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The field houses at Garfield Park and Franklin Park to undergo renovations,

Vol. 35 No. 12

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March 24, 2021

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West Side United touts progress, PAGE 2

‘Are we policing Black hair?’ parents ask West Side school

Questions pile up after Providence St. Mel forces 4-yearold to remove braids to conform to long-standing dress code

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

Ida Nelson’s 4-year-old son asked her to braid his hair after they saw a photo of someone with a similar style. Jett, who is in preschool, was over the moon about his new hair, and he was eager to show it off to his friends and teacher at school earlier this month.

“I was really excited about the fact that he already is kind of developing his own positive and happy self-image,” Nelson said. “I thought it was contributing to him being able to be his authentic self by braiding it that way.”

But when Jett went to his school, Providence St. Mel, on March 4, administrators called Nelson and said her son’s hairstyle violated the private school’s dress code, which bans braids, locs and other styles, she said. She unbraided his hair and shared the experience on Facebook, saying the rules are needlessly restricting hairstyles See PROVIDENCE ST. MEL on page 8

Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

SCANDALIZED: Chicago’s first COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, at Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility in the Austin neighborhood.

Vaccines for Loretto CEO’s church as West Siders waited

Shots administered to more than 200 members of suburban church attended by Loretto CEO George Miller, who is longtime friends with church’s leader

By KELLY BAUER Block Club Chicago

Loretto Hospital vaccinated its CEO’s suburban church — worrying staff members who questioned why the hospital was

giving shots in the suburbs when West Side residents are desperate to get an appointment.

The hospital has had its supply of coronavirus vaccine doses cut off by the city as officials investigate whether it’s been

properly vaccinating people and reporting vaccinations. That came after Block Club reported on ineligible workers getting shots at Trump Tower, where mulSee LORETTO on page 9

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Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

Nonprofit with heavy West Side presence awarded $20M grant

The Carole Robertson Center awarded federal funds to expand early head start, preschool preparation programs

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

A nonprofit that helps provide services and support for young people on the West Side was recently awarded a fiveyear, $20 million federal grant.

Officials with the Carole Robertson Center for Learning announced on March 19 that the nonprofit had been awarded the Early Head State Expansion grant from the Administration of Children and Families.

The nonprofit provides early childhood services to families in 16 Chicago communities, including Austin and North Lawndale. The grant will allow the nonprofit to provide early head state and preschool readiness services to 185 additional infants, toddlers and pregnant women, Carole Robertson officials explained.

“This funding gives us an opportunity to serve more Chicago children and families and provides critical early learning programs in a child’s earliest years to prepare for preschool,” said Carole Robertson Center for Learning CEO Bela Moté.

“Early Head Start programs and services have always

been essential for families in the communities we serve,” she said. “So many here are essential workers who continue to support economic recovery for all, and we’re proud to put grants such as this to work for them.”

Currently, the Carole Robertson Center serves more than 1,000 children across its 16 different target communities.

Officials said that the grant will allow the Center to “hire and train new staff members and partners.

Funding covers startup needs, such as new infant rooms, furnishings for outdoor environments, and fire protection systems, and training and technical assistance. Funding is awarded on an annual basis and continuation is subject to annual review,” officials explained in a statement released March 19.

According to its 2019 annual report, the most recent one provided on its website, ourtesy Carole Robertson Center for Learning the Carole Robertson Center has an office GRANT SUPPORT: The North Lawndale site of the Carole Robertson for Learnat 3701 W. Ogden Ave. in North Lawndale, ing at 3701 West Ogden Ave. where half of the children it serves are located.

The Center is named for Carole Robertson, one of the four tist Church in Birmingham, Ala. little girls killed in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street bap- CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

AUSTIN WEEKLY

news Editor Michael Romain

Senior Editor Bob Uphues Contributing Reporters Bonni McKeown, Igor Studenkov Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks Columnist Arlene Jones Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Designer Debbie Becker Sales & Marketing Representavies Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck Sales & Development Mary Ellen Nelligan Circulation Manager Jill Wagner ≈ Publisher Dan Haley Wikipedia

IMPROVEMENTS COMING: The Gold Dome field house in West Garfield Park. The facility will undergo some improvements thanks to state funding.

