MILWAUKEE — Tonda Thompson grew up in the Harambee neighborhood, and where most people see an eyesore she sees an opportunity to give back.
"It was a dark place when I first bought the building. When you opened the door, it smelled of rotten wood and cat pee. It was a horrible place." Thompson said.
Her passion is to revitalize her community and bring good energy to plighted buildings.
“Once I locked eyes with it, I was like okay yeah. Let’s do it," Thompson said.
Using all local wood and materials to build her projects, Thompson is chopping down barriers as the first black woman in the state to own a sawmill.
She's also using her trade to uplift young people.
"Having a vision to renovate a place is so hard. For me to teach young people, you can turn this log into a dining room table that’s $2,000 and you can sell it yourself and make money and get yourself out of a poverty state, that is amazing to me" she explained.
Thompson drills confidence into young people to eliminate what she calls “social determinants of health, like joblessness, and poverty."
Thompson says woodwork is more than carpentry.
"It is therapeutic. It’s deeper than just selling tables. It inspires people to never feel like they are in a place where they’re stuck,” she explained.
Neighbors were eager to tell me how proud they were watching Thompson carve a new image for the block.
“She took one of the worst corners in this neighborhood, and turned it into a shining star,” said Eric Broxton, a neighbor who lived in the area for years and watched Thompson's growth.
With an internship program starting soon, and a grand opening, young people from the North Side will be able to make money and gain life skills and slang wood.
“You can build this yourself. You can learn a skill yourself. You can teach yourself," Thompson said. "You don’t have to rely on anybody to make any changes or any difference in your community. You can do it yourself.“
Chipping away at the stereotypes that hold young people back, Thompson is building a new narrative
“If you could change one young person at a time, you can change your whole environment to change the community."
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