Allied Churches Teaching Self-Empowerment Community Development Corporation (ACTS CDC)

Buy a Home, Build a Community

About Us

St. Michael's Parish, 24th and Cherry

Allied Churches Teaching Self-Empowerment (ACTS) mission is to promote affordable homeownership that fosters a low-income family's ability to be self-empowered, thereby reducing community blight, neighborhood deterioration, and poverty. The strategy of ACTS is to generate homeownership opportunities for inner-city residents within a targeted neighborhood so that an entire community can be transformed and sustained.

Each year ACTS assists approximately one hundred families with homeownership and home improvement services.

Click here for a list of ACTS services. ACTS staff provides these homebuying services through local churches in three neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods

Central Neighborhood (I-94 West to North Ave. and 12th St. to Sherman Blvd.)

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In 1992, St. Michael’s church started a pilot housing program to encourage families to purchase homes around the church. At that time, several older church members wished to sell their homes. In late 1995, three Milwaukee Central City churches -- St. Rose (33rd and Michigan), St. Michael (24th and Cherry), and St. Francis of Assisi (4th and Brown) formally incorporated ACTS as the non-profit vehicle through which they would collaborate to promote economic self-sufficiency of church members and neighborhood residents. ACTS employs an African-American Homeownership Coordinator, an Asian licensed real estate broker, and a Caucasian Rehab Manager who target this area.

North Side Neighborhood (North Ave. to Capitol and Holton St. to 20th St.)

The north side membership formed in January of 2000. The north side churches originally consisted of All Saints (4060 N. 26th), Blessed Trinity (4717 N. 38th), and the Dominican Center (2470 W. Locust St.). The Dominican Center now operates its own program while continuing to collaborate with ACTS. In the spring of 2005, St. Martin de Porres (128 W. Burleigh St.) and St. James in Brookfield began to collaborate with the north side membership. ACTS employs an African-American licensed real estate saleswoman who targets this area.

South Side Neighborhood (Oklahoma to I94 West and I-94 South to 35th St.)

The south side membership formed in the September of 2000. The south side churches consist of Ascension Lutheran Church (1236 S. Layton Blvd.), Faith Lutheran (1000 S. Layton Blvd.), St. Rafael the Archangel (2059 S. 33rd), and Prince of Peace/Principe de Paz (1138 S. 25 Street). ACTS CDC employs a Latina licensed real estate saleswoman who targets this area.

Other Neighborhoods (Inside City of Milwaukee, Outside South, Central, & North Areas)

ACTS has no participating churches outside of our targeted areas. However, families who purchased early in the central neighborhood were rewarded by increasing values, and many have used this equity to purchase homes outside our target areas, particularly in the northwest neighborhoods. While we do promote the assets of our target areas, highlighting the new investment there, the proximity to downtown, the affordability of the housing stock, and the potential for real increases in equity, we do not steer our clients exclusively toward opportunities inside our neighborhoods. Clients are free to choose which homes they wish to see.

History

ACTS was born as the neighborhood around St. Michael's Church wasravaged by disinvestment in housing. This activity generated manyvacant homes that were deemed useless by the City and the privatemarket. Through a unique partnership with the City of Milwaukee, ACTSintroduced local residents in the neighborhood to these vacant homes,showed them how to buy and rehab them,convinced local banks that they would be excellent customers for their best mortgage programs, and then stepped back and witnessed the rebirth of a neighborhood. Where no private market existed, ACTS was able to create a viable realestate market that is now self-sustaining. The norm in this communityhas become homeownership

ACTS has traditionally worked with low-income families andindividuals who were denied access to the home ownership market forvarious reasons. Our staffworks with families and individuals who have made mistakes and poordecisions concerning their personal finances. Each Specialist istrained as a credit counselor in order to assist clients with theirefforts to become qualified for bank purchase loans. Staff assistseach participant with a credit repair road map that leads to solidcredit and the ability to acquire bank mortgage financing.

Ourwork has affected over 5,000 individuals, many of them children, byproviding opportunities to learn responsibility, pride, andself-confidence. Studies have found that children living in owneroccupied homes perform better in school. Neighborhoods where familiesare homeowners form more stable communities.

