January 24 - 30, 2022

January 24 - 30, 2022 Vol. 30 No. 04

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$1.10 goes to vendor

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Arts & (Home) Entertainment

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SportsWise

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Cover Story: Chicago Help inititative

More and more events are happening in Chicago, and we want you to know about the best of the best!

Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy are no longer with the Chicago Bears. The SportsWise Team discusses.

The Chicago Help Initiative (CHI) brings the best of Chicago to guests at its Wednesday night dinner program on the Near North Side. Volunteers create an atmosphere of love and dignity that empowers disadvantaged guests. CHI won a Chicago Innovation Award for expanding its work during the pandemic, when CHI showed how its model could be used citywide.

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From the Streets

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Inside StreetWise

Local artist and volunteer Ellen L. Rontal captures the spirit of Chicago Help Initiative guests in hand-drawn portraits.

Vendor A. Allen shares his experience participating in the Chicago Help Initiative's "After Supper Visions" art program.

The Playground This page & the cover: Jean Eisenman (cover) and Annabelle Tuma, a senior at Lane Tech, left, and her mother Sarah Boone, (this page) package to-go meals for the Chicago Help Initiative's Wednesday night dinner (Suzanne Hanney photos).

Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher

dhamilton@streetwise.org

StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI

Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief

suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Amanda Jones, Director of programs

ajones@streetwise.org

Julie Youngquist, Executive director

jyoungquist@streetwise.org

Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616

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ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time.

To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of things you do at home and why you love them to Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org

Shape Chicago's Future!

Chicago Arts and Culture: Funding and Futures Series Chicago creatives can express the challenges and opportunities they face in “Chicago Arts and Culture: Funding and Futures,” a series of informational sessions, deep-dive focus groups and a digital survey, announced by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Commissioner Erin Harkey, along with Arts Alliance Illinois and the Chicago Cultural Alliance. Chicagoans may register for one or more of the sessions and share their insights at ArtsAlliance.org/chicagofundingandfutures. Responses to the survey will be combined with feedback from the informational sessions and focus group discussions and reflected in a report. “Especially after the year we have just endured, the continued revitalization of our arts and culture scene remains essential to our ability to recover from this pandemic on a socioeconomic level,” Mayor Lightfoot said. Last year, the City provided $100 million in funds to support the arts landscape, including “Arts77,” a recovery plan that leverages over $60 million in initial funding to support local creatives. The FY22 City budget also has $26 million in new arts and culture investments.

Music in the Making!

DePaul Wind Ensemble - Open Dress Rehearsal The DePaul Wind Ensemble consists of approximately 30 student musicians who perform repertoire ranging from 18th century octets to contemporary pieces. Faculty member Erica Neidlinger conducts this ensemble, playing at the Holtschneider Performance Center, Gannon Concert Hall, 2330 N. Halsted St., at 8 p.m. Tuesday, January 25. Note this is a working rehearsal, so as a courtesy, if you must leave early, please do so only at a break in the playing. Register for FREE and find all COVID safety requirements at events.depaul.edu.

Holocaust Education

(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT

The Future of Holocaust Education in the United States: A Roundtable Discussion As the world prepares to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, what lies ahead for it in the future of Holocaust education? Join Dr. Daniel Aschheim (pictured), the Deputy Consul General for Public Diplomacy at the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest; Brooke Randel, writer and 3GNY speaker; and Dr. Luke Berryman, the founder of The Ninth Candle; for this unique and timely event on January 24 at 7 p.m. at 4042 N. Pulaski Road. Snacks and drinks will be included, and admission is free! Spaces are limited, so please register in advance at theninthcandle.com/event/the-future-ofholocaust-education-in-the-united-states/. Proof of vaccination required.

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The Music of Love!

Romantic Perspectives The Romantic movement in music blossomed across Europe during the 19th century. Fueled by the vision of Beethoven, the poetry of Schubert, and the hyper-emotionalism of Schumann, composers tapped into their inner selves, often deeply inspired by their native cultures. Johannes Brahms, declared to be the heir to the mantle of Beethoven, adhered to the discipline of the classical age; yet, who has ever composed more romantically and with such passion? Gustav Mahler, whose symphonies expanded music’s horizon by leaps and bounds, penned his only work of chamber music as an idealistic student. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center sets its third performance of the Chamber Music Series with the sensuousness and seriousness of this epic quintet. Playing at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St., at 7:30 p.m. on January 28. $30 at harristheaterchicago.org -Compiled by Dave Hamilton

Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

Patrick: Back in the December 20 issue (We Wish You Joy), Russ broke it down for the people and spoke about the Bears’ Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. A few weeks later and they’re gone. Fellas?

