July 25 - 31, 2022 Vol. 30 No. 30
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$3 $$
$1.10 + Tips goes go$1.10 to vendor to vendor
$1.85 + Tips go to your Vendor
Starting
June 27 Streetwise will cost
$3 + Tips
We Are Giving Our Vendors a Raise! Beginning June 27, StreetWise costs $3.00 + tips. Vendors will now earn $1.85 per issue instead of $1.10 for every magazine sold.
Why now? StreetWise has not increased the price of our magazine to the vendors or customers since 2008! It was only the second increase in the 30-year history of StreetWise. The cost of living has gone up 34% since 2008. A dollar's worth of goods in 2008 would cost $1.34 today. Our vendors deserve more money in their pockets to offset the rising costs of food, transportation and housing. StreetWise magazine is an award-winning weekly publication that also serves as a platform for people with lived experience to share their stories and their views as writers and more. Post-COVID inflation has hit us hard. Our production costs have increased 25% over last year.
Selling StreetWise is a Job Selling StreetWise isn’t begging, and it isn’t asking for charity. It’s a job. Our vendors are self-employed microentrepreneurs who build relationships and create connections between and across communities that change perceptions about homeless and low-income individuals. The new price of $3, with vendors paying $1.15 for their papers, means each paper sold nets the vendor a solid $1.85. It raises the floor so that our vendors earn a wage that is worth their while. It’s time for this to happen. We talked with our vendors and received feedback from some of our customers and supporters. We have nearly unanimous support for the price increase. Now is the time. The price increase, by expanding one of the most reliable income sources we have, will give StreetWise vendors an income they need to thrive, and not just survive.
Our Vendors Deserve a Raise!
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Arts & (Home) Entertainment
More and more events are happening in Chicago, and we want you to know about the best of the best!
SportsWise
The SportsWise team discusses Bears captain Justin Fields.
Cover Story: cnda awards
LISC Chicago created the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA) in the mid-1990s to celebrate Chicago communities and new developments and to honor the people and non-profit orgnaizations responsible for them. The largest celebration of transformative accomplishments across the city, CNDA are lovingly referred to as the Oscars of community development. In the wake of the pandemic, this year's CNDA, with the theme "Redefining Legacy," stressed designs and developments that are dismantling the legacy of inequity for future generations.
The Playground ON THE COVER & THIS PAGE: Ford Calumet Environmental Center (Valerio Dewalt Train / Tom Harris photos). DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of StreetWise.
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
LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Compiled by Emma Slings
A Game With Chicago Bars!
Chicago Handshake Passport Challenge Transit Tees creates Chicago-inspired products and games; their Chicago Handshake Passport Challenge is an 8-week quest inviting you to explore Chicago. “We’re a Chicago team working hard to create games that build on fun, local traditions while giving our friends and family something to talk about for years to come,” said Transit Tees Owner and Founder Tim Gillengerten. From July 29 to September 22, gather a team or voyage solo as you order an Old Style beer and shot of Jeppson’s Malört to receive a unique stamp from each of the participating bars, including Corner Bar, Nick’s Beer Garden and Web Pub Bucktown. During your adventure, bars will also have limited giveaways of Transit Tees Chicago-inspired products including tees, pints, shots, flags, koozies and more. Get your Chicago Handshake Official Passport for free with the first handshake at a participating bar! And don’t miss the grand finale event on September 22 at Emporium Logan Square! Complete your passport to receive a limited-edition, numbered Challenge Coin with the handshake. Players must be 21+. No more than 2 stamps per person per day. Details at transittees.com.
Art & Democracy!
Weinberg/Newton Gallery: 'All that Glows in the Dark of Democracy' Join in promoting social justice causes by visiting the Weinberg/Newton Gallery’s latest exhibit: "All that Glows in the Dark of Democracy." Kicking off the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois’ 2022 Engagement Series on Democracy titled “We the People,” featured artists present their own definition of “democracy” through a range of media and sensory engagement activities. Viewers are encouraged to “think critically about elections, monuments, public and private space and national symbols.” Featured artists include Alejandro T. Acierto, Kandis Friesen, Hannah Givler, Aam Han Sifuentes, Ariana Jacob and Aay Preston-Myint. “Their ideas shaped the exhibition into what it has become – a space that incites attunement, offering tangible ways not only to reflect, reconsider, and respond, but also to listen to a diverse range of viewpoints with diligence and care,” said director Kasia Houlihan. WNG is hosting an opening reception 5-7 p.m. July 29 at 688 N. Milwaukee Ave. For more information, including family-friendly or group events, see weinbergnewtongallery.com. Free and open to the public; reservations via Tock are encouraged. This exhibition runs through October 1.
