Upcoming events on Community-Police Relations

Members of LSEA will be attending upcoming events, and will provide updates and propose follow-on action at our March meeting.

Saturday, February 7, 2015 - 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. - UIC
Racism, Police Violence, and Health "Teach In"

Sunday, February 8, 2015 - 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. - Carpenter's House
United Against Violence , One People One Voice!

Saturday, February 14, 2015 - 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. - Chicago Temple
Rally for Reparations: A People's Hearing

QUESTION: A Central Community Worship Space in Logan Square

Partial street map, Logan Square, Chicago

At our February 3, 2015, meeting, LSEA raised the question:

"Would it be desirable to have a central community worship space in Logan Square"?

We will take this question up in meetings and other fora in the coming year.

What do you think?

LSEA Supports Proposed "Keeping the Promise" Ordinance

At our monthly meeting on January 13, 2015, LSEA leaders affirmed their support for the proposed "Keeping the Promise" ordinance, and committed to participate in a press conference scheduled for 9 a.m., Wednesday January 21, 2015, on the second floor of Chicago City Hall.

LSEA member congregations are encouraged to turn out support for this important press conference.


About the "Keeping the Promise" Ordinance

(From the Chicago Housing Initiative website) "The Keeping the Promise Ordinance urges Chicago’s City Council to step in to end the abuses allowed under CHA’s federal de-regulation agreement. . . . According to CHA’s latest financial report (FY2012), the Chicago Housing Authority is sitting on surplus cash of more than $432 million. (To put that in perspective, CHA’s cash stockpile is larger than the whole City of Chicago’s budget deficit for 2014.) . . . The CHA has accumulated this cash surplus by deciding to circulate 13,500 fewer housing vouchers than HUD has funded CHA to provide annually."

Read full details of the the "Keeping the Promise" Ordinance on the website of the Chicago Housing Initiative.


MEDIA ADVISORY - Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Residents from the Lathrop Homes and Altgeld Gardens open today's
Chicago Housing Initiative press conference with chants, outlining
the devastation created by the CHA's 'Plan of Transformation', saying
"this will change, by us, for us. Because housing is a human right!"
Mayor, it's time to hold CHA accountable: 
Pass the #KeepingThePromise Ordinance!

For more information:

Leah Levinger, Chicago Housing Initiative
773-787-6875
leah.levinger@gmail.com

Aldermen urge swift action to stop cold-related deaths, make housing available

On eve of Chicago's annual count of the homeless, City Council members demand hearing on an ordinance that could help thousands access housing with the Chicago Housing Authority; Proposed ordinance would create a local accountability mechanism for CHA

WHO: Public housing residents and community leaders -- and a diverse group of Aldermen including: Joe Moreno (1st), Roderick Sawyer (6th), Ricardo Munoz (22nd), Roberto Maldonado (26th), Ariel Reboyras (30th), Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Deborah Mell (33rd).

WHAT: Aldermen urge hearing on Keeping the Promise Ordinance, on eve of annual homeless count

WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015, 9:30 am sharp

WHERE: City Hall, 121 S. LaSalle, 2nd Floor

VISUALS:

* 100 people in T-shirts that read "Housing Justice Voter" and “Keep the Promise"
* Large signs with pictures of families on the CHA's waiting list

WHY / BACKGROUND:

CHICAGO – January 21, 2015. On the eve of the City’s annual count of the homeless, City Council members will urge Alderman Ray Suarez, Chair of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel to call a hearing on the Keeping the Promise Ordinance, which would help over 10,000 more low-income families access affordable housing with the Chicago Housing Authority, at no cost to the City’s budget.

In the wake of recent cold-related deaths of the homeless and extreme weather conditions, Aldermen across the City are growing increasingly anxious about what the upcoming, Jan. 22nd “snapshot” of Chicago’s homeless population will reveal. Last year’s Point-In-Time homeless count revealed nearly 1,000 homeless individuals sleeping on the streets, despite frostbite and hypothermia warnings in place throughout the mid-January overnight count.