Russ: So, the Bears finally fired both of them and, oh, what a relief it is. I mean, when Coach Matt Nagy first came to town, I thought we were going somewhere—especially when the Bears went 12-4 that first year, beat Green Bay and made the playoffs. Almost won that, too, but our kicker missed a last-second field goal that would’ve done it.

Don: Yeah, that was bad…

Russ: It was very disappointing, but the future still looked good. Unfortunately, the next three years were a disaster.

Don: Look, I don’t know how the Bears decide who to hire and fire, but I do know when a coach uses one quarterback against another to prove a point to the team, the that’s telling me there’s something wrong with the team’s unity.

A team is unable to be a team without a certain level of understanding. Also, to me, it seems as if they, the Bears, were looking for a white answer to the long-discussed question of “Is a black man smart enough to run a pro offense?” Not the proper focus, in my opinion. I feel Nagy to be a college coach—not a pro one.

Patrick: For me, it demonstrates that no matter how talented one’s players are, without good and strong leadership— which must include trust from the players toward the coaches and managers—nothing good will come from it in terms of winning and losing. While our Bears need bolstering on the offensive line, as well as some seasoning of Justin Fields, the play-calling was absolutely horrible. Mind you, many of those plays, if run by any Tom Brady-led team, would result in positive yardage; however, the Bears' execution simply did not lead to much of that.

We weren’t technically savvy enough to make those plays work, so we needed to do other things. Perhaps let Justin Fields transition properly by “college-ing” it up. Go back to school, so to speak.

Russ: Give him free rein. He ran a highly-lauded Ohio State team for two seasons after transferring from Georgia.

Give him that offensive line he needs. Shoot, if he played with Dallas, he’d be able to call his mom and dad and still have time to complete a pass.

Patrick: Hilarious. And agreed.

All right, so any ideas for replacements for head coach?

John: I like Jim Harbaugh. He has history and a track record for turning around teams.

Russ: I’m going with Jim Harbaugh as well.

Patrick: Heard we’re looking at the Buffalo Bills for a head coach: ex-Bear Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier or Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll. Wouldn’t be mad at either. Don? Don: Simply put: Change is good. Bring in the fresh.

Any comments or suggestions?

Email pedwards@streetwise.org

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SPORTSWISE

John: Even though they made the playoffs last year, the dismissals were easily the right thing to do. Let’s face it, the Bears weren’t going in the right direction with either Pace or Nagy, what with the bad draft and free-agency moves by the general manager Ryan Pace, to the bad play-calling by Coach Nagy; plus, there was no excitement

or realistic expectations of the Bears taking the next step forward. They were 1-7 versus the Green Bay Packers. With that sort of record versus your archrival, you’re either not right for the job, or the job isn’t right for you. Whatever way it swings, it’s time to go.

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CHICAGO HELP INITIATIVE:

'It's given me a reason to be'

by Suzanne Hanney

Sitting at the Chicago Help Initiative’s (CHI) Wednesday night dinner, Big Mama, a familiar face on Michigan Avenue, says she is living her best life.

tional card to give to homeless people. Boland also offered CHI the use of the dining hall at Catholic Charities’ 721 N. LaSalle headquarters.

Big Mama was first housed with a cousin and her husband in the south suburbs nine years ago, but she still comes to CHI’s weekly meal program because she connects to her friends and other programs there. She had a poem printed with the Poetry Foundation and prose, “The Age of Coronavirus,” published by Red Line Service. As part of CHI’s Arts & Culture program, she recently went to see “Fannie” and “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre.

The idea was to have a regular weeknight site to refer people on the street for a hot meal – and it never would have existed without Hayes, said Donahue Coia, who is now retired acting CEO of Catholic Charities.

“I would never have had this exposure,” she says of the Near North Side dinners. “At this point in my life [her 60s], it’s given me a reason to be.”

