Well, another seminar is finished, another four days gone by too fast. We had some incredible experiences in Milwaukee - read on!

I've created a web site to archive all issues of this journal. You can find the entire series, along with photographs (and probably some documents before we're done) at http://www.dennisdeery.com/wrlp.

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Dennis Deery
dennis@irose.com
 

I managed to connect with a classmate from River Falls for the long drive to Milwaukee, and so got an additional 5 hours on each end of the week to get to know another member of our group a little better.

I would serve as one of three moderators for this seminar. Each member of our group will get one or more chances to act as moderator. The moderator's job is to introduce speakers, present gifts to speakers and keep track of time during the sessions. The moderators also get some opportunity to talk about the seminar content with the seminar chair prior to the seminar. The seminar chair is the person responsible for organizing the content of the seminar. For this seminar, the chair was Jose Vasquez, the Southeast District Director for University of Wisconsin-Extension.

For the moderators, the in-state seminars begin two hours earlier than for other members of the group. We had the opportunity to have dinner with Jose and with JoAnn Stormer, the Executive Director of WRLP. Jose took us to a Mexican restaurant on the south side of town. We got an overview of the week and a review of our moderator duties over dinner.

After dinner we returned to the hotel to kick off the week. Jose gave the group an overview of the agenda for the week. Next, we were treated to a talk from Frank Zeidler, a Socialist who served as mayor of Milwaukee from 1942 to 1960, and, in Jose's words, "a walking Milwaukee legend." Mr. Zeidler, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, gave us a great snapshot of Milwaukee's ethnic neighborhoods in the past and their changing nature today. When one of our group recalled voting for Mr. Zeidler for President of the United States in 1976, Mr. Zeidler responded "Now I know where one of the four votes came from!" After Mr. Zeidler's talk, we adjourned to the hotel bar to catch up with new friends we hadn't seen in two months.

Wednesday was my day to serve as moderator, and it would be spent in a whirlwind of tours. We started the day at the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation, an economic development corporation that provides education and financial services to people across Wisconsin. While their primary focus is on women, people of color and people with lower incomes, they do serve anyone they can. I was impressed by the fact that every aspect of WWBIC's efforts had a strong focus on education. They provide loans and other types of financial assistance to small businesses, but they also require their clients to attend various educational workshops to improve their chances of success. WWBIC also runs a business incubator to provide low-cost office space to startup businesses.

Next we visited Career Youth Development, an organization run by Jeannetta Robinson. Ms. Robinson was born in the deep south, and though surrounded by racial turmoil, was raised by a family and community that cared for her and constantly told her that she could be anything she wanted. Aspiring only to be a secretary, she moved to Milwaukee upon graduating from school, and was offered only cleaning jobs. Her mother came to Milwaukee, and with her help Jeannetta was hired as the first African-American woman to work a sales floor in a Milwaukee retail store. From these humble beginnings, Jeannetta built a career, finally becoming a secretary for Mobil Oil. When some neighborhood kids got in trouble for vandalizing homes, she asked the court to release them to her custody. She didn't know it at the time, but this was the beginning of Career Youth Development, an organization that aims to take care of Milwaukee's troubled youth and families. CYD offers educational programs (including their own middle and high school), alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, medical care, mental health services - in short, they are a holistic care agency. As Jeannetta told us, CYD takes care of the people nobody else wants to take care of.

Entering the CYD building, we were greeted at the door by Jeannetta and her assistant. Jeannetta took the time to make sure she personally greeted each member of our group with a warm handshake and a beaming smile. I immediately noticed all the photos hanging on the wall, Jeannetta with Vice-President Al Gore, Governor Tommy Thompson, Mayor John Norquist, and countless others. We would learn that Jeannetta has consulted with both President Clinton and President Bush on youth and family issues.

We would also learn of Jeannetta's trials, the difficulties she had to overcome for CYD to become what it is today. She has suffered a loss of funding, and the murder of her daughter and granddaughter. Hearing her story, I couldn't help but be impressed by her strength and ability to continue working toward her goals, even when it seemed the whole world was against her. We met the mother of a victim of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and learned how this tragedy led to creation of a support group for survivors of murder. We learned how the death of Jeannetta's granddaughter led to the creation of a yearly Christmas party that provides presents to as many as 5,000 needy children. Jeannetta very plainly stated, several times, that it wasn't her that accomplished these things, but God working through her. Her life was an incredibly strong statement to me about all that is good in strong faith - she lives her life according to her beliefs, and she has accomplished so much.

Since our two morning hosts had both fed us, it was clearly now time for lunch. We headed to the African Hut for a meal and more education. Our host, a Nigerian (with a degree from UW-Stout!) gave us an introduction to the food and culture of various areas of Africa. If you click the African Hut link above, you can see the menu that was served to us. The dish Akara, an appetizer made from blackeye peas, takes 7 hours to prepare - our host told us that being served this dish is an indication that you are welcome. I thought everything was quite tasty, except for the stewed spinach of course! We all left the restaurant feeling overstuffed, but there would be no chance to rest.