Aldermanic support for reform of the Chicago Housing Authority has grown after a Report issued in July by the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) revealed that the Chicago Housing Authority failed to issue an average of 13,500 available housing vouchers each year over the last five years, instead stockpiling over $432 million in surplus cash between FY2008 and FY2012. The Keeping the Promise Ordinance would increase City Council’s oversight of the CHA, to ensure available funds are used in an efficient and timely manner to help the greatest number of families. At least 15,900 of the families who applied for CHA assistance during the November waitlist lottery are homeless.

Alderman Joe Moreno, the lead sponsor of the Keeping the Promise Ordinance states, “Tomorrow, volunteers across the City will help count the homeless men, women, and children who are sleeping on the streets of Chicago right now. But let’s not just count them, let’s house them! Helping these individuals --- saving their lives---- is within our power as a city, but we can’t do it without getting the Chicago Housing Authority running in a better way. My colleagues and I are committed to that. We are demanding Alderman Suarez hold an immediate Hearing on the Keeping the Promise Ordinance to move this important legislation forward.”

See Chicago Sun-Times, January 21, 2015: "Activists: Use $440 million surplus to ease homelessness" by Fran Spielman.


Related posts

2014 Las Posadas procession at Lathrop Homes
Event in support of affordable housing.
Rev. Erik Christensen, pastor at St. Luke's Logan Square,
leads the singing along Clybourne Avenue.
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

On the heels of a December 10, 2013, community meeting that brought over 400 people out to demand an immediate opening of unused units to people in need of housing, on Saturday a coalition of churches, community organizations, and residents associations will hold a holiday Posada -- a Latin American traditional re-enactment of the search by the parents of Jesus for hospitality -- that does double-duty dramatizing the plight of people left in the cold by Chicago housing policies.

(See POSADA 2013: Is there room at the inn at the CHA’s Lathrop Homes? on the Remedy for Violence website.)

Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance (LSEA) -- Christ is alive in Logan Square and Chicago!

Eagle monument in Logan Square, Chicago

The Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance (LSEA) was founded by a group of Logan Square churches in 2012. The initial impetus was a public witness on Palm Sunday 2013 -- "Occupy Palm Sunday!" -- organized by First Lutheran Church, Humboldt Park United Methodist, Kimball Avenue Church, and St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square. LSEA built upon discussions that had been ongoing over a period of years among leaders at these churches about finding ways to work together in the Logan Square Community. 

2013 was a year in which LSEA solidified itself, and in 2014 LSEA really began to thrive.


Regularity and Participation - Continuing a practice we established in 2013, we continued regular monthly meetings (graciously hosted by the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) -- which focuses on violence prevention -- at 2401 W. North). By the end of 2014, we recognized a need to expand the monthly meeting to two hours. We have observed that this enables us to work efficiently, and to welcome new participants smoothly into our activities. We saw a substantial number of congregations and organizations participate in 2014 that had not participated in 2013.

In the second half of 2014, we held a "connecting and fellowship" event specifically designed to invite more lay members into participation in LSEA. We plan more activities of this type in 2015, beginning with training to be provided in collaboration with Community Renewal Society (CRS) in February and March.

A goal for 2015 is to even more effectively provide for the participation of a larger circle -- both in terms of number of congregations, and number of participants from each congregation.

Las Posadas procession at Lathrop Homes
Rev. Erik Christensen, pastor at St. Luke's Logan Square,
leads the singing along Clybourne Avenue.
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

What We Do Well: Public Witness Together - Already by the end of 2013, we were recognizing the special contribution we, as congregations, can make by providing public witness around important social issues. The "Las Posadas" event for housing justice we led in December 2013 helped crystallize this recognition; in December, 2014, we held our 2nd annual "Las Posadas" event for housing justice.
Other public witness by LSEA in 2014 included our 3rd annual public witness on Palm Sunday (focusing on housing justice), as well as several additional events related to housing justice in Logan Square, and a memorial for a member of our community, Ernesto Garcia.

A goal (and a challenge) for 2014 will be: as a larger number of congregations participate in LSEA, we will need to discern the best ways to build on the ideas about public witness that have already begun to take hold within LSEA, as well as be open to new ways of doing this work together.

