The International Building
In addition to the training, education, placement, and support services, Esperanza Unida, Inc. has actively sought to implement its vision for community economic development. The renovation of the organization's International Building, now one of the agency's four locations, has been its most ambitious effort to date.
The 58,000 square foot structure, once a great Milwaukee legacy, was abandoned in 1971. The next 20 years of graffiti, vandalism, and deterioration turned the building into a symbol of urban despair. Most people considered it ready for the wrecking ball.
In 1990, Esperanza Unida acquired the building from the City of Milwaukee and began renovation of the century-old structure. At the heart of this urban development project was the organization's determination to create a vehicle for minorities to move into family-supporting jobs. Esperanza Unida began by requiring contractors to include community people in their crews and to train them for construction apprenticeships. As a result, the renovation provided training for 15 low-income community people in the construction, carpentry, electrical, and sheet metal trades. It also got several of these people trained, apprenticed and in local unions.
This once vacant, five-story commercial building, which had served as a symbol of neighborhood decline, now serves as the hub of a revitalizing neighborhood. Esperanza Unida believes that the $5.5 million renovation project, collaboratively financed by federal, state, local, and private grants, demonstrates the way in which job training, economic development, and community support can combine to rejuvenate low-income areas.
All five floors are now open and being used by the public. One of the International Building's most exciting additions is El Puente High School for Science, Math, and Technology - an alternative school for "at-risk" Milwaukee youth.
El Puente has emerged amid years of decline in the Milwaukee Public School system as an innovative model for school reform. After El Puente's first year in 1997-98, the school has seen no fights, no graffiti, and an 83% average attendance rate. Because of this model's innovative and successful approach, and because of Esperanza Unida's commitment to youth, the organization has brought El Puente into its infrastructure, providing adequate classroom space in the International Building and integrating skill-training components into the students' curriculum. With this partnership, at-risk students will graduate from high school with certification in as many as five of Esperanza's skill areas. This will give students expanded options, including pursuing living wage jobs upon graduation or financing their further education. At the same time, Esperanza Unida has the ability to connect with, and offer its training programs for, youth in the neighborhood.
Esperanza Unida views job training, community empowerment, and economic development as the path to sustained future urban revitalization. The creative combination of job training, union apprenticeship, urban renovation, and economic renewal make the International Building an anchor for future economic development.
Lease Space from the Esperanza Unida International Building. Call Maria Gamez at (414) 671-0251.