West Side field houses poised for renovations

Gold Dome in West Garfield Park and Franklin Park field house in North Lawndale awarded state grants for extensive rehab

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

The Chicago Park District recently received $1.75 million in state funding to renovate two West Side fieldhouses.

A $1 million grant will go to rehab Garfield Park’s Gold Dome field house, located at 100 N. Central Park Ave., and a $750,000 grant will go to rehab the Franklin Park field house in North Lawndale, located at 4320 W. 15th St. The grants are part of the latest round of Illinois Department of Natural Resources’

Park and Recreational Facility Construction Act (PARC) grants, which fund the construction and renovation of indoor recreational facilities. The Chicago Park District can get up to 20 percent of all grant funds, with each grant covering 90 percent of the project costs.

The Golden Dome renovations will include interior and exterior building rehab, repairs of the field house stairs and wheelchair ramp, as well as landscape improvements. The Gold Dome was originally built in 1928 as the headquarters for the West Park Commission, which ran the West Side parks at the time. After the commission was folded into the Chicago Park District in 1934, the domed facility became a field house.

The Franklin Park field house will get handicapped accessibility improvements and new windows and doors. The building was built in 1972.

According to its website, the park district has been working to rehabilitate its field houses and community centers as part of the Save Chicago’s Treasures project, which is estimated to cost around $25 million. In ad-

dition to the two grants for West Side field houses, the park district got four PARC grants to rehabilitate field houses in four major South Side parks.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker touted the grants as investments in the state’s post-pandemic future.

“Projects being funded through the PARC grants are important investments that will improve communities and allow Illinoisans an opportunity to enjoy their local parks, forest preserves, and recreation facilities,” he stated.

The park district didn’t respond to a request for comment by deadline.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker touted the grants as investments in the state’s post-pandemic future.

“Projects being funded through the PARC grants are important investments that will improve communities and allow Illinoisans an opportunity to enjoy their local parks, forest preserves, and recreation facilities,” he stated.

CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

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Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

State gives $1.7M to 58 small businesses looted in summer

Illinois is also opening up a $10 million corridor improvement grant program to commercial districts impacted by civil unrest

By JOE WARD Block Club Chicago

A new state program is helping dozens of businesses damaged during civil unrest last summer get back on their feet, sending each an average of $29,000 to rebuild, pay insurance deductibles and other costs.

The first round of funding under the state’s new Rebuild Distressed Communities program awarded $1.7 million to 58 small businesses who experienced looting or other damage during last summer’s period of civil unrest, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced earlier this month.

The 58 businesses are family- and locally-owned operations in neighborhoods throughout the city that saw looting activity following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Another wave of property damage, largely confined to Downtown, came later in the summer following a police shooting in Englewood.

Businesses that received funding through the program include: Roseland Pharmacy, City Sports in Uptown, Fine General Merchandise in West Garfield Park, Mary’s Barbecue in Humboldt Park, V Tone Fitness in Rogers Park and Shoe Time in Chatham, among others.

Grants averaged $29,000 and can be used to

reimburse the cost of damages, insurance deductibles and construction work needed following the civil unrest, according to the state.

“While the pandemic has presented unfathomable challenges for all small businesses, some have been faced with a difficult, second rebuilding following damages related to civil unrest,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement. “The Rebuild Distressed Communities program was developed to help these business owners overcome costs that are too difficult to muster alone, funding storefront repairs and bringing back services that communities depend on.”

The state’s economic opportunity department partnered with LISC Chicago and the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives to help select applicants to receive funding. Preference was given to businesses in locations where the damage was the most severe, according to the state.

Additional funding rounds for businesses impacted by looting will be awarded.