ENTERTAINMENT
Hey, Batter, Batter!
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Athletes Unlimited Watch 60 of the best pro softball players in the world at The Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont for the third championship season of Athletes Unlimited Softball. In this group will be 18 Olympian athletes from four countries! Watch big names like Aleshia Ocasio, Amanda Chidester, Sis Bates and Rachel Garcia in games that run from Friday, July 29 until August 28. The first game of this 5-week season is July 29 from 6-10 p.m. Tickets range from $18-$28. Athletes Unlimited is “a new model of pro sports where athletes are decision-makers and individual players are champions of team sports.” These players introduce faster play, new weekly team rosters, and elevated competition. For ticket packages or game times, go to auprosports.com.
The Most Haunted House in the US!
Book Release Party: Jarrett Dapier Renowned children’s author Jarrett Dapier invites you to celebrate the release of his new picture book with him on August 2! This book, "The Most Haunted House in America," is a spooky-fun trip through the White House! Prepare yourself for surprises as you travel through this musical tour with Dapier’s rhythmic text and detailed illustrations. This event will be enhanced by a live drum line and will have food and beverages for both children and adults. Go to Good Grapes, 821 Chestnut Court in Winnetka, at 6:30 p.m. for this hour-long event, presented by The Book Stall.
Regatta on the River!
Venetian Night Chicago’s second annual Venetian Night on the River Walk is Saturday, July 30. As boats gather just west of the Merchandise Mart, enjoy Italian-themed entertainment and decor with food from River Walk charters and restaurants. Then turn to the water for the regatta at 8:30 p.m. End the mouth of the river to enjoy fireworks from Navy Pier. Secretary of State Jesse White will be the evening’s Honorary Chairman and Master of Ceremonies. “This is such an honor to bring a fantastic part of our Italian culture to the City of Chicago,” said Lou Rago, president of the Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago. For more information, visit venetiannightchicago.com.
High Heels & High Camp!
Dance Divas It’s going to be “a unique night of show-stopping glitz and glamour” with the Dance Divas at The Baton Show Lounge, 4713 N. Broadway! Support the health and wellness of Chicago’s professional dance community by attending a show on July 31 or August 1 and enjoying the artistic direction of Harrison McEldowney and Jeremy Plummer with co-chairs Kevin McGirr and Aaron Weiss. Chicago’s leading professional male dancers will put on a night of “high heels and high camp!” Tickets are $50 for bar seating, $75 for main floor seating and $125 for VIP Reception. All proceeds support The Dancers’ Fund and HIV/AIDS initiatives in Chicago. For times and tickets visit chicagodancersunited.org
Dance with the Professionals!
Northside Southside Oneside Plié with Ballet 5:8, jeté with Joel Hall Dancers or trumpet with Pharez Whitted as Chicago Human Rhythm Project puts on a day of free classes! All ages are encouraged to join introductory classes at the Mayfair Arts Center (8701 S. Bennet Ave.) on July 31 from 1-2:50 p.m. After, enjoy performances from these featured companies until 4:30! Not interested in the classes? Come just for the show! Pre-registration for classes is encouraged! Visit chicagotap. org for tickets. Northside Southside Oneside is a monthly performance series featuring local dance companies every Sunday through October 16 working to establish roots in the community to support economic development through artistic growth.
Disability Awareness Month!
CPL’s Voices For Justice Series: Keah Brown As part of the Chicago Public Library’s Voices for Justice speaker series, activist Keah Brown will be at the Harold Washington Libary Center (400 S. State St.) on Wednesday, July 27. In celebration of Disability Awareness Month, Brown will discuss her books "The Pretty One" and "Sam’s Super Seats," a soon-to-be-released children’s picture book that tells the story of a disabled girl with Brown’s same disability of cerebral palsy. Brown is a journalist, author and screenwriter who has appeared in Teen Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and more well-known publications. This event is from 6-7 p.m. in the Pritzker Auditorium. Doors open at 5:30. See chipublib.org for more. Come for the good books and stay for the insightful conversation!
A Weekend of Good Stories!
