Our History

Esperanza Unida, Inc. was organized in 1971 by Ted Uribe to represent Latino workers in worker's and unemployment compensation hearings. At that time, there were no Spanish-speaking employees at Wisconsin's Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations which handled unemployment and worker's compensation issues. As a result, Latino workers lacked access to and awareness of information regarding their legal rights and because of this, they were losing benefits they had earned. Filling that gap in the system for Latino workers was the impetus behind the beginning of Esperanza Unida. By the late 1970's, Esperanza Unida had become a place for injured and/or unemployed workers to receive quality representation, to discuss their problems together, to support others in similar situations, and to take action to prevent further injustice. The community shaped Esperanza Unida into both an office and a community organizing center. Subsequently, it was through this connection to disenfranchised, unemployed workers in Milwaukee, which set the course for the creation of the Training Business Model.

The Community's Call
Richard Oulahan, who joined Esperanza Unida in 1973 and became Executive Director in 1978, handled hundreds of unemployment claims for the organization during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During that time, deindustrialization and downsizing hit Milwaukee hard, resulting in several major manufacturing plant closings and well over 100,000 jobs lost.

Thousands of those who lost jobs were from Esperanza Unida's South Side target area, the home for many Latino people who had previously come to Milwaukee for its promise of well-paying employment. Disproportionate numbers of Latino workers lost their jobs and found themselves facing a job market for which they were unprepared. Many had never completed high school, spoke very limited English, and were unskilled or, at best, semi-skilled laborers. The last straw was when Allis Chalmers, a farm equipment manufacturing company, closed down its Milwaukee factory in 1983. This meant the loss of thousands of family-supporting wage jobs which paid between $10 to $15 per hour.

Esperanza Unida was already known for representing Latino people in unemployment hearings and was seen as an organization that was answerable to the people. The unemployed South Side population began asking for Esperanza's leadership and assistance. Richard Oulahan explains, "These were the people with the good jobs. They came to us saying, 'What can you do for us?'" This spurned the organization into working for more systemic change.

Their Own Path
Since its inception, Esperanza had worked with state representatives, labor coalitions, and other community organizations to pressure state officials to improve worker's compensation statutes. While they had won a few revisions, systemic change was far beyond their reach.

"All we were doing was getting a little justice in a bad system, "says Oulahan. Those at Esperanza Unida were tired of navigating the rules of a poor structure.

Meanwhile, there was a flurry of activity in the community at the grassroots level. New leadership and innovative ideas were emerging on the South Side. A man named Terry Brulc (also known as "Dr. Warmgrease") was one of these new leaders. He was concerned with the high number of youth in the community who did not have summer employment. Knowing that many of these "at risk" adolescents were skilled at repairing cars, he set up an automotive shop where he provided the environment, the tools, instruction, and guidance. There, people brought in their broken-down cars, the necessary parts, and paid the students to do the repairs.

The people at Esperanza Unida liked the idea of creating a structure that could compete in the mainstream economy, and in turn, reinvest those revenues into the community and the people.

"The Training Business Model is our answer to the question of, 'How do you level the playing field in a capitalist society?'"(Richard Oulahan). The ideas began to come together.

The dislocated workers from Allis Chalmers needed new skills. Those workers had skills that would transfer easily to the Auto Repair industry.

Revenue could be generated through training students. By means of generating the organization's own funding, Esperanza Unida could create an independent institution which was not reliant on, and was apart from, institutions or systems which were not serving the community. This structure, rather, could serve to bridge people back into the economy. In addition, formal market research revealed that jobs in the field of auto mechanics were plentiful and wages were relatively high. An advisory committee composed of area business people familiar with this industry assisted the organization in setting up this first training business. However, Oulahan remembers, "We couldn't rely on someone telling us exactly how to do things because there was no blueprint for it. We needed to figure it out, step by step, for ourselves."

The Training Business Needed a Home
The building was an abandoned auto dealership in the Near South Side of Milwaukee. The owners of the building let the group occupy one half of the space and use it for free for the first year.

The equipment was salvaged from the Firestone Auto Center in Sterling, Illinois. Richard Oulahan read in the newspaper that Firestone was closing down several stores across the country and called the company's regional manager to request that they donate leftover equipment to Esperanza Unida. After several conversations, and several requests from Richard, the manager finally agreed to let Esperanza Unida have the equipment from the Sterling shop. He told Richard, "take whatever you want, just stop calling me. It took Richard, Jose Alicea (currently, Construction/Rehab Instructor), and the four other men on the trip two 20-foot trucks to bring back the $13,000 worth of equipment. Although, Richard points out, the equipment's value to the organization at that time was immeasurable.

Esperanza Unida applied for and received a $150,000 grant from the Federal CETA Title III program to train dislocated workers. This state grant enabled the organization to hire its first instructor and two mechanics, and to purchase some equipment. With these start-up funds, the old building, and some used equipment, the organization started its first training business, The Automotive Repair Training Center.

Over the course of the start-up, the staff had many successes, made many mistakes, and learned unforgettable lessons. The most important lesson they learned was that operating a training business requires a lot of trial and error, constant self-assessment and revision, and most importantly, basing all decisions around the mission to train and to empower the community.

The Model Evolves
Over the years, Esperanza Unida has created twelve training businesses.

Each was created in direct response to job market opportunities and to specific community needs, focussing on skills that lead to jobs with family-supporting wages and benefits.
Advisory committees, assembled by Esperanza Unida and composed of community volunteers familiar with the respective industry, assisted in the creation and the continual enhancement of each of these training businesses.
A holistic approach of identifying and addressing students' barriers to success has always been an integral part of each of the training businesses.
Job placement was added as an essential component to the Training Business Model.
Esperanza Unida is annually 50% to 70% self-supporting through revenues generated from training businesses.

Today Esperanza Unida operates six training businesses. One former training business, the lead and asbestos abatement enterprise, was "spun off,"with the manager assuming ownership and operating the business as a for-profit business in Esperanza Unida's neighborhood. Others were consolidated, closed or transferred to community people to operate.