NEWS
T he Miracle
ON NINTH STREET UCC’S 50 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY
By David L uhrssen
All photography was taken pre-COVID.
T
he year 1970 marked a turning point for Latinx Americans. César Chávez’s United Farm Workers marched for the rights of migrant workers, and the Chicano Moratorium, which brought 30,000 protestors to the streets of Los Angeles, focused national attention on discrimination. In Milwaukee, Latinx students occupied the office of UW-Milwaukee’s chancellor. More quietly, on the city’s South Side, a neighborhood center called The Spot provided a haven where teens could gather. A year later, The Spot took the more authoritative name of United Community Center (UCC) and began a process that shows how great things can grow from humble beginnings. Although The Spot originated as a religious outreach program in the 1960s and the United Community Center took its name in 1971, the UCC’s board of directors chose 2020 as its 50th anniversary date and prepared for the celebration. “We had
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Shepherd Express
Photography by Jill Sanchez
an amazing gala planned out at Northwestern Mutual, a very fancy event—and then COVID hit,” says Executive Director Laura Gutiérrez. “We rescheduled for fall, and as COVID continued, we decided we won’t be able to make it happen.” Instead, UCC streamed a video. “To try to cram all that we do into a 45-minute video was tough, but our team is creative. We went from a large expensive venue to a low-budget movie,” she continues.
GUTIÉRREZ: “WE ARE 100% GENERATED BY THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE WE SERVE.” In a way, it was back to UCC’s modest roots, even as those roots continue to support new branches. For Gutiérrez, who started as executive director on May 1, her new job was also a homecoming. She
attended the Guadeloupe School before Milwaukee’s Roman Catholic archdiocese transferred it to UCC. Through her teen years, she took part in the center’s programs, including exercise classes with her mom, and she became assistant principal at one of UCC’s schools. After a stint in state government, Gutiérrez returned as UCC’s associate executive director under her predecessor, Ricardo Diaz. Along with adjusting operations in the face of a pandemic, she supervised the construction of a new UCC facility, the Early Learning Academy at 22nd and Beecher streets, scheduled to open in April 2021. “A Greater Milwaukee Foundation study found no one in that zip code, 53215, with a college degree—and 5,000 kids under the age of five,” she says. “Educating impoverished families is part of our mission.” The heart of UCC is its sprawling campus, occupying entire blocks running east-west