COVERSTORY

CHI brings the best of Chicago to people who are homeless or low-income. During the pandemic, CHI expanded its work to assist organizations that were no longer able to serve hot meals. Instead of its usual 130 guests at whiteclothed tables with an additional 70 meals to go, CHI attracted donations from over 500 points of contact – enough to deliver up to 5,000 bag lunches weekly to 22 locations all over the city – churches, shelters and senior meal programs. It received Chicago Innovation Awards’ COVID-19 Response Award on Dec. 7, 2021.

Michigan Avenue realtor Jacqueline Hayes founded CHI in 2000, almost immediately after the city closed Lower Wacker Drive and homeless people began sleeping in doorways of buildings she was trying to lease. She wanted them gone – and then immediately felt guilty.

As a director of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association (now known as The Magnificent Mile Association), Hayes went to her business peers and asked, “If I start something, will you back me?”

The pastor at Holy Name Cathedral introduced Hayes to Kathy Donahue Coia, who was Catholic Charities vice president of family and parish support at the time. They met monthly for a year with Monsignor Michael Boland, CEO of Catholic Charities, and Ellen Gorney, who was director of programs. Together they produced a two-sided informa-

Catholic Charities and Near North churches share the other weeknights, but CHI’s Wednesday night dinners remained unique, because as Hayes interacted with diners – who are always called “guests’’ – she saw new needs: adult learning, which included computer skills, reading, writing, math, GED preparation, and storytelling. The hour-long sessions usually take place before the meal.

Marc Schulman of Eli’s The Place for Steak was the first to donate a meal when CHI began serving dinners in March 2001. Eli’s Cheesecake is still giving a full meal and cheesecake several times a year.

Marc’s father, founder Eli Schulman, used to say, “Charity will never break you.”

Schulman adds, “The bottom line is, what is the social safety net and what are we doing together to help those people.

People saw the benefit of being able to do this because of how the organization is handled: Jackie’s drive and ability. A small not-for-profit over time faces challenges, but Jackie’s passion as a founder has been phenomenal.”

Schulman also allowed Hayes to use his name when she approached other restaurants. “I said, 'Marc’s going to do it,’ and they all fell in line,” she said.

True Food, Gene & Georgetti, Hyatt, Benny’s Steakhouse, Swissotel, Greek Islands, Max’s Deli, Texas de Brazil have been among the others who have donated food or provided it at discount. Over the 52 Wednesdays in a year, she might connect with 45 restaurants and hotels. Meals from Inspiration Kitchen and CHI Fresh Kitchen were donated by the Feinberg Foundation because Janice Feinberg wanted to involve minority and formerly incarcerated people, Hayes said.

Left: Big Mama, a regular fixture on Michigan Avenue, attending Chicago Help Initiative's Wednesday night dinner. Above: Chicago Help Initiative founder Jacqueline Hayes.

(Suzanne Hanney photos).

“I am probably the world’s biggest beggar,” Hayes said.

“I ask everyone for anything, no matter what. If I am at a restaurant and the maître d’ says, ‘How did you like your meal?’ I’ll say, ‘Give me a meal.’ Or if they say, ‘My sister is a social worker,’ I’ll say, ‘Oh, would she like to come to our meal?’

“I try to involve everyone in giving or participating,” she continued. “The worst they can say is ‘No’ and that might just be for that one time. I can come back again. It’s like working on a real estate deal. I find things and match it up. The same thing when I work with a homeless person.

And, we feel it’s important to show respect for the guests, because that enables them to move on with their lives.”

As Hayes went about her business, she, along with the exceptional talent of CHI’s Executive Director, Doug Fraser,

created still other programs as they saw demands – or met people who could satisfy them. There’s an Employment Resources and Jobs Club, for help with resumes, cover letters and job leads; “Art with a Heart,” in partnership with Chicago Sinai Congregation, staffed by a professional artist and volunteers before the dinner; the Arts & Culture Program that hosts outings to museums and performances; pre-dinner yoga, to release tension and bring flexibility.

A choir staffed by partner organization Harmony Hope & Healing performs before each dinner and at several concerts a year. A Bike Fair in partnership with Working Bikes provides refurbished bikes, helmets and locks to guests.

One lady teaches knitting during dinner, then conducts home sales and gives the money back to guests. Another lady creates sleeping mats from discarded plastic bags – 800 of them to make one mat to keep outdoor sleepers dry.