“The civil unrest of 2020, in conjunction with the pandemic, have created havoc for many businesses especially for small businesses in communities of color,” Meghan Harte, Executive Director of LISC Chicago, said in a statement. “The success of these small businesses is critical to sustaining and building thriving communities.”

The small business grants are just part of the state’s $25 million Rebuild Distressed Communities program. The program will also award a $10 million grant for corridor improvements in an area impacted by civil unrest.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is seeking applications for the $10 million corridor improvement program. Interested nonprofits, government entities, business improvement districts and

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special service areas that saw looting can apply for the grant funding from April 5- June 7.

That part of the initiative will “spark long term economic investment for commuColin Boyle/Block Club Chicago nities in need,” GRANTS: Above, boards protecting a Bronzeville business are sprayActing Director of painted with “Black owned” and “Black Lives Matter” on June 1, the Department following civil unrest and looting caused by the Minneapolis police of Commerce and Economic Oppor- killing of George Floyd. Right, the inside of a 7-Eleven at State and tunity Sylvia Gar- Hubbard in River North after looting struck Chicago overnight on cia said.

Monday, August 10, 2020.

For more information on the vantagedBusGrants-DistressedCapital.aspx. program, visit: https://www2.illinois.gov/ dceo/SmallBizAssistance/Pages/C19DisadCONTACT: pascal@blockclubchicago.org

“The” Friendship BAPTIST CHURCH Rev. Dr. Reginald E. Bachus, Pastor 5200 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60644 773-378-6600 fbcchicago.org facebook.com/friendshipbcchicago JOIN US FOR ONLINE SERVICES • FACEBOOK @FriendshipBCChicago • YOUTUBE @The Friendship Baptist Church of Chicago

Sundays - 9:30 AM Sunday School • 11:00 AM Worship Service

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Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

29th Ward resumes monthly community meetings

Ald. Taliaferro says he wants to get back to more consistent ward meetings

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Ald. Taliaferro hosted a 29th Ward community meeting last week on Zoom.

The alderman said while there have been block club meetings throughout the ward during the pandemic, he wants to get back to consistent ward meetings and “matters that are more centrally ward focused, so we can get information out to our constituents on a broader basis.”

At this month’s virtual meeting, which was attended by 16 people, residents heard from a representative with Protect Chicago Plus concerning vaccines in Austin, and had the opportunity to air concerns and ask questions about what’s going on in the ward.

Gaby Wagener-Sobrero, who does community outreach for Protect Chicago Plus, said the city is “doubling down” on its efforts to get the vaccine into communities hardest hit by COVID-19.

“A really unique feature of Protect Chicago Plus is the fact that we’re coming into communities and vaccinating folks in those communities,” as opposed to residents having to travel long distances to find a vaccine, she said.

Austin is one of 15 communities that has received a temporary vaccine clinic through the city’s program. Each community received doses equivalent to 10% of its population.

The city chose those communities by assembling a vulnerability index and seeking to identify areas disproportionately impacted by COVID that also have barriers to receiving the vaccine.

Community areas were scored in four categories – sociodemographic, epidemiological, occupational and cumulative COVID burden – then ranked as high, medium or low in vulnerability.

All 15 communities selected for Protect Chicago Plus clinics were ranked high, Wagener-Sobrero said.

In Austin, all residents over 18 are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

Clinics are being held the next weeks in the Amundsen Park gym, 6200 W. Bloomingdale Ave., and run by The Loretto Hospital, and in the Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School gym, 116 N. Central Ave., and operated by Rush University Medical Center.

Amundsen Park’s operates on Fridays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. through April 17. Catalyst Circle Rock’s clinic is on Sundays from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. through April 18.

You don’t need to show ID or have health

insurance, but the program does require proof of residency, such as a piece of mail, Wagener-Sobrero said.

“We want to make sure that in this case for Austin, the vaccine we’ve allocated for Austin residents really goes to residents,” she said.

They’re still thinking about what next steps will look like once the temporary sites wrap up. “We recognize it’s not enough to just come in, temporarily set up a shop and then leave,” Wagener-Sobrero said.

