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 micro entrepreneurs 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.
4
Arts & Entertainment
SportsWise
Cover Story: National Public Housing Museum
National Public Housing Museum
West
years of
ground
NPHM
class people through their possessions, oral
in
From the streets
effort
highlight their struggle, hope, entrepreneurship, achievement – and overall resilience.
The National Hellenic Museum (NHM) celebrates its grand reopening with the world premiere of “Resilience,” which features 19 new works by Prince Nikolaos that explore Greece’s strong relationship with nature and environmental preservation, as well as ocean plastic debris that has entered the human food chain.
Inside StreetWise
StreetWise hosts its 30th anniversary celebration September 30 at Galleria Marchetti in Noble Square.
The Playground
ON THE COVER: Renderings of the National Public Housing Museum (rendering courtesy of NPHM). THIS PAGE: Vendor Kianna Drummond acts out her daily selling pitch during the StreetWise 30th anniversary celebration (Deana Haynes photo).
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, opin ions, or positions of StreetWise.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Compiled by Dave Hamilton, Suzanne Hanney, and Sarah LindeSeasons of Love!
‘RENT’Porchlight Music Theatre presents the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, “RENT,” at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., October 29 - November 27. Over the last 25 years, “RENT,” based loosely on the 1896 Italian opera “La Boheme” by Giacomo Puccini, has become a cultural phenomenon with millions of fans around the world. Porchlight’s production celebrates this legacy and adds a new page to the story of a year in the life of a diverse group of artists struggling to survive and create in Lower Manhattan’s East Village under the shadow of HIV/ AIDS. In the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City at the end of the millennium, these friends are determined to follow their dreams without selling out. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3:30 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with weekday matinees on select days. Tickets start at $41 at porchlightmusictheatre.org
Comic Books Meet Theater!
'The Mark of Kane'
In 1939, two young friends huddled in a Bronx apartment and created a legend – the comic book character Batman. One, Bob Kane, goes on to fame and fortune while the other, Bill Finger, languishes in obscurity. "The Mark of Kane" is the first play of “The FourColor Trilogy,” a set of plays Mark Pracht is writing for City Lit Theatre, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., that will make their world premieres over the next three seasons and will highlight major turning points in the history of the comic book industry, once a denigrated art form, but now at the center of American pop culture. Preview ticket prices (10/21 – 10/29) $30, seniors $25, students and military $12. Regular run ticket prices $34, seniors $29, students and military $12 at citylit.org
Visionary Cinema!
Festival au Cinéma
Haven Chicago presents its first annual Festival au Cinéma, October 27 at The Den Theatre (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.) the company’s new platform for visionary and innovative filmmakers and media artists staking their claim in the future of digital storytelling, whether by defying traditional conventions of genre, style or form. Haven’s annual micro film festival spotlights cre ative media works that intentionally embrace the unorthodox and inspire the next era of film making. The three-day/three-night festival features over 20 short films plus a variety of events, including talkbacks with the filmmakers, an opening night cocktail mixer, a boozy brunch fea turing an iconic movie screening and a closing awards party. Films are presented individually or in curated blocks, based on genre, theme and length. All films are eligible for Haven’s filmmaker awards. A variety of ticket packages (Day Passes, Weekend Passes, Silver and Gold Package) are available at havenchi.org/festival-au-cinema
Bittersweet Symphony!
Grieg Piano Concerto and Prokofiev 6
Presented by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Center (220 S. Michigan Ave.) Friday, October 28Tuesday, November 1. Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony was a risky undertaking in post-World War II Russia: a personal meditation on suffering and loss that he described as agitated, lyrical and austere. Pianist Simon Trpčeski animates the romantic flourishes of Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Also on the program is violinist/composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s "Primal Message," a fantasia inspired by the 1974 Aricebo interstellar radio transmission. Ticket holders are invited to a free pre-concert conversation with Daniel Schlosberg (pictured) in Orchestra Hall 75 minutes before the performance. The conversation will last approximately 30 minutes. Tickets start at $45 and can be purchased at cso.org
A Rich History!
'Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice'
On October 24, immerse yourself in “Dark Testament: A Century of Black Writers on Justice” and honor the significant contributions of Black writers to American literature and history. Explore racial injustice in America by examining the work of Black American writers from the end of the Civil War through the Civil Rights Movement. Featuring original artwork, augmented reality, and other interactive elements to enliven and enrich the experience, Dark Testament brings the work of writers past and present to life in new and exciting ways. At the American Writers Museum, 180 N. Michigan Ave. Adults $14, Seniors/Students/Teachers $9, Children 12 and under Free at americanwritersmuseum.org. Event runs from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Find the Way!
‘Routes’
Olufemi hopes to return home to his family. Bashir wants to remain in the only home he knows. Kola yearns to find home in a place that’s never felt like one. Rachel De-lahay’s shattering, urgent new play looks through the eyes of immigrants, refugees, and children in conflict with the law as they fight to get home through an impossibly complex system designed to keep them out. It's presented by Remy Bumppo The atre Company, Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays & Sundays at 2:30 p.m., through November 20 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. $32 / $10 student at theaterwit.org
Classics Re-Imagined!
'Grimm' "Grimm" weaves well-known fairy tales — "Little Red Riding Hood," "Rumpelstiltskin," and more — into a modern story in a cabaret atmosphere. It is presented by Theatre Above the Law, whose mission is to challenge the norm by producing classic and unique stories in re latable ways, at 7:30 p.m. October 24, 28-30 at the Jarvis Square Theater, 1439 W. Jarvis St. Vax cards and ID required. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors and students at theatreatrl.org
Film For All!
(In)Justice for All Film Festival
The Trinity United Church of Christ (In)Justice for All Film Festival is virtual again this year and opens October 27-28 with a special presentation of the award-winning, “Let The Little Light Shine.” A high-performing, top-ranked, African-American elementary school in the South Loop with a 100 percent graduation rate is threatened by gentrification when a decision is made to close the school and transform it into a high school for wealthier residents; parents, students and educators fight to keep their school. A special live panel discussion featuring director/producer Kevin Shaw, former and present National Teachers Academy principals and parent activists will follow the 7 p.m. screening Thursday. Film Notes, a conversation between Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity, and Shaw, will follow both virtual screenings. Tickets can be ordered at www.injusticeforallff.com
Video Games Meets Art!
Art Games by Snow Yunxue Fu Chicago Gamespace (located at 2418 W. Bloomingdale Ave.) presents a series of art games by New York-based artist Snow Yunxue Fu. Whether running through a placeless city, exploring a treacherous ocean trench, or encountering an imposing cave, audiences gain a palpable and unsettling sense of the size, beauty and danger of the natural and built environments through her bold, colorful worlds. This solo exhibition features three playable games by the artist, including a virtual reality experience, and a series of print selections from her interactive works will be on view as well. Open Sundays 1-5 p.m. through December 11 by advance ticket purchase from www.chicagogamespace.com. Admission is $5. Kids under 12, veterans and service members are free.
Patrick: Fellas, as far away as it seemed when the season began, we are finally in the postseason and moving toward the World Series. I’m psyched.
Russ: Well, I feel a lil’ bad for the participants in the Series, because, for some reason, I’m thinking poor weather at the end of the playoffs. That said, though, I’m going to go with the Houston Astros versus the Atlanta Braves. I mean, of course, anyone still in the play offs at the time of this recording and, of course, at the time this issue hits the street, can win it.
Donald: Who do you want to win?
Russ: If I had my way, the Cleveland Guardians (formerly known as the Indians) versus the Philadelphia Phillies. Any teams beside the New York Yankees, Houston, Los An geles Dodgers, or Braves. I just want to see some different teams.
Patrick: I feel that. Interest ingly enough, even though the Cleveland Guardians beat my White Sox, I’m beginning to grow a fondness for that “play hard” mentality. Don’t need a bunch of superstars. I guess the point is that I’d be okay with out the regulars winning—un less it’s the Yankees.
Russ: Right!
Patrick: But, yeah, in doing some research with all of this, I’d love to see a New York
Yankees versus L.A. Dodgers World Series. Just the whole “entity” of it all would be enormous…and great.
