COA Youth & Family Centers
Camp Helen Brachman, 909 E North Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53212
About
COA Youth & Family Centers offers activities that include homework help, field trips, and active outdoor play. The program also provides daily school pick-up within a 1.5-mile radius to the Riverwest Center for enrolled children.
• Ages: 0–18 years old
• Price: COA offers daily school pick-up within a 1.5-mile radius, with a modest $10 monthly fee to the Riverwest Center.
COA Youth & Family Centers operates programs at the Early Education Center, the Goldin Center on Burleigh, the Riverwest Center, the Samson Family Resource Center, and the Ethel Nutis Gill Family Resource Center. The organization’s mission statement is that COA Youth & Family Centers nurtures children, supports families, and builds strong and resilient communities – one child, one family, one community at a time. Since 1906, COA Youth & Family Centers has had a positive impact on over 8,000 Milwaukee children and families. The program is licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, and its Early Education Center is a five-star, NAEYC-accredited early learning center. COA Youth & Family Centers accepts both Wisconsin Shares and private pay.
COA Youth & Family Centers offers Early Head Start and Head Start in collaboration with Next Door. The Samson Family Resource Center offers drop-in programs for parents and children ages birth–7. The organization operates a diaper bank that distributes diapers, a Summer Meals Program partnered with Hunger Task Force & CFI, and a food pantry at the Ethel Nutis Gill Family Resource Center. In 2025, COA Youth & Family Centers provided meals for 1,833 youth and 752 adults through its Summer Meals Program partnered with Hunger Task Force & CFI. Through collaboration with other community-based organizations, corporations, and foundations, COA Youth & Family Centers engages residents in the Riverwest and Amani neighborhoods through outreach that responds to the voiced needs of those communities.
The leadership team includes Executive Director Dr. Amy J. Rowell, Finance Director Christine Flores, Development Director Mel Brostowitz, Goldin Center Director Jenissee Volpintesta, and Riverwest Center Director Lisa Heid. Board leadership and members include Dina Abercrombie (President, Northwestern Mutual), Jason Eggert (1st Vice President & Treasurer, Old National Bank), Amanda Boynes (Immediate Past President, U.S. Bank), Nancy Farino (2nd Vice President, Community Volunteer), and David Feiss (Secretary, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Retired), along with members Maggie Atkinson (Marcus Hotels & Resorts), Robert Barnard (Black Maple Capital), Timothy F. Busalacchi (Morgan Stanley), Michael Gilbert (Gap Inc.), Andrew Komisar (Community Volunteer), Jack Jacobson (Newmark), Kellen Kasper (SC Johnson), Mindy Kramer (Alverno College), Vanessa Morgan (Community Volunteer), Diana Pathammavong (Goodwill Greater Milwaukee & Chicago), Chanell Royston Župac (Mahler Sotheby's International Realty), Iesha Sanders (Community Volunteer), Jeff Schaefer (Associated Bank), Sean Scullen (Quarles & Brady LLP), and Angela Stenklyft (Baird). Candid has awarded COA Youth & Family Centers a Platinum Seal of Transparency for its financial fitness and transparency.
Last updated February 26, 2026.
• Ages: 0–18 years old
• Price: COA offers daily school pick-up within a 1.5-mile radius, with a modest $10 monthly fee to the Riverwest Center.
COA Youth & Family Centers operates programs at the Early Education Center, the Goldin Center on Burleigh, the Riverwest Center, the Samson Family Resource Center, and the Ethel Nutis Gill Family Resource Center. The organization’s mission statement is that COA Youth & Family Centers nurtures children, supports families, and builds strong and resilient communities – one child, one family, one community at a time. Since 1906, COA Youth & Family Centers has had a positive impact on over 8,000 Milwaukee children and families. The program is licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, and its Early Education Center is a five-star, NAEYC-accredited early learning center. COA Youth & Family Centers accepts both Wisconsin Shares and private pay.
COA Youth & Family Centers offers Early Head Start and Head Start in collaboration with Next Door. The Samson Family Resource Center offers drop-in programs for parents and children ages birth–7. The organization operates a diaper bank that distributes diapers, a Summer Meals Program partnered with Hunger Task Force & CFI, and a food pantry at the Ethel Nutis Gill Family Resource Center. In 2025, COA Youth & Family Centers provided meals for 1,833 youth and 752 adults through its Summer Meals Program partnered with Hunger Task Force & CFI. Through collaboration with other community-based organizations, corporations, and foundations, COA Youth & Family Centers engages residents in the Riverwest and Amani neighborhoods through outreach that responds to the voiced needs of those communities.
The leadership team includes Executive Director Dr. Amy J. Rowell, Finance Director Christine Flores, Development Director Mel Brostowitz, Goldin Center Director Jenissee Volpintesta, and Riverwest Center Director Lisa Heid. Board leadership and members include Dina Abercrombie (President, Northwestern Mutual), Jason Eggert (1st Vice President & Treasurer, Old National Bank), Amanda Boynes (Immediate Past President, U.S. Bank), Nancy Farino (2nd Vice President, Community Volunteer), and David Feiss (Secretary, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Retired), along with members Maggie Atkinson (Marcus Hotels & Resorts), Robert Barnard (Black Maple Capital), Timothy F. Busalacchi (Morgan Stanley), Michael Gilbert (Gap Inc.), Andrew Komisar (Community Volunteer), Jack Jacobson (Newmark), Kellen Kasper (SC Johnson), Mindy Kramer (Alverno College), Vanessa Morgan (Community Volunteer), Diana Pathammavong (Goodwill Greater Milwaukee & Chicago), Chanell Royston Župac (Mahler Sotheby's International Realty), Iesha Sanders (Community Volunteer), Jeff Schaefer (Associated Bank), Sean Scullen (Quarles & Brady LLP), and Angela Stenklyft (Baird). Candid has awarded COA Youth & Family Centers a Platinum Seal of Transparency for its financial fitness and transparency.
Last updated February 26, 2026.
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