Newberry Book Fair and Storytelling Plunge your nose into new reads from Chicago’s most popular used book sale! The Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., has thousands of books from dozens of genres for sale on Friday, July 29, through Sunday, July 31. Find inspiration in fiction, philosophy, history, cooking and so much more, often $3 or less! Sales are cashless - only debit and credit will be accepted. With the Newberry Bookfair comes Storytelling in Bughouse Square, a free event in Washington Square Park (901 N. Clark St.) with authors and storytellers sharing their work and personal stories. Celebrate the power of storytelling in facilitated Story Circles, browse the Newberry Book Fair, enjoy snacks from food trucks and attend the presentation of the Newberry’s first annual Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award to author Dawn Turner of "Three Girls from Bronzeville." This event is 1-4:30 p.m. on July 30. Tickets are not required, but you can register at newberry.org for event details.
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Vendors Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.
Patrick: Justin Fields, fellas—is he our leader for the future? John: Justin’s development as a NFL quarterback depends on how much he improves on his throwing motion. To me, he’s very similar to Philadelphia Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts. Both from dominant collegiate programs: Fields out of Ohio State, and Hurts out of Oklahoma and Alabama. Also, both have great legs—can get out and move like a running back—but questionable arms in regard to strength, accuracy and efficiency.
SPORTSWISE
Russ: An offensive line. That’s all I got. We need an offensive line that cares beyond themselves to shield the young brotha looking to get them to the Super Bowl. Donald: That’s right. Feel what’s really going on. Patrick: I like it, too. But, please, pontificate further for the people who have given their $3 for our wonderful magazine. Russ: Only because of your eloquence will I continue. So…
the young Justin Fields needs an upgraded offensive line. He needs protection in the short term, so that as he matures, he is able to learn the skills needed to become as efficient and successful as, say, Tom Brady. John: Russ, what's that you always say about the time Tom Brady has in the pocket? Russ: That he has time to call Mom, eat a sandwich, down a few beverages and, then, toss a completion or a touchdown. That’s the only way a QB’s gonna get enough time to look off an option or two, and able to go for the best pass instead of, simply, a pass. Donald: I love that line, man. As for my thoughts on Mr. Fields, the young man just needs to work hard. He obviously has some natural talent— duh—but in order to reach that next level, which I believe he will do, he’s going to have to learn from his mistakes—from
the ones he made last year and the many he will make this year. Patrick: Fellas, my thing is that he’s so friggin’ young. So, while I, as I do dang near every season, await the Bears championship win this year, I’ll be watching Justin Fields and his progress. I agree with Russ about Justin needing a very good offensive line. Mind you, I love his running ability, absolutely love it. And, at times, I think the Bears should allow his college-quarterbacking to come on out. Let him be what he became good at, option, run, option, pass, etc. and so forth. But, then, I realize— especially at the tender age of 23—that he’s going to have to adapt a lil’bit to the big boys' game. Get stronger like John mentioned earlier. But regardless of what he does in regard to his own health and strength, he’s going to need a line. Gonna need time.
John: I agree. Until Fields gets that arm stronger, the success Rashanah Baldwin and the respect won’t come. If it does, it’ll come in the way that Jim McMahon was able to command it: personality and coolness. Russ: I feel both of those statements: That the arm is weaker than it needs to be, and the offensive line definitely needs to be upgraded. If he upgrades the arm, we could easily be looking at Mahomes-type of noise. Now, I won’t make any predictions at the moment, because it’s too early, but there’re always a surprise team or two around the league, so, who knows? Donald: I won’t predict anything either; I will say, however, I feel positive about our quarterback of the future. John: I’m with you, Donald. I envision success with Justin. Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org
The current outbreak of COVID-19 has led to stressful times for many of us. Our routines have been disrupted and there may be a lot of anxiety about what is happening.
Stress & COVId-19
Here are some tips from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) to help reduce stress for you and those around you.
Tips to help yourself • Give yourself a break. Remember, it is important to take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories and social media stories about the pandemic. It is important to stay informed, but, practice moderation. Over-consumption of the news on the pandemic can be upsetting or stressful.
by Dr. LaTonia Sweet
• Take care of yourself and try to stay healthy. Try to eat healthy, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep and avoid alcohol and drugs. • Stay active and make time to relax. Try relaxation techniques such as stretching, meditating, praying or engage in activities you enjoy. Take breaks between stressful activities and do something fun after a hard task. This will help you maintain a sense of hope and keep you thinking positive. You may also keep a journal to write down your thoughts and things you are grateful for. • Stay in touch. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling. Reaching out to people you trust is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety, depression, loneliness, and boredom during social distancing, quarantine, and isolation. You can use the telephone, email, text messaging, and social media to connect with friends, family, and others.
