Veronica Ortiz (30), Housing Coordinator for Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative

Fresh from her job at the neighborhood development department at the United Community Center in Milwaukee, Veronica Ortiz, 30, was named the housing coordinator for the Clarke Square Neighborhood Initiative. Ortiz, born in Puerto Rico, spent time during her childhood living on Milwaukee’s south side before moving to Pennsylvania, where she studied accounting, and eventually finishing at CDM Institute in New Jersey.

Ortiz’s duties include working with first-time homebuyers, preventing foreclosures and facilitating financial resources for homeowners looking to repair their homes among other tasks. But, Ortiz said that her first goal as coordinator is to get out and meet the residents. “I need to let Clarke Square residents know that I am here and that there is free help available to them,” Ortiz added.

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Ortiz is filling a position that has been open for months. Her ultimate goal is to help beautify and improve the image of Clarke Square, at the same time decreasing crime, she said. “Obviously that happens by having responsible and caring homeowners living in the neighborhood.”

Contact information for Veronica Ortiz
Email: vortiz@mccwi.org
Phone: (414) 643-7704

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Raised in a South Side neighborhood where he still lives, Edgar Mendez is the managing editor of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in journalism and sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in communication. He won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and 2014, 2017, and 2018 Milwaukee Press Club Awards for his reporting on taverns, marijuana law enforcement, and lead in water service lines. In 2008, he won a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism. His writing has been published by the Associated Press, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media. He has also co-authored three articles published in scholarly journals.