She said the focus would stay on community collaboration and getting more vaccine into the most vulnerable communities. “[This is] an interesting kind of pivotal moment where we’re now thinking, ‘OK, so what are we going to do next?’ And it is a little bit of an exciting time,” Wagener-Sobrero said.

Ald. Taliaferro said there are still many ward residents concerned about taking the vaccine. Whether someone gets the vaccine, he advised that everyone “still practice those precautionary measures that’s been passed along by the CDC … It’s important to keep yourself safe and your family safe.”

One resident, identified as Gloria, said she was concerned residents aren’t consistently getting information about what’s going in the ward, including vaccine availability.

“When were we notified about vaccine in the area?” she asked. Gloria said she “found out by accident” about vaccine opportunities.

Taliaferro said the ward staff had sent out e-blasts and emails, and posted on Facebook about the vaccine opportunities, as well as calling a lot of the ward’s seniors directly.

“I was asking folks to share it as best as possible and as much as possible,” he said.

The alderman said he thinks it’s important for the ward to start distributing a physical newsletter to reach residents who may not know about the digital option, or don’t have access to a computer or the internet.

Currently, the email newsletter is “probably reaching out to no more than 2,000 people,” he said. The 29th Ward has about 55,000 residents according to its website.

Sending a single physical newsletter would cost between “$9,000 to $10,000,” the alderman said. “We’re very limited with how many times we could do it on an annual basis. So we do rely on spreading the word of mouth,” in addition to electronic communications.

Residents can also stop by the ward office at 6272 W. North Ave. Ward staff are back in the office, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. “We are here to serve you,” said staffer Byron Watson.

“Just stop by,” said the alderman.

Subscribe to the 29th Ward’s email newsletter visit: https://mailchi.mp/8bddea61230 0/29thwardnewletter.

Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

NEED TO REACH US?

Call Editor Michael Romain at 773-626-6332 michael@austinweeklynews.com

T

Seeing and saving potential

here are two types of homeowners.

First are the trifling ones. They’ll buy a house and do very little to take care of it. Year after year, you’ll watch as the life gets sucked out of the house.

Then there are those who can bring a house to life. They are constantly working on the house because pride in homeownership is an endless project. They know they are never done.

Those that suck the life out of houses, tend to put very little money into them. Sure they’ll put up a security door, and possibly a wrought iron fence. Instead of purchasing very nice outdoor chairs for the front porch, they’ll throw any kind of garbage they have out there. And basically they live in the house until they have sucked every bit of life out of it, then not wanting to spend the money it takes to bring the house back to a decent standard, they will move to do the same thing to the next house.

I have first-hand knowledge of such a situation. The person got the house at a bargain rate of $1. Then used and sucked the life out of the house. Then when it was time to spend big money to truly maintain the house after having ignored maintenance for years, they gave it up. Someone who saw the potential and loved the house, got it and restored it to its glory. The house still stands today because that action saved this community from having another vacant lot because of a house being demolished by a wrecking ball.

I was driving northbound on Central the other night heading home. It was late, and the glow of a house caught my eye. Black neighborhoods tend to be dark and foreboding. There are people inside, but they have blacked out the windows so that it appears that no one is home. So to see this house glowing put a smile on my face. It brought back memories of when Black people used

ARLENE JONES

to have magnificent lamps and giant picture windows. One could drive or walk down the street and see all the beautiful lamps and catch glimpses of the interior of the house.

The fear of crime has changed all that.

The house on Central was so pretty that I actually came back a couple of nights later and took a picture. Then my curiosity got the best of me. How could such a pretty house have existed and I never noticed it?

Then I went back and found the original picture of the house before it had been remodeled. And one can see why. It was dark, decrepit and had had the life sucked out of it. But somebody bought the house and the exterior transformations have literally brought it back to life.

Now I understand how projects that can cost into the tens of hundreds are difficult to undertake all at once. But every homeowner should have a never ending schedule of what they need to do each year. Especially the things a homeowner can do themselves.

