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‘Heartbreaking’: Many in Milwaukee in limbo after SDC shutdown [1]
['Trisha Young', 'Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service', 'Edgar Mendez', 'More Trisha Young', 'More Edgar Mendez', 'Senior Staff Reporter', 'Wisconsin Watch', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus']
Date: 2024-06-14 11:00:00+00:00
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Milwaukee resident Maria Beltran relied on the Social Development Commission for years for home improvements, including the installation of new furnaces and weatherization.
The Social Development Commission, or SDC, is a quasi-governmental community action agency responsible for providing a variety of services to low-income residents in Milwaukee County.
Among those services are weatherization and lead abatement. Those and other services have remained in limbo since the SDC’s weatherization program was suspended in March by the Wisconsin Department of Administration for misallocation of funds and the organization as a whole suspended operations in late April.
Beltran’s house recently was being lead-abated through the SDC’s Lead Safe Homes Program. That program was halted by its funder, according to William Sulton, the SDC’s attorney. The program helped homeowners create lead-safe housing units by identifying hazards and eliminating them.
The lead abatement work at Beltran’s home was supposed to be completed by one of SDC’s subcontractors, Weatherization Services LLC. However, after about a year and a half, the work is still not completed.
What happens now that SDC is closed?
Although the company did conduct some work on the home, there are a number of items still on a punch list, which meant they were incomplete when SDC’s Lead Safe Homes Program was shut down, according to an email exchange among Beltran, members of SDC and Weatherization Services LLC.
“A lot of people were waiting to get their homes done, and now there is no one to monitor getting these jobs complete,” said Beltran, whose two children have tested positive for lead in their blood.
According to Beltran, no one has contacted her regarding her case.
Sulton said the SDC no longer oversees those projects.
In her home Maria Beltran has two young children who have both tested positive for lead. She is concerned about the future of lead abatement projects for the community since the SDC abruptly closed in late April. (Trisha Young / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Beltran fears that the lead abatement process, which has dragged on since she first applied to the program in 2019, is going to be a lot harder to access.
Vendors also unpaid
In addition to complaints from residents who are waiting for their weatherization and lead abatement projects to be completed, some vendors also said that they have not been paid by SDC.
Jon Yakish, owner of Micro Analytical, Inc., said his company hasn’t been paid for asbestos testing work completed for the SDC in recent months.
“We were getting paid monthly,” said Yakish, adding that his company has worked with SDC since about 2019. “There’s still some outstanding invoices.”
Yakish said he has received some communications, one from SDC, and another that he believes was from those working on the state audit, but no concrete answers.
“There’s obviously a strong desire to get us paid, if there’s money left,” he said. “We’ll just sit tight and see what they say.”
Related Story Milwaukee’s Social Development Commission has not paid laid-off employees. Now they seek answers. Milwaukee’s Social Development Commission, or SDC, suspended its operations and laid off its entire staff at the end of April.
Sulton said the SDC board has made a claim against its own insurance company to try to cover some of the vendor payments and is also in communications with the state to find solutions.
“The bottom line is funds were misallocated from the weatherization program that should have been used to pay vendors but are no longer available,” he said.
Sulton said the SDC recognizes the significant problem the nonpayment has caused vendors, particularly small business owners.
“We are trying to work out a solution. They certainly should expect payment, and the board is working on that,” he said.
Issues arise before SDC’s closing
Ofelia Mondragon, the former Healthy Home lead abatement manager for SDC, noted that there were concerns over payments from SDC in the months before the shutdown.
“I’ve worked for SDC for almost 14 years, and I almost never saw overdue checks or balances to any contractor until the last months of working there,” Mondragon said. “People were calling and asking where money was for work they did and I didn’t have an answer.”
Some contractors said they invested tens of thousands of dollars into SDC work and are worried they may never see that money, according to Mondragon.
“It’s heartbreaking. I was the one recruiting the contractors. I told them they were going to get paid,” Mondragon said.
“Now we know the problem was bigger than we thought,” she said.
‘I hope they find the money’
Lead abatement cases are now being handled by the Milwaukee Health Department.
Caroline Reinwald, public information officer for the health department, said in an email to NNS: “MHD is reaching out on individual cases.”
Tatyana Warrick, communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Administration, which is overseeing the audit of SDC, said any unfinished weatherization work was transferred to two other companies for completion: La Casa De Esperanza and Partners for Community Development.
Despite her difficulties, Beltran stressed the importance of the SDC in Milwaukee. “I hope they find the money. I hope they do come back,” she said.
What do you want to know?
Do you have questions you want answered about the SDC? Thoughts you want to share? We are here for you. Let us know what’s on your mind by emailing us or commenting. You can also text us through News414, and our reporters will work hard to get the answers you deserve.
