Our Mission
To support and empower young women 18 to 25 years of age through holistic and transformative programs rooted in Afrocentric principles that foster unity, healing, and community building.
We aim to create environments where young women can thrive, their children can grow, and communities can be strengthened at Nia Imani Family, Inc.
Who we are
Nia Imani Family, Inc is Milwaukee’s only long-term transitional living program for young women and their children. Founded in 1994, our mission is to provide safe, stable housing, and holistic support so families can heal, grow, and thrive. We go beyond shelter. At Nia Imani, mothers participate in up to two years of life-skills training, education, and workforce development, while raising their children in a secure, nurturing environment. Our approach is rooted in Afrocentric principles of unity, healing, and resilience, ensuring that women feel empowered to reclaim their futures.
FAST FACTS
Over 29 years of empowering women and children with a capacity of up to 17 mothers and their children at a time
A non-profit, 501(c)(3) community-based agency.
Milwaukee’s only long-term (up to 24 months) transitional housing facility for women and their children.
Building features: 10 resident apartments, computer room, culinary/break-out area, children’s play space, group meeting space, a community room, and 3 ground floor tenants’ storefronts.
Our Name: “Nia” means purpose and “Imani” means faith—two of the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
Our Staff: 2 Full-time staff, 4 part-time staff
What Makes Nia Imani Family, inc. Special
More Time: Women can live at Nia Imani Family for up to 12 months. Breaking cycles of poverty, trauma, homelessness and violence take time. Without safe, affordable stable housing, you can’t get a job, keep a job or raise a family.
More Stable Families: Children can live with their mothers at Nia Imani Family, something unavailable at most transitional housing programs. Our comprehensive programming and holistic approach teaches women about themselves, the importance of childhood stability, nutrition in early child development, and the criticality of early mother-child bonding.
More Tools: Nia Imani Family is not just a roof over a woman’s head. We support women in areas key to their success, such as budgeting, housekeeping, job skills, education, parenting, mental and emotional wellness, nutrition and meal preparation, community resources, problem solving and self-examination and development.
More Support: We are stronger when we help each other. Women are part of an extended “family” structure that provides guidance and support during the program, and beyond. Women develop healthy relationships that provide strength as they transition into independent living. Women are encouraged to fully participate in the broader community, to take advantage of cultural opportunities, resources, employment, etc.
OUR HISTORY
1994: Founded by Belinda Pittman, who recognized a need in Milwaukee for transitional housing for homeless and at-risk mothers. Located at 63rd and Silver Spring.
1996: Moved to 50th and North.
1998: Purchased current building at 25th and Vliet from the City of Milwaukee. The building had been in foreclosure and needed significant work. Received an Affordable Housing Program grant, forgivable loan from the City of Milwaukee, a bank loan, and generous donations.
2001: Rehabilitation complete. Basement community room, computer room, culinary/kitchen area, laundry room and children’s play space available to residents.
2005: Dress for Less Boutique opens at North 27th and State. A small clothing store operated by part-time staff and program participants who have completed the Life Skills curriculum, it served as a valuable training opportunity and stepping stone to jobs outside of Nia Imani Family. It became a popular asset to the community for its affordable new and slightly used clothing, all of which was generously donated.
2007: Muhindi Program started to encourage reading and positive parenting among mothers and their children.
2009: Dress for Less resale shop and training program relocated to retail space in Nia Imani Family building at 25th and Vliet. Nia Imani Family, Inc. celebrates 15 years of helping women and their children break the cycles of substance abuse, violence, and homelessness.
2013: 11 Residential apartments renovated including storm windows and screens by the Department of Neighborhood service.
2014: Changed focus because of the demand from young mothers with child/children and first-time mothers 18 to 25 years old with children not over 5 years old.
2016: Trained by St. A’s in Trauma Informed Care— realizing that we had been doing exactly this since our inception, there just was not a name for it then.
2017: Certified training in PIWI: Parents Interacting With Infants
2021: Nia Imani's Young Mother's Restorative Program branding and strategic planning
THE Visionary Founder
Dr. Belinda PittmAN, Founder & CEO
Belinda Pittman was born to the Rogers Family, the fifth of six children in Monticello Arkansas. At age 12, following the death of her beloved grandfather, Eugene Cross, she moved to Pontiac, Michigan to live with her sister. His advice to her has been an anchor in her life: “If you believe that you can climb Mount Everest, you can. If you get stuck, back up and rethink, but never give up.”
She stopped her formal schooling in 9th grade, going back and forth between Pontiac and Milwaukee, where her parents had moved in 1969. She later received her GED. In 1971, at age 18, she married and had three children—Felicia, Gaynell and Kendricke. She left this abusive marriage at age 31, ending up in a homeless shelter with her children.
Since then, to support herself and the children, she has worked as a home manager and took care of the children, a cleaning business, worked in a program to curb truancy in Milwaukee Public Schools, was a Community Outreach Specialist at UWM-Extension, facilitated women support groups at the Benedict Center and taught independent living skills to young adults ageing out of foster care. In her darkest times, like so many of the women she now works to empower, she was on public assistance.
In 1994, she and a friend started what is now Nia Imani Family, Inc. They witnessed the profound need to serve women, especially African American, who did not know how to break the generational cycles of addiction, poverty, trauma, violence, abuse, homelessness, and learned helplessness. To make a truly lasting difference for women and their children, she knew that a program must offer long-term stable and safe housing, in a family-like structure where the women could experience what a stable family felt like and watch it work, was a safe place to address the trauma of instability, abuse and violence in their past so that healing could begin and that they could then begin to focus more on developing and expanding their basic life competencies, bonding and parenting their children and connecting to a broader community.