Tips for your child, family and others
• Listen and teach coping skills. Let your child know it is okay to feel upset. Share with them how you deal with your stress so that they can learn coping skills from you. • Monitor your family’s exposure to news coverage. Children may misinterpret what they hear and can be frightened about something they do not understand. • Establish a schedule or routine. It is important to keep a
• Check in with others often. Staying in touch can help you and your family feel less lonely and isolated. Use telephone, email, letters, text message, video chat and social media options to stay in touch.
Get Help If You Need It If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 911. If you think you have questions or need help that and it is not an emergency, please contact your provider. You may also contact the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline toll-free at 1-800985-5990. Dr. Sweet is a Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine specialist. She has been a leader in community mental health and integrating mental health care within hospital systems. Since 2018, Dr. Sweet has lead Molina Healthcare of Illinois and Wisconsin behavioral health operations.. Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/ managing-stress-anxiety.html
HEALTHWISE
• Keep your child informed on what is going on with the pandemic. Answer any questions they may have and teach them ways of staying safe.
routine. Create a schedule for homeschool learning activities and be sure to make time for fun activities and relaxation.
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Redesigning legacy '22 chicago neighborhood development awards by Suzanne Hanney
When Richard Townsell’s wife of 32 years asked him where they were going June 29, he responded, “to the Oscars — the Oscars of community development” — more formally known as the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDAs). LISC Chicago created the CNDAs in the mid-1990s to celebrate Chicago communities and new developments, and to honor the people and non-profit organizations responsible for them. It is the largest celebration of transformative accomplishments across the city. Townsell, who is executive director of Lawndale Christian Development Corporation and chair of the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council (NLCCC), won a CNDA, the Chicago Community Trust’s Outstanding Community Plan Award for NLCCC’s quality of life plan, “North Lawndale: The Next Chapter.” (1)
COVER STORY
The Chicago Community Trust (CCT) is a long-time supporter of community planning, said presenter Dr. Helene Gayle, then-president of CCT, to CNDA audiences gathered at the South Shore Cultural Center. “Our approach is that communities are stronger when local residents tell their own stories and have a voice in decision-making that affects their lives.”
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The NLCCC gathered roughly 70 groups — and 700 people — focused on disinvestment in their Southwest Side neighborhood. They broke the issue down via 13 committees: housing; economic development; workforce development; transportation & infrastructure; technology; green, open space, water & soil; arts & culture; health & wellness; public safety; education & youth development; sports & recreation; capacity building; communications. Besides the new North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) campus, the Ogden Commons development is a public-private partnership that will include the Lawndale Children’s Discovery Center, a new children’s museum; the 1000 homes initiative that has received financing commitments from the City of Chicago and others for the first 250 homes, and the reactivation of public spaces in Douglass Park, including a youth-designed, 18-hole, mini-golf facility. Accepting the $15,000 award, Townsell recalled how the actor Sally Field had proclaimed, “You like me!” after she won Best Actress Oscar for the second time in 1985 for “Places in the Heart.” She had won in 1980 for “Norma Rae.”
What Field meant, Townsell said, was that her career had been unorthodox. Having starred in 1960s sitcoms like “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun,” Field had not been invited to audition for film roles. Field’s reaction to her second Oscar was much like Townsell’s after winning the CNDA. “Today, North Lawndale and its incredible residents got the respect we’re due.” Shortly afterward, the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) won the $15,000 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Non-profit Real Estate Development Award for its conversion of the shuttered Community Bank of North Lawndale into a state-of-the-art workforce development center, Beelove Café, rooftop apiary, Sweet Beginnings production facility and Wintrust Bank branch. (2) NLEN President and Sweet Beginnings, LLC CEO Brenda Palms Barber said that the building allowed the nonprofit to consolidate all its programs into one building, so that it can take advantage of synergies. “People can come in, grab a cup of coffee and a scone, check on their finances, come in and do training for a new job,” said former Ald. Michael Scott (24th ward), who helped NLEN find the former bank building. “It can also become a community center where people can hang out and be community, and learn about one another. These are the things desperately needed in the 24th ward.” “There’s so much love in this building – and care, and hope, and guidance,” said Charlotte Austin, a production specialist at Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a social enterprise that turns honey from its apiaries into beelove™ food and body products. Austin started with NLEN’s U-Turn Permitted fourweek job readiness training program after 20 years in prison – away from her three kids. Now, she said, she is learning how “to be alright with Charlotte, the new Charlotte.” Investments in infrastructure like NLEN’s campus, Palms Barber said, will enable families to begin wealth building, and to create a community that is safe and fun. “Thank you again and again. We got our Oscar.”