A version of this story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, a nonprofit news organization that covers Milwaukee’s diverse neighborhoods.
News414 is a service journalism collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that addresses the specific issues, interests, perspectives and information needs identified by residents of central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. Learn more at our website or sign up for our texting service here.
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‘It’s heartbreaking’: Milwaukee residents, vendors left in limbo after Social Development Commission’s shutdown
by Trisha Young / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Edgar Mendez / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, Wisconsin Watch June 14, 2024
Milwaukee resident Maria Beltran relied on the Social Development Commission for years for home improvements, including the installation of new furnaces and weatherization.
The Social Development Commission, or SDC, is a quasi-governmental community action agency responsible for providing a variety of services to low-income residents in Milwaukee County.
Among those services are weatherization and lead abatement. Those and other services have remained in limbo since the SDC’s weatherization program was suspended in March by the Wisconsin Department of Administration for misallocation of funds and the organization as a whole suspended operations in late April.
Beltran’s house recently was being lead-abated through the SDC’s Lead Safe Homes Program. That program was halted by its funder, according to William Sulton, the SDC’s attorney. The program helped homeowners create lead-safe housing units by identifying hazards and eliminating them.
The lead abatement work at Beltran’s home was supposed to be completed by one of SDC’s subcontractors, Weatherization Services LLC. However, after about a year and a half, the work is still not completed.
What happens now that SDC is closed?
Although the company did conduct some work on the home, there are a number of items still on a punch list, which meant they were incomplete when SDC’s Lead Safe Homes Program was shut down, according to an email exchange among Beltran, members of SDC and Weatherization Services LLC.
“A lot of people were waiting to get their homes done, and now there is no one to monitor getting these jobs complete,” said Beltran, whose two children have tested positive for lead in their blood.
According to Beltran, no one has contacted her regarding her case.
Sulton said the SDC no longer oversees those projects.
In her home Maria Beltran has two young children who have both tested positive for lead. She is concerned about the future of lead abatement projects for the community since the SDC abruptly closed in late April. (Trisha Young / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Beltran fears that the lead abatement process, which has dragged on since she first applied to the program in 2019, is going to be a lot harder to access.
Vendors also unpaid
In addition to complaints from residents who are waiting for their weatherization and lead abatement projects to be completed, some vendors also said that they have not been paid by SDC.
Jon Yakish, owner of Micro Analytical, Inc., said his company hasn’t been paid for asbestos testing work completed for the SDC in recent months.
“We were getting paid monthly,” said Yakish, adding that his company has worked with SDC since about 2019. “There’s still some outstanding invoices.”
Yakish said he has received some communications, one from SDC, and another that he believes was from those working on the state audit, but no concrete answers.
“There’s obviously a strong desire to get us paid, if there’s money left,” he said. “We’ll just sit tight and see what they say.”
Sulton said the SDC board has made a claim against its own insurance company to try to cover some of the vendor payments and is also in communications with the state to find solutions.
“The bottom line is funds were misallocated from the weatherization program that should have been used to pay vendors but are no longer available,” he said.
Sulton said the SDC recognizes the significant problem the nonpayment has caused vendors, particularly small business owners.
“We are trying to work out a solution. They certainly should expect payment, and the board is working on that,” he said.
Issues arise before SDC’s closing
Ofelia Mondragon, the former Healthy Home lead abatement manager for SDC, noted that there were concerns over payments from SDC in the months before the shutdown.
“I’ve worked for SDC for almost 14 years, and I almost never saw overdue checks or balances to any contractor until the last months of working there,” Mondragon said. “People were calling and asking where money was for work they did and I didn’t have an answer.”
Some contractors said they invested tens of thousands of dollars into SDC work and are worried they may never see that money, according to Mondragon.
“It’s heartbreaking. I was the one recruiting the contractors. I told them they were going to get paid,” Mondragon said.
“Now we know the problem was bigger than we thought,” she said.
‘I hope they find the money’
Lead abatement cases are now being handled by the Milwaukee Health Department.
Caroline Reinwald, public information officer for the health department, said in an email to NNS: “MHD is reaching out on individual cases.”
Tatyana Warrick, communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Administration, which is overseeing the audit of SDC, said any unfinished weatherization work was transferred to two other companies for completion: La Casa De Esperanza and Partners for Community Development.
Despite her difficulties, Beltran stressed the importance of the SDC in Milwaukee. “I hope they find the money. I hope they do come back,” she said.
What do you want to know?
Do you have questions you want answered about the SDC? Thoughts you want to share? We are here for you. Let us know what’s on your mind by emailing us or commenting. You can also text us through News414, and our reporters will work hard to get the answers you deserve.
This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. Copy to Clipboard
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