Dioncio Hernandez
Teonna Cooksey
Dionicio Hernandez is sixty-three years old. He was born in Puerto Rico, but raised in Milwaukee. Mr. Hernandez is very close to his family. His family brought him to the United States when he was a child. His dad, who came first, resided on Garfield Street. His family lived there for a while. Mr. Hernandez lived in the Riverwest neighborhood for most of his life, then moved to the south side of Milwaukee and lived there for seven years. Recently, he bought a home and moved to Sherman Park. He is excited to own this home, finally, after years of renting. Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Hernandez has worked in multiple jobs, and as he put it: he continued to work until he got tired of it. He worked as a cook, in an office, in a casino, and as a barber. He is retired now. Mr. Hernandez was attracted to the Sherman Park because of his love for architectural ornamentation and interior woodwork of older homes in this neighborhood. He feels that artisans no longer have the skills to produce intricate craft. As a new homeowner, Mr. Hernandez has invested time and effort into personalizing his home and maintaining its historic character. He has joined the local neighborhood watch to engage with the community. Hernandez was introduced to the networks and events in the neighborhood by the experienced and stalwart Jackie Smith, the former owner of his home and a well-respected member of this community. But being new in a close-knit block can be daunting. Mr. Hernandez feels as though people are apprehensive about him because he is new and they do not know him. Nevertheless, he does feel comfortable and wishes to get more acquainted with his neighbors. When he walks the neighborhood, one of his neighbors waves at him and that makes him welcome and comfortable. Mr. Hernandez feels that he always ends up in the right place. He reminisces on living on the south side of Milwaukee. There, it was easy for him to move around and get to where he wanted to be quickly. Everything was conveniently located. But he describes the north side of Milwaukee as an equally nice place to live in. For whatever reason, he no longer suffers from his usual allergies in the new neighborhood. Mr. Hernandez is still getting acclimated living in a north side neighborhood. He compared his experiences in different Milwaukee neighborhoods: Living on the north side of the city, he smells a lot of car exhaust and hears the deafening sounds of the police, ambulance, or fire trucks all the time. When he lived in the south side, he remembers smelling food. As a result, when he moved in Sherman Park, he would go to the south side to buy food from the stores he was familiar with. Recently, he discovered a Pick n Save grocery store nearby. There is also a hardware store that he has started to use. He is still discovering the new area and he mused that he must spend more time finding out what is in here. Mr. Hernandez has invested a lot of time and effort on his new house. He has repainted all but a few rooms to match his personal color preferences. He has put an electric motor on the garage door and updated the locks and security systems. He plans to landscape his yard next. In the future, Mr. Hernandez plans to change his windows, and remodel the bedrooms, attic, bathrooms, and kitchen. He has experience of doing home-improvement on his own. He learnt construction and home improvement by reading and watching tutorials online and has made improvements and changes to his family home in Puerto Rico, that he owns too. That building was recently demolished by hurricane Irma. |
A chance to get the house
The change of neighborhood
The neighbors
His dog
Love older homes
|