When historic flooding struck Milwaukee in August 2025, Aziz Abdullah didn’t have experience in water restoration. What he did have was a commitment to his community — and a willingness to act.
One year later, Abdullah, a student in the Accelerated Master of Public Health program in Community Health Equity Promotion at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health, is reflecting on the community-led response that grew out of the disaster.
In a recent WUWM story, Abdullah spoke with reporter Jimmy Gutierrez about the volunteer effort he helped lead during the flooding and how that work has evolved into broader efforts to support Milwaukee neighborhoods and young people.
Responding when the community needed help
In August 2025, widespread flooding left homes, basements and backyards across Milwaukee underwater. Abdullah and a group of other Milwaukee residents responded by clearing clogged drains, pumping water from homes and helping residents remove flood debris — all at no cost.
They learned as they went.
Abdullah told WUWM that he knew nothing about water restoration before the floods. After encountering someone using equipment to remove water from a home, he began searching for similar equipment and found someone who could teach the group how to use it. Soon, they were moving from neighborhood to neighborhood helping residents recover.
For Abdullah, however, one of the most meaningful outcomes was not simply the number of homes the group helped. It was the opportunity to involve young people in serving their community.
He pointed to one young participant who began by helping remove flood debris and water and has since become a youth ambassador and works with Hustle and Mow, a free lawn care service Abdullah helps operate for Milwaukee residents.
Building opportunities for Milwaukee youth
That work has continued to grow.
Abdullah told WUWM that he now employs approximately 120 young people through several community projects, including Hustle and Mow, the Handyman Academy, Grow Rich at Alice’s Garden and a program he calls the Paper Team. The programs provide young people with opportunities to work, develop practical skills and contribute to their neighborhoods.
His work also reflects a central principle of public health: the places where people live, learn, work and grow can have a profound influence on their health and well-being.
For Abdullah, improving Milwaukee’s physical environment is closely connected with strengthening its people and communities. He told WUWM that seemingly simple actions — including helping young people recognize their own value and encouraging residents to care for the areas surrounding their homes — can have effects that extend far beyond a single cleanup project.
Public health in action
That community-centered approach aligns closely with Abdullah’s studies in the Zilber College’s Community Health Equity Promotion program.
The MPH track prepares students to understand the social and behavioral factors that influence health and to use evidence-based approaches for developing, implementing and evaluating programs designed to improve community health. UWM’s accelerated public health program also emphasizes hands-on learning that allows students to develop skills for improving the health of communities.
Abdullah’s work demonstrates how those principles can extend beyond classrooms and traditional health settings. Community health can also mean responding during a neighborhood crisis, creating opportunities for young people, improving the environments where families live and building the relationships that help communities become more resilient.
A year after Milwaukee’s historic floods, the emergency cleanup may be over. But for Abdullah, the larger work of investing in Milwaukee communities continues.
Read or listen to the full WUWM interview, “One year after Milwaukee floods, a neighborhood cleanup leader reflects,” to learn more about Abdullah’s work and his hopes for Milwaukee.