Our Community

OUR COMMUNITY AND THE GROWING PROBLEMS IN MILWAUKEE

OUR COMMUNITY: TARGET AREA
Most very low-income households are concentrated in Milwaukee's North, West, and South Side neighborhoods. Esperanza Unida is located in Milwaukee's Near South Side. The target population for Esperanza Unida's training is any unemployed resident of Milwaukee County. The majority of our trainees are and historically have been residents of Esperanza Unida's South Side geographic target area: a very low-income area bounded by Lake Michigan on the East, Becher Street on the South, 27 Street on the West and the Menomonee industrial valley on the North.

THE DETERIORATION OF MILWAUKEE'S FAMILIES DURING THE PAST 30 YEARS

54% of the households in Milwaukee are low-income or very low-income
Female-headed households have experienced the greatest increases in poverty ever in this city's history
The number of children living in single-parent homes has increased by 300%
More than one-fifth of Milwaukee's households are headed by an elderly person, and over half of these households are classified as low-income
The average household size decreased, falling to 2.54 persons in 1990 from 3.13 in 1960

THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE CONDITIONS
Since 1990 there have been a lot of drastic changes in Milwaukee including crime, drug use, violence, homelessness, teen pregnancy, deteriorating employment options, and a severe increase in poverty for female-headed households. The consequences of these changes have had a significant impact on the lives of the people in this neighborhood and their needs from Esperanza Unida. To continue our purpose of serving the community, Esperanza Unida's programs, infrastructure, and mission have been updated so we can better train and place people into family-supporting jobs and help them maintain employment. We have also used our experience to help people living in poverty get their voices and issues heard and understood.

SHRINKING EMPLOYMENT AND JOB TRAINING CONDITIONS
During the past 15 years, the Milwaukee metropolitan area experienced a net loss of nearly 43,000 manufacturing jobs, with city residents getting hit hardest losing 60% of those jobs. The city's recent unemployment rate for African Americans was the second highest rate in the nation. However, economic growth has been steady for the remainder of the State of Wisconsin. Most new jobs are being created in the service sector, and these jobs are located not only outside the city but out of Milwaukee County. Skill training that was once provided for under State, County, and City programming has been severely
restricted and often completely terminated. This leaves very limited options for people disconnected from the economy to gain access to family-supporting jobs.

INSUFFICIENT AND UNSAFE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN MILWAUKEE
In 1990 there were about 241,000 occupied housing units in Milwaukee and renters occupied about half of the housing units. Nearly half of these units were built before 1940, and 11% were already considered substandard in 1990. The 1990 Community Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) Databook reported that 76% (183,670 households) resided in housing units that contained lead-based paint and that 44% of those units were built before 1940. Families classified as very low income occupy much of the older housing stock, which poses the greatest risk of lead-based paint contamination.

In 1994 the average assessed value of a single family home in the city was $59,894 and the average rent was $342 per month. Of 131,568 renters in 1990, 49% were very low-income, and most of these renters paid more than 30% of their gross income for housing. Small families in the very low-income category were severely affected by rental costs, with 76% paying more than half of their income for housing. In 1990 there was a shortage of 21,377 housing units for households classified as very low
income. Also:

There are 1,222 elderly and 7,995 families on the public housing waiting list.
There are 437 elderly and 6,586 disabled families on certificate and voucher housing waiting list.
There are 842 persons on the waiting list for veteran's housing.

WORKING TOGETHER TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY
Through the years, Esperanza has also mobilized significant public and private investment in its activities and in the neighborhood. Its current operating budget is just over $2.9 million. Each year, between 50-70% of the organization's operating revenue comes from its training businesses; the remainder comes from training contracts/agreement, i.e. JTPA, Milwaukee Area Technical College, from City and County Community Development Block Grant Programs, and from a growing number of corporations, foundations, and individuals. It must be emphasized that the training function of these business initiatives results in increased production costs: managers and employees do not concentrate wholly on production, as they also provide instruction to trainees while performing their job duties. Public and private investments in Esperanza Unida not only support the organization's training businesses but also the organization's management and administrative infrastructure which is so crucial to the successful operation of these businesses.

ESPERANZA UNIDA'S JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT PROGRAMS Esperanza Unida's programs are designed to foster self-reliance by providing individuals with skill training, family-supporting jobs and a real chance for economic self-sufficiency. It is only with these opportunities in place that we can effectively begin to address many of the social problems that plague us today -- solutions to problems that have eluded us for many years. The training and job placement programs of Esperanza Unida assist low-income people in solving problems related to economic dependence and welfare. Hope and opportunity from community support and family-supporting jobs replace hunger, poverty, violence, drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, and the many other problems that stem from economic dysfunction.