Spring is here, let’s go outside and work on these houses.

See what all the buzz is about.

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Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

PROVIDENCE ST. MEL Policing Black hair? from page 1 for Black students and, in effect, punishing them for the texture of their natural hair.

“Braids and locs are considered inappropriate [because] when they see our Black boys with those hairstyles, they automatically assume they are troublemakers, in a gang, up to no good, just because of the way they have their hair,” Nelson told Block Club. “Why is it acceptable to tell Black children in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood who already have so many other obstacles to overcome how they can and cannot express themselves?”

Now, Nelson is trying to change the school’s rules so they better support Black children, she said.

Providence St. Mel, 119 S. Central Park Ave., is a nearly all-Black, pre-K through 12th grade school known for sending 100 percent of graduating seniors to four-year colleges with competitive scholarships since 1978. Boys must wear their hair combed and styled, either in an afro or cropped short, according to the student handbook.

Some parents responded to Nelson’s post to support administrators and the school policy, saying rules must be followed. Others pushed for the policy to be changed, saying the school’s pathway to achievement encourages students to conform to white standards and instills messages of shame for Black children.

Principal Timothy Ervin, who is Black, did not respond to requests for comment.

“It goes back to respectability politics,” said DuShaun Branch, another parent who said she faced similar pushback at the school about her daughter’s hair. “It has been engrained in our culture, because the trauma is real. … We’ve been trying to survive, and that’s one of the ways to survive is to try to assimilate into what is acceptable for white people.”

‘The source of the problem is self-hatred’ Braids, locs and cornrows aren’t just a fashion statement: such styles have been

worn by people of the African diaspora since precolonial times as a way to keep kinky hair neat, clean and protected from the elements. Black people have historically used intricate braid patterns as symbols to represent cultural identities, including tribal affiliation, marital status, social status and religion.

But they also are the target of educational and workplace policies that say such styles are not professional, neat, groomed or respectable. Black children frequently face discipline because of their hair: A high school senior in Texas was told he couldn’t walk in graduation or go to prom last year until he cut his dreadlocks, twin girls at a charter school outside Boston were given detention and faced suspension because of their box braids and an elementary school in suburban Atlanta used pictures of Black children’s hair to demonstrate “inappropriate” styles for school, among other incidents.

It wasn’t immediately clear when Providence St. Mel’s dress code rules were implemented, but some who commented on Nelson’s post said the restrictions around hair aren’t new.

Providence St. Mel was established in 1929 as an all-girls Catholic high school. It merged with an all-boys Christian school in 1969.

At the school, students’ hair must be kept to their natural color for younger kids, or it can only be one shade lighter or darker for high schoolers. Extreme colors are not allowed, nor are styles and accessories that are “distracting, inappropriate or inconsistent with school philosophy,” according a summary page of the dress code given to parents at the start of the school year.

Some parents commented on Nelson’s post saying Providence St. Mel has a reputation of failing to teach Black students how to love themselves, their bodies, their history and their culture. Several people posted that their children were admitted to the private school, but they decided not to enroll because of the hair policy.

Branch said a teacher called her to say her daughter’s hair was unruly and needed to be “tamed and smoothed down.”

“They’ve gotten away with it for so long,” Branch said. “I didn’t understand why, in 2019, we were having this conversation and

Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

ALL SMILES: Jett Hawkins poses for a portrait, donning his hair in braids, in his family’s Douglas home on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Below, a Providence St. Mel handbook outlines approved hairstyles for students. policing Black children’s hair.”

Lauren Leggett, a 2019 alumna of Providence St. Mel, said the school’s attitudes toward natural Black hairstyles shook her self-esteem.

As part of her natural hair journey, Leggett slowly worked up the courage to wear a “big beautiful afro” to school. Once she did, she got a lot of strange looks and comments from students and faculty, she said.

The next day, Leggett smoothed her hair into a ponytail “because I felt kind of ashamed,” she said. When a dean commented on her ponytail, it triggered every insecurity she was feeling about her kinky hair.