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Tom Harris photos.
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The 28th annual CNDAs brought 600 people to the ballroom and Paul Robeson Theater of the South Shore Cultural Center. The ballroom presentation was live, with MC Audrina Bigos, CBS Chicago morning news anchor; the theater featured the televised event on a giant screen with comedian Damon Williams. The Cultural Center is now part of the Chicago Park District, but a century ago, it was a country club, where most of the evening’s attendees would not have been admitted. Fortunately, times change, and “extending equity and equality are the only guarantees of democracy,” said Meghan Harte, executive director of LISC Chicago, the organizing agency for the CNDAs and for the Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design. The evening’s theme, “Redefining Legacy,” was especially pertinent, given the pandemic, Harte said. “The last two years challenged many organizations to rethink their missions and priorities; to reaffirm or change their work; and to focus more intentionally on equity and impact,” she said earlier in press material. A new design for the CNDAs, for example, was the work of Project FIRE (3), a glassblowing and trauma recovery program for youth injured by gun violence in Chicago (also featured in StreetWise Holiday Gift Guide 2020). “With the whole world tipped on its side and all kinds of unimaginable things happening,” public and private groups,
Firebird Community Arts photo.
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LISC photo.
banks, nonprofits, and government will all have to work together to keep neighborhoods from slipping backward, to make residents more resilient and to close the wealth gap, said national LISC CEO Lisa Glover. Glover said that Chicago “has it really going on, the secret sauce,” among the 38 cities she oversees around the U.S. Mayor Lori Lightfoot also referred to a “post-pandemic mission of co-designing a more equitable and inclusive city” and thanked attendees for their hard work. Most — if not all — projects had engaged with the city, said Harte, a former deputy chief of staff to both Mayor Richard M. Daley and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “We need more people like our honorees tonight to step up across our neighborhoods, identify needs within their communities and get to work confronting them,” Lightfoot said. “I am so inspired by the creative ideas and smart implementation of community-driven and community-based programs.” The built environment can also shape people’s experiences – and no one knew that better than the late investment manager and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus (4), Harte said. A product of the Brainerd neighborhood on the Southeast Side, Driehaus believed that good architecture belonged in neighborhoods as much as downtown, that it should benefit both working people and business titans.
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Because architecture is permanent and expensive, “you want to make sure you get it right,” Driehaus said in a tribute video about the eponymous architecture awards he started with LISC 25 years ago. “Good design doesn’t cost, it pays. It’s one of the best investments you could make.” “Good design changes mental attitudes,” Driehaus was quoted in the CNDAs program book. “People feel better as humans. They begin to think that someone actually cares about them. If it’s badly and cheaply designed, it’s a message that the residents or clients don’t deserve any better. But if it’s well-planned, human-scaled, with good landscaping, you see a whole different response. You see residents maintain better; students try harder. It’s infectious.” Good architecture gives people dignity, which, in turn, makes them feel they have something to contribute, architecture critic Blair Kamin said in a video. Space, light, quality materials and good connections to city streets and schools all play a role in creating dignity. “The quality of life in a city is not measured by its downtown. It’s measured by the whole city. Richard never forgot where he came from, which makes the awards very ‘Chicago.’” The awards have set higher expectations for design in “communities of need,” said architect Juan G. Moreno of JGMA Architects. They have also made government institutions more willing to strive for architectural excellence in form as well as function, Harte said. Driehaus died last year, but he was “more than a funder, he always helped bring the awards to life,” LISC Chicago Board Chair Gery Chico said in posthumously presenting him the Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award. Accepting the award was “bittersweet,” said Driehaus Foundation Executive Director Anne Lazar. “He was so proud of their impact, the creative and innovative partnerships they helped to expand.” Continuing his legacy, the Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design had four winners this year. First place customarily is awarded $15,000 and runners up $3,000 and $2,000, respectively: • SOS Children’s Villages of Illinois and Maestro Cares Community Center (5), 3rd Place to JGMA • McCrory Senior Homes (6), 3rd Place to Landon Bone Baker Architects. • Altgeld Family Resource Center (7), 2nd Place to Koo LLC. • Ford Calumet Environmental Center (8), 1st Place to Valerio Dewalt Train Associates.