Over the years, her profile and her projects have been featured in Milwaukee Magazine, The Milwaukee Times, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, UWM Reports, WMVP, The Milwaukee Catholic Herald, The Milwaukee Community Journal, Neighborhood News Services, Shepard Express and many others.
She has been a speaker at the 4th Street Forum in January 2008 on “The Violence of Poverty”, at many Milwaukee Public Schools, the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Alverno College, Mount Mary University, the Wisconsin Association for Adult and Continuing Education, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee School of Nursing, and many others.
In 2010, she was selected as a recipient of The Milwaukee Times' 25th Black Excellence Awards.
STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Sheena Adams
Executive Director & President
As Executive Director of Nia Imani Family, I lead the organization's strategy, programs, fundraising, partnerships, and daily operations as we strengthen our foundation and build a sustainable future for the families we serve.
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Montessa “Tess” Lee
Treasurer
Tess holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and an MBA with a concentration in Finance. She is a seasoned financial services professional with more than 25 years of experience in banking, underwriting, and risk management. She currently serves as an Auditor in Risk and Compliance, specializing in enterprise-wide underwriting reviews and credit policy oversight. Her background includes leadership in business banking underwriting, quality control in trust banking, and foundational experience in branch operations.
Guided by a servant's heart and a passion for empowering young women, Tess brings empathy, structure, and strategic insight to her nonprofit work. She has served on boards supporting survivors of domestic violence and organizations offering Christian-based community experiences. As a mother of three and a proud grandmother, she understands the challenges young mothers face and channels that personal and professional experience into helping them build stability, confidence, and long-term success.
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Anne Deisinger
Secretary
Anne has a passion for human concerns and social justice issues and is a member of many local service organizations. Anne has worked as a volunteer with Dr. Pittman and Nia Imani Family for close to 30 years, a place that remains close to her heart. She belongs to Ignatian Volunteer Corp, St. Mary's Human Concerns Committee, Racial Justice Committee, and Women of Faith. Her family and faith are her top priorities. Anne’s work experience includes Project Manager at MSOE, Development Manager at PoSH, [SC1] Marketing Manager at Rockwell Automation and Application Engineering Manager at Square D Company.
Anne holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, an associate in project management, and a Master's degree in Theology. As a member of Ignatian Volunteer Corp, she volunteers at St Bakhita Catholic Worker house. She enjoys her time in the community and at her home with family, friends, and their dog Rush.
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Shannon Lopez
Board Chairperson (Interim) & Executive Committee Chair, Development Committee Member — Board member since 2019
Shannon is a Wisconsin native and entrepreneur who has successfully built and exited two previous businesses. She is currently owner of Be Better Consulting, with a background in financial planning, business development, and building systems that help organizations run well. She holds a Bachelor's in Marketing from Arizona State University and a Master's in Behavior Analysis from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Shannon has served on the Nia Imani Board since 2019 and is passionate about bridging social, racial, and economic gaps in Milwaukee and helping women build financial independence. She also serves as Membership Co-Chair for her local Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) chapter, focused on growing female and minority membership. Shannon is a wife and mother of five, and outside of work you'll most often find her in the Wisconsin Northwoods with her family.
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Davina Britt
Vice Chairperson & Founding Chair, Recruitment Subcommittee — Executive Committee Member — Board service since 2025
Davina is an organizational strategist and workforce development professional committed to helping mission-driven organizations build strong, sustainable leadership structures. With a background in talent acquisition and executive-level recruitment, she has supported nonprofits and community-focused institutions in strengthening hiring practices, leadership pipelines, and internal operations.
Davina's expertise includes governance support, policy review, workforce planning, and designing equitable hiring systems that reflect the communities organizations serve. She brings a systems-thinking lens to board service, ensuring that strategy, structure, and people development are aligned for long-term impact.
Her work is grounded in a belief that strong leadership and thoughtful infrastructure are essential to community transformation.
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Edward Nwagbaraocha
Voting Board Member — since 2025
Edward Chilaka Nwagbaraocha is a first-generation Nigerian American, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to his parents Dr. Victor Ibekwe and Pauline Chinyere Nwagbaraocha. He is one of four siblings. Edward holds a bachelor's degree in Information Resource Technology & Library Sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is an IT Service Technician with Milwaukee Public Schools. Edward has volunteered in the nonprofit sector with the St. Vincent De Paul Society of Southeastern Wisconsin as a Vincentian performing home visits, and with Africans in Milwaukee as Publicity Secretary.
Edward is enthusiastic about uniting communities and advocating for their residents. He credits his father's positive work ethic and love for building a thriving community for influencing his own commitment to inspiring community well-being. Edward strives to create neighborhood-based relationships that strengthen the lives and legacies of families. He believes change begins by advocating for others in need and connecting them to valuable resources that provide a path to self-reliance.
The Wisdom of the Turtle
Founder and Executive Director Belinda Pittman-McGee’s favorite image is the turtle. She gives a wooden turtle to each graduate of Nia Imani Family, Inc. The following description she includes serves as a reminder of their time at Nia Imani Family and what they will need to continue to build their futures.
Wood: Precious & Strong
Patience: Change takes time; Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still
The Hard Shell: Reminds us we carry the tools for survival within ourselves. Also, as the turtle’s house, the shell reminds us that home is where we are present.
The Turtle's Head: A symbol of wisdom, the head is always raised as the turtle moves slowly forward. Soul discovery and life recovery are slow and steady pursuits. Endurance. One small step at-a-time.
Recovery from homelessness, foster care, and violence, is full of discovery. It takes courage, positive people, faith, love, purpose, and a releasing of wounds and the reminder that slow and steady wins the race.
