Features
Guns, Birds, & Steel
Just west of Torrence Avenue, 134th Street acts as a divide. To the south, the fringes of a junkyard gradually merge with warehouses and factories. Some of the street signs are hand-painted. There are cattails and prairie grasses that soar 12 feet into the air. A few feet away, a rusted-out shell of a... »
Creative Futures
Bruce Taylor began the first day of class by asking his nine students why they were given their first names. “I was named Joy,” responded one student, “because my daddy said I brought joy into his life.” After two beats of respectful silence a single giggle escaped from someone’s mouth. The class erupted in... »
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
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
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
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. »
Without Notice
On October 27, Regents Park was sold by Crescent Heights to Antheus, a developer locally represented by MAC Property Management. What that sale meant for the building’s employees remained unclear until 6pm, when Paul Richter, who had been the building manager for the past 23 years, carried his things out the front door. »
Unlikely Oases
While food deserts remain a persistent problem in Chicago, the reality is not as grim as it seems. A report released last month contained a heartening and perhaps unexpected message: “We feel the awareness war has been won, as evidenced by this week's arrival of our nation's First Lady.” »
