Photo by Tom Jenz
Lia Kyle-Lewis
Lia Kyle-Lewis - Our Daily Bread
Lea Kyle-Lewis is the founder and CEO of Our Daily Bread Community Outreach Center. With the aid of many community partners, Our Daily Bread provides the tools for disadvantaged young women to break away from unhealthy behaviors such as gang activity, teen pregnancy, peer pressure, and substance abuse. Lea is 64 and has dedicated a good share of her adult life to helping youth raised in difficult social and family circumstances.
I met Lea Kyle-Lewis at her office on 60th and Lisbon where I found her dressed exquisitely in a blue wrap-around jacket and a chain necklace with matching earrings. She was soft-spoken and gracious. Dignity seemed to flower in her. She described her mission as empowering young adults and mothers with post-secondary education and job-training skills.
Tell me about your personal history and background, the neighborhood you grew up in, and how that has affected your life.
I grew up in the 53206 zip code area, 25th and Burleigh. Until I was in sixth grade, I attended Auer Elementary School on 24th and Auer. I had three brothers and no father in the home. My mom was too young to take care of us, and we were placed in a foster home when I was three. We lived in that foster home until I was 13.
What was life like for you in the foster home?
Very strict. We went to church all the time. We had to clean baseboards, iron sheets, wash clothes, a lot of very strict rules. But those 10 years in the foster home made me stronger, made me the strong woman I am now. When I was 13, my mom took us back. She had become stable enough to care for us. She had been going to school for nursing. In fact, my mom eventually retired as a registered nurse.
What was your neighborhood like growing up in the late 1960s and 70s? Were there gangs and criminal activities?
There was a criminal element in our neighborhood, lots of fights, but hardly any shootings. Mostly truancy, kids not going to school, just hanging out shooting dice, playing craps, things like that. I went to Rufus King High school and left my senior year in 1974, never graduated. I worked two jobs. I wanted money to dress better, have a better life. As I began to date and go to clubs, I did get entangled in some of the neighborhood problems.
What do you mean by entangled in problems?
Backing up, I grew up in near poverty with a lack of education. After I quit high school, I got caught up in substance abuse, namely drugs and alcohol. That all came about through unhealthy relationships with men, which led to domestic violence. And yet I was working two to three jobs at the time. I’ve always believed in hard work. I did drugs for ten years until I was 33 when my cousin persuaded me to go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings. At first, I felt I did not belong, but I kept going to the meetings. Then, one day it hit me. This is where I need to be, helping others. I got my life together and walked away from a bad relationship. Eventually, I went back to school at MATC and got my GED, then found a better job. Four years later, I went back to school again, and I got an Associate Degree in Business.
How did you get involved with helping young women?
I guess you could say a miracle happened. When I was 35, I met Don Lewis, my husband. We both were attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings. I’d always prayed to God—"Please, let me meet a man who would love me, not be a street person, would take care of the house, be good with his hands.” Don and I got married when I was 38.
At that time, I was working at the U.S. Bank downtown. My husband was working at the Salvation Army. Then, I left the bank and went to work for Milwaukee Public Schools, and my husband also worked there as a custodian. Later, I attended Concordia College and received my bachelors’ degree in 2004. My desire to help young women who were struggling with the same challenges that I subdued. I’d been caught up in that system, lived in a foster home, lacked value in education, and got entangled in substance abuse, I wanted to reach out to young ladies, impact their lives, and them a hopeful message. That all started in the year 2000.
How did your organization, Our Daily Bread, begin? What was the origin?
After I graduated from college in 2004, I enrolled at the Holy Redeemer Church who had a program on how to start a non-profit organization to help people and I learned a lot. During my participation, I received several grants to our non-profit agency. Three years later, I established my non-profit agency as an outreach center and I was still working at the bank. Our Daily Bread actually began in 2006. We started in the Capital Street Library with four girls that I recruited. These girls all had problems with relationships at home. That went well, and we enrolled more girls. We added a job training program and opened it up for boys and started working with the schools. We also started a community service program. We began to grow, got sponsors and partnerships. My mom was an RN and she came on board to handle our client assessments. Soon, we will expand into a larger space.
