[logo sonoro] [música dinámica].

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Hola, soy Patricia Gómez.

Hoy en Adelante!

Employ Milwaukee, ofrece servicios para quienes buscan empleo, el arte urbano y la educación bilingüe para nuestros niños.

Conoceremos los servicios que ofrece Employ Milwaukee para quienes buscan empleo; admiramos el talento de Mauricio Ramírez y su mural dedicado a Bob Uecker; y cerramos con Ale Jiménez, quien nos presenta su nuevo programa "Semillitas" sobre conservación de la naturaleza y cultura hispana para los más pequeños.

¡Comenzamos!

[música].

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Nos acompaña la presidenta y CEO de Employ Milwaukee, Julie Cayo, para hablar sobre los servicios que ofrece esta institución tanto a quienes buscan empleo como a aquellas empresas que necesitan trabajadores.

JULIE CAYO: My background is in urban planning.

So I went to UW-Milwaukee and I have a master's degree in urban planning, and urban planning really taught me about the components of a community.

So housing, transportation, education, economic development, employers, and most importantly people, but I had always asked that question to myself, how do we make sure people have access to opportunities so that they can build a life within our community and be successful?

[music].

JULIE CAYO: Employ Milwaukee has been around for almost 40 years.

Every state has a workforce board.

Wisconsin has 11.

It's a long-standing program.

The American Job Center System and workforce boards to make sure that all residents have access to these employment and training services because it is really important for those two things to connect, employers and talent, for the economy to grow.

98% of our funding is from the federal government.

So we're very tied into the federal government programming through the Department of Labor.

The State of Wisconsin then has the Department of Workforce Development.

So a lot of that funding flows through the state and then comes to us.

So we offer that programming on behalf of the state and the federal government.

The city of Milwaukee Mayor, Cavalier Johnson, is our chief local elected official, and that means he leads our board of directors.

Our board of directors is led by the private sector, and many people don't know this, but over half are from the private business sector.

And that's by design because we wanna make sure that we're training people for jobs that are needed, for jobs that exist.

And so those employers are giving us that feedback.

So anybody that walks into one of those job centers should be able to talk to somebody in a resource room, describe their background, their interests, aptitudes, education levels, and their desires.

What type of career would they like?

What type of employment?

And they'll get matched with the program that best serves them.

JULIE CAYO: Our website has a success story page and it's amazing, it's very inspiring.

And there's one success story that's recent that's not on there and it's a woman who was homeless with her three children living in her car and she is now a four year nurse making $46 an hour.

JULIE CAYO: First, don't get discouraged.

Reach out to us because at the end of the day, communication skills and the hard skills, meaning whatever skills training you have in experience, are still the main requirements for any job.

So although a lot of companies may be using some systems to filter individuals out, we have personal relationships with many employers.

We have in-person hiring events, and we can make sure to connect you to an employer so that you're not being inadvertently filtered out through an AI system.

I think it's really important as well to make sure your résumé is up to date and it really reflects your skills, your abilities, your experience.

If you're able to, getting access to more credentialed training and different hard skills that can be on your résumé to kind of support the career options that you might have would be really important.

We partner with Journey House, Hispanic Collaborative for one of our nursing programs, the Greater Milwaukee Hispanic Nursing Professionals, and the Latino Chamber of Commerce.

There's a lot of small employers that are Hispanic, we have found that language accessibility, but also a trusted relationship is very important in order to get the message out about the services we have and for people to respond to that.

And then we do have interpreters.

We interpret all of our materials in multiple languages.

We have a language line for whatever language would be needed.

So we can provide tuition assistance.

We can provide supportive services: childcare, transportation, work-related attire.

We'll buy your stethoscope, your scrubs.

If you need childcare while you're in training, we can cover that for you.

We have over 25 programs from ages 10 to however long you wanna work.

So we have Camp Rise that happens in the summer for 10 to 13-year-olds, and we pay stipends to the children, and it's fantastic because they are sponges at that age.

They really want to learn.

And we brought in Froedtert Health actually, who came in their scrubs, they had a fake limb that was, they could bandage and all of the things.

So that's like our earliest age group.

That program was created by Mayor Johnson because he realized that the workforce system didn't start until age 14, where you can get a work permit.

So that's our earliest experience.

Then we have the Earn and Learn program, which is summer youth employment.

Oftentimes a youth's first job, their first entrance to the world of work.

So we partner with both for-profit and nonprofit sites throughout the county to provide a seven-week experience with enrichment days, and youth are able to get a paycheck from Employ Milwaukee, we're the employer of record, but they complete a normal workday.

But it's a safe space to have your first job.

And then beyond that, we have so many different programs.

Some have an industry focus.

We're looking at manufacturing or at nursing or at certain occupations like civil engineering.