We spent the afternoon at the United Community Center on the south side of Milwaukee. UCC is a private, non-profit community center that, like CYD, offers one-stop shopping for social services. They aim to serve the Hispanic community as well as their neighborhood residents on the near south side. They offer an incredible variety of programs, so it took us all afternoon to tour their facilities. Some of the programs they offer include a middle school and grade school (with required summer school), cultural arts programs, a fitness center, AODA treatment, a senior center and adult day care, a health clinic, transportation services, restaurants, and elderly housing units. I was really impressed by the interconnectedness of UCC's programs. The senior residents of their facility are invited into the classrooms to interact with the children. The children perform arts programs for the seniors. Parents are required to participate in their children's education, and in return UCC offers after-school and daycare programs to help parents with their work schedules. As one of our tour-guides stated it, UCC looked at what issues keep people from working, and how can we help?

I was also impressed by UCC's approach to funding. They take advantage of federal and state money to support their programs, but they add in private moneys that they collect to enhance their offerings. As an example, their elderly housing units were partially funded by Department of Housing and Urban Development money. UCC collected private money and improved their buildings to be architecturally attractive and to include amenities such as dishwashers. UCC also makes art a priority in all areas of their programs, and so all their facilities are flush with art on the walls - no gray cement block rooms here. Jose Vasquez, who serves as UCC's board president, said it best: "We don't believe that just because you're poor you need to be treated less respectfully or in poorer facilities." UCC offers a helping hand to those who need it, but at the same time they insist that people help themselves as well. This mutually-respectful approach seems to work.

We then heard a short talk from Dr. Walter Sava, the Executive Director of UCC, who spoke to us about leadership in his organization. Ge Xiong, the former director of Hmong Educational Advancements, spoke to us about the issues facing the Hmong community in Milwaukee. It was interesting to hear of the challenges faced by these two different organizations. As Jose would explain later, we got a snapshot of two ethnic groups at different points in their history in the United States. The Hmong community is experiencing things very similar to what the Hispanic community went through 20 years ago, when they were relatively new arrivals to this country.

UCC treated us to dinner in their restaurant Cafe El Sol. I think we were all still feeling full from lunch, but it was hard to pass up the great food, so we again stuffed ourselves. After returning to the hotel, several of us went for a walk along the lakefront. We were all impressed by the architecture of the new Milwaukee Art Museum addition, which has wings that open and close. You can see a photo of the museum with the wings open at left - go to the pictures page to see photos with the wings closed.

Thursday began with a visit to a Milwaukee Public Housing community - what would formerly have been called "the projects", but now is most definitely not. Our host, the Associate Director of the Milwaukee Housing Authority, explained that the Authority had made a conscious effort to overcome the stigma of public housing. We all have an image in our minds of what public housing looks like, and our host concurred that as recently as three years ago he would not have taken us to this particular community, even during the day. They've done a tremendous job in rehabilitating the neighborhood in that time though, and you could see little difference between this neighborhood and any other city neighborhoods we had been through. Surprisingly, many of the changes made were fairly small, and pretty much common sense. Areas that had been geographically isolated because of street layouts were opened up by tearing down some buildings and extending streets. This allowed fire and police services easier access to the community. Large areas that were previously paved, for no apparent reason, were torn up and replaced with grass and shrubbery. Exposed dumpsters were moved to brick enclosures. Apartment buildings that were previously unsafe due to limited entry-ways were made safer, and beautified, by the addition of outside patios, giving each unit a separate entrance. New units were built, again using additional monies to beautify them so they look like real housing instead of institutions. The housing authority also requires better behavior from tenants, not allowing desertion of disabled vehicles or dumping of garbage in units. And, most importantly, housing was built that mixed public housing with fair-market housing, so people from a variety of income levels could live together as neighbors. You can see in the photo above the quality of the new housing units.

After the public housing visit, we took a bus tour of the north side of Milwaukee, including the areas around UW-Milwaukee and along the lakefront. We saw some of the gentrification of the near-north side of Milwaukee. Next we enjoyed lunch at William Ho's, another well-known Milwaukee restaurant.

Next up was a visit to the Basilica of St. Josaphat, a church on the south side. This was the start of our south-side tour with historian John Gurda. We learned the story of the Basilica's construction, how the local residents mortgaged their homes and helped build the Basilica with their own hands. Our tour of the surrounding neighborhoods showed us the ethnic character of Milwaukee's neighborhoods, and the migrations that have taken place among these neighborhoods. One interesting mention was the Polish flats that make up many neighborhoods. The photo at left is a Polish flat. The houses, when originally built, consisted of the top story or story-and-a-half, with no basement. When the family began to get more financially stable, the houses were jacked up and the basement was built beneath them. Often the first-born child would move into the basement flat when they married and started their own family.

