For Our Supporters
Our story and your impact
Our Story
FAST Fund MKE didn't start with a big office or a big budget. It started in a small brick building at 749 W. Juneau Ave. — a modest one-story structure tucked along the edge of MATC's downtown campus, home to AFT Local 212, the faculty union who refused to let their students fail for lack of twenty dollars.
In 2016, Dr. Michael Rosen — who had taught Economics at MATC for 29 years and served as President of the faculty union for 14 years — was preparing to retire. He'd spent nearly three decades watching students drop out not because they couldn't do the work, but because a $200 car repair or an overdue utility bill got in the way. Rather than accept goodbye gifts, he asked people to do something more useful: help him help students. His retirement party raised $17,000. A press release about that raised $4,000 more. Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, whose research on college student poverty had helped spark the idea, donated $5,000 and helped organize a fundraiser that brought in $2,500 more. With that support — and the backing of the union and fellow faculty — they launched what would become the FAST Fund: a simple idea that economic emergencies shouldn't end a student's education. A car repair, an overdue utility bill, an unexpected childcare cost — things that have nothing to do with ability and everything to do with circumstance. In that first year, they helped 26 students.
That building on Juneau is gone now. MATC demolished it in 2021 to build a pocket park. But the work that started inside those walls has only grown. Today, FAST Fund MKE is an independent 501(c)3 providing emergency financial assistance and in-kind goods to MATC students across Milwaukee — with over $1 million in annual aid and a community of donors, volunteers, and partners who believe what those first faculty members believed: that students who are close to the finish line deserve a fighting chance.
We outgrew that little building. We intend to keep outgrowing ourselves.
Why Your Support Matters...
When MATC students succeed, so do their families and our community. Each degree earned strengthens a household. Each career launched adds stability to a neighborhood. Your investment in the FAST Fund pays dividends that reach far beyond one student.
Return On Investment
2,980
Students received emergency assistance last year
89%
Of the students we assisted,
graduated or continued their education
~$350
Is the Average Grant -
The Cost of Keeping a Student in School
Diapers and Period Products distributed through our partnership with Milwaukee Diaper Mission
~120,000
Stories Of Impact
Past and present recipients of the FAST Fund from 2016 to Now
WHY OUR DONORS INVEST
The FAST Fund attracts remarkable people. Here is why some of them give.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
The FAST Fund does not work alone. These are the partners who help us reach further.
WAYS TO INVEST
There is a way for everyone to be part of this work. Here is how to join
FACULTY AND PARTNER VOICES
Address
500 Terry Francine St.
San Francisco, CA 94158
Phone
123-456-7890
Connect
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