Esperanza Unida's Construction & Apprenticeship Training/Job Placement Program Celebrates the Completion of its 20th House-Rehab Project with March 30th Open House
Central City Construction Program Provides Family with Energy Efficient Home and Over 50 Youth with Valuable Job Skills
March 27, 2001 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Esperanza Unida’s Construction & Apprenticeship Training Program trains minorities, low-income, and central city youth populations with construction skills and experience while rebuilding decaying neighborhood homes. The program, working with Wisconsin Conservation Corp crews, has completed its 20th central city home rehab, giving another of Milwaukee’s low-income families a safe, energy efficient house.
The Open House is scheduled for Friday March 30, 2001 at 10:00 a.m. and will be held at 3311 W. Mt. Vernon Avenue in Milwaukee. Prospective families, construction students and program staff will be in attendance to celebrate the project’s completion.
With strong support from the Helen Bader Foundation, Inc., the Patrick and Anna M. Cudahy Foundation, the Milwaukee Foundation Corp., the Wisconsin Energy Corporation, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation and Milwaukee’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, this house served as an ongoing training site for Esperanza Unida for the past 3 years. "This house was in rough shape when we started, but it provided a full range of training experiences for our students from gutting to plumbing – and we all learned a lot," explains Esperanza’s Construction Training Instructor, Hector Santana.
"The good news is that we have finished another house and can provide another family with a safe, energy efficient home and we have given more than 50 central city youth valuable skills and jobs in the process," explains Pat Miller, Esperanza’s Construction Manager. "The bad news is that we now need to find another house," he added.
The project takes homes that are in decay from lack of upkeep, mostly from donations, and rebuilds and updates them through a unique combination of skill training and community outreach efforts. The project averages over 90% minority participation in its student base and almost always sells the home to a community family that has never owned a home before.
"This project has multi-levels of benefits because it takes vacant and unwanted properties and turns them into quality homes for area families," explains Richard Oulahan, executive director for Esperanza Unida. "This is a celebration of the combination of these benefits," he added.
Esperanza Unida, Inc. has been assisting the near South Side community for over 30 years. The Construction Program trains minority, unemployed and low-income populations for skilled jobs in the construction industry and targets work that pays a living wage.