LEFT: The youth cast of "Future Perfect: Top row (left to right): Norah Lougachi, Caleb Reed-Jennings, Isabella Airato, Tekla Schreiner-Witte, Ruby O’Shaughnessey, Henry Lombardo. Bottom row (left to right): Shiloh Jennings, Benjamin Govertsen, Sam Combs, Henry James Hansen, Amelia Holly. CENTER: Three costume designs for Future Perfect from workshops with 6th & 8th graders at Kinzie Elementary. RIGHT The Adult Cast: Top row (left to right): Rose Guccione, Brian Allen Pember Jr, Katie Rub, Sarah Kropski, Dominique Frigo. Second Row (left to right): Susan Lewis Friedman, Peter Stigdon, Wydetta Carter, Paul Geiger, Marcela Ossa. Third row (left to right): Hailey Cohen, Barbara Smith, Christina Ray, Jeffrey Goldberg, Christine Steyer. Bottom row (left to right): Kaleb Nuesse, Suzanne Walsh, Xandra Daigle, Dennis M. Kalup, Carl Ratner. Images provided by Working In Concert.
Covenant house opens youth shelter in east garfield park Covenant House Illinois (CHIL) transitioned to the public phase of its Campaign for Youth Potential with a ribbon cutting on its new youth shelter in East Garfield Park. More than 100 people attended the May 6 event, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (both D-IL), Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago First Lady Amy Eshleman, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th ward) and Covenant House International CEO Kevin Ryan. CHIL moved into its new, 3-story, 24,000-square-foot campus at 2934 W. Lake St. last October and continued to develop the space. It is now raising the last $3 million of an $11.5 million campaign. The 40-bed shelter has 17 young adults staying there. The need is overwhelming, said CHIL Executive Director Susan Reyna-Guerrero, LCSW. On any given night, there are 3,000 18- to 24-year-olds experiencing homelessness in Chicago. Just off the CTA Green Line, the campus serves young men and women ages 18 to 24 who face homelessness and other dangers such as human-trafficking, domestic violence, and LGTBQ+ discrimination. The organization provides shelter, meals, and other support services with the goal of building client's self-sufficiency.
Tickets are $35 general admission/$50 VIP; seniors age 65+ $25; and students $10 at workinginconcert.org/futureperfect. The Kehrein Arts Center is a 900-seat storytelling theater, art gallery, and community gathering place—one of the few major building projects on Chicago’s West Side since the 1968 riots. Completed in 1954 by the architectural firm of Belli & Belli, the mid-century modern addition to the all-girls Siena High School evoked the neo-futuristic vision of Eero Saarinen (best known for the St. Louis Gateway Arch). But after Siena moved out in 1971, the building deteriorated until the non-profit charter school Catalyst Circle Rock moved there in 2008 and later purchased the building. Its $5 million renovation was facilitated by $1 million from the Chicago Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and political backing that led to support from the State of Illinois. The building re-opened in May 2019. –Suzanne Hanney, from online sources
Each shelter resident meets with a master’s-degree-level social worker to determine a plan, Reyna-Guerrero told NBC5 News. More than 1 in 3 (35%) were formerly in the foster care system; 41 percent left abusive homes. Current resident Shauwnique, 23, a model, student and singer/songwriter, performed two songs she composed for the group – and brought the entire audience to its feet. Covenant House Illinois first opened its doors in February 2017. It has provided more than 15,000 nights of shelter and served 1,200 youth since then. Alderman Burnett told the crowd, which included donors and staffers, how he had been intermittently homeless in his youth and how many residents and former elected officials fought him about bringing the shelter to East Garfield Park, just off the CTA Green Line. "I had residents who did not want this here—literally did not want this here—humiliated me, talked about me...all kinds of things." –Suzanne Hanney, from online sources
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