By Kathy Gaillard
Deatra (“Dee”) Kemp comes from a lineage of servant leaders, including her father who retired from the Milwaukee Fire Department as the Captain of Education and her brother who is a firefighter.
“Servanthood is in my DNA. I was born in Racine, but Milwaukee is home. I grew up surrounded by family members that placed more value on what you did for others than how much money you made. Family and church were always an important part of our lives. I have a great moral code that hails from my upbringing and I have always felt really blessed for that,” said Dee.
Admitting that she ‘accidentally’ fell into her profession, Dee’s path to a career in housing began with an internship with AmeriCorps after graduating from high school.
“I learned a lot about housing during my AmeriCorps internship. I was placed in the Parklawn Housing Development and I learned how critical housing is to family stabilization,” said Dee.
After completing her internship, she spent five years working at the YMCA and involved with other nonprofit organizations, but while her passion was there, she transferred over to a career in corporate after becoming a mother.
“I loved nonprofit work, but I had a family to take care of so I took a management job in real estate and eventually became a regional portfolio manager focusing on Section 8 and tax credit properties,” she said.
Some 12 years later, Dee accepted a job with ACTS Housing, where she now works as Vice President of Programs.
“I focus on making sure that we are creating a no-barrier situation for residents of the city who want to become homeowners, particularly with communities of color. I help families that want to build generational wealth through home ownership and provide their families with stable, affordable housing.
“My people perish for lack of knowledge,” (Hosea 4:6). The number one thing we can do is educate people on the fact that they don’t have to be renters. They have a choice. I want to see people who look like me enjoy the benefits of homeownership,” she said.
Dee and her team work directly with families—from helping them track their expenses, to budgeting, to getting them pre-approved for mortgages. ACTS Housing also helps homeowners purchase city foreclosed properties, and supports them through the renovation and the lending processes.
“We are also a lending arm so we provide creative lending guidelines that offer potential homeowners more flexibility than traditional lending institutions. For example, we changed our guidelines so that men who have child support liens are able to receive mortgage financing as long as their balance owned is less than $50K and they are making payments on the balance. One of the best ways to fight racism is through Black family formation. The system locks them out of opportunities to care for their families and we work to eliminate those barriers,” said Dee.
While she honors many for her successful career, Dee quickly credits two women for having a positive impact on her life’s trajectory.
“Growing up in Milwaukee as a young Black woman, watching Vel Phillips helped me realize that I could do or be anything and that I didn’t have to wait for someone else to do something to foster change. I saw that there are people in my community who look like me, who are doing the type of work I want to do and making a difference.
“Also, since being at ACTS Housing, my supervisor and mentor Dorothy York has positively impacted my life. She is an amazing mentor and an incredible Black woman who is savvy in this industry and supportive of me, giving me the freedom to do what I feel is necessary to succeed,” said Dee.
A staunch believer that health and wealth cannot be separated—especially in the context of housing—Dee said that home instability can have a negative impact on families.
“It’s stressful having to move from place to place, because the rent goes up or the landlord decides to sell your home. And they can do that because it’s theirs. People don’t understand the unnecessary burden they carry as renters. Just being able to come into your own space and know that it’s yours and do the things in that space that make you comfortable, makes a big difference in one’s well-being.
“I do my job hoping to make positive change. I want that to be my legacy—that I helped people make their lives better,” she said.
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