As a daughter of Milwaukee, Koren Dennison has always been passionate about her community.
Looking out for others is the way she was raised.
But it wasn’t until she lost her job last November that she sat and started to think about what her role in the city was. That’s when she formed My Kousin’s House.
My Kousin’s House is an intergenerational community space, out of her Metcalfe Park home, focused on family literacy building. The community space is activated through a series of events meant to be fun, community building and thought provoking.
“I want people to leave My Kousin’s House having had a good time, their thoughts provoked and having some new community,” she said.
‘Made of Milwaukee’
Long before Dennison, 28, was hosting community spelling bees and movie discussions in her living room, she was learning what it meant to be surrounded by people who poured into her.
“Koren is a witty, bubbly, very enthusiastic, down to Earth kind of girl,” said Domani Wose, a friend of Dennison’s. “She’s for the people.”
A storyteller, dancer, educator, evaluator, landlord and self-described “weirdo nerd,” Dennison traces the roots of her newest venture, My Kousin’s House, back to the people and neighborhoods that shaped her.
“I am made of Milwaukee,” she said.
Raised by a single mother in Hillside Terrace, Dennison said she grew up immersed in Black community, Black excellence and a belief that success was not something to hoard but something to share.
She attended Young Leaders Academy, later graduating from Milwaukee High School of the Arts, where dance became both a creative outlet and a lesson in defiance.
“Koren is defiant,” Dennison said. “Not in a cause of harm kind of way, but the kind that refuses to accept limitations placed on Black girls from working-class neighborhoods.”
That determination carried her to Marquette University, where she earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in corporate communication. And as college expanded her opportunities, it also deepened her understanding of herself.
“My baseline is Black,” Dennison said. “Going to a predominantly white institution challenged me in ways I didn’t expect.”
The experience sharpened her sense of identity and reinforced her commitment to community.
After graduation, she worked in youth programming at Highland Community School before moving into research and evaluation work, spending more than three years helping organizations measure impact and communicate results.
By many standards she had achieved what she once envisioned: the professional career, the office, the stability.
Before eventually leaving her job, Dennison began to build a different kind of foundation. She purchased her first duplex in 2021 and another in 2023, creating a measure of financial stability through real estate. Those investments would later give her the freedom to take a risk on herself.
When her position was eliminated in late 2025, Dennison spent months grieving, recalibrating and considering her next move. She applied for jobs and was rejected multiple times.
Eventually, she stopped seeing those rejections as setbacks and started viewing them as redirection.
“I’ve never felt so free,” she said. “I’ve never felt so autonomous. I’ve never felt so grounded.”
My Kousin’s House
Out of uncertainty came My Kousin’s House.
Part community gathering space, part learning hub and part social experiment. Dennison describes it as an “intergenerational third space focused on full-family literacy.”
The concept grew from observations she had made throughout her life.
She said she noticed how children often miss opportunities to learn from elders. She also noticed how adults frequently stop learning altogether and how conversations in modern life often stay on the surface.
Most importantly, she recognized her own role as a bridge.
At 28, childless, but deeply connected to both younger and older generations, Dennison often found herself translating between worlds.
“There is a bridge that is absolutely needed between young people and elders,” she said.
She wants My Kousin’s House to become that bridge.
“It’s an intergenerational space where there’s gonna be joy, fun and some type of education,” said Melody McCurtis who attended an event. “So, whether that’s learning about animals, urban farming or like hydroponics or political education we learn from these events about how we show up, not only as individuals, but how we interact with each other.”
Melody McCurtis is the deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, a group that serves Metcalfe Park residents through a series of events, services and campaigns.
Events blend entertainment with meaningful conversation. So far, participants have gathered for a Grey’s Anatomy-themed trivia night, a community spelling bee, and a discussion and dance party inspired by “Black Is King,” a film by Beyonce.
Future events will explore topics ranging from natural hair care and gardening to Black history and food justice, she said.
“I don’t want to talk about the weather,” Dennison said. “I want to talk about how you carry grief.”
Wose has attended every event. He said each one was a fun learning experience that helped him meet new people.
He said the spelling bee had good vibes and a lot of laughter.
“I can’t spell that well, I add or miss a letter here and there, but it helped me see that everybody’s still learning because I wasn’t the only person who was messing up. But all adults, right?” Wose said.
Dennison’s vision extends beyond children. She believes that literacy and lifelong learning must include entire families, especially in a city where educational disparities have persisted for generations.
“If the babies can’t read, there are already adults outside the scope of the solutions,” she said. “How do we invite parents into those conversations without shame?”
The answer, she believes, is community.
“In a neighborhood like Metcalfe park where we are seeing so many changes, it’s a great space to have,” said McCurtis.
Rejecting narratives about Milwaukee
While Dennison acknowledges many of the city’s challenges, she said she rejects narratives that paint Milwaukee solely through the lens of struggle. Instead, she sees a city filled with people who invested in her success and taught her the importance of returning the favor.
“I was raised on lift as we climb,” she said. “Each one teach one.”
It is not simply a series of events. It is an attempt to create the kind of community Dennison believes many people are searching for: a place where learning feels joyful, where generations learn from one another and where meaningful conversation becomes a form of care.
“It’s an inviting space with good vibes and great banana bread,” Wose said.
The project remains young. Attendance varies. Funding is pieced together through donations, side jobs, tutoring, dance coaching, evaluation contracts and even homemade banana bread sales.
Still, Dennison keeps going.
Every event, every conversation, every gathering feels like proof that people are hungry for connection.
“When I think about isolation or loneliness or individualism and safeguardness, those are all the things that intergenerational third spaces are combating,” McCurtis said. “It allows us to communicate and allow things to land in a way that feels safe and like home.”
Despite the positive feedback Dennison’s gotten about her efforts, fear remains, she admits. So does the uncertainty.
But so does the conviction.
“I just decided,” Dennison said. “Nobody gave me permission. Nobody handed me anything. I just decided.”
To learn more about My Kousin’s House you can follow Dennison’s personal account or My Kousin’s House on Instagram.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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