Other ones, we're looking at special populations.

If you've been justice involved, if you have any type of criminal record, whether you're a youth or adult, we have something for you, and we work in that space a lot.

If you're an older worker, we can help connect you to work.

So we like to think of it as a total family or a whole family model.

Being employer-led, it's really important for us not only to talk to employers all the time to validate what we're seeing, but we do a lot of analysis of labor market information.

We wanna make sure that we're focusing our resources on high-growth, high-demand jobs and now jobs that are AI resilient.

So we're always doing that research and making sure our investments are focused on those areas because as a planner, I'm not thinking of today or tomorrow, I'm thinking next year, five years, 10 years.

And we wanna make sure those investments are in place so that there are actually jobs there when people complete their training.

Right now, construction, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, retail, hospitality, IT and financial services are still very strong along with transportation.

Full program year, our annual report, we served over 13,000 individuals, and that's anywhere from you may have stopped in here and gotten help with your résumé to we funded your college and helped get you placed as an RN at $40 an hour.

So it's a large spectrum, and all of those scenarios have happened.

And generally speaking, 13% of our participants are Hispanic.

The wide majority are people of color and over 90% are.

Most individuals are living in high poverty, high unemployment neighborhoods because that's where our services are needed.

But we also serve dislocated workers.

So it could be an individual that was laid off from a job and has a master's degree or even a PhD.

So we have something for everybody.

[music].

JULIE CAYO: Our placement rate is around 70%, which is very good, and we really focus on industry recognized credentials because again, we want the employer to see the value in what that training is.

And the best way to do that is to have the industry give a stamp of approval.

So the Department of Workforce Development does publish unemployment data.

At time, it's still very low, meaning that the labor market is tight, that unemployment is very low, relatively speaking.

But what we know is it may look like Milwaukee County has a lower unemployment rate of say around 4%, but certain neighborhoods in the city have higher unemployment rates.

There has been, for many years now, kind of a talent mismatch.

So you have individuals saying, "I can't get a job," and then you have employers saying, "I can't find the workers I need."

What we are hearing from employers more and more is if individuals have very strong essential skills or job readiness skills, showing up to work on time, getting along with their supervisor and their colleagues and working hard, we will train them.

We will teach them anything.

And so really more and more, those essential skills are becoming important.

And then once you have a job, even if it's entry level, many more employers are stepping up to offer training while you're on the job so that you can advance within different positions in their company.

The easiest way is to go to an American Job Center.

One is on Chase Street at UMOS.

The next is downtown on MLK Drive.

And then the third one is on the north side on 27th Street.

However, our website is full of contact information.

So we try to make sure that each program has a webpage, and that webpage has a specific person that you can call.

So whether it's a service provider at one of the organizations that we have a contract with to provide the services or if it's our team here, it should tell you, here's the name of the person and here's a phone number.

If not, our general line is 414-270-1700, and our reception staff is well versed in all of our programs and can help you navigate to who you need to talk to.

I would say for job seekers, please know that we're here for you, but we're not here just to get you a job.

We're here to make sure that you have a career and you're economically successful in the long term.

So economic mobility is very important for us.

Making sure you have advancement opportunities that you really can build a life around a career is important to us.

And I would say secondarily, we have a dual mission to serve job seekers and employers and many employers don't know this but we have services for them and funding.

We can help with candidate recruitment, talent sourcing, customized hiring events.

We are able to provide funds for upskilling.

So for your current workforce, if there are needs for training for your current workers, we can pay that.

We can even offer on the job training contracts which fund employers for that time that it takes to bring on a new employee and teach them the ropes.

So we have a lot of employer resources, and we have an entire team that works strictly with employers called our business solutions team.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Agradecemos a Julie Cayo por compartir esta valiosa información.

Más detalles en el sitio de internet.

[música].

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: El mural sobre la leyenda de la radiodifusión Bob Uecker, creado por Mauricio Ramírez, es espectacular.

Con un estilo geométrico que refleja la energía y el dinamismo de este joven artista de origen latino, les presentamos esta producción en colaboración con nuestro colega Adam Lilley de The Arts Page.

[music].

MAURICIO RAMIREZ: My name is Mauricio Ramirez.

I'm a visual artist specializing in public art, large format mural paintings.

[music] I think anytime an artist gets chosen to do anything public, it's always a huge deal, and the fact that my project that I got chosen for and being trusted with is to paint this, you know, mural of Bob Uecker, this portrait of him, you know, just to really honor his legacy.

There's a lot of important people that trust me with it, and I think just thinking of them and having to think of me to do this it's the biggest honor.

Approached by the Wintrust Financial Group building operators out of there, and they kind of teamed up with Downtown Milwaukee as well as Visit Milwaukee and kind of all, you know, those are the big powerhouses that I think always really put Milwaukee on the map and really showcase Milwaukee on like a large platform.