How is Our Daily Bread funded now?
Our prenatal care program, helping pregnant mothers, is funded through a contract with the State of Wisconsin. We do home visits, and perform case management. But a lot of our supplies—diapers, clothes, toys—comes out of my pocket and the funds we gain through our contract. We have numerous corporate and individual partners who donate money to our mission.
Part of your mission statement says that Our Daily Bread provides the tools to break away from unhealthy behaviors like gangs, teen pregnancy and substance abuse.
I see our mission as reaching out to the next generation and give them a second chance. Some of our young ladies who’ve gone through our program are now working in meaningful jobs, who have gone to college, and are doing really good. Some girls come back and volunteer.
Covering part of one wall in Lea’s facility are framed photos of young women she has helped lead productive lives. With pride, Lea told me brief stories of a few of the women who have matured into responsible adults after a terrible upbringing.
I spend a fair amount of time in the central city, talking to residents and street leaders, cops and politicians. My opinion is that things aren’t good right now for Black residents. One big problem is the lack of fathers or strong male figures in the homes. They could even be in prison. What makes it difficult for many of these men is that the welfare money is given to the mother. If she has a male figure in her household, husband or boyfriend, her welfare can be denied because he could be working. Is this true?
That is correct. But I will say that the Black men who do work aren’t being compensated as well as white men in similar jobs. As a minority, we African Americans have always been given less in terms of opportunity and education. Take my own organization. For example, we have written grant after grant after grant, and we get mostly rejection letters. This is disappointing because my husband and I work long hours just to keep the Outreach Center going.
And you are both juggling jobs in your own life.
After my job at U.S. Bank, I worked for Milwaukee County and retired from there after 15 years. Now, I am working for the Milwaukee public schools as a parent coordinator, assisting parents with their needs. You would think after all my jobs, my experience, my running an outreach center—this should account for something in obtaining grants, but yet I’ve had mostly rejections.
Why do so many young Black women get pregnant? I’ve even heard that there is prestige among teen peer groups for being pregnant or having a child. It’s almost like for a girl to be accepted is to get pregnant. What’s that culture all about?
If you notice, teen pregnancy is high in the 53206 and 53208, 53209, 53212 zip code zones. In those areas, the poverty level is high, uemployment is high, and education is lacking. Sometimes, there is little hope. This all impacts teen pregnancy. All the problems going on now in the central city were going on there when I grew up. But these social factors are worse now.
Is there a way the young women who get pregnant could be educated about contraception?
That is what we are trying to promote. Like when they have their first baby, we discuss family planning. We try to persuade them against having another baby, and we help the girls go back to school and try to establish a career. Because when the young mother gets older, she wants a stable life for her own children.
When you visit the homes of young pregnant women or mothers, what is the purpose? How do you help?
I conduct assessments to figure out their needs, and I give them referrals to help them with parenting: baby items, nutrition, education, breast-feeding. If it’s a first baby, I send them down to the Women’s Support Center on 20th and Wisconsin, Caranet Pregnancy and other agencies to assist their baby's needs. They have parenting classes.
On a broader subject, do you have any thoughts about the controversy of racism that seems to have sadly divided American culture?
I’ve dealt with racism for most of my life. I’ve learned to really just pray every day—pray for our leaders and politicians, city, state, and Federal, to do right for the people, for us. The ball is in their hands. If they don’t do right by us, who will help us all out?
Do you have plans for the future?
I’m going to retire from my school job next spring. But I plan to keep working for three or four more years. Right now, I love what I do, supporting the community with social disparities.
For more information and how you can help, refer to the Our Daily Bread website: ourdailybreadmil.org