John: Well, it’s funny you say that, because I see a few unique potential match-ups that could make this the year of years. The first is a rematch of the 2017 World Series between the As tros and the Dodgers. This was the match-up when the Astros were found guilty of cheating. That said, the Dodgers would be seeking revenge. Second on the list is a rematch from 2021: Astros versus the Braves. Mind you, if this match-up happens, this could be the coming-out party of a new dynasty if the Braves win.
Donald: I’m curious to hear the final potential match-up. Oh, wait—
John: Yep, the Dodgers versus the Yankees. L.A. versus N.Y. easily becomes my all-time fa vorite World Series’ matchup. Two old-time legendary teams with great baseball traditions, which started with the Yankees in New York City, and the Dodgers in Brooklyn, which had the highest baseball fanbase in the world.
Patrick: I figured we’d get to the “Final Answer” toward the end, but I’m curious, John, which of the three do you be lieve it’ll be?
John: As much as I’d like to see the Dodgers versus the Yan kees, I’m going with the Astros. Too deep, too strong for the Yankees, the Braves. No matter how hot the Braves have been toward the end of the season, I’m leaning toward an Astros/ Dodgers World Series with—
Patrick: John, I hate to inter rupt your flow, but please hold that thought until the end.
John: Okay. Because I’m ready!
Patrick: I can hear it. Don, what’re you thinking?
Donald: Well, I’ll say this: It would’ve been nice to have seen the White Sox creep into the playoffs and, possibly, upset some of these big-time teams. But, for now, I’m not picking this year. So many powerhous es that I want to just watch. Get a better view at what’s really going on.
Russ: Everywhere Dusty Bak er goes, his team wins…or, at least, is in the running. So, my pick for this year is the Astros over the Braves in 7 games.
Patrick: Yankees over the Braves in 6 for me. John, your glory moment—hit me.
John: The L.A. Dodgers over the Houston Astros in 7.
Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org
BREAKING GROUND ON THE NATIONAL PUBLIC HOUSING MUSEUM
by Suzanne HanneyThe National Public Housing Museum (NPHM), a 15-year dream of housing advocates, broke ground October 11 at the former Jane Addams Homes on the Near West Side. The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) in 2018 transferred the last standing structure of the Jane Addams Homes to NPHM, and the building will be extensively rehabbed to be come the museum’s physical home.
Although located in Chicago, NPHM is a national museum. Input during its formation came from not only the CHA and its residents, but from housing authorities in Akron, San Di ego, Los Angeles, Yonkers, NY; Corpus Christi, Fort Worth and Waco, Texas. NPHM is the nation’s first cultural institu tion that interprets the American experience in public hous ing, and it is dedicated to the belief that all people have a right to a home – a viewpoint that has gained traction since the COVID-19 pandemic.
NPHM is a “house museum,” like George Washington’s Mount Vernon or Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and hun dreds of others across the United States dedicated to white men (and slave owners, in Washington’s and Jefferson’s cases), said Lisa Lee, NPHM executive director, in a tele phone interview. NPHM will show the homes of working class people through their possessions, oral histories and art, in an effort to highlight their struggle, hope, entrepre neurship, achievement – and overall resilience.
Three apartments at NPHM, restored with historic artifacts, will portray life for a Jewish family during the 1930s birth of public housing, followed by Italian, Puerto Rican and Polish families adapting to changing neighborhoods and a Black family during the civil rights era.
Among the museum’s permanent exhibitions will be the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation Storytelling and Everyday Objects Gallery, featuring a rotating collection of objects from public housing residents nationwide. A music room curated by DJ Spinderella, who grew up in New York’s Louis Heaton Pink Houses, will showcase significant works created by public housing residents.
Jay-Z, for example, grew up in the Marcy Houses in Brook lyn, country music legend Kenny Rogers in public housing in Houston, and Elvis Presley in Memphis public housing, according to the archives of the U.S. Department of Hous ing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees public housing.