So, throughout my career, I spent time doing very special individuals that have left an impact on the American fabric: Dolores Huerta, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Selena, and now Bob Uecker.

I think it's all like kind of this collection of individuals that really have brought Milwaukee to the national level.

From the process, it really starts with just like an idea.

Downtown Milwaukee, Visit Milwaukee, the Uecker family, Wintrust Financial, it ultimately helps the design because it just kind of gives different perspectives on one thing, and as an artist, I'm always looking for different perspectives just to make it the best possible work.

So once the design is finalized, then it goes on to the mural making aspect of it, which is more approached like, uh, I don't want to say labor, but you know, it's a lot of work.

You're working 6 a.m.

till 8 o'clock at night.

This is what I love to do and I wish there was more hours of the day and more energy that I could emit each day, but I try to take advantage of the sunlight sunrise to sunset, and just really try to crank it out.

I like to grid out the entire mural, six feet by three feet tiles, and just kind of work within those six feet by three feet, and if I, you know, just keep on doing that over and over again and really just trusting my gut with all the different color changes and the way that spray paint operates, how it just kind of sprays and kind of mists, I think that I use that to my benefit to just get some of the blending down.

We power wash the wall, we prime it with one of the best masonry primers out there on the market.

It just kind of shrinks the brick, and just kind of like grips it, and that's what kind of creates our substrate or canvas for the artwork.

So, using that type of material with like good preparation, I think it's going to set it up for a really long time.

And not only that, you know, the wall is facing north, so it barely gets any sunlight.

Right now it's getting the most sunlight, and it's getting about two hours a day.

And that's not really a lot compared to something on the south side, east side, or west side.

If it were painted, you know, it would be getting hit by the sun or anything.

But for something like this, I feel really good about it, and I'm really anxious to see how long it's going to last because I know it's going to last for at least 10 to 15 years without being touched.

I got a chance to talk with the Uecker family.

You know, ultimately we just wanted to really give his likeness to the mural and not make him look photoshopped or anything.

Other than that, that was really the main discussion and just being respectful in that way.

When searching an image, it gets kind of tricky, especially with copyright stuff.

So, I worked with the Uecker family and the Brewers to, they kind of gave me a library of which to choose from.

And I just thought the best type of portrait with him by the mic, you know, him kind of looking at the camera would really give a good design to the mural.

I didn't do my own spin, but I just tried to create it what it would look like in spray paint in public art.

To be honest, I think it's probably gonna be the highlight of my career in terms size and technical abilities.

I think it's gonna sit at the top with everything when it's all said and done, but you know, nonetheless, you know, I think it fits in collection of individuals that we care for and care for us.

Anytime I see someone kind of stop doing what they're doing, walking to from a restaurant to their car and just stop and whip out their phone, take a photo, I think that's always a good sign.

People from Milwaukee, Brewers' fans and Mr.

Baseball fans, I just hope when they see it, they get this sense of connection with him and his legacy, having it live beyond his lifetime and hope to bring that out with people and, you know, just be respectful of him.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Gracias a Mauricio Ramírez por ser una muestra más del gran talento hispano que viste de color a Milwaukee.

[música].

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Nos acompaña Ale Jiménez para presentarnos "Semillitas";, un innovador programa bilingüe para niños pequeños que combina la conservación de la naturaleza con la riqueza de la cultura hispana.

¡Bienvenida, Ale!

[música y onomatopeyas].

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Esta es una ala.

¿La ven?

// Ahhh... // Su ala, sus plumas largas son para volar.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Semillas Spanish in Nature es un tipo de educación alternativo que en sí es educación ambiental en español.

Y engloba tres aspectos principales, que es la naturaleza, lo que es la inmersión al español y la cultura.

Y es enfocado en niños pequeños, como mencioné de dos a seis años, con sus padres.

Es un programa semanal, también tenemos campamentos de verano y viajes a México también familiares.

Lo hacemos en Heavenwoods State Forest, que es un parque estatal en Milwaukee.

Ahí rentamos un espacio y lo que hacemos es que la introducción, que son cinco, diez minutos, lo presentamos dentro del centro natural, pero todo lo que se aprende es fuera.

Entonces nuestra herramienta principal es la naturaleza, en donde los niños exploran, ocupan sus cinco sentidos y desarrollamos lo que es su creatividad, imaginación.

Y en vez de estar, claro en pantallas, tenemos ese tiempo de darles, que es, yo lo veo como calidad o tiempo de oro, en contacto con la naturaleza.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Por ejemplo, ¿de qué hablan?

¿Cuáles son los temas?

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Pues, existen más de 36 temas.

Por ejemplo, si cubrimos el área de la cultura, podemos hablar de alebrijes.

