Jane Woleben Panther, Nurs ’87, started helping at Kinship Community Food Center in the last place you’d expect to find a nurse: behind the meat counter.
“The meat counter is a pretty standard role for a new volunteer,” says Natalie Ross, Kinship Milwaukee’s food programs and procurement manager. “We immediately picked up on Jane’s curiosity, sense of humor and compassion when she was there.”
Panther, a longtime nurse and educator, came to Kinship looking for a purpose after retiring from her main career. She heard about the thousands of meals Kinship provides to neighbors who are experiencing food insecurity and thought she might be of use. It didn’t take long to discover that they needed her skillset.
“She would ask shoppers and volunteers about their health concerns and even track down folks to measure their blood pressure,” Ross recalls.
“I just looked around and saw people with a lot of health care needs,” Panther says. “I’d see a woman walk by who was incredibly jaundiced. I’d see frostbite a lot; a few people are unhoused and have to deal with the elements in the winter. So I approached a director about setting up a nurse’s corner to take vital signs, weight and other things like that.”
The idea was initially met with hesitancy. Kinship had tried setting up healthcare stations in the past through local nursing schools and hospital systems. Few community members would approach them. Some expressed a lack of trust in medical professionals.
“I approach people the way they want to be approached — with dignity, respect and humor.”
Jane Woleben Panther, Marquette Nursing Alumna
However, this time proved to be different, mostly because the person in the chair wasn’t a stranger. It was Jane, the kind woman at the meat counter every Tuesday. Kinship regulars knew her, shared jokes with her and came to trust her. The Nurse’s Corner was soon full of people asking both for Jane’s guidance on a wide range of health matters, as well as connections to resources in the community.
“She frequently leaves that corner to go out into the crowd and talk to people — I think that’s a large part of why it’s so successful,” says Travis Sternhagen, volunteering and training manager at Kinship. “There’s a real intentionality behind how she’s pursuing people. People bring things up to her, and then they’re surprised that not only did she not forget their story, but she cared enough to come approach them.”
It’s a method that aligns perfectly with Kinship’s guiding philosophy. Established more than four decades ago as Riverwest Food Pantry in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, Kinship was initially a traditional food bank. Volunteers packaged boxes and people arrived to take them. While that approach succeeded in getting food to those who needed it, it also left them disconnected from others in their neighborhood. It fed the body, but not the soul.
When Kinship became a community food center, the approach changed. No more pre-packaged food; people could take what they needed in a similar manner to shopping in a grocery store. Twice-per-week community meals give people a reason to stay and get to know each other instead of walking in and quickly leaving. Mission intern programs, a crisis resource office and workforce development initiatives give people new pathways to prosperity.
“At Kinship, every single person is showing up to give, and every single person is showing up to receive,” Sternhagen says. “Food is really the first point of connection, and then the rest of the conversation is how do we equip people to become close friends and have that friendship translate into prosperity.”
While no doctor or nurse would ever diagnose a patient with loneliness, the condition nonetheless underlies many of the problems that end up in the Nurse’s Corner. Ross, who calls lack of connection “insidious” and “pervasive” among the population Kinship serves, frequently asks residents who they would call in a medical crisis. Who would take them from the hospital? Who would check in on them? Sometimes, the answer is “nobody.” But for many, it’s Nurse Jane.
“Jane’s ability to build rapport is exceptional; she sees the whole person in front of her,” Ross says. “Folks are willing to tell her their concerns and follow through on recommendations because they know Jane will ask the next time she sees them.”
“I approach people the way they want to be approached — with dignity, respect and humor,” Panther says.
Kinship is currently in the final stage of fundraising for its permanent home, opening in summer 2027 at the crossroads of the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods. There have already been conversations about an expanded Nurse’s Corner. Panther now has a medical student and a neurology resident volunteering with her, so the new facility will likely need to make room for a few extra people. As for Nurse Jane herself, she expects the number of people coming to her corner for support in navigating health concerns to grow, a fact that she’s very happy about.
“These are the most incredible people I’ve ever met. I love every one of them,” she says.
