MILWAUKEE — The owner of Milwaukee's North Avenue Market created the food and retail hall to encourage a sense of community.
"This is the first place that has felt like home since I left North Carolina," Chris Harris Morse said.
Harris Morse has lived in cities across the country, but it was love that led him to his husband's home state of Wisconsin. While moving here Harris Morse was very aware of Milwaukee's challenges.
"I do see a lot of the components that caused the city to be segregated, some of it is really disheartening but for me, the question is, how do I become a part of the solution," Harris Morse said.
The new business owner was open about his difficult childhood. He was molested as a kid and teenager by several people. Harris Morse grew up with a single mother who struggled with her trauma.
"There was a point in time where we would rent a room in a house. In that room was everything for us," Harris Morse explained.
When Harris Morse turned 6 he joined his local Boys Club, which later became the Boys and Girls Club, and it changed everything.
"I wouldn't realize how impactful that would be to who I am as a person today. The club not only saved my life, but it gave me life," Harris Morse said.
Harris Morse worked as a military officer. The club helped him go to college. He worked in academia and corporate. He later became the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Through it all, he has been a father figure to several kids.
"I've had the great pleasure of fostering over 20 kids in a 23-year stretch. I have 18 kids that range from 15 to 45," Harris Morse shared.
In Milwaukee, Harris Morse became a business owner when he opened the North Avenue Market in September 2022.
"My husband said do what makes you happy and based on my background that you heard earlier, I never really had that environment to do that because I always had to be self-reliant," Harris Morse said.
The food and retail hall has served as a building block for something bigger.
"Those are tools to be able to connect people and going back to my faith. That's what God placed on my heart to do something to bring our community together," Harris Morse said.
The hall features a tribute to other Black business owners in the area. It is going through some construction work but remains open for business.
"I think it's pretty exciting. To see people get excited to be here and want to be here. It's just Milwaukee coming to life. So that's a pretty awesome thing," Harris Morse explained.
In the meantime, Harris Morse is focused on finding ways to help others through the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, the Ability Center, and a local program centered on supporting people who have been in foster care and those who are homeless.