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SOS Children’s Villages (5) wanted to build a site not only for foster children in its care, but for the surrounding Roosevelt Square community to experience what foster care was like in their building at 1133 W. 13th St., CEO Tim McCormick said in their award video. The building facilitates meetings with caseworkers, clinical services, and even playtime. Child-level windows, and the first-in-Chicago use of Cross-Laminated Timber, (a renewable and reusable material) is intended to create the feeling of “home,” said architect Juan G. Moreno. There’s also a kitchen: where children can cook dinner for their birth parents as a prelude to reunification and which can be used for workforce training. The Near West Side is undergoing rapid gentrification, so the McCrory Senior Homes (6) at 1639 W. Washington Blvd. (at the intersection with Paulina) provides affordable housing led by Brinshore Development and First Baptist Congregational Church. The Rev. George W. Daniels, pastor, said the church had the room to service the community and wanted a property that would show the stability of the church. “We value the people who live here and what we put here has been a real blessing to the community.” The church wanted classical building materials that would age well, so building masonry evokes the quatrefoils in the church’s stained-glass windows, said Catherine Baker, former principal of Landon Bone Baker Architects. Multi-story bays took their cue from the surrounding neighborhood residences. Besides 48 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom apartments, the McCrory offers a community room, fitness room, multimedia room, rear patio, green features for energy savings and a setback entrance to foster gathering in a streamlined way. Altgeld Gardens (7) is largely isolated from the rest of Chicago on the far southern edge, so the Family Resource Center, with its new Chicago Public Library branch, childcare center, and community center, is intended to create momentum for the next stage of the community, said Daniel Rappel, principal at Koo LLC. The building’s wall ripples, to create courtyards that separate each program and that provide safe play areas; its windows are placed close to the ground in children’s areas, but above the bookshelves in the library.
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The new childcare center is extremely helpful, said resident Sierra Farmer, who is enrolled in school and who has experienced times when she could not find a babysitter. The teen center has multiple items to attract youths: a sewing machine, a recording studio, a T-shirt screen printer. Koo LLC donated its prize money to the Altgeld Branch library. “A building can’t make up for environmental degradation,” Rappel said, “but, still, we hope it helps a kid discover a book or get training for a job.”
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All photos provided by LISC.
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The Ford Calumet Environmental Center (8), 11555 S. Stony Island Ave., is within Big Marsh Park, which, at nearly 300 acres, is the Chicago Park District’s largest natural site. However, before the Park District acquired the park in 2011, it had been an industrial brownfield, the site of legal and illegal dumping. The building had to be environmentally friendly, said principal Joe Valerio, so its materials are not virgin wood but farmed, “massed timber,” and Cor-Ten steel (also used in the Daley Center and Picasso statue), which rusts to form a protective coating. Natural overhead light promotes joy among schoolchildren coming to study local ecology and the pros and cons of neighborhood industrial history. One exhibit, for example, describes Hazel Johnson, the “Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement.” She founded People for Community Recovery in protest of toxic waste around Altgeld Gardens after her husband died at 41 of lung cancer. Opened in 2016, Big Marsh Park is one of the most biodiverse natural areas in Chicagoland, with 15 species of birds, including Great Blue Herons, mallards and Virginia Rail. Trails are accessible to runners, walkers and bikers. Former slag heaps have been covered in clay to protect bikers from any lingering contamination. Five unique tracks — paved pump track, beginner and expert jump — serve everyone from toddlers on stryder bikes to extreme BMX riders.
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All photos this page by Tom Harris. For more views, see the front cover and page 3.
