Habilitative Systems opens renovated main facility
Children’s museum is in the works for North Lawndale
Expected opening in 2027 for facility catering to those 5 and under
By MICHAEL LIPTROT
Block Club Chicago
The Larr y T. Byrd Administrative Building includes IT technology, mindfulness, and occupational and physical therapy
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
Elected and local o cials cut the ribbon for the grand opening of Habilitative Systems’ newly renovated Larry T. Byrd Administrative Building on March 28.
Influential social services nonprofit Habilitative Systems, Inc. completed $1.25 million in updates to its main facility at 415 S. Kilpatrick Ave., marking the building’s first major renovations in the organization’s nearly 50 years on Chicago’s West Side.
Habilitative Systems offers support services for crisis intervention, employment, housing, mental and behavioral
See HABILITATIVE SYSTEMS on page 4
Construction is expected to begin later this year for a 25,000-square-foot children’s museum in North Lawndale’s Ogden Avenue corridor, with an anticipated 2027 opening date.
T he One Lawndale Children’s Discovery Center, to be located at 3140 W. Ogden Ave. across from Douglass Park, will be a space for children to explore, play and learn through interactive indoor and outdoor exhibits. It will cater to children five and under, -, but will have other activities for older children.
The intention is to promote STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art and math) alongside social-emotional learning, environmental awareness and healthcare topics.
“If you look at where the children’s museums are, there’s not one on the West Side,” said Lauren
See CHILDREN’S MUSEUM on pa ge 9
JESSICA MOR DACQ
Beyond Hunger’s CAN DO Community Challenge has officially started! Throughout the month of April, we’ll be working alongside local schools and community partners to raise awareness, food and funds for our hunger relief programs, which serve 65,000 individuals and families a year. We need YOUR help to make this year’s challenge a success! We are aiming to raise $250,000 to keep with our organization’s growing demands. Thanks to the Friends of Beyond Hunger, donations will make double the impact with a $100,000 match!
You can also stock our shelves with our most-needed food items that are typically difficult for us to procure. Drop off at the Oak Park Office (M/T/TH/F 9
Sponsored Content
The CAN DO Challenge Kicks Off
AM – 4 PM) or one of our drop- off sites during the month of April.
You can also support your favorite school! Students earn points for funds raised and food collected in hopes of earning the coveted CAN DO Trophy.
All information can be found by scanning the QR code or visiting www.gobeyondhunger.org/ CanDoCommunity
This content is made possible by our sponsor and is independent of GCM’s editorial staff.
Beyond Hunger staff and Hatch Elementary Principal Mendez with the CAN DO Trophy (2024)
Elementary students dropping off food (2023)
Beyond Hunger staff member with high-need food items
Greenway Metal Recycling converts scrap metal into reusable material
Humboldt Park-based company repurposes pieces, which is more sustainable and cost-e ctive than making it from scratch
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
At 901 N. Kilpatrick Ave., just east of Cicero Avenue in West Humboldt Park, Greenway Metal Recycling works with Chicagoland companies to repurpose scrap metal and reduce landfill waste at a time when the price of both virgin and scrap metal are unusually high.
“Ten, 12 years ago, we were just coming out of the recession,” Joseph Skowronski, owner of Greenway Metal Recycling, said of the price of scrap metal at the time the business started. “Prices were pretty low, probably 30to-35% lower than what they are currently.”
According to Federal Reserve Economic Data, the producer price index for iron and steel scrap was the highest it’s been in the last 75 years in the spring of 2022. Prices have remained higher than average since, and are consistently steeper for virgin metal, which is more expensive to make from scratch than scrap metal.
With the price of metal so high today, Greenway serves as a cost-effective and sustainable middle man in the Chicagoland metal industry – paying businesses to take away their scrap metal, then reselling it.
As a full-service scrap metal recycler, Greenway pays a manufacturing, construction or demolition company to collect their scrap metal. Then, the metal comes back to the scrap yard. There, Greenway processes the metal, turning it into a reusable product and sending that to a steel mill, foundry or smelter, where it’s used again.
Greenway also offers a scrap metal audit, where it reviews a business’s current recycling processes and suggests where they can improve it, both from a profitability and sustainability standpoint.
Greenway doesn’t charge for scrap metal audits, transportation or equipment. This makes it more cost-effective for businesses to save money by recycling their metal. Repurposing scrap metal is also better for the environment.
Over the last decade, Skowronski estimates that Greenway Metal Recycling has recycled about 100,000 tons of scrap metal,
mainly from commercial businesses. That’s 100,000 tons of scrap metal that would otherwise end up in landfills or sit untouched on a business’ property
Skowronski said that most of these commercial businesses buy virgin metal from steel mills or service centers. But some use secondary metal, which is partially derived from scrap metal, rather than produced from scratch.
“If it’s secondary or if it’s brand-new, it’s going through the manufacturing process,”
Skowronski said. “It really doesn’t make a difference to me, because I know I’m part of the bigger picture or the life cycle of supplying steel mills with scrap metal.”
Metal and manufacturing
Skowronski’s clients include those who supply parts to companies in the automotive, appliance and construction industries. But he says he doesn’t have nearly as many as he did when his company first started.
“Twelve, 13 years ago, we had more customers on the West Side,” Skowronski said. “We had more customers in the Chicago area, and even in Illinois for that matter.”
He said part of the reason that number has gone down is because many manufacturers that use metal have left Illinois.
“They go to different states that offer tax
incentives,” Skowronski said. “We’ve lost a few customers right over the border to Indiana because of tax incentives.”
In the last few years, Illinois has seen several corporations move out, some of which cite the state’s high costs as their reason for their departure. For example, Caterpillar, a large construction and mining company, announced in 2022 it was moving to Texas, partially because of that state’s more favorable tax environment.
It’s also difficult for manufacturers to find workers during a national labor shortage
Though the manufacturing industry has improved since the pandemic, there are still an estimated 622,000 manufacturing job openings in the country, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Skowronski said that for manufacturing to stay in the Chicagoland area and Illinois, the state should introduce tax incentives. And schools and communities need to continue giving students more alternatives to attending colle ge after high school, like trade school.
“I think that’s starting to happen where they’re giving students more alternatives,” Skowronski said. “I hope that there’s some education going on that’s going to open the eyes of corporations, of schools and students.”
AU STIN WEEKLY news
Interim Executive Direc tor Max Reinsdorf
Sta Repor ter Jessica Mordacq
Reporting Fellow Ananya Chandhok
Contributing Editor Donna Greene
Digital Manager Stacy Coleman
Fellow Vanessa Lopez
Digital Media Coordinator Brooke Duncan
Reporting Partners Block Club Chicago
Columnists Aisha Oliver
Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead
Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea
Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza
Marketing & Adver tising Associate Ben Stumpe
Senior Media Strategist Lourdes Nicholls
Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan
Circulation Manager Jill Wagner
Operations Associate Susan Babin
Special Projects Manager Susan Walker
Senior Advisor Dan Haley
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chair Eric Weinheimer
Treasurer Nile Wendorf
Deb Abrahamson, Mary Cahillane, Steve Edwards, Judy Gre n, Horacio Mendez, Charles Meyerson
Darnell Shields, Audra Wilson
HOW TO REACH US
141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302
PHONE 773-626-6332 • FAX 708-467-9066
CIRCULATION Jill@oakpark.com
ONLINE www.AustinWeeklyNews.com
Austin Weekly News is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. It is distributed free of charge at locations across Austin and Gar eld Park. Our hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adver tising rates are available by calling our o ce. Printed entirely on recycled paper. © 2025 Growing Community Media NFP.
PROVIDED
HABILITATIVE SYSTEMS
Multidimensional facility
from page 1
health, substance use, special education, young people and those with disabilities.
T he entire first floor of Habilitative Systems’ main facility was renovated to include the new features of an accessible front entrance and elevator, an IT technolog y center, a mindfulness center, plus an occupational and physical therapy room, and a first aid room. T he rest of the first floor was remodeled with new floors, walls and a mural. T he renovations allow Habilitative Systems to serve even more people in need
Habilitative Systems’ work on the West and South Sides of Chicago touches about 150,000 households, Donald Dew, HSI’s president and CEO, said during Habilitative Systems’ ribbon cutting for its main facility on March 28.
Through HSI’s various mental health and substance use services, the organization has saved Illinois’ Department of Human Services over $40 million in the last five years, Dew said.
“Today, we celebrate that this place has been physically transformed. But we know that throughout 47 years, HSI has been a staple in this community, and they have made many physical transformations for residents in our community,” said Melissa Conyears-Ervin, Chicago city treasurer and the wife of Ald. Jason Ervin of the 28th Ward. “It benefits us to invest in this facility because it saves us money from the jails, from the hospitals.”
According to U.S. Re p. Danny Davis, HSI is the largest Black-owned and operated
social service agency in the state. It’s why Davis secured $500,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the main facility’s renovations
Proven IT donated $100,000 to the building’s new technolo gy center, Re public Services and Rebuilding To g ether contributed $250,000, and State Sen. Lakesia Collins found $400,000 in funding for the building.
“This is one of the agencies tha t I don’ t have to think twice about when we talk about funding, because it has been proven that the work that they do here, it works in serving the population that needs it the most,” Collins said.
History of Habilitative Systems
Since Habilitative Systems was founded in 1978, its headquarters have sat on Kilpatrick Avenue on the border of Austin and West Garfield Park What’s now the Larry T. Byrd Administrat ive Building was once a manufacturing site that made pillows for United Airlines, Eastern Airlines and Amtrak, while training and employing people with developmental disabilities.
T he facility also was where 8,000 telephones were assembled for the 1996 Democratic National Convention. And later, HSI launched a janitorial service. AbleServ, a for-profit subsidiary of HSI, operated through 2012 and cleaned for the likes of Coca-Cola, and Rush University Medical Center
“It is my sincere hope and intent to invite y’all back onto the West Side, make substantial social investments in our mission, serve those on the margin of society, and help establish this facility as a national historic landmark,” Dew of HSI said.
Today, Habilitative Systems has 16 locations on Chicago’s West and South Sides, most of which are housing initiatives. In West Garfield Park, the Westside Commu-
e new HSI Technology Center at the organization’s main facility was donated
nity T riage and Wellness Center provides case management services, crisis intervention, screenings and psychotropic medications
“Habilitative is one thing, but [Dew] took it to rehabilitation as well. To have both in an organization is what a community needs,” said La Shawn Ford, state re presentative for the 8th District. “I’ll mention how important it is to have legacy, competent organizations that we can fight for in gover nment.”
Ford said that, while many nonprofits want money, many lack the knowledge of how to fill out paperwork or where to
submit it. Ford suggested those org anizations reach out to Dew as a mentor
“When you talk to the people in the state of Illinois, Department of Human Services and all the other agencies, they point to Donald Dew and HSI.”
Ald. Ervin told a story about a meeting he attended with West Side elected officials about five years ago, where attendees were talking about resources to use as a community hub. When someone mentioned Dew, everyone ag reed
“Everyone at that table knew that Donald Dew has the best interest of the West Side in mind,” Ervin said.
JESSICA MOR DACQ
by Proven IT
Medicaid cuts causes concern for Infant Welfare Society
Legislator outreach, donations crucial for Children’s Clinic
By GREGG VOSS Contributing Reporter
Uncertainty around restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and announced cuts in late March to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are creating concerns locally, especially for the nonprofit Oak Park and River Forest Infant Welfare Society
According to John McIlwain, the organization’s executive director, any Medicaid cuts would likely have a deep impact for the IWS Children’s Clinic, which has provided medical, dental and behavioral health services to lowincome families throughout the entire Chicago area for more than a century
McIlwain said approximately 30 percent of clinic revenues come from Medicaid, with Medicaid paying approximately 30 to 50 percent of the cost of providing patient services. The clinic serves approximately 3,000 patients annually.
The clinic is located at 28 Madison St., a larger, two-story building it acquired and refurbished in recent years to grow its services.
“There is great concern,” McIlwain said. “On a day-to-day basis, people are scared. They are concerned about what this means. This is a complex social issue.
“We’ve worked hard to assure we are here for them for their health and primary care needs.”
OA K PARK-RIVER FOREST INFANT
SOCIET Y Oak Park-River Forest Infant Welfare Society medical director, Dr. Diane Butter eld, works with a youngster at the IWS Children’s Clinic.
John McIlwain
Rowena Abrahams, IWS marketing director, added if Medicaid cuts, however deep, go forward, “we’d have to raise more donations and look for more grants. If Medicaid went away, the other pieces of the pie chart would have to increase.”
Medicaid is federal funding distributed to states to meet the needs of citizens at the lower end of the economic scale, McIlwain said, to provide them fundamental access to healthcare. Cuts to Medicaid will “nar row the channel”
PROVIDED
care for residents who patronize the clinic.
“This is not the average Oak Parker,” he said. “These are people who working three jobs to care for their children.”
McIlwain said for local residents, the solution, at least of the moment, is to reach out to their legislators at the state and federal level to voice their concerns about the cuts. That includes U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Danny K. Davis, for example.
IWS is also accepting donations at its website, OPRFIWS.org.
“Twenty dollars could cover a portion of a visit for a child,” McIlwain said, adding a donation can even be designated to Medicaid reimbursement.
He also said that deferring healthcare to the future isn’t a viable option for patients, because when the issue is finally addressed, it will likely cost more to correct it.
Then there is the matter of the moral issue of life expectancy.
“As the federal government considers these potential cuts to Medicaid, I hope they realize that life expectancy in the Loop is approximately 84 years of age,” McIlwain
said. “If you jump on the Green Line heading west, just a few stops west of the Loop, in East Garfield Park, life expectancy drops to 67 years old. If they take the Green Line all the way to Oak Park, life expectancy improves to approximately 81 years of age. These proposed cuts will have real-world implications for the most vulnerable members of our society.”
While Medicaid cuts are the financial side of the story, there is the human side as well. For example, McIlwain was touring the clinic recently and there was a youngster with Down syndrome who was receiving dental care for the first time. The child was very upset, but McIlwain understood the level of service the clinic was of fering.
In fact, it was a textbook case of the clinic doing its job.
“It was a child who can’t get care anywhere else,” he said. “With the size we are, and the unique skill set, just being in the caregiving world, we are a unique entity.
“It was a powerful realization of how important this clinic is.”
Abrahams added that the other part to consider is how patients, and their loved ones, are treated.
“In terms of day-to-day basis, we hear their deep appreciation of the services we offer,” she said. “One of the benefits of the IWS Children’s Clinic is we treat our patients as if they are in a private clinic … specialized pediatricians servicing them, they have short wait times and they say it’s like a family
“They aren’t being shuttled from provider to provider. It’s a more consistent experience.”
WELFARE
GIRLS BUILD!
One week camps
June 23-27 and July 7-11
Grades 6-8
NEWHOUSE COMPETITION
One week camp
August 4-9
Grades 9-12
TRADES PREAPPRENTICESHIP EXPERIENCE
Two week session
June 16-27
Ages 18-24
TEEN SATURDAY STUDIOS
One day workshops
3rd Saturday of each month
Grades 9-12
Saturday, April 5 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 6 4:00 pm
Grace Lutheran Church
7300 W. Division St. River Forest, IL
www.heritagechorale.com
CAC's Summer Camps are a part of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Youth Learning Programs and are provided at no cost to students and families. Please consider a donation to the CAC to help cover camp fees to participating youth. architecture.org/donate architecture.org
Kaylah Love was ‘the kindest soul’
Multiple West Side leaders say o cers did not properly respond to calls in the killing of the 16-year-old high school student. A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in her murder
By CHARLES THRUSH Block Club Chicago
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Kaylah Love, whose body was found March 17 in Horan Park, police said.
West Side leaders, meanwhile, are calling on Chicago police to examine their emergency response protocols after the slaying of Love, who was found last week beaten and stabbed.
Police arrested the 15-year-old boy Sunday in the 4000 block of West Barry Avenue. He is charged with one felony count of first-de gree murder, police said. The boy is scheduled to appear in Cook County juvenile court Monday, the Sun-Times reported.
A vigil for Love was held Sunday at Horan Park, 3035 W. Van Buren St., where the high school student was found slain March 17. Family members at the vigil described Love as a kind person and an aspiring chef, while local leaders slammed police for their response to the case
“I just want justice for my baby,” Love’s father, Robert Love, said while crying. He buried his head in a family member’s chest and turned away from the crowd as Sunday’s rain pelted the roughly 50 mour ners.
About 4:50 p.m. March 17, Love was discovered in Horan Park, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Her death has been ruled a homicide, with WGN re porting Love was stabbed in her face and neck “close to a dozen times.”
Police responded to a 911 call the night of March 16, but officers didn’t find Love’s body until the next afternoon, said Alees Edwards, a re presentative on the Harrison (11th) Police District Council. In a press release, Edwards said police did not “properly investigate the scene.”
“The community is mourning the tragic and untimely death of Kaylah Love, whose body was not discovered until the following day due to an alle ged failure of responding officers,” said Edwards, a West Side community org anizer who was elected to the newly for med community police district councils. “What’s the protocol when an urgent call is made?”
An internal investigation into the inci-
Spring 2025 Design Trends Are Blooming at Divine Consign
Spring 2025 is all about light, livable luxury, and Divine Consign has the pieces to bring these trends home. is season, interiors are leaning into so curves, natural textures, and calming color palettes. ink muted pastels, organic shapes, and breezy linen fabrics that invite comfort and relaxation.
dent has been launched by police, a department spokesperson confirmed Sunday. No one is in custody, and detectives are investigating, police said.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) said justice must be served in the case while also criticizing the officers involved for having “not done their jobs.”
“T hose that pe rp etrated this need to be held a ccountable, ” Ervin said. “S o, as these investi gations go, we j ust want to make sure that this young lady’s l ife and that those who have pa rt icipated in this c rime are brought to j ustice and prosecuted to the f ull extent of the law, as well as those in the gove r nment that may have let her down be also held a ccount-
able for this issue.”
Ervin told Fox Chicago the officers who responded are under investigation.
Love was a student at Manley Career Academy High School, 2935 W. Polk St., the Sun-Times re ported. She was interested in the culinary arts, said her cousin, Kenyatta Euring.
“She was the kindest soul,” a school friend of Love’s who didn’t wish to be named said at the vigil. “She did not deserve this; no little girl does.”
A $10,000 reward has been put out to find Love’s killer
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to support Love’s family.
“She was only 16 years old. Unfortunately, she didn’t have insurance, and the family needs your assistance and support as well as your prayers,” wrote campaign org anizer Deborah Jones, who identified herself as Love’s aunt.
Michael Liptrot contributed re porting.
Mixed materials like marble and wood are making a strong statement, especially in co ee tables, consoles, and accent chairs. Woven details, rattan accents, and vintageinspired lighting are also trending, adding charm and texture to every room. Multifunctional furniture continues to shine, with compact dining sets, nesting tables, and stylish storage solutions perfect for creating space-savvy homes.
Visit our expansive 20,000+ SF showroom located at 1800 S. Harlem Ave. in North Riverside, IL or shop online to nd the perfect pieces to elevate your home.
Kellie Scott, Owner Divine Consign
CHARLES THRUSH/B LO CK C LU B CHIC AG O; GOFUNDME
Kaylah Love, 16, was found dead at Horan Park. A vigil was held for her at the park on March 23.
West Side teen goes viral for doing hair in the school bathroom
Jessica Thurmond, a junior at Nor th Lawndale College Prep, said she’s developing entrepreneurship skills while helping her classmates look their best
By MICHAEL LIPTROT Block Club Chicago
A North Lawndale student whose popup bathroom hair salon became an online sensation is working to turn her passion for hairstyling and supporting her friends into a business.
Jessica Thurmond, 17, became famous on social media through a Feb. 3 TikTok video of her braiding her friend’s hair in the girls’ bathroom at North Lawndale Colle ge Prep, 1615 S. Christiana Ave., where she is a junior. The 18-second video got 3.6 million views and more than 500,000 likes, with commenters praising Thurmond’s talent – and some wondering how she pulled it of f during school hours.
“i love girls helping other girls ,” one person wrote.
Encouraged by the support, Jessica’s family launched a GoFundMe thi month to raise money for her to hairstyling supplies and ultimatel launch her business
“One day, she hopes to own her salon shop,” the teen’s family wrote on the campaign page. “She loves to see when others are feeling good; it moti vates her to keep going and never gi up on what she wants to be!”
Jessica was born and raised in North Lawndale. She learned how to do hair –
cut, curl, braid and even dye – from her grandmother when she was 8, she said. Over the years, she’s grown to be come the de facto hairdresser for mor than 10 family members, regularly ing hair for her mother, father, brother cousins, aunts and grandmothers.
“Everyone really counts on me,” Jessica said.
She also occasionally did her friends’ hair at home. One day in
September 2023, during her sophomore year, a friend asked her to help style her wig at school. The pair went to the girls’ bathroom so Jessica could get to work, although she was afraid she’d get in trouble for missing class to do her friend’s hair.
Thirty minutes later, Jessica finished styling and posted a video on her Instagram.
The reaction was overwhelming, with views, likes and comments flooding her page, she said. She has since removed the post from her Instagram.
Seeing messages praising her talents and
telling her to continue creating content encouraged her. Eventually, and somewhat nervously, she showed the video to Kyera Bradley, principal of North Lawndale Colle ge Prep, who, to T hurmond’s surprise, did not say she was in trouble for missing class
“When she brought it to me, I can tell she was extremely hesitant to see what my reaction was going to be, because I do r un a tight ship,” Bradley said. “I was like ‘Wait, what?’ Millions of views are happening on this video. … I learned ry creative just
wed Jesontinue her pop-up bathoom salon during her homeroom ut not during
we think transformational leaderry important for me ry scholar along the er it is that they want to do,” Bradley said. more prinmore lenient in a way ifts and tal-
ear, North Lawndale Colusiness for stureneurship after g etting eedback from a student survey. As part of the
course, students work to g ether to r un a convenience store inside the school. Jessica is taking the class this semester and helps org anize the student-run store.
She said many of the lessons she’s learning from the class apply to her popup salon, including managing revenue and avoiding unnecessary spending.
Before her social media posts went viral, Jessica saw herself becoming a lawyer. Now, she would love to have a career in law and hair, she said.
Since her first post, Jessica has started making money doing classmates’ hair, with a re gular clientele of about two people per weekend and occasional customers during the week.
She of fers a mix of free and paid services, with varying rates de pending on the hairstyle, time required and materials needed. She declined to say how much she charges.
Hair styling has helped Jessica build relationships with girls at her school, and she enjoys “giving help to women that need it,” she said.
“I feel like when I do their hair, it creates a bond,” she said. “I talk to them while doing their hair and after awhile, we’re building a bond between us and I’m g etting to know them.”
TikTok commenters have shown their appreciation for her work.
“As a girl [whose] mom never taught me how to do my hair, thank you. F riends like you make me feel pretty,” one person wrote.
COLIN BOYLE/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
Jessica urmond, a student at North Lawndale College Prep, curls her classmate Jada Er vin’s hair at school on March 18.
COLIN BOYLE/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
Jessica urmond, curls her classmate Jada Er vin’s hair
An Austin Weekly News partner
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
$5M raised, $21M to go from page 1
Akinlawon, an Austin parent of two who serves as the center’s project manager. “We want our kids to have something excellent to do over here.”
T he center is part of the Lawndale Gateway Project and a collaboration between the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council, the One Lawndale coalition and more than 70 other community par tners.
T he center has raised $5 million of the projected $26 million needed for the project, according to Leslie Bond, the center’s founder Leaders plan to launch a public capital campaign in April and have “large applications” out for city and foundation grants, she said. The center is also hoping to secure federal funding and equity investments
The museum will offer a variety of experiences:
A “Baby Blooms” early childhood area will be dedicated to infants and toddlers within the center’s 15,000 square feet of indoor exhibition space. A sensory wall will allow babies to feel different materials
ranging from soft fabrics to textured plants, while also hearing the songs of different birds. A play planting station will allow them to explore gardening through planting Velcro fruits and vegetables. Other infant spaces will allow for “tummy time,” bubble play and sensory pods. The indoor exhibits will also feature a mock grocery store and pretend pediatrician’s office.
The center will also feature 10,000 square feet of outdoor exhibit space for all ages that is intended to teach visitors about the environment and how to care for it.
This outdoor area will also house the center’s central landmark: the Hive Climber. A hexagonal play area inspired by the structure of a beehive, the Hive Climber will tower two stories over the center and will be visible from Ogden Avenue. Illuminated at night, the Hive Climber “will serve as a radiant gateway to North Lawndale,” center leaders said.
“If you’re on Lakeshore Drive, you see the [Navy Pier] Ferris wheel. If you’re going down Odgen Avenue, you’re going to see this two-story Hive Climber,” said Bond. “It will light up at night and be an iconic entrance, calling people to see what is in this space.”
The outdoor area will also feature a water works station, where visitors can strengthen motor skills by manipulating the flow of water from different pumps, basins and spouts; a nature play space with real hol-
lowed logs, dig pits and balance platfor ms; a campsite; and a community teaching garden with chickens and bees where visitors can learn about urban farming and pick their own produce.
Bond came up with the idea for the center in 2020, inspired by other investments being made on the West Side. A career early-childhood and abuse-prevention specialist, she started thinking about what a children’s center in the area could look like As plans for med, she began collaborating with the council and Sinai Community Institute, part of the Sinai network of hospitals and clinics serving the West and Southwest sides. Bond served on Sinai boards in varying capacities on-andof f starting in the 1990s and as recently as 2023, she said.
The site of the future center is a nearly 2-acre parcel of land across the street from Douglass Park. The land is currently owned by Sinai Community Institute and is in the process of being approved for a joint purchase by the center and the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council, according to Bond.
The center’s Youth Advisory Council has been a major driving force behind the direction of the development, center leaders said. Made up of 16 young people from North Lawndale and Little Village ages 1318, the group helps brainstorm ideas for the center, provides feedback to exhibit designers and even gave input on the job description for the center’s open CEO role.
Youth council member Vanessa Ruiz is a 15-year-old freshman at Little Village Lawndale High School. She said she’s proud that input from the youth council is shaping plans for the center. Her idea for a basketball court, for example, transformed into plans for hoops of varying heights in the outdoor play area.
Through her work on the council, Ruiz said she has also worked to overcome what she described as her parents’ ne gative perceptions of the West Side.
“The program made me be more open about going to different places around Lawndale,” Ruiz said. “Since I was little, I never really left [Little Village] because my parents were scared of me leaving or that something might happen. I get to experience those [areas around Lawndale] and come back and tell them how it went, so they won’t be as scared.”
Ruiz said she’s confident the center’s presence will help further counter those kinds of ne gative perceptions.
“The Lawndale children’s museum is going to be the safest place for little kids,” Ruiz said. “Kids can connect with others the same age as them rather than just people at their school. They get to see different kids from [different] neighborhoods. I think that’s a really comfortable place for little kids to be at.”
The One Lawndale Children’s Discovery Center hopes to begin construction later this year. To learn more or to donate, visit the center’s website: www.1lcdc.org
An Austin Weekly News partner
PROVIDED/BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
A rendering of the Hive Climber playground at the One Lawndale Children’s Discovery Center, which is scheduled to come to North Lawndale in 2027.
PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE INVITATION TO BID TO METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO
Sealed proposals, endorsed as above, will be submitted back to the District via an electronic upload to the Bonfire Portal only, from the date of the Invitation to Bid, up to 11:00 A.M. (Chicago time), on the bid opening date, and will be opened publicly as described in the Invitation to Bid by the Director of Procurement and Materials Management or designee at 11:00 AM on the stated bid opening date below for:
CONTRACT 22-377-2D RAW SEWAGE DISCHARGE PIPE SUPPORT MODIFICATIONS FOR PUMPS 1-3, KWRP
Estimated Cost: Between
$5,168,000.00 and $6,256,000.00
Bid Deposit: $250,240.00
Voluntary Technical Pre-Bid Conference: Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 11:00 am Chicago Time via ZOOM Link.
Voluntary Pre-Bid Walk-Through will be held on Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Chicago Time at the Kirie WRP, 701 West Oakton Street, Des Plaines, IL 60018.
Bid Opening: May 13, 2025
Compliance with the District’s Affirmative Action Ordinance
Revised Appendix D, Appendix C, Appendix V, Appendix K, and theMulti-Project Labor Agreement are required on this Contract.
CONTRACT 24-279-5F SURBURBAN GREEN SCHOOLYARD PILOT PROJECT 1 IN BURNHAM
Estimated Cost: Between
$1,805,000.00 and $2,185,000.00
Bid Deposit: $86,250.00
Voluntary Technical Pre-Bid Conference: Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 10:00 am Chicago Time via ZOOM Link.
Bid Opening: May 6, 2025
Compliance with the District’s Affirmative Action Ordinance
Revised Appendix D, Appendix V, Appendix C and the Multi-Project Labor Agreement are required on this Contract.
********************************
The above is an abbreviated version of the Notice- Invitation to Bid. A full version which includes a brief description of the project and/or service can be found on the District’s website, www.mwrd. org; the path is as follows: Doing Business > Procurement and Materials Management > Contract Announcements.
Specifications, proposal forms and/ or plans may be obtained from the Department of Procurement and Materials Management by downloading online from the District’s website at www.mwrd.org (Doing Business > Procurement & Materials Management > Contract Announcements). No fee is required for the Contract Documents. Any questions regarding the downloading of the Contract Document should be directed to the following email: contractdesk@mwrd.org or call 312751-6643.
All Contracts for the Construction of Public Works are subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act (820 ILCS 130/1-et.seq.), where it is stated in the Invitation to Bid Page.
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago reserves the right to reject any or all Proposals if deemed in the public’s best interest.
REAL ESTATE FOR SALE
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENTCHANCERY DIVISION
U.S. Bank Trust National Association, as Trustee of the Igloo Series IV Trust Plaintiff vs. Bertha Porter; Andrew McDaniel; Unknown Owners and Nonrecord Claimants Defendant 24 CH 2091 CALENDAR 57 NOTICE OF SALE
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.
The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.
This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.
To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-669-9777.
GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on April 23, 2025, at the hour 11:00 a.m., Intercounty’s office, 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, IL 60602, sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-09-411-013-0000. Commonly known as 201 North Lamon Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60644.
The real estate is: single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act.
Sale terms: At sale, the bidder must have 10% down by certified funds, balance within 24 hours, by certified funds. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.
For information call Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Sottile & Barile, LLC, 7530 Lucerne Drive, Suite 210, Middleburg Heights, Ohio 44130. (440) 5721511. ILF2402009 INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3262520
Submit events and see full calendar at austinweeklynews.com/events