We also got a tour of Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery, final resting place of many of Milwaukee's famous, including the Schlitz, Miller and Pabst families. The artwork on the headstones was amazing, leading Forest Home to have a reputation as a showcase of the stonecutter's art. The south side is also home to some little-known Frank Lloyd Wright homes, his first attempt at affordable modular housing.

REACH Youth Center was our final tour of the day. This is another one-stop shopping social services agency on the north side of Milwaukee. Their goal is to reconnect troubled youth with educational and career opportunities. We met a fantastic young man who joined in the REACH program and helped to organize a neighborhood cleanup day. Once again, it was very heartening to see such accomplishments in such a troubled area. We learned that 40% of Wisconsin prison parolees are released into 3 zip codes, each of which is in the area served by REACH. Yet REACH is having an impact on the youth of their area.

For dinner, we were off to Old Town, a Serbian restaurant near the Basilica. I had chicken paprikash, while others tried shish-ka-bob and sarma (stuffed cabbage). Following dinner, we heard a talk by Spence Korte, former superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools. I found his talk one of the most interesting, inspirational, and challenging that I've heard so far in this program. He had a very calm, quiet, almost understated way of speaking, but his obvious emotional investment and level of caring made his message incredibly powerful to me.

He started off with a summary of his thoughts on leadership in an organization such as the school district. He then went into some of the politics that govern such an organization. He explained that the average tenure of a large-city superintendent is 2.4 years, and he managed to do the job for 3.4 years. With board members being elected for 2 year terms, he discussed how difficult it was to develop consistency in the vision for the school district. I think we were all staggered when he told us that 85% of the students in Milwaukee Public Schools live in poverty. With funding issues and the difficulty in developing a long-range vision for the district, most staff efforts seem to go to fighting brush fires on a daily basis. At one point Dr. Korte said "I think it's ridiculous that we're going to go fight Iraq and try to make the world safer that way. I'm much more afraid of what will happen at 5 or more schools in the Milwaukee Public School system. It's a powder-keg waiting to happen, and there are problems there we need to address." His talk was an eye-opening look at the problems faced not just by inner-city schools, but society in general.

And finally, for me, he struck a chord near the end of his talk. One of our group asked Dr. Korte what was the best thing about his time with MPS. His quick response, loaded with emotion, was two words - "the kids." I followed up by asking "What was your greatest accomplishment?" His quick response of "Doing this for 3.4 years and living to tell about it" drew a laugh, but then he followed up with a serious answer. "I said what I believed and did what I thought was right." Another of the group asked "Did you change any minds?," to which he replied "I think so." I think we all get frustrated when dealing with some of the larger issues our country faces, and we rarely see change happening. I think there is a lot to be said for being content with doing what we think is right, and taking heart in speaking the truth. Though we may not always accomplish our larger goals, our best effort is all we can give.

With one night left to spend in Milwaukee, several of us headed for the Safehouse to wrap up the night. The Safehouse is a bar in Milwaukee with a secret-agent theme. I knew going in that we had to offer a password to get in, and if you didn't know the password you would have to perform. One member of our group knew the password, and of course didn't share it with us. He was ushered into the bar so that he could watch our performance on closed-circuit TV. The rest of us had to sing "I'm a Little Teapot", complete with acting, to get in. Once you're in, part of the evening's entertainment is watching other people perform their way into the bar. We also caught a magic act and several stand-up comedians before calling it a night.

Friday morning we heard from Lee Halloway, the current chair of the Milwaukee County Board. The county has had some interesting troubles lately with their pension scandal and a number of recall elections. Mr. Halloway talked with us about the difficulty in dealing with special interest groups, and the need for reelected officials to effectively represent their constituents by evaluating the issues, rather than pandering to the special interests. He also described how he sees a growing willingness among voters to initiate recall elections over individual issues, and how this affects elected officials.

Finally, we visited the Milwaukee Art Museum. They currently have a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition which we were unable to attend, but we were able to see a number of their regular collections. After a brief time at the museum, we wrapped up with a lunch together, then hit the road for home.

As Jose, our seminar chair, explained, the problems of the city are not unique to cities. We in small towns and rural areas face many of the same issues, though perhaps on a smaller scale. Some of the issues we discussed, such as the school district problems, are staggering in their size and complexity. I ended the week though feeling hopeful because there are many good people working on these problems. No one person or organization can solve these problems, but each person we met with is working on their own little piece of the puzzle. Perhaps if we all do that, the problems we face as a society can be overcome.

For more information about the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program, check out their web site at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wrlp/.