The Carmen Porco Story: Journey Toward Justice biography provides a
compelling and beautifully written account of Rev. Carmen Porco's life
journey. It shows how he has used his housing ministry to help lift
people out of poverty. Although Rev. Porco went through one of the
country's finest seminary schools, he is not a traditional pastor by any
means. He pastors to the residents who live in the low-income complexes
he manages. They are his housing ministry, not a church.
Reverend Porco has transformed how low income public housing should be
managed in this country. He believes that public housing complexes must
do more for people in need than just offer shelter. These properties
that are benefiting from government subsidies should provide a
comprehensive array of social and educational services onsite so that
poor people have the resources necessary to improve their lives, he
says. And that is exactly what he has done in Milwaukee and Madison,
Wisconsin. His complexes not only provide a wide range of educational
and employment services, residents are hired to run the properties.
Scholarships are awarded so tenants can attend college, a learning
center for all ages is provided on site and additional resources are
offered for low income residents to succeed. As a result, his properties
have low-crime and high-graduation rates and nearly one out of every
four households has someone in college. His innovative housing ministry
has changed the lives of thousands of people in Wisconsin over the past
40-years.
Porco grew up poor in an integrated neighborhood in Weirton, West
Virginia and still maintains authentic relationships with many African
Americans. His Italian parents started out as bootleggers before opening
a barroom where Porco spent his youth interacting with all types of
people. When Carmen's best friend was killed in a gang fight that Carmen
led, he turned to the church and began preaching at age 15, but he
never forgot his roots. Although he started off as a Fundamentalist, by
the time he graduated from seminary school he was challenging the
traditional church and its commitment to fully serving the needs of the
poor. Porco believes that the "True Church" is not in a building but in
the streets and homes, where people live daily, and in his case, his
housing ministry. This inspiring biography of Madison's most
non-traditional pastor is a testament to the power of hope over despair.