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Doctors, nurse practitioners and students take blood pressure readings, do testing for HIV, Hepatitis C, and blood sugar, provide wound care and foot care. Their goal is to connect dinner guests to regular medical care. Fraser said that these volunteers got into medicine because of people, but medicine has become more about computers. “This was a chance to practice in a place unconstrained by time and where they were very much needed.”

CHI’s social worker (Fraser and one part-time administrative assistant are CHI’s only other employees) visits weekly to help people get IDs, to sign up for food stamps, housing, and other services. She spends the rest of the week in the office looking for health or housing providers or making appointments at clinics and doing other follow up.

“We don't duplicate services that others already provide well – we just connect to them efficiently,” Hayes said. CHI succeeds by leveraging existing partnerships and resources, including upwards of 40 volunteers at every meal when the meals and all of the programs are fully operational.

Sam, who is a CHI guest and volunteer, says Hayes is what makes the program special. “She built it from scratch. Lots of people want to do good, and she’s one of those people who want to do good and that’s one of the things that makes other people want to do things with her.” Her networking abilities are only part of it, he said.

“It’s food and other types of services and being consistent about those services, being reliable.”

The meal is the hook for other activities that “feed the mind and soul, as well as the body,” said Jean Eisenman, who oversees roughly 15 programs from adult learning to medical and occasionally, dental.

The difference between CHI and other meal programs, Eisenman said, is that it gives its guests dignity.

She was impressed that guests affirm each other in the book group, for example. “They will say, ‘I had not thought of that.’ It so surprised me. I had thought it would be more ‘Me’ maybe, but there’s such a gentleness. It gives them a sense that someone will stop and listen to them. This gives their opinions validation.”

Susan Gold, who has headed the Arts & Culture Committee for four years, said the program works because it treats people like anyone else in the neighborhood.

“It’s showing people they’re not treated as a poor group of people, they’re treated as equals,” Gold said. "They can see just that people are disadvantaged, [that] they are no different from anyone else. The difference is a paycheck.”

Late last year, the Arts & Culture group had events four weeks in a row: “Fannie” and “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre, “Her Honor Jane Byrne” at Lookingglass Theatre and main floor seats to “Florencia en el Amazonas” at Lyric Opera.

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Participating in Chicago arts and culture is important, Gold said, because it introduces disadvantaged people to a side of life they otherwise would not see. “It inspires people to do better in life, to see that there are other things out there for them to achieve when they are older in life, to see that there are things they have not had in their life, but that it is not too late. It makes them happier. Once you introduce arts to people, it changes their attitude in a more positive way. It shows that there is hope.”

Deborah Awwad, a disabled senior who used to work for the City of Chicago, is grateful for the program because it has taken her to so many educational and beautiful places she otherwise would have been unable to afford. It’s an alternative education, and they are worthy of it, she said.

Awwad has participated in the pre-dinner choir with Harmony, Hope & Healing and in the After Supper Visions photography show. As a result, Ellen Schorr, a CHI contact and partner, gave her a one-woman show at the Chicago Sinai synagogue.

“Who does that?” Awwad said. “It was such a blessing, and so beautiful because I barely knew her. It’s helping me grow and helping others grow.”

Sharon Cartledge got her clothes at CHI dinners when she was homeless. Now she lives in a senior building in Uptown, but she still attends the dinners because she socializes with her friends and feels she can go to the social worker or any of the volunteers if she has a problem. “I love them, they are family. They spoiled us with hats and scarves. They give us love. That’s what we need.”

“I like to eat dinner here because this is where my friends are,” said Lamont Burnett, a board member of the ONE Northside advocacy group who has returned to the renovated Wilson Men’s Club in Uptown and who advocates for Single Room Occupancy hotels as affordable housing. “If it wasn’t for this place, I wouldn’t have reactivated my activism. They don’t just feed you, they give you tools for other things: help you with jobs, with resumes.” He also attended all four performances with the Arts & Culture group.

Jeannette Bailey received a lawyer’s referral and won her case in court when she had landlord issues. She is on disability, and her sons pay the difference on her apartment in Lincoln Park because they want her living in a safe neighborhood. “I love this place. They feed me, they clothe me when they can. I have told people to come down here and get help. Whatever their situation, they try.”