“She said, ‘I like your hair better like that.’

It just affirmed for me that my natural hair will never be accepted,” Leggett said.

The comment stuck with Leggett even as she began attending University of Chicago.

“But I was just really struck by how people on this campus wear their hair however they want, in colors and dyes, acrylic nails, braids down their back, and it’s beautiful,” Leggett said. “I was just so shocked to think that my Black institution wouldn’t accept me as much as my white one.”

Providence St. Mel’s hair policy struck a chord with Nelson because she struggled with hair discrimination in school and in the workplace for decades.

She was over-

looked and underappreciated at work despite her accomplishments because her hair didn’t fit the mold of corporate America, she said. She straightened her hair regularly to the point of damaging it so she would be taken seriously by her colleagues.

“No matter how much I conformed, it was never enough,” she said.

People even touch her hair, now styled in faux locs, without her consent, “like I’m a pet or something,” she said.

The experience has left Nelson considering a new school for her son. She said she worries young people’s self-worth can be harmed by rules that scrutinize their appearance, which she said teaches children “to assimilate to fit in with white culture and discard their history and their Black culture.”

“To tell somebody that things that represent their culture are unacceptable … . It makes them feel unworthy. It definitely lowers your self-esteem,” Nelson said.

Even if her son leaves Providence St. Mel, Nelson said she will continue to work with parents and alumni at the school to change the rules. The school maintains its strict policy as a way to ensure the success of students, Nelson said, but she wants administrators to understand Black excellence doesn’t look any one way, and children can succeed without changing themselves.

“The source of the problem is self-hatred,” Nelson said. “And we don’t even notice that’s the problem. The problem is we never really were taught to embrace who we are and love ourselves from head to toe in our natural state.”

Pascal Sabino is a Report for America corps member covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

LORETTO

In hot water from page 1 tiple hospital leaders, including Dr. Anosh Ahmed, chief operating officer of Loretto Hospital, live.

In a photo obtained by Block Club Chicago, Dr. Ahmed, poses with a smiling Trump, the son of former President Donald Trump.

In a text message, Ahmed bragged about vaccinating Trump that day: “Vaccinated Eric Trump,” he said after sharing the photo. He also shared a message praising Trump, calling him a “cool guy.”

Ahmed shared the photo with people on March 10 — the same day Loretto Hospital held a vaccination event at Trump Tower, where Ahmed owns a unit. Metadata from the photo confirms it was taken the afternoon of March 10 at or near Trump Tower.

Hospital officials said the vaccine event held at the luxury hotel Downtown was meant to benefit predominantly Black and Brown hotel workers, and later said they made a mistake by offering doses meant for West Siders to hotel employees before they were eligible.

In a statement sent through a spokeswoman after this story published, Ahmed said his claim was a “joke” and denied vaccinating Trump, who would not have been eligible for to be vaccinated in Chicago.

Ineligible Cook County judges were also offered shots at Loretto, according to a WBEZ report.

Shots were also administered to more than 200 members of the suburban church attended by Loretto CEO George Miller, who is also longtime friends with the church’s leader, according to videos and documents obtained

by Block Club. The first event was held in early February, soon after after eligibility expanded to people 65 and older and demand for doses was sky-high in the city.

A spokeswoman for Loretto Hospital said Miller asked the city’s health department for permission before the event. The city health department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Loretto Hospital did not answer questions about why it vaccinated people at the church instead of on the West Side or what other churches it has vaccinated. They didn’t verify eligibility at the church, either.

“I do not have details on the screening process, I’ve only been told everyone vaccinated indicated he/she/they was 65+ or a frontline essential worker, as defined by the City’s 1A and 1B eligibility guidelines,” a spokeswoman said.

It also did not answer a question about if Loretto has a trend of vaccinating organizations close to its executives, like the church and workers at Trump Tower.

