“You get all kinds of blessings when you do things for free,” Ameen Allen says. “You know good things. And more importantly, your mind is clear and your heart is clear.” Allen has published a book, “Chameleon: A Way of Life,” to encourage people to see the best in every situation.(Photo by PrincessSafiya Byers)
By PrincessSafiya Byers
This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org.
Ameen Allen gets up every morning and cleans his neighborhood park, Marcus DeBack Playground on North 55th Street.
He provides affordable snacks for kids, teaches games like jacks, jump rope and double Dutch, and he organizes activities like running track and playing cans.
Additionally, he volunteers with Fathers Making Progress, where he attends community events and helps guide young men and fathers. Oh, and he has a part-time job at McDonald’s and is a father to two children.
Allen, 65, gives back to his community simply because he can.
“Ameen is a real joy to be around,” said Terron Edwards, the president and founder of Fathers Making Progress, a nonprofit. “Hardworking is an understatement to explain Ameen’s work ethic.”
“You get all kinds of blessings when you do things for free,” Ameen said. “You know good things. And, more importantly, your mind is clear and your heart is clear.”
The journey
Born in Philadelphia, he relocated to Milwaukee when he was 7. That was the start of his journey of doing for others.
Because he was raised in an unstable home, he started providing for himself and his sisters at age 8. His mother struggled with a mental illness and his father was not active in his life, he said.
“We were Muslims at the time, so the boy was the man in charge,” he said. “So I learned to collect bottles, and I’d walk down to the lake collecting them and I’d make anywhere from $10 to $20 with a cart full of them, and that was a lot of money back then.”
From there, he just helped out whoever he could whenever he could.
He left home at 10 and was taken in by a foster family.
“I was a mess and gave them a hard time,” he said. “But they took me out of a bad situation and turned me into who I am today.”
He stayed with the foster family until he graduated from Washington High School at age 18.
A year later, he married his ex-wife, Veronica Allen, and had his first set of children who are now 39, 37 and 33.
Veronica Allen said he was always an active and present father to the point the nieces and nephews would be excited to see him coming.
“When it comes to giving, he is always going to go the extra mile,” she said.
A stroke and ‘a miracle’
At 48, Allen had a stroke that shook him to his core and strengthened his commitment to giving.
The stroke left Allen in a coma for two weeks. He said at that time around 200 people had come to see him and that was when he realized his impact on the community.
“Before that, I was teaching karate for about 30 years and helping people get jobs, so I knew I was making a difference,” he said. “But I just didn’t expect so much support.”
Allen said when he was in the hospital, a young woman, whom he believes to be an angel, took care of him.
“Coming out of something that should have killed me was already a miracle,” he said. “But I went back to thank this woman who had shown me so much kindness, and I was told no one by her name worked for the hospital. I figured it had to be an angel.”
He said after the stroke, life had more meaning.
A lifelong chameleon
Allen has published a book, “Chameleon: A Way of Life,” to encourage people to see the best in every situation.
The same way he sees it.
He spent the early part of his working career being laid off. But he was never too upset because it provided him time to do what he does best: Help people.
“I’ve worked across the state and been laid off more times than I can count,” he said. “I would always be laid off in summer so I’d just be in the community.”
He said every time he was laid off, he’d go work at McDonald’s to keep food on the table and do community service in his free time.
His friend Robert Mays said he’s always been an easy-going and helpful person.
“He’s an open book. Everyone who knows him really knows him,” he said. “I once told him he was MLK of parenting because of the way he steps in to help young fathers do better.”
Mays credits Allen for his career.
“He encouraged me to work in the suburbs at a time when I wasn’t comfortable leaving the city,” he said.
Allen said he strives to lead by example.
“I believe learning is the most important thing,” he said. “So if I can teach, help or show someone how to do something, I just do it.”