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| CONTINUED NEED IN THE COMMUNITY FOR PROGRAMS, The Council’s programs address a growing need for bilingual services in education, social and human services, immigration, housing, and care for the aging. Most of those served by Council programs come from zip code 53204 and 53215. According to 2000 census figures, Latinos are 38% of the residents of 53215. They are also 65% of the residents of zip code 53204 (of these, 68% are of Mexican descent, 23% are Puerto Rican, and 9% are of other Latino origin). In zip code 53204 alone, 57% of adults do not have a high school diploma or GED; only 5.2% have a college degree; unemployment is around 8%; the median household income is $24,632; the per capita income is $22,621 for females and $20,735 for males; 55% of families with children under 18 years of age live below the poverty level; 31% of grandparents are responsible for grandchildren; 33% of residents are foreign born; 28% are not citizens (with 24% entering the U.S. after 1990); 38% speak English less than very well; and only 28% of households are owner occupied (as opposed to 45% in the city). Housing prices are rising above affordability for renters in this zip code. Latino workers make up 62% of the resident workforce, but hold only 18% of jobs. Typically, 3 times as many drivers’ license suspension orders were issued for failure to pay fines as orders for traffic violations, driving while intoxicated, and drug convictions combined. The large number of residents without a valid driver’s license remains an ongoing impediment to employment. In June of 2006, the Council bought all assets of the Aurora Weier Educational Center (AWEC), an agency located in the Riverwest, northeast side of the city serving residents of zip code 53212. AWEC serves a racially integrated area, and has the highest concentration of Latinos outside of the south side –3,181 or 12%, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. African American and Latino residents of the area are more educationally, socially and economically challenged than in zip codes in the south side of the city. The AWEC facility, valued at $525,000, has been turned into another Head Start location and will house what was previously Guadalupe North. It will also offer some social and educational services, and the building and Gym will be available to residents. It already has a rental agreement with Children’s Hospital Project Ujima and another with Sprint. The Council will be at that location in response to a growing need. In early December of 2007 the Council for the Spanish Speaking acquired the Hillview Building on 1615 S. 22nd Street. The facility is valued at $2.2 million dollars and was donated, anonymously, to expand educational, housing and social services at that location, which has the highest ratio of Latinos in the City. In addition to its own program expansion, the Council is negotiating with the Red Cross and County to place there more programs for residents and others during the 2008-09 FY, because the need for services is a major necessity. At the end of December of 2007, the Council acquired the two buildings on the corner of 6th and National. Its purpose was their renovation, so as to expand educational and legal services to the community, and to rent to various upcoming organizations promoting opportunities for Latinos. It now houses Hispanics of Greater Milwaukee (a very large membership organization) and Spanglish (a marketing and graphics arts program), and plans to rent to Centro Legal (which provides affordable family and misdemeanor law services). The buildings are assessed at $660,000. This was done to increase educational and social services to a community still in need of many services and self-sufficiency skills. In June 2008 one of the buildings collapsed under heavy rain, and the Council is again beginning is efforts to finance the development. The city of Milwaukee has the highest concentration of children in poverty in Wisconsin. Many of these children live within the Council’s service area. In 2006-07, 85% of those served by the Council met the federal low to moderate income level. Latinos in the Council’s service area continue to be significantly undeserved by health providers; a greater percentage than in other areas of the city have no medical insurance; Latinos are approximately seven times more likely than others to suffer from asthma and lead poisoning; have a high incidence of diabetes; and women and men alike are less likely to seek preventive medical services for health and death threatening diseases. The large concentration of children and adults who are undocumented complicates efforts to count and serve them. This will be a factor in increasing the health problems of the area as new punitive anti-immigrant laws are implemented. Immigration and natural growth continue to feed Latino population growth, which doubled in Milwaukee and Wisconsin between 1990 and 2000, and grew again by 23% from 2000 to 2004. It now constitutes 12% of city residents and 22% of the student enrollment in the Milwaukee Public Schools. Most Latino immigrants live within the Council’s service area. While they add to the city’s diversity, Latinos are adversely affected by the city’s economic and social challenges. The need for the Council is as important as it was in 1964. Red: Latinos in Milwaukee’s south side, 1990 Red: Latinos in Milwaukee’s south side, 2000
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