautiful and I love it here.”

One challenge facing the neighborhood is lead poisoning. Two of Maria’s young grandchildren both tested positive for lead poisoning. In 2022 her home was in the process of lead abatement. Older homes may have lead paint that can expose people to lead, a toxin of special concern for children because lead affects brain development. People can also be exposed through contaminated soil or drinking water if lead leaches from older plumbing fixtures or pipes. Maria is part of the parents lead group at the Coalition on Lead Emergency. She says the Flint, Michigan water crisis of 2014 woke up a lot of people about the dangers of lead poisoning. The City of Milwaukee Health Department provides resources to learn more about lead risk.

Health and wellness is another challenge. Maria shares her own story battling diabetes. Her A1C level was 11.9 in November 2021 but after a four-day juice cleanse from the Walnut Way cafe, Taste of Lindsay Heights, she says she regulated her sugars and by summer 2022 her A1C was 6.0. Maria also participated in the summer 2022 health and wellness challenge, held every day at Johnsons Park to get people active outdoors. Community support and encouragement was important to motivate her.

“On Earth Day we cleaned up Johnsons Park—Lindsay Heights residents—and we took the Hank Aaron Trail down to celebrate Earth Day at the Harley-Davidson Museum, and that was my first time on a bike in 11-plus years,” Maria says. “It takes the community to give you that support and give you that push, and say we’ve got this.”

Maria also recognizes that clean water is a key ingredient for a healthy life in Lindsay Heights. In addition to using filters for her water at home to make sure it is safe from lead and other contaminants, she sees the green infrastructure deployed throughout the city’s first “Eco-Neighborhood” as a way to make a positive difference for the water. She points to the bioswale in the SDC parking lot at 17th and North Avenue as an example. The bioswale manages stormwater from the parking lot, which sends less stormwater into the combined sewer system, reducing the risk of sewer overflows and basement backups. Lindsay Heights features a number of such green infrastructure projects—including at Fondy Park, Walnut Way, and Ezekiel Gillespie Park—that all make a difference for the water. Plus, they beautify the neighborhood.

This doesn’t solve every problem facing Lindsay Heights, but it helps to share the positive story of motivated neighbors rallying for a resurgence and represents concerted investment to improve daily life in what can be a tough neighborhood for those facing many struggles. Water is also something with the power to unite because everyone can make a difference—even picking up trash helps. Otherwise, debris can clog the sewer system, and plastic from bags or bottles degrades to microplastics that are hard to remove once they’re in Lake Michigan.

Maria is playing the role of a neighborhood ambassador for Lindsay Heights. “We want to bring back our community and make it safe for everyone and make everyone feel welcome,” she says, “and know that there’s people like us in the neighborhood who are here to help.”

Maria’s enthusiasm and generosity are often apparent, and she hopes to attract new neighbors to add momentum to Lindsay Heights.

“Our community needs new residents. Nice residents,” she says. “There’s a lot of vacant homes. A lot of homes that need TLC,” she says. “Come move here, come make your home here. Just let’s grow as a community.”