Newsletter JUNE 2022
Opening Our Doors For the first time since 2020, our team is back in-person and we have officially opened our doors! After months of preparation, we are thrilled to finally welcome participants new and old to envision alongside us in this new space. Keeping the evolving nature of the pandemic in mind, the Center will be open two days a week on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10am-6pm. Our staff will be working remotely on weekdays when the office is closed. Stay tuned for more announcements about changes and updates as we settle into the new Center.
Touring people through the space—from the hallway that displays survivors’ banners, to the spacious community room, to the peer reentry space that will soon house a community closet, laundry room and computer lab—was our way of showcasing all the support we’ve received these last 5 years. It is only with our wonderful and dedicated community that we've had the privilege of celebrating this milestone as the first and only center in the United States dedicated to survivors of domestic torture.
New Hours of Operation: Mondays & Wednesdays OPEN 10am-6pm Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays CLOSED, staff remote 10am-6pm
We want to give a special thanks to those that made this celebration especially unforgettable: our friends at the Old Town School of Folk Music who gave West African drumming workshops as people entered, Shapearl Faulkner-Wells who provided the delicious food, and DJ Shawn Whirl for making sure to keep our spirits high and feet moving.
Our 5th Anniversary Celebration! On May 28th, we hosted a party to celebrate our 5th anniversary and the opening of our new location! We were reunited with so many faces that we haven’t been able to see these past two years. It was wonderful to finally be able to gather again and catch up with one another. 6337 S. WOODLAWN AVENUE CHICAGO IL 60637 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
JUNE 2022 NEWSLETTER
CTJC's 5th Anniversary Recap Our anniversary month was incredibly eventful! Here's what we were up to.
Learning about the Mental Health Movement Before it became home to the Chicago Torture Justice Center, 6337 S. Woodlawn served as the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic until its closure in 2012. In many ways, the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic was the epicenter of the community-led resistance to the closure of half of the city's public mental health care centers by Rahm Emanuel in 2012. A coalition of organizations, mental health practitioners, patients, and community members led an occupation both inside and outside of the Woodlawn clinic in an attempt to save the centers slated to close. One of these organizations was Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP). Last month—a decade now since the community-led occupation to save the clinic first began—we invited STOP co-founder Matt Ginsberge-Jaeckle to the Center to share his experience of being on the frontlines of that movement. Matt shared how the coalition formed an encampment, slept in an abandoned lot across the street, and held daily rallies demanding support for public mental health services in the city. We learned that long-time patients of the clinic, no longer able to receive services during this time, joined and linked arms with organizers to save their clinic. They voiced concerns about losing life-giving services or being forced to make long commutes in order to receive similar care. Their concerns became reality when former mayor Rahm Emanuel made the move to close half of the city’s mental health clinics, despite months of unwavering and persistent community pushback.
Matt Ginsberge-Jaeckle speaks to a group of CTJC staff and community members outside of the former Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic
This loss was and still is difficult for many, especially for those left without accessible mental health care. Matt reminded us that although this particular outcome was devastating, it sparked a robust and fierce movement for mental health across Chicago. Many of those involved in the fight to save the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic continue to organize for the expansion of public mental health care in Chicago. An example of this continued effort is the Collaborative for Community Wellness, which is a formation of dozens of organizations citywide, including CTJC and STOP, that are pushing forward the Treatment Not Trauma campaign. Treatment Not Trauma “seeks to create a 24-hour crisis response hotline for mental health-related emergencies and to reopen Chicago's shuttered mental health clinics.” We hope that one day we live in a world our neighborhoods and communities have access to the care we know we need and deserve.
Learn more about STOP Chicago at www.stopchicago.org/
Learn more about Treatment Not Trauma at www.collaborativeforcommunitywellness.org/treatmentnottrauma
6337 S. WOODLAWN AVENUE CHICAGO IL 60637 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
JUNE 2022 NEWSLETTER
We keep us safe by being informed Finally having a physical space where people can gather together opens up so many opportunities for our work. We are honored and grateful to be able to invite community partners in to share their knowledge and skills with us. In May, We invited Ujimaa Medics (UMedics) to give a Gunshot First Response workshop. Many members of our community have experienced gun violence, both indirectly and directly. We imagine a future in which the norm of gun violence in our neighborhoods is instead replaced by community programs and resources. As we work toward that future, we also know that WE keep us safe.
It’s incredibly clear to us that when our people are armed with information and confidence, we are the best decision makers for our bodies and those in our communities.
UMedics was founded by Amika Tendaji and Martine Caverl after the loss of a young person who was not able to receive the immediate care needed to treat a gunshot wound. The workshops offered by UMedics are created for people who live in or have loved ones who live in neighborhoods where shooting often occurs. As stated on their website, “it’s incredibly clear to us that when our people are armed with information and confidence, we are the best decision makers for our bodies and those in our communities.” During the workshop, UMedics facilitators demonstrated for us how to assess the safety of a situation after a shooting occurs, how to assist the injured, how to manage the chaos after a shooting occurs, and what to do when police and paramedics arrive. We learned the do’s and don’ts of calling for an ambulance, how to be a helpful bystander, and possible materials to use if there is no first aid kit available. The work of UMedics is incredibly important and can be life-saving. We are so grateful to be in community and partnership with them, and we look forward to hosting similar events and workshops in the future.
Martine Caverl demonstrating how to use everyday materials to treat a gunshot wound
Learn more about UMedics: www.umedics.org/
6337 S. WOODLAWN AVENUE CHICAGO IL 60637 CHICAGOTORTUREJUSTICE.ORG
JUNE 2022 NEWSLETTER
Celebrating Juneteenth Juneteenth was recognized as national holiday in 2021, but we know that it has long and historically been celebrated by Black people for many decades. At CTJC, we know that Black survivors are truly at the center of our work. Our work is rooted in the legacy of freedom and emancipation that was first imagined by enslaved Black people, and it is the vision that we are honored to carry forward to a more just and liberated future. Do you have any thoughts, reflections or artwork to share about Juneteenth? We'd love to hear from you! Below is a Juneteenth crossword puzzle that was first published in the San Diego-based Voice and Viewpoint newspaper. We hope you have fun with it! We'll publish the answers in next month's newsletter.