Other public housing alumni include the band Earth, Wind & Fire and singers Barbra Streisand, Prince and Diana Ross, Lee said. Mr. T of the movie Rocky and The A Team televi
sion show also spent his childhood in Chicago public hous ing.
Museum artifacts collected from public housing residents across the U.S. range from a wooden bowl used by a Jewish family to make gefilte fish to the gold medal boxing belts of Chicago Golden Gloves champion Lee Roy Murphy. Ursula Burns, the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 com pany, Xerox, is also represented.
Burns grew up in New York City public housing. Her single mother worked multiple jobs to support her three children, but she never made more than $4,400 a year, Burns told CNN’s Poppy Harlow in 2017.
Burns learned from her mother to accept support from friends and family, people in the neighborhood, government organizations and nonprofits. Her $60 application fees to seven colleges, for example, would have been a huge chunk of her mother’s salary, but the fees were waived, thanks to various programs.
"Institutions both private and public had to help [my mother]," she said. "Her responsibility was to parlay it into something else. That's the American Dream."
The diversity of these public housing success stories coun ters the racist, mainstream notion of public housing failure, which made it so easy to demolish housing developments, Lee said. It’s time for a new conversation.
“We really believe that these stories of the lived experience of public housing can and should inform the future of pub lic policy around public housing. The unique aspect of our work is that we bring together arts, culture and public policy around housing. We really are hoping to bridge movements to address homelessness and advocacy for public hous ing efforts to increase affordable housing. Sometimes these movements are siloed from one another.
“It’s a groundbreaking undertaking, and we wouldn’t be here or able to undertake it without our visionary founders and funders,” she added.
One of the original voices behind the NPHM was Deverra Beverly, a long-time president of the resident council at the ABLA Homes on the Near West Side and a CHA commis sioner. Beverly died in 2013, but her son Kenneth Beverly was on hand to witness the October 11 groundbreaking.
NPHM advisor Crystal Palmer’s family also comes from the ABLA Homes and was raised in the Henry Horner Homes.
“We need a National Public Housing Museum to tell our sto ries as public housing residents in a way that isn’t driven by the old stereotypes, and that lifts up our voices.”
“We believe that housing is a human right, that the need for affordable and decent housing is serious, and that a cultur al institution could raise these issues and deepen the un derstanding of the public,” said NPHM Board Chair Sunny Fischer, who also grew up in public housing in the Bronx. “The museum will be a place for inquiry—raising and re sponding to current issues and seeking solutions— discus sion, illumination, ensuring that we learn from history to cre ate a more just society for the future.”
“The epicenter of the public housing story has been Chi cago; therefore, it is appropriate that the National Public Housing Museum be located in Chicago, said former HUD Secretary and former National League of Cities President Henry Cisneros, who serves on the NPHM advisory council. Lee said that Cisneros was referring to not only the Robert Taylor and Cabrini Green Homes, but to legal struggles by residents, such as the landmark federal lawsuit filed in 1966 by Dorothy Gautreaux of the Altgeld Gardens Homes on the far South Side. In response, the federal court here found that the CHA had deliberately segregated public housing resi dents both racially and economically. The court’s solution was scattered-site housing.
The museum has received funding from the Ford Founda tion, Mellon Foundation, Kresge Foundation, the Builders Ini
tiative, the National Endowment for the Humanities; the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Lohengrin Foundation and the State of Illinois. It was $4.5 million in pandemic recovery funds from the City of Chicago that allowed NPHM to finally reach its $14.5 million construction budget, Lee said. The museum is in the process of raising the remaining $2 million for exhibits.
“For a long time, people thought the role of the museum was to look backward, that public housing was over and done,” Lee said. “But since the pandemic, people realized the need for housing all people and the role of the government in pro viding it: a role that needs to be explored and debated in the public arena.”
The city partnership entails oral history training and a mu seum store owned by public housing residents. During the groundbreaking, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called NPHM “an in novative civic and cultural anchor” — an economic engine for the Near West Side.
“With a cultural workforce program focused on equity and access, a museum store that is cooperatively owned by pub lic housing residents, and an archive that amplifies public housing residents' voices, this museum demonstrates Chi cago's history and commitment to housing. I look forward to the much-needed, national dialogues and advocacy for the future of housing.”