Big Mama was the youngest of seven girls and a boy and the only one raised in a Catholic orphanage after her mother had a breakdown. She was mistreated at home and in the institution; then, she suffered abusive relationships.

She still feels the effects of PTSD. She has had many jobs over the years, but does not receive disability benefits. Instead, she holds a sign asking people to help the poor. She doesn’t call it panhandling.

“Everything I have is by the grace of God,” she said.

Big Mama says she is more goal-oriented now than in her youth. At one dinner, she picked up free copies of Poetry magazine and The New Yorker. She considers herself an up-and-coming writer and her goal is to be Poet Laureate of Illinois. “I have always had it in me, but coming here, these people – especially Susan Gold – have inspired me.”

Hayes estimates 35 to 40 percent of their guests may be housed. Donahue-Coia said they learned that it depended on how they asked the question.

“If you say, ‘Are you homeless?’ everyone says ‘No,’” Donahue Coia said. “In fact, they are homeless the last week of the month because they ran out of money to stay in a

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hotel. They can stay with a relative until they get aggravating and then they get kicked out. Sometimes they can get into [a shelter] and sometimes not. More like 30 percent have a place to live, but are very poor and come to the meal to have a community and be able to eat. Sometimes they are on SSI and live in subsidized housing. After rent and food stamps are gone, they don’t have any money. If your meal is provided, it goes a long way.”

Both Hayden Green and Mike Dessimoz say they started volunteering with CHI because their lives have been blessed and they wanted to give back. Green said it hurts him to see people on the street and he was looking for meaningful purpose. He also likes running into CHI guests elsewhere and knowing their names.

Dessimoz serves hot meals and pivoted with the pandemic this year. He collects donations three days a week, bags them one day and delivers them to the far South Side. “The only thing I don’t do is make meals myself.”

CHI added a new layer of volunteers during the pandemic.

When it no longer could serve congregate meals in the Catholic Charities dining room, it provided the meals to-go, and suspended all programs. But as other churches – St. Clement’s in Lincoln Park, St. Paul’s Lutheran on LaSalle – stopped their meal programs, CHI stepped in with both food trucks and bag meals to meet the demand. Hayes and Fraser began to hear of meal programs that had stopped and similarly, of people who wanted to help – from Glenview, Winnetka, Naperville, and a Muslim congregation.

“It was organic,” Fraser said. “People took it, posted it, moved it to community groups and churches and it just got wings.”

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CHI also put out a call to the River North Residents Association, the Magnificent Mile Association, the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents and Assumption Church on Illinois Street.

“When other people had to shrink, they expanded with no staff,” Donahue Coia said. “It’s amazing to me. Jackie is a go-getter. She has an executive director and a part-time secretary. They just hired a social worker. That whole expansion happened without a social worker, it was a 1½-employee operation. All volunteers. A system like that is very nimble. When you work in an organization, you have layers of approval. You can wing faster when it is volunteers.”

On one Saturday morning in November, people from the neighborhood were walking up to 721 N. LaSalle St. with shopping bags or carts and 12 to 24 bagged lunches at a time. Each had Hayes’ recommended sandwich, snack, fruit, bottle of water and a treat.

Linda Ashton lives nearby and packed up her cart with 24 white bags. Ashton managed a trading group at the Options Exchange and loved it, but felt guilty she wasn’t doing anything for society. A friend of hers was looking for a place to rent and Hayes was the real estate agent.

“She is very good at promoting, you know. I thought, ‘I could do that. I am retired.’ Hayes said, ‘We really need meals on Saturday.’ Then Hayes said, ‘We have classes every Wednesday and they serve meals after that. They were looking for someone for creative writing. I thought, ‘That sounds kinda fun.’ And I loved it. It’s a fun group of people, and so dedicated.”

Lisa Neff and Deni Mayer had made 24 sandwiches as a family activity every week since the pandemic started in

2020. They live four blocks away and heard about CHI as a way to help in a weekly email from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd ward).

"For neighbors in my ward, the Chicago Help Initiative has proven to be an invaluable resource,” Hopkins said in a statement. “Through their community services and health advocacy, underprivileged residents have been able to meet with social workers, nurses, and doctors. They also help residents in need get a fresh start with available tutoring and job programs. This charitable work has impacted the lives of thousands, and provides opportunities for so many people to give back. Jacqueline Hayes, along with her staff and volunteers, have truly made a difference in our city."

