Professional Services in Greenfield

The Center for Resilient Cities strives to create healthy, robust communities through projects and programs that promote healthy, sustainable lifestyles while fostering new opportunities and social networks. Upon completion this fall, its Resilience Research Center will act as an LEED-rated neighborhood center on Madison's south side, housing world-class researchers and a sustainability-focused charter middle school in a once-vacant school building.

The Center for Resilient Cities’ staff and volunteers advocate for sustainable, just food systems, and revitalize local parks and open spaces. Its urban-resilience project and 2-acre farm, Alice’s Garden, hosts plots for roughly 100 families and 10 community organizations. Amid its soil and greenery, dozens of free programs take place, including yoga and aerobics classes, weekly reading circles, harvest-specific cooking classes, and a youth environment-and-farming-education group led by the Urban Farm Manager.

In 1928, John H. Harris, the manager of the Sheridan Square Theatre in Pittsburgh, found a month-old baby girl abandoned in one of the theater chairs with a note asking someone to take care of her. He took her in, dedicated his social club—the Variety Club—to underwriting her support and education, and named her Catherine Variety Sheridan. Harris’s efforts drew support from other entertainers internationally, who joined together to provide aid to disadvantaged youth and children with disabilities. Today, Variety – The Children’s Charity has chapters in 14 countries and 10,000 members and works to enrich the lives of children around the world.

The Wisconsin chapter was started in 1935 by businessmen with ties to show business, and it assists children with disabilities through three programs. The Freedom Program funds durable medical equipment to grant youth greater mobility, and the Caring for Kids program donates medical equipment and therapeutic devices to local clinics and hospitals. The Future Kids program provides educational experiences for young people, including trips to museums, sporting events, and shows.

Mary and Jerry Braunsdorf, the husband-and-wife founders of In-Focus Photography, have helmed a small staff of professional shutterbugs for more than 20 years. Their far-reaching skills have resulted in a portfolio that includes photos of families, seniors, glamour poses, and weddings, with each session personalized to the customer’s individual desires and tastes.

The Laundry Shop simplifies the apparel-cleansing process with 32 washers and 28 dryers capable of holding 60 and 80 pounds, respectively, and drop-off cleaning for everything from clothing to bedding. In an air-conditioned facility with pristine floors, mint-green countertops, and a flat-screen TV, experts scour sullied garments with a variety of thread-pampering services, such as dry cleaning, leather cleaning, and alterations. While little ones play with toys in the children's area, adults dominate a large table layered with books and free WiFi with caffeinated beverages in-hand supplied by nearby vending machines.

For more than four decades, the event facilitators at Brookfield Party Rental have shouldered the burden of party planning by supplying all of the accouterments for bashes, from tents and canopies fit for weddings or cookouts to cotton-candy machines. Picnic guests can bask in the summer sun at rentable banquet tables, while kids test gravity in colorful castle or obstacle-course bounce houses. The party supplier also dishes out charcoal and propane grills, stylish bars, dance floors, and 55-inch Vizio flat-screen TVs that distract guests with sporting events and movies while hosts steal the pennies out of their loafers.

Seasoned shutterbug Jeffrey R. Kepner brings more than 25 years of photography experience to each photo shoot. A background in photojournalism helps him to capture the essence of each moment while snapping high-contrast black-and-white or color shots of families, graduating students, and even pets. Though Bella Classic Photography's studio provides a professional backdrop for photo shoots, Jeff also travels to shoots at parks, jails for trees, and other scenic locations. Digital retouching yields crisp images, which can be printed or shared digitally.