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Architectural preservation is also both environmentally – and economically – sound, said Raul Raymundo, CEO of The Resurrection Project (TRP), winner of the $15,000 Polk Bros. Affordable Housing Preservation Award for its Casa Veracruz (9). The average cost of renovating each of its 155 units was $188,000, compared to $500,000 for new construction. Casa Veracruz involved 155 units in 15 buildings in Pilsen, Little Village and Back of the Yards. Long-term affordability was preserved for 500 families earning 60 percent of the Area Median Income or below. The buildings were rehabbed in the 1990s and again now, when the need is greater. Often, people who wanted to stay in these neighborhoods didn’t have other options, Raymundo said. The Chicago Housing Authority partnered with TRP, which extended CHA’s reach to new neighborhoods, CEO Tracy Scott said in a video. Vouchers went to 60 existing families, which reduced their rent by $100 to $300 a month, saving them a combined $65,000 annually. The For-Profit Real Estate Development Award (no monetary grant) went to Baron Waller, owner of Culver’s (10) at 11050 S. Doty Ave. in Pullman, and developer Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI). The first sit-down restaurant in Pullman in 30 years when it opened last November, Culver’s is bringing 70 good-paying jobs with advancement opportunities, Waller said. From
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working behind the counter at a Culver’s (and later at IBM), he rose through the ranks to become Culver’s largest Black franchise owner, with seven locations, (two in Chicago and five in Illinois) and more on the way. Waller said he saw the site, right off I-94, and realized that it was predominantly Black – and growing. Ryerson Steel left the 180-acre site in 2006, but over the last 12 years, CNI has brought Method Soapbox and its parent SC Johnson household cleaning products, Gotham Greens commercial greenhouse for salad fixings, a Whole Foods Midwest distribution center and an Amazon fulfillment center there. President Obama named Pullman a National Monument in 2015 because of its role in labor history with the Pullman railroad sleeping car plant. It takes a village to raise a child, Waller said, and it takes partners to create a neighborhood where people want to live, work and visit. He bought the site with CNI and took advantage of the New Market Initiative with Chase Bank and the City of Chicago Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. Now that Pullman has its first national franchise, others will take notice, said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th ward). The Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) Food and Wellness Center (11), 1216 W. 63rd St., winner of the $15,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois Healthy Community Award, partnered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository for a holistic approach to filling gaps for people in Englewood and West Lawn, wheth-
er providing healthier food for people with diabetes or hypertension, or connecting them to a registered dietitian, health care and behavioral health care. Estella Holloway, a participant, said she had been eating bread, sweets and pop and was pre-diabetic. Now, she eats more fruit and vegetables and is down a few points. “I exercise more and eat a little less,” she said — a comment repeated during the evening by MC Audrina Bigos. Dignity is important to IMAN, said Deputy Executive Director Alia Bilal, and the Food and Wellness Center achieves that by allowing people to choose what they need for their families. During the pandemic, the Food and Wellness Center added emergency food distribution, COVID testing and vaccine drives. The Woods Fund Chicago Power of Community Award recognizes a successful organizing victory that enables democracy at the community level and mobilizes people who, individually, would not have had enough power to improve their communities. The $15,000 award went to the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) (12) coalition, whose six-year campaign culminated in passage of a Chicago City Council ordinance July 21, 2021 that transforms police oversight into the most democratic in the U.S. The ordinance will require local district councils elected by the public that will handle issues with officers as well as a citywide community council not directly elected by the public that will set citywide policy. All photos this page provided by LISC.
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Photo provided by LISC. Sandra Steinbrecher photo.
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ECPS was the merger of two groups: the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) and the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). GAPA had significant experience lobbying the Chicago City Council, CAARPR knew how to mobilize people to bring attention to the cause, said Inner-city Muslim Action Network Senior Organizer Desmon Yancy. The ordinance was created by the community, which met with Mayor Lightfoot, held teach-ins, literature dumps, protests and phone banking to 200,000 people, said activist Grace Patino. A key motivation was the shooting death of Laquan McDonald in October 2014, “when the story told by police in the media didn’t match up with the facts,” Yancy said. “It was blatantly clear there was no transparency in actions between police and the community,” said Joel Rodriguez, community organizer with the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP). In January, Mayor Lightfoot appointed Adam Gross as first executive director for Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. Gross is a University of Chicago Law School graduate and former director of the police accountability program area for BPI, a public interest law firm. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Creative Placemaking Award recognizes projects within the Chicago region in which arts and culture are integral to community development. The $15,000 award went to Creative Grounds Initiative at Anthony Overton Incubator (13) by Borderless Studio. Overton, 221 E. 49th St., is one of the 50 Chicago Public Schools closed in 2013, nearly a decade ago. Overton was purchased by the Washington Park Development Group, led by Ghian Foreman, and is being transformed into a business
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and technology incubator. Borderless Studios founder Paola Aguirre Serrano said the project aims to use Overton to bring awareness to the closed schools and inspire them to come alive again, and to create space for community-led activations. Arron Lefty Boyd put together basketball programs to steer neighborhood children off the street and into arts, technology, and landscaping programs at the Overton Incubator. The space also allows for Black self-ownership of creative expression, as with [James] “Baldwin in Bronzeville”: chalkwork on the sidewalk, on the author’s birthday. The CIBC Emerging Leader Award went to Dalia Aragon (14), as a neighborhood leader who makes a difference in her own community and beyond. Aragon founded Israel’s Gifts of Hope in 2017 after her brother was lost to gun violence on the Northwest Side in 2016. The nonprofit spreads awareness of the traumatic effects of gun violence through peace marches, vigils, back-to-school drives, an annual Thanksgiving Care Basket drive, and a Dia De Los Muertos dedicated to victims of gun violence. Israel’s Gifts of Hope also works to support siblings, friends and family members reeling from gun violence. Dalia, the oldest of three siblings including Israel and her sister Annette, was a double major in criminal justice and psychology at the time of his death and did not receive this support. She is now employed at the North River Commission, where she brings essential resources for growth to family-owned businesses and supports the development of affordable housing in Albany Park through support of landlords and tenants.