CHI does: from donors and by paying reduced cost.

“The future lies with hyperlocal entities supported by programs like CHI,” Fraser said. Holy Trinity Cathedral, for example, with perhaps only 25 guests at its meal program, can’t afford its own social worker, but can borrow CHI’s on a rotating basis. Meal programs across the city can also use books and magazines supplied by a CHI donor, Hayes added.

CHI resumed its congregate dinners at 721 N. LaSalle in November on a more spread-out basis, with 60 inside and 90 to-go. The Arts & Culture program continued along Chicago masking guidelines, but other programs were delayed until this month. Then, the Omicron virus forced cancellation of all but CHI’s emergency social services.

Robbie Conor, meanwhile, an 8th grader at Immaculate Conception St. Joseph, was a first-time donor of 20 bags: a sandwich, an orange, chips, water and a granola bar.

He got the idea from his older brother and would receive school-required volunteer service hour credit.

In the meantime, Hayes said CHI continues to serve people as far south as 95th Street and as far north as Evanston – everywhere in walking distance of CTA. She once saw a guest when she went to a movie on homelessness at the Oak Park Library.

Within 90 minutes on this particular Saturday, 400 bagged lunches had come from the neighborhood and from as far as Elgin. Then, the lunches were on their way to 22 locations across Chicago that had been unable to serve meals during the pandemic. They range from St. Clement’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Wicker Park, Our Lady of the Angels at 3814 W. Iowa St., Martin Temple at 6930 S. Cottage Grove, and United Church of Rogers Park.

That’s why, wherever she goes, she brings the twice-yearly CHI resource guide to shelters, meals, housing, doctors and more. She also carries packs of cookies – and an invitation to the dinners – for any homeless people she may see.

The pandemic allowed CHI to extend its model to other, similar programs, Hayes said. There are 90 soup kitchens in Chicago. Less than half are supported by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, but they get their food the way

From left: CHI Founder Jacqueline Hayes chats with Rochelle Baker in the COVID-spaced dining room.

"They make you feel loved, like you really matter. There is an abundance of kindness, and Jackie Hayes is an angel," said Baker, who made a friend at CHI who later moved into her senior building.

Bob and Betsy Popovich hand over lunches they made to volunteer Mike Dessimoz for delivery all over the city on a Saturday morning. Dessimoz handled more donations coming from Mark and Lisa Gaston and Kim Kroll in Elgin while Deni Mayer and Lisa Neff responded to a newsletter from the alderman's office.

Page 8 & 9: Gabriel Rubenstein, a senior at Deerfield High School, spoons salad into a to-go container.

Tom Morrisey, vice president of the CHI board, dishes out turkey alongside director Claude Battat, while Andrea Rubenstein scoops out sweet potatoes. She brought her sons, Gabriel and Ari, an 8th grader in Deerfield.

All photos by Suzanne Hanney.

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Local Artist gives dignity to people at Chicago Help initiative dinners

by Ron Polaniecki

FROM THE STREETS

In the 18th century, it reportedly took artists a year to complete painted portraits of their wealthy clients. Now, with cell phone selfies, everyone has become a portrait artist.

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So why would anyone want to voluntarily invest time and talent to sketch the faces of low-income, homeless and needy people?

“A hand-drawn portrait gives a person an identity,” says artist Ellen L. Rontal, an active volunteer with the Chicago Help Initiative (CHI). Eleven years ago, Rontal moved from Detroit to Chicago to be nearer her daughter and family. Soon, she found herself serving weekly meals to homeless Chicagoans and gradually getting to know the clients and their stories. “I came to realize that these people deserved to be seen,” she said.

One evening, this realization led Rontal to extend an ambitious invitation to a roomful of needy people, “Who would like to have their portrait drawn?” Some were hesitant because they felt they were not attractive enough, Rontal recalls. “However, many responded enthusiastically to my offer.”

So, during the next two years, Rontal created 33 black-and-white, pencil portraits from photos of her subjects. Rontal holds a bachelor of fine arts in painting from the University of Michigan, worked in commercial art, and once had her own greeting card company.