Y entonces hablamos de las diferentes partes del cuerpo de un animal.

Ellos aprenden pico, ala, membrana, ojos, todo lo que se nos puede ocurrir de las partes de un animal.

Y se les presentan los animales endémicos, tanto de México como de Wisconsin.

Y pueden comparar uno el otro, podemos discutir por qué la diferencia o por qué el color de cierto animal, por qué el tamaño de los ojos o por qué el tamaño de las orejas.

Y empezamos a discutir depredador, presa, y así ellos van observando los diferentes insectos, aves, reptiles, anfibios.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Sus plumas están naciendo.

Si lo pongo ahí no va a volar.

¿Listos?

Lo vamos a ver a ver qué hace.

Vamos a dejarlo ser.

// ¡Guau, mira!

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Ellos empiezan ya a imaginar todas las partes de los animales y les contamos cómo nació los alebrijes.

Y así ellos pueden crear su propio alebrije con diferentes partes del cuerpo de los animales que han observado o que conocen.

Entonces es una experiencia en la que engloba lo que es cultural, lo que es la naturaleza y, claro, la inmersión al español.

Es una forma muy natural, integral de poner ahí el aprendizaje español, ¿no?

Y si son nativos, pues aprenden nuevas palabras científicas.

VOCES SIMULTÁNEAS: It's a little baby.

// Wait, that's a baby?

Mmhmm.

// Yeah, it is a baby.

// Es un bebé.

It's a big baby.

[risas] What is it?

What kind is it?

It's a pigeon.

// A pigeon?

¿Quieres tenerlo?

No, no.

// It's okay.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Si no son nativos y no hablan español, es una forma que no se dan cuenta que están aprendiendo, pero es muy fácil de aprender y seguir con todas las actividades que son muy activas.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Hablemos de tu formación.

Tú eres una bailarina, de danzas folklóricas, de danzas aztecas.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Yo soy de Cuernavaca, Morelos, México, y ahí yo estudié lo que es biología, soy bióloga de profesión y también estudié danza folklórica desde muy niña y tengo también un diplomado en danza folklórica y artes plásticas.

Cuando me mudé aquí a Milwaukee, bueno, a Kenosha, fue en el 2010 para hacer mi maestría en educación.

Y la idea principal es tener ese como conocimiento de educación para poder yo enseñar tanto biología como danza folklórica y danza azteca.

Mi pasión es enseñar.

Me encanta la cultura.

Me encanta estar en contacto de la naturaleza y creo firmemente que los valores son transmitidos a través de la educación y lo más bonito, en mi caso, es esa cultura, que es la danza, y lo que es la naturaleza, que tenemos que tener esa parte y retomar lo que hemos perdido a través de la tecnología, que es muy bonita la tecnología, pero como ser humano necesitamos esa parte de conexión.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: ¿A dónde los ha llevado, de dónde vienen y a dónde quieren llegar, Ale?

Llevando de la mano a esas familias, a sus pequeñitos, a jóvenes de todas las edades con ustedes.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Sí, bueno, ¿a dónde queremos llegar?

Yo creo que crecer no en cuanto a cantidad o famosos, es más que nada de crecer para llegar a más familias en este tipo de educación, que yo creo que es muy valorado actualmente.

Y bueno, sí hemos participado en diferentes áreas, ya sea en el Villa Terrace, en el Milwaukee Art Museum, en el Milwaukee Public Museum, en todo lo que es educacional y cultural.

Ahí estamos, porque creo que la gente valora este tipo de educación.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Agua.

Water.

Air.

Ground.

Fire.

Wind.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Su pico es grande y grueso porque come semillas.

A quíen busca?

busca a su mamá, busca su nido tal vez.

ALEJANDRA JIMÉNEZ: Y separando o uniendo lo que hago, eso es mi objetivo, ¿no?

Llegar a personas que estén interesados y también los que no estén interesados como moverle esa curiosidad para que aprendan más de otras opciones, que tenemos aquí, que nos hace falta crecer tanto humanos y tener esos valores de empatía, tanto hacia la naturaleza como a las otras culturas.

Nos pueden buscar en las redes sociales como Semillitas Spanish in Nature -- Facebook, Instagram, TikTok y también tenemos una página web, que es www.semillitasspanishinature.com y bueno, ahí si lo busquen en Internet, ahí estamos, cualquier curiosidad o pregunta, con gusto les respondemos.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Gracias a Ale Jiménez por sembrar el amor por la naturaleza y nuestras raíces culturales en el corazón de nuestros niños.

[música y onomatopeyas].

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Y con un hasta pronto nos despedimos invitándolos a que nos dejen saber sus comentarios por el teléfono (414) 297-7544 o en milwaukeepbs.org.

Soy Patricia Gómez deseándoles paz y bendiciones.

[música]