As a teenager, Amelia Mitcham, Arts ’14, and her mother lived in what she describes as “unacceptable conditions.” The landlord ignored interior repairs that her mother ended up paying for, and the yard was overrun with trash and mice.
Mitcham vowed that, if she ever could, she would “be better” as a landlord.
Today, Mitcham owns four previously blighted multifamily properties in Milwaukee’s Merrill Park neighborhood — where she also lives — including the newly opened Third Space Collective MKE at 500 N. 29th St. This once neglected and fire-damaged tavern is now a spacious, light-drenched gallery and event venue, with a two-story apartment above.
Like all of Mitcham’s projects, this one came with major problems. It needed all new electrical wiring, flooring and windows, and the building’s bowing structure required specialty-ordered support beams. Still, she has a knack for rolling with setbacks, summing up her approach as “delayed, not denied.”
Making change locally, touching “one person, one life” is something Mitcham learned at Marquette.
Mitcham is an optimistic problem solver, guided by her father’s journey from poverty in St. Kitts and the “greater sense of appreciation” it gives her for what’s possible. By doing some rehab work herself, sourcing materials and negotiating costs, Mitcham can offer rents low enough for families to live in safe, quality units.
She says making change locally, touching “one person, one life” is something she learned at Marquette.
With the Collective, Mitcham offers an affordable home upstairs and a gathering place downstairs that’s also a showcase for Milwaukee artists — such as photographer Eryn Victoria Turner — to help rebuild Merrill Park as a place to live, create and belong.