Moreover, Rontal discloses that her mother was an artist and confesses that drawing is in her blood.

Part of Rontal’s creative process was visiting with her subject to cull their personal stories. “My goal,” says Rontal, “was to use my drawings to assert that these faceless people who are ignored on the streets are people who should be known. In using pencil, I am able to employ the nuance of line and shadow to gather an authenticity of emotion and uniqueness of personality,” she continued.

And what were their stories? In brief, they’re as varied as those of any group of people might be. Rontal shared a few excerpts: “I have four grandchildren that keep me really busy” and “I like to take photos of nature, architecture and skylines” and “Many years ago I was shot twice in the back of the head and once in the chest…today I am blessed by God” and “I like to knit” and “I love nature, work and my wife” and “I make people laugh.”

After completing her portraits, Rontal presented a copy to the subjects. The responses were gratifying, she says, sometimes bringing tears to the recipients at the reveal.

Visibility of Rontal’s work got a boost in 2019 through an exhibition at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), Chicago.

The showing, “I Have a Name,” (October 2019), was described as an

Right: Artist Ellen L. Rontal. Below: Four portraits. All images provided by the artist.

intimate portrait of Chicago’s homeless, illustrating, “the raw emotion and subtle beauty of humans who weather adverse conditions.”

they are living on the street. For example, they could be taken advantage of, beaten or robbed. Many women are sexually assaulted.

Rontal says she had been “percolating” the idea of the portraits for years. That’s no surprise, since nearly four decades earlier when she lived in Detroit, she owned an art gallery that showcased the weaving, pottery, jewelry and culture of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo Nation of New Mexico. Through that experience, she gained a more profound understanding of disenfranchised people. “I encountered firsthand life on reservations, and realized that the residents were ‘out of sight, out of mind.’” Years later, Rontal imparts, she found the same to be true of needy Chicagoans.

“These portraits can help teach students to take a breath and think about what that person’s life might be like. The result of this pause can be to make all of us more humble and united,” says Berman.

Jacqueline Hayes, founder and president emeritus of the Chicago Help Initiative, describes Rontal as both a “highly valued volunteer” and a “remarkable artist who’s been able to capture the essence of those who visit our programming.”

Laurel Berman, PhD, who teaches in the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) program in public health and is an advocate for the homeless community in Chicago, describes Rontal’s drawings as a “wonderful teaching aid.”

Berman explains how. “The person yelling at pigeons or having a conversation with no one may be mentally ill and very vulnerable if

Rontal says that one of the personal benefits of the project is that it prompts her to appreciate what she has. What’s more, she adds, it reminds her that she has nothing to complain about compared to the struggles some of her subjects face.

What’s next? In addition to seeking more opportunities to display her pencil portraits as a reminder of the humanity of the homeless, Rontal is considering a similar project focused on the elderly.

Ron Polaniecki, volunteer president of Chicago Shares, is a retired Chicago freelance writer.

Chicago Shares, a not-for-profit that offers a unique voucher program enabling generous Chicagoans a convenient and respectful way to provide one-to-one help to the needy, is pleased to have some of Rontal’s work on its website. To view more of her portraits, and learn about the Chicago Shares program, go to www.chicagoshares.org.

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Vendor A. Allen on participating in the Chicago Help Initiative 'After Supper Visions' program

by A. Allen

My experience with the Chicago Help Initiative’s “After Supper Visions” photography program was very interesting.

It gave staff and less fortunate or marginalized individuals a great opportunity to interact with each other on a personal and up close level. What I mean by that is, staff would help individuals learn the art of photography. They would teach classes from books by professional photographers and then have question-and-answer sessions.

At the end, we got cameras, if we needed them.

The more experienced photographers would have their own, professional cameras. We would go out and take pictures, and a week or two later, after the pictures were developed, we would choose the best ones for the show.

INSIDE STREETWISE

Then we would get a chance to go to “Mary’s Closet” and pick out an outfit for the show, something professional.

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The staff and participants seemed to have one thing in common. The word is respect. The staff treated participants with dignity and respect.

No one was ever treated as less than or homeless. Participants, alike, treated staff with much respect for their patience, thoughtfulness, time and acts of kindness. This, in a sense, bridged the gap in social statures.

