MILWAUKEE — Inclusivity, diversity, and love. That's what one special project is hoping to highlight in Milwaukee with the help of some local breweries.
"To have a place where everybody feels welcomed, everybody feels engaged, is more important than it's ever been," said Love, Milwaukee project member Adam Gabornitz.
It's called the Love, Milwaukee project. And its goal? To collaborate over beer and highlight the work they're doing to make Milwaukee a melting pot.
"This whole Love, Milwaukee project idea was to find out how, especially as we're coming out of COVID times, do we get all the diverse people in our city together," said Gabornitz.
To make this dream a reality, members of the Love, Milwaukee project teamed up with seven Milwaukee-area breweries to host pop-up beer gardens that collaborate with different organizations, like the LGBT Community Center.
"We see a very particular clientele right now and we'd love to diversify it and see more different people out in our community," said John Dgroote, co-founder of New Barons Brewing Cooperative.
"We invited everyone from our cooperative and people throughout the city that are involved in the beer aspect, and hoping to intermingle those two groups and get to know each other," said Heidi Dalibor, also a co-founder for New Barons Brewing Cooperative.
Those involved say getting various communities together is crucial to educating people about the different services that are out there.
"We have support groups, we have counseling, we have emergency services such as food and clothing," said Amy Orta, executive director of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center.
"The conversation is probably the most important thing. Having these people sit down and be face to face and learn from each other and ask questions and be vulnerable," said Dalibor.
Members of the project add that at the end of the day, they just want to make Milwaukee a place that welcomes people, no matter their race, gender or creed with open arms.
"It's so important to connect with someone and that's who we are. We want to be that connection, we want to be that support system," said Orta.