Loretto has done other off-site vaccination events, but all were staged on the West Side of Chicago near the hospital, a spokeswoman previously said. Those events happened at schools, subsidized housing facilities and churches in the hospital’s service area — not in the suburbs or at big-name, Downtown

businesses like Trump Tower.

The Loretto Board of Directors is conducting an audit of all off-site vaccination events, and it will share its findings with the Mayor’s Office and Chicago Department of Public Health, the hospital’s spokeswoman said. The health department has said it’s investigating a March 10 vaccination event at Trump Tower done by Loretto.

Loretto’s board met Friday to discuss the situation, but board members would not say what punishments will be doled out to Miller and Ahmed — but the hospital already has had its supply of coronavirus vaccine doses cut off by the city. Dr. Allison Arwady, chief of the city’s health department, said officials are investigating events where the hospital vaccinated ineligible people and gave shots outside of the West Side community.

Arwady expressed serious concerns about Loretto’s vaccination program during a Friday call with reporters, saying the hospital has lost community trust and officials don’t feel comfortable sending precious vaccine doses there for the time being. The accusations against the hospital are particularly “unacceptable” because Loretto is in Austin, a Protect Chicago Plus neighborhood that has been hit hard by COVID-19 and where the city has been trying to boost vaccinations, Arwady said.

The hospital’s board has taken “appropriate actions of reprimand against Miller and Ahmed for their role in the mistakes of judgment,” Rep. LaShawn Ford (8th), who sits on Loretto’s board and represents the area in the state Legislature, said in a statement.

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, another board member, hung up on a Block Club reporter who contacted her to ask about the reprimand.

Reached later, she declined comment.

The vaccination controversies are “infuriating,” said a Loretto staff member who requested anonymity because they fear retaliation. The staff member said West Side residents — already under-vaccinated but disproportionately affected by COVID-19 compared to the rest of the city — are effectively being punished by having their supply of vaccine doses cut off because the hospital’s leaders broke vaccination rules by steering doses to ineligible people who don’t live in the area.

“Helping to alleviate the health disparities that exist in Chicago is part of our mission and something that Mr. Miller harps on all the time,” the staff member said. “If you ever look up his speeches or whenever he talks, he always talks about those things.

“And to see that we are going against that

9

first churches — if not the first — visited by the hospital, according to newsletters written by Miller to Loretto staff and obtained Vaccinations at suburban church

by Block Club. It’s not clear why the church The vaccinations were done for Valley would have been given such preference.

“I thought it was weird at the time,” said Kingdom Ministries International in souththe Loretto staff member. “It wasn’t the West west suburban Oak Forest — more than Side.

It was his own church.

17 miles from Loretto Hospital. Miller is a “…

People are calling every day, waiting member of the church.

In a video from Feb. 28, the church’s lead- in line to get vaccinated. That makes me er, H. Daniel Wilson, and Miller discuss quite upset.”

Miller said in a newsletter to hospital staff having been friends for more than 40 years. that 204 members of the church were vaccinated. In the newsletter, he said the people who got shots live, work or receive health care in Chicago — though that does not necessarily mean they’d be eligible.

The city’s eligibility rules make it so only frontline workers and people 65 and older are broadly eligible.

Officials have said up to 40 percent of Chicago’s doses are Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago going to people who live in the suburbs, VACCINATED: Dr. Allison Arwady prepares to give Mayor Lori Light- and it’s resulting foot her second COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago’s Gage Park neighin Chicago being vaccinated borhood on Feb. 19, 2021. Below, George Miller, President & Chief less than other parts of Executive Officer at Loretto Hospital, speaks at a news conference Illinois. The city at the Gage Park Vaccination Site on Feb. 19, 2021. is cutting off vaccinations for nonChicago residents at city-run sites March 29.

Loretto sent a team to the church “to administer 204 vaccinations of their members, who lived, worked or received their [health care] from those living in Chicago,” Miller wrote in the newsletter. Later, in the same newsletter, he acknowledged demand was high in the city, writing, “In the coming weeks, our goal is to obtain more COVID-19 vaccines to administer because the demand is extremely high. We are attracting new patients that have never visited [Loretto] before.”

