Ramon Guadarrama
Ramón Guadarrama, un inmigrante Mexicano, se mudó a los estados unidos en 1996 en busca de un mejor futuro y cumplir su deseo cuando niño de jugar futbol americano. Rápidamente se dio cuenta que ese deporte era muy competitivo y que ese deseo no era tan fácil de cumplir. Ramón dejo su trabajo de tubería por una tierra que él creía que estaba llena de oportunidades. Durante los años que ha vivido en los estados unidos él no se ha sentido insatisfecho. Está muy feliz de vivir en la cuidad de Milwaukee y muy orgulloso llamándose un ciudadano de los estados unidos, que era uno de sus más grandes sueños al igual que obtener el trabajo que tiene ahora como consultor de rehabilitación. Nos cuenta que le encanta compartir la experiencia de las familias cuándo van atravesando por el proceso de rehabilitación y ver como sus sueños se convierten en realidad al igual que los de él.
Al preguntarle a Ramón que piensa que falta en la vecindad de Washington Park, nos cuenta que faltan más comercios y negocios en una manera que la riqueza sea más equitativa. Para que una persona no tenga que manejar millas para ver una película, ir a los centros comerciales o simplemente hacer compras necesarias. En su trabajo ha visto muchas propiedades abandonadas y adjudicadas con familias que son desalojadas de la nada. A Ramón le da pena entrar a una casa con todos las pertenencias de la familia que fue desalojada de su casa y le gustaría hacer algo pero no sabe que pueda ser. El solamente entra para evaluar el futuro de estas casas y para darles la cuota a otras familias en necesidad. Ejemplos de casas abandonada y adjudicadas son las que él nos enseñó en la calle Vine Ramon believes that in order to have a strong community, one has to have a strong family. Family, therefore, becomes the essence and foundation of a community. He mentioned that working with ACTS Housing helped him become more involved in the community and taught him to think of others before himself, which is something he didn’t really see in Mexico. In Mexico he didn’t see community engagement coming from the residents or wasn’t really aware of any organizations that helped the community. He didn’t see the same leadership he sees in the Washington Park neighborhood.
Ramon shared with us the certain steps one should take when working with ACTS Housing. The Florencio and Florencia family were one of the raffle winners whom Ramon helped through the entire process of purchasing a home. This was something they never thought they would learn to do on their own, but with the help of ACTS Housing and Ramon, they made it possible. After being the third runners-up to see if they qualified for the process, they had to meet with Maria Santos, the financial specialist. Upon reviewing if they had the proper credit, permits and skills, it was Ramon's responsibility to give them a quote of approximately how much it would cost to rehabilitate their new home. Their three-bedroom, one-bathroom property is now worth about $30,000. Seeing the happiness on their faces brought Ramon great joy because he realized that all this hard work resulted in a family being able to manifest their dreams into reality. Ramon Guadarrama, Interviewed by Alessandra Maurtua, June 2013 |
Rehabilitation Coordinator
"I think my dream is that if I am able to someday to see this community more active in the financial area, in the business; to have more peaceful areas, to have more welcoming neighborhoods, where anyone can go to a class, art class, music class or to go to a theater and watch a play or hear a concert. Not just to have an annual year of fest in a certain place, but in several neighborhoods where people can come from different cities to enjoy Milwaukee." |