National Hellenic museum features art
by Suzanne Hanney“If you deconstruct Greece, you will see in the end an olive tree, a grapevine, and a boat remain. That is, with as much, you reconstruct her.” HRH Prince Nikolaos of Greece always considered this quote from Nobel Prize-winning poet Odyssseas Elytis to be unique to his country.
“Greeks throughout time have been resilient. We’ve gone through civil wars, wars, famines and we’ve always bounced back,” he said while guiding a tour of his photographic exhibit, “Resilience” at the National Hellenic Museum in Greektown.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and the strict Greek lockdown, which Prince Nikolaos anticipated by getting his cameras ready.
“I realized ‘resilience’ applied not just to the Greeks, but to everyone, all over the world. Front line workers: it would be obvious when they would take a break and leave the hospital they would always stand by a tree. Nature herself was allevi ating the pressures of the pandemic and Nature herself also became resilient when we left her alone for three months, for six months. She got revitalized. We had an abundance of fish off the coast of Athens which we didn’t used to have. Some of the fish, which would normally be seasonal, were non-seasonal because of just the six months. And the quality of the air was much better.”
The National Hellenic Museum (NHM) celebrates its grand reopening with the world premiere of “Resilience,” which continues through December 30. An accomplished photogra pher who has exhibited his work internationally since 2015, Prince Nikolaos presents 19 new works that explore Greece’s strong relationship with nature and environmental preserva tion. Separate facets of the exhibit include “Sea Cred,” a pho tographic mosaic printed onto 272 credit cards made of up cycled ocean plastic debris, inspired by a World Wildlife Fund
study that found humans could be consuming an average of 5 grams of plastic every week (the equivalent weight of a credit card); and the North American premiere of “Together,” an immersive scene of illuminated olive trees accompanied by the nighttime sounds of Greek nature, which first premiered at the London Design Biennale in 2021.
“Greece’s past, present and future is intertwined and inex tricably linked with nature. The recent pandemic has changed how we view the physical world and our space within it and has forced us to go back to our origins to find inspiration,” said Marilena Koutsoukou, curator of “Resilience,” in prepared material. “As an artist, Prince Nikolaos is always drawn to open spaces, and nature has been an integral theme and presence in his work. With this exhibition, he turns his lens to the Greek earth. Like an archaeologist meticulously excavating, record ing, and drawing conclusions, he attempts to deconstruct and explore our collective experience with a new normal, a shared belief that we must let go of our past ways and find ways to celebrate and protect nature, and eventually, ourselves.”
The opening photo in the exposition is “Resilience,” which depicts the blue-and-white striped Greek flag as bands of waves and clouds. Others in this series include “Seaing Green” and the Athens “Acropolis.” Both scenes are printed onto alumi num and then shot through water; they are recognizable for their color, but also abstract because of the overlaid ripples.
The photos accentuate the colors the prince saw in the water: blue, green, gold, red. Depending on the angle of the sun on the body of water, they can change.
“All of this could be done with Photoshop, with filters as everyone today has on their iPhone. I like to get the colors naturally, although I have interfered with nature by putting something into a body of water. The original color is nature’s
art from prince nikolaos of greece
and that is the color I was seeing when I was taking a picture. In order to get this sort of thing, I had to zoom in really close or use a massive lens.”
The wine series depicts harvested grapes in a big vat and the movement of a churning machine. Olive branches are photo graphed through olive oil in “Golden Pride” and as a gleaming stream in “Purity.”
“Splash of Gold,” meanwhile, is a stop-action photo, almost sculptural. “I was pouring and shooting at the same time. It made me very unpopular with my wife, (Princess Tatiana) be cause it made the balcony filthy, but she forgave me.”
Born in Rome, Prince Nikolaos was raised in London, home schooled and then educated at the Hellenic College of London and Brown University. He worked in television and banking before becoming a business consultant. As a photographer, he has exhibited in London, Athens, Copenhagen, Melbourne and Doha.