Photos provided by LISC.
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ethe7/17/17udoku Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the s 1 to 9.
PuzzleJunction.com
Streetwise 8/7/17 Crossword
To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the Sudoku numbers 1 to 9.
©2017 PuzzleJunction.com
62 Lease 63 Isaac’s firstborn 64 Ornamental handbags 65 Race track shape 66 One of TV’s Simpsons 67 Nettle 68 Cairo’s river 69 Pharaoh’s symbol
8 Diner’s card 9 Protective embankment 10 Big dipper 11 Stole 12 Nuptial agreement 13 Matchsticks game 22 Involuntary twitch 24 Cluster of Down flowers 26 Kitchen light 1 Guts 2 Unaccompanied 27 Carpenter’s tool 3 Recurring theme 28 Hither’s partner 4 Marinara 30 Deviation 32 Beach alternative 5 Build up 33 Full of rich soil 6 Least cooked 34 Night spot 7 DoD part 35 Most preferred
36 38 39 40 41 45 46 47 49 51 52 53 54 56 57 59 60 61
Thickness ___ truly Expected Black, to poets Dust remover Meal Discordant Washer setting Old photo color Tiny organism Month after Adar Lewis’s partner Early days It’s pumped in a gym First name in jeans Beer barrel Gobbled up Wall Street order
Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com
Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com
©PuzzleJunction.com
last week's Solution Puzzle Answers
Solution
Solution
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at
PuzzleJu
Crossword Across 1 Grate 5 Marble material 10 Some bent pipes 14 Comics canine 15 Continental money 16 Pout 17 Worsted fabric 18 Storms 19 Event attended by Cinderella 20 Buddy 22 Chewing out 24 Former Yugoslav leader 25 A deadly sin 26 Aim 29 Glance 33 Madcap comedy 34 Two tablets, maybe 35 Shogun’s capital 36 Wishes undone 37 Easily tamed bird 38 Multitude 39 Indivisible 40 Hoodwink 41 Feather in one’s cap 42 Reuben 45 Deck figure 46 Give an edge to 47 Attention getter 48 “___ home?” 51 Tabloid topic
©2017 PuzzleJunction.com
54 Watch face 55 Happen again 57 Condo, e.g. 59 Part of a plot 60 Provide an address 61 Not a lick 62 Cincinnati team 63 Fills up 64 Leg’s midpoint Down 1 Donnybrook 2 Resting on 3 Greek promenade 4 “It’s ___ as usual”
5 Make bubbly 6 Organic fertilizer 7 Ship that Medea rode in 8 Stocking part 9 Gist 10 Animal organism 11 Goldbrick 12 Whopper 13 Auction off 21 Filly’s father 23 Map abbr. 25 Succeed 26 Old hairdos 27 Hot spot 28 Spruce up 29 Pizazz 30 Soft palate 31 Tomato blight
32 Second growth of grass in a season 34 It may be wild 38 Basketball shot 40 Money, in slang 41 Hammer part 43 Fierce wild dogs 44 Took the gold 45 Stock units 47 Sharp as a tack 48 Purim’s month 49 Riviera city 50 Sail support 51 Skedaddle 52 Bartlett’s abbr. 53 Field of work 56 Baseball stat 58 Kind of time
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