Mayor Tom Barrett launched the Milwaukee Foreclosure Partnership Initiative (MFPI) on September 18, 2008 to address the foreclosure crisis in the City of Milwaukee. The charge of the MFPI was to build on the work that was already underway in the community to carry out a coordinated strategy to assist homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, stabilize neighborhoods affected by increasing numbers of vacant foreclosed homes and prevent similar issues from developing in the future.

Mayor Barrett appointed a Steering Committee to guide the work of the MFPI, and over 100 volunteers representing a broad range of interests came together to serve on three working groups to create a blueprint for how the City of Milwaukee and its partners will respond to the challenges posed by the foreclosures crisis.

After an aggressive two month timeframe, final recommendations were presented to the Steering Committee in December of 2008. Implementation of many of the recommendations is already underway.