“Sea Cred” came about after Prince Nikolaos visited remote islands with a volunteer organization he has that brings specialist doctors to islands that have only basic medical care. He saw the plastic trash, not generated locally, but coming in with the tide. A partnership with Parley for the Oceans, “Sea Cred’s” medium is Parley’s trademark plastic, upcycled ocean debris from remote beaches, mangroves, and coastal communities.
Princess Tatiana, in addition, works with the Hellenic Initia tive, born out of the financial crisis to foster entrepreneurship and technology investments in Greece, alongside traditional in dustries such as tourism and agriculture. Originally begun by donors, the initiative has now become a “venture philanthropy,” Prince Nikolaos said, with potential return on the investment. Princess Tatiana is also involved with Bourome, a food bank
that pays just 1 euro in operational costs for every 22 portions of food served; it achieves this by flipping the logistics, accord ing to vogue.com. Instead of paying for warehouses or delivery trucks, Bourome coordinates with recipients, who pick up food directly from donors (StreetWise January 2017).
“Together,” created for the London Bienale, is the finale of the exhibition. Prince Nikolaos found these two wild olive trees, not part of a cultivated grove, alone on a cliff on the island of Milos. “Without trying to sound sexist, this is the male ap proaching and this is the female, and she says, ‘try harder.’” The trees’ roots are interconnected, as are their branches overhead.
The prince went back on a still day in February and shot the trees in 18 sections so he could marry all the images and blow them up to show each leaf in perfect detail. Then, he inverted the image so that the shadowed portions of the tree became brightly lit, as if from the inside. He added the sounds of a Greek evening: cicadas, a bird’s mating call and the female’s respond ing whistle.
“When I had the exhibition in London, my most satisfying thing, my favorite stamp of approval, was when I found kids lying on the floor with their backpacks as cushions, just sitting there, chilling. That, for me, is the whole effect. I want people to be mesmerized, to take time out from all the craziness that’s going on outside and to be transported to a place that is peace ful, calm and where you can reflect.”
The National Hellenic Museum is located at 333 S. Halsted St. Mu seum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Tickets to the museum are $10 and include admission to all exhibits. Discounts are available for seniors, students and children. “Resilience” is sponsored by NHM Trustee John S. Koudounis.
streetwise 30th anniversary celebration
On September 30, StreetWise celebrated 30 years as an or ganization with our annual gala, held this year at Galleria Mar chetti, 825 W. Erie St., from 5 - 10 p.m. It truly was a bash to remember, with dinner, drinks, a silent auction, and shopping with GiveAShi*t and T3: Trash to Treasure. The program was short and sweet and highlighted three individual vendors: Ki anna Drummond (who has been with StreetWise for 9 months), Keith Hardiman (20 years), and Danny Davis (27 years). Each vendor performed their sales pitch as they would on the street and was also featured in a video vignette telling their story, produced and directed by the Emmy Award-winning The Daily Planet, Ltd.
StreetWise would like to thank the event sponsors that made this event possible:
Sponsors
celebration
ROW 1: Vendors Keith and Kianna arrive early to prepare for their performances; Pete Kadens of the Kadens Family Foundation and StreetWise Executive Director Julie Youngquist; The GiveAShi*t team (Pam Hoffman, Scott Marvel, and Jeannine Ringland-Zwirn) sets up shop. YWCA Metropolitan Chicago CEO Nicole Robinson, StreetWise Creative Director Dave Hamilton, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Board of Directors member Neema Varghese, StreetWise Director of Programs Amanda Jones. ROW 2: Youngquist, artist Gerald Griffin, Frantzie Bourdeau-Griffin, and Governor Pat Quinn; StreetWise Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards, Jan Anne Dubin, Kianna, and Youngquist. ROW 3: Advisory Council member Deana Haynes and friends; StreetWise supporters enjoy the mild weather; YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Chief Strategic Engagement Officer Molly Silverman (right) attends with Michelle Finkler and Lauren Morris.to elevate marginal ized voices and provide opportuni ties for individuals to earn an income and gain employ ment. Anyone who wants to work has the opportunity to move themselves out of crisis.
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