Staff

Rev. Dennis J. Lewis

Rev. Dennis J. Lewis is ACTS' Founder and Pastor of both St. Michael and St. Rose Parishes. He recently stepped down as ACTS Board Chair to work part-time on ACTS' church outreach efforts and donor development.

Blia Cha

Blia Cha speaks fluent English, Hmong & Laotian. She is a real estate broker, and is one of the very few Southeast Asian women in the State of Wisconsin with this license. She works at St. Michael’s church as a Homeownership Specialist, a full-time position. Through many years of training provided by ACTS Senior Advisor and current Board Member, John Worm, she has developed into a full service credit and homeownership counselor as well as a manager of small and large rehab projects for owner-occupants. She offers these services in addition to providing her real estate-related services. She has worked with the ACTS Housing Program since 1994.

Hilaria Rios

Hilaria Rios speaks fluent English and Spanish. She has a salesperson’s license and has worked full-time as a Homeownership Specialist starting in 2000. She received 4 years of training from ACTS Senior Advisor and current Board Member, John Worm, on credit and homeownership counseling, and developed these services alongside her real estate services.

Francisco Rios

Francisco Rios works closely with his wife Hilaria. He is in charge of Special Projects related to the Southside ACTS Office and speaks both English and Spanish. Francisco also provides clerical support for Southside office. Francisco has a wealth of real estate and residential construction experience, which he uses to provide expertise on required maintenance and home improvement projects for new homeowners.

Carl Quindel

Carl Quindel speaks fluent Spanish. After graduating from Brown University with a BA in Physics and Mathematics he volunteered and worked part-time for the Dominican Center from October 2004 until August 2006, when he began working for ACTS. He has participated in the development of three Limited Liability Companies, all related to real estate. Carl is ACTS' Executive Director. He is also a licensed real estate broker and the current Designated Broker for ACTS. Carl completed the UW-Extension Homeownership Counseling Education Program in May of 2007. Carl also completed the Credit Counseling for Maximum Results Training in April of 2007 held by NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling, a national homebuyer training organization.

Mary Leach-Sumlin

Mary Leach-Sumlin began working out of the St. Martin De Porres office in December of 2007. She has a real estate license and is a member of the Wisconsin Association of Mortgage Brokers. Mary also completed the Credit Counseling for Maximum Results Training held by NeighborWorks Center for HomeownershipEducation and Counseling, a national homebuyer training organization. She has developed into a full service credit and homeownershipcounselor. She offers these services in addition to providingher real estate-related services. Mary is a member of the Finance Committee at Community Baptist Church of Greater Milwaukee and has a BS in Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University.

Constance Alberts

Constance Alberts began workingout of the St. Michael's office in July of 2008. Over the past 15 years, she has worked as an educator teaching and developing curriculum for financial literacy. She has worn many hats over these 15 years including lender, homebuying counselor, family financial educator, credit counselor, tax professional and now Homeownership Coordinator. She has an accounting degree from the University of Phoenix and recently completed a Graduate Program at Marian University on Organizational Leadership.

Larry Kilmer II

Larry Kilmer II began working out of the St. Michael's office in September of 2010 as ACTS’ Rehab Manager. Larry graduated from UWM with a BA in Architectural Studies in 2005, a Masters degree in Architecture, as well as a Masters degree in Urban Planning in 2009. Larry has worked for over five years in architectural and design firms in Milwaukee. Through these experiences, as well as graduate studies, Larry has worked with many neighborhood organizations throughout Milwaukee on design and planning projects. Outside of ACTS, Larry is a member of a local non-profit organic farm Board of Directors and enjoys frequenting Wisconsin’s State Parks.

Supporters

Our sincere thanks to the following organizations and donors who have supported the ACTS Housing Program:

From 1992-2011, ACTS has assisted over 1,400 households with a home purchase and over 550 with home improvement projects. During this time, over $90 million was invested in purchases and $5 million in rehab work.

Our sincere thanks to the following organizations and donors who have supported ACTS: