Breakdown

The human cost of closing mental health clinics

January 20, 2012
Breakdown

The communal dining room and kitchen at Northwest Mental Health Center has long been a fixture of programming at the clinic. Rosa Torres, who has worked as a clinical therapist at Northwest for 21 years, recalls how busy the kitchen used to be. Many of the clinic’s Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Support (PSR) programs were... »

New Beginnings for Woodlawn

Pastor Brooks’s rooftop resolutions

January 4, 2012
New Beginnings for Woodlawn

If it were up to Pastor Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church, Chicago would be filled with “contemporary, credible, and creative” neighborhood centers. These spaces would offer everything from job placement services and drug rehabilitation assistance, to green technology labs and Panera Bread franchises. They would be hubs of activity, located at the heart... »

Redistricting Fault Lines

South Side citizens weigh in on the redistricting debate

November 30, 2011
Redistricting Fault Lines

On October 25, the assembly hall of the Hyde Park Union Church was nearly empty. This gathering was a preliminary informational meeting concerning a process that Chicago undergoes every decade—aldermanic ward redistricting. »

No Alternative

The unexpected move of a school for troubled students

November 23, 2011
No Alternative

It came as a surprise when on the morning of September 6 a school bus stopped in front of St. Clotilde and let out a handful of teenage students. Eventually it came out that the church’s second and third stories had become the new home of Richard Milburn High School. »

Good Grammar

A Pilsen reading event gives local authors and writing rookies some exposure

January 21, 2012
Good Grammar

“Did you bring anything to read?” author Brendan Detzner asked as guests walk into Bad Grammar Theater, which also happens to be his home. Detzner and fellow author Mike... »

Stitch in Time

Courtney Weber ties her embroidery pieces to the past

January 21, 2012
Stitch in Time

“These two are my favorite,” artist Courtney Weber says, pointing to the back right corner of the small room at ACRE Projects. “I started drawing the pattern for this... »

Open Air

Turning up the volume on a community radio project

January 21, 2012
Open Air

Several years ago in Viroqua, Wisconsin (pop. 5,079), a group of serious radio-heads started a community station. The station, Radio Driftless, is now on FM and broadcasts full-time, and... »

Sacred Spaces

UChicago students receive Orthodox blessings for their rooms

January 21, 2012

On Thursday morning, Father Elijah Mueller arrived at the UofC’s New Graduate Residence Hall with a wooden bowl full of holy water, an incense stick, and a small bottle... »

Sticking Up for Lacrosse

An expanding youth lacrosse league gets a start on the indoor season

January 21, 2012

Paul looked on appreciatively from the sidelines as his son came off the bench for the first time in the game. Two years younger and a head shorter than... »

Polish Nights

A club in Garfield Ridge serves up authentic beats and bar food

January 21, 2012

Kids are always looking to the weekend to have a good time. That holds true on the South Side of Chicago as it holds true halfway across the world... »

In with the new

A "Burning Bowl" event helps create a fresh start for the New Year

January 12, 2012

January is never an easy time. Resolutions made in earnest at the start of the New Year quickly slip away. The realities of daily life reassert themselves and life... »

Emerge and See

A one-man play examines modern black life

January 12, 2012

Imagine the shockwaves that would ensue if a slave ship docked at the feet of the Statue of Liberty in present times. Renaissance man Daniel Beaty’s dynamic one-man play... »

Game, Set, Match

Bibiana Suárez plays with notions of Latino identity at HPAC

January 5, 2012
Game, Set, Match

Bibiana Suárez’s latest exhibit—an installation piece that combines the voluptuous rear-end of Jennifer Lopez, three glittery cowboys, vintage maps, and hand-painted signage—is an exhibit that attempts to speak for... »