In the Feb. 28 video, Wilson directly thanks Miller for the vaccinations and says the people vaccinated came from the church and “Chicagoland area,” a term used to describe the vast metropolitan area in and around the city. “… We vaccinated 200 primarily members from the Valley and from the Chicagoland They attended college together, were frater- area, and it could not have been done withnity brothers — and are even close enough out the leadership, the open heart and the that Miller attended Wilson’s bachelor par- spirit of a brother beloved,” Wilson says of ty, they say in the video.

Miller. “You’re a friend, you’re a brother The vaccination events for the church beloved, you’re a frat brother. But you’re a were organized at Loretto, the staff member member of this ministry.” said. The first event was held Feb. 6 — less In the video, Wilson gives an award to than two weeks after the city opened eligibil- Miller to thank him for bringing Loretto to ity and many older, at-risk Chicagoans were the church — and Miller then gives an award still desperately trying to get shots. Mem- to Wilson for being Loretto’s “faith partner.” bers got their second shots Feb. 27.

Valley Kingdom Ministries was one of the CONTACT: kelly@blockcubchi.org mission to the detriment of our own community, it’s infuriating to me.”

10

Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

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deadline: 9:30 am Monday office hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Monday – Friday

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION LAKEVIEW LOAN SERVICING, LLC Plaintiff, -v.TERRANCE JONES, DEBRA JONES AS NEXT FRIEND OF T. J., A MINOR, DRMS, INC., UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF TERIE JONES, IF ANY, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, GERALD NORDGREN, SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DECEASED MORTGAGOR, TERIE JONES Defendants 2019CH03632 601 NORTH RIDGEWAY AVENUE CHICAGO, IL 60624 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on January 29, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on April 22, 2021, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 601 NORTH RIDGEWAY AVENUE, CHICAGO, IL 60624 Property Index No. 16-11-115-0160000 The real estate is improved with a single family home with no garage.

Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/ or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court.

Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale.

The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required

by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4).

If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW. You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC Plaintiff’s Attorneys, One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60602. Tel No. (312) 346-9088.

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236SALE You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales.

MCCALLA RAYMER LEIBERT PIERCE, LLC One North Dearborn Street, Suite 1200 Chicago IL, 60602 312-346-9088 E-Mail: pleadings@mccalla.com Attorney File No. 20-04628IL_613786 Attorney ARDC No. 61256 Attorney Code. 61256 Case Number: 2019CH03632 TJSC#: 41-285 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Case # 2019CH03632 I3165509

12

Austin Weekly News, March 24, 2021

TOGETHER, WE CAN POWER THROUGH ANYTHING.

Recovery can be hard.

PCC will support you every step of the way.

PCC Community Wellness Center has 13 health centers that serve the West Side and near west suburbs. We offer specialty mental health and substance use treatment during medical appointments at our health centers.

Behavioral Health Services (773) 378-3347 Ext 4252    

Emotional support & counseling Support and wellness groups Psychiatric medication management Help finding resources

Substance Use Treatment, 18+ (708) 406-3929 

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Treatment for the use of heroin, prescription pain pills, alcohol, cigarettes, and other substances Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) with Suboxone, Vivitrol, or Buprenorphine Chemical Dependency Clinic at West Suburban Medical Center Prenatal care, including peer doula care, ultrasounds & delivery during active treatment Peer support specialists with lived recovery experience Access to ongoing care after treatment

We have in-person or virtual (telephone or video) appointments available!

Chemical Dependency Clinic Inside PCC Walk-In Wellness Center at West Suburban Medical Center

If you could use help with your energy bill, there’s a way.

To learn about financial assistance call 800-EDISON1 or visit ComEd.com/Support today.

1

3 Erie Court, Suite 1300, Oak Park, IL 60302

A brighter future

PCC accepts many health plans, including Medicaid and Medicare. We also offer a discount program for patients without insurance. No one is denied services, even if you cannot pay.