We had fun and it was a way of sharing. So then this initiative program really works if it means bringing people who do not ordinarily mix together and if it is to initiate independence. After the show, which usually started on a Friday and ended on a Sunday, we would find out how many photos we sold. The staff did this on our behalf.

I will not call out names for fear of forgetting someone, but you are all loved and appreciated.

May God bless you all. You know who you are.

Thank you so much for supporting this StreetWise vendor.

StreetWise vendor A. Allen poses with his photography ay the "After Supper Visions" exhibit in June 2017. Below, a close-up of Allen's sunset print.

Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the ethe12/26/16 Sudoku s 1 to 9.

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Streetwise 12/26/16 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the Sudoku numbers 1 to 9.

©2016 PuzzleJunction.com

66 Go ballistic 67 Dry, as wine 68 Comments to the audience 69 Graf ___ 70 Old verb ending

12 13 18 22

Big ape 48 Country club Cozy home figure Cheer starter 50 Ends of the Common earth deciduous tree 51 Any of 25 Fountain order various 26 Possesses straight 28 Flirtations own muscles 1 Jazz style 30 Kind of station 52 Decorative 2 Block house?

31 Dead letters? jugs 32 Cuckoo bird 3 Gets really 54 Poetic dusk steamed 33 Nanny 55 Plain writing 4 Rather 34 Military 56 Everglades address 5 Eatery bird 6 It’ll never fly 36 Miss the mark 57 Parasite 37 ___ Grande 7 Dutch pottery 58 Prefix with city 38 Kitchen meas. legal 8 Eclipse 41 Crucifix 60 Feudal worker 44 Mont Blanc, 9 Author Stout 62 E.U. member 10 Inherent e.g.

64 Once around Copyright ©2016 PuzzleJunction.com 11 Traffic stopper 46 Wood eater the track

Copyright ©2016 PuzzleJunction.com

©PuzzleJunction.com

last week's Solution Puzzle Answers

Solution

Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at

PuzzleJu

Crossword Across 1 Toil 6 Knock down 12 Palm tree dropping 14 Net education?

15 Magician Harry 16 Heavy hydrogen, e.g.

17 Fitting 18 Quirky 19 Jamboree shelter 20 Bar staple 21 San Francisco’s ___ Hill 22 Boo-hoo 23 Tax pro, for short 26 England’s Isle of ___ 28 Make, as money 29 Fall behind 32 Captivated by 33 Lecture 35 Composer Albéniz 37 Total 39 Syrup flavor 40 T-shirt pattern 42 Wise one 44 Census datum 45 Circle overhead?

46 Way too weighty 48 “Star Trek” rank (Abbr.)

49 Wing it?

50 Beer holder 52 Battering device

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6 Strands 7 Durable wood 8 Baseball glove 9 Plastic ___ Band 10 Kind of dance 11 Bard’s before 12 Burn slightly 13 Choice morsels 14 Warlock 23 Bivouacs 24 Drudge 25 Building Down addition 27 Overcharge 1 Eccentric 2 Sharp as a tack 28 Baseball stat 3 Physique, 29 Willowy 30 From the East slangily 31 Highlanders 4 Bagel choice 32 Frigid 5 Decrepit 55 Dart 56 Genetic info carrier 57 Promising words 58 Render unnecessary 61 Greek goddess of fate 63 Shortages 64 Ties up 65 Means of escape 66 Geneva’s river

34 Australian runner 36 Botheration 38 Beaver-like aquatic rodent 41 Crude stone artifacts 43 Come in again 47 Memory units 49 Apartments 51 Brooks of country music 52 Turn red, maybe 53 Dig deeply 54 Trunk growth 55 Send packing 58 Jonson work 59 Entreat 60 Dictionary abbr.

62 Cry of surprise

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How StreetWise Works

Our Mission

Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.

Financial Literacy Vendors buy StreetWise for $0.90, and sell it for $2. The profit of $1.10 goes directly to the licensed vendor for them to earn a living.

Supportive Services StreetWise provides referrals, advocacy and other support to assist participants in meeting their basic needs and getting out of crisis.

S.T.E.P. Program StreetWise’s S.T.E.P. Program provides job readiness training and ongoing direct service support to ensure participants’ success in entering the traditional workforce.

THE PLAYGROUND

To empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment by providing Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive social services, workforce development resources and immediate access to gainful employment.

Solution

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