Logan Square Gentrification Series / Serie de Gentrificacion

Listening to the Neighborhood: Housing Justice and Gentrification - The issues of housing justice and gentrification were already important issues for LSEA in 2013; in 2014 these issues became only more pressing. As indicated above, a great deal of our attention and energy was directed to these issues. Already in January, 2015, we are pleased to be collaborating with the organization Somos Logan Square on a 4-part series of events to educate the public about gentrification.
At the same time we are attentive to a wide range of concerns in our neighborhood, city, region, and country. For instance, in 2014 we sponsored an event in Chicago by a Michigan social justice activist, Rev. Edward Pinckney.

Issue focus continues to be a high priority. We recognize that a degree of focus is essential in enabling us to act effectively.


Listening to Each Other: Being Church Together in Logan Square - As our circle of participants has grown, we have become more and more intentional about making space to listen to each other's stories. We recognize that we are engaged in a joint enterprise, and we are finding more and more ways to be attentive to the true needs as well as the real possibilities of all of our congregations here in Logan Square!


We rejoice in the opportunity to continue proclaiming together in 2015: Christ is alive in Logan Square and Chicago!

Logan Square Residents Learn About Gentrification in January 2015

Local community organization Somos Logan Square is offered a series of four seminars to inform members of the Logan Square community about gentrification. The events took place January 14-24, 2015, at neighborhood churches.

As reported in the NEIU Independent: "The Case of Who Is Logan Square" (February 1, 2015) covered the series and quoted St. Luke's Logan Square pastor Erik Christensen: "The speakers did a great job today of naming that gentrification is driven by a process of valuation, and that valuation is actually a social construct … Gentrification is at its core driven by an engine that works because it says some people and some neighborhoods are worth more than others."

Logan Square Gentrification Series

January 14th - 24th, 2015events discussing the change happening in our neighborhood

Logan Square Serie de Gentrificacion

14 de enero - 24, 2015: 4 eventos sobre el cambio sucediendo en nuestro barrio

1
Wednesday, January 14th, 2015 . . . . Miércoles, 14 de enero 2015
7:00-8:30 pm

Location // Lugar:
Grace Methodist Church
3325 W. Wrightwood Ave.

The Basics //
los conceptos básicos:
What is gentrification and how does it impact all of us? //
¿Que es la gentrificación y cómo repercute en todos nosotros?


2
Saturday, January 17th, 2015 . . . . Sábado, 17 de enero 2015
12:00-1:30 pm

Location // Lugar:
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church
2649 N. Francisco Ave.

History of Gentrification //
Historia de gentrificación:
Giving historical context to neighborhood change to learn from the past //
Dando un contexto histórico al cambio del vecindario para aprender del pasado.


3
Wednesday, January 21st, 2015 . . . . Miércoles, 21 de enero 2015
7:00-8:30 pm

Location// Lugar:
Grace Methodist Church
3325 W. Wrightwood Ave.

Racism and Classism //
El racismo y el clasismo:
How and why displacment of minorities and poor people happens? //
¿Cómo y por qué sucede el desplazamiento de las minorías y los pobres?


4
Saturday, January 24th, 2015 . . . . Sábado, 24 de enero 2015
12:00-1:30 pm

Location// Lugar:
Humboldt Park United
Methodist Church
2122 N. Mozart St

Affordability saving Diversity //
Asequibilidad diversidad ahorro:
Exploring ways the community can improve while preserving economic and racial diversity //
Explorando las maneras en que la comunidad puede mejorar, preservando la diversidad económica y racial.



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December 13, 2014: Mary & Joseph to seek shelter at CHA's Lathrop Homes

Chicago Tribune photo:
Elian Morris, 14, and Amary Palmer, 16, portraying
Joseph and Mary, stop in front of a Lathrop apartment
Saturday to symbolize the lack of CHA affordable housing
on the North Side. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

See more event photos below.

Our event -- LAS POSADAS in support of Public and Affordable Housing at Lathrop Homes -- on December 13 at Lathrop Homes was a huge success!

See the great photo gallery on the Today in Chicago Tumblr page.

Read the press coverage:

Chicago Tribune: "Advocates use biblical tale to cast light on lack of public housing" by Stepanie K. Baer. "'I want to be able to continue living in a place that’s affordable, and I want other people to have that opportunity too,' said longtime Lathrop Homes resident Carol Anderson. 'Everybody needs a place to call home."


Why were we there?

There are more than 750 vacant units here at the Lathrop Homes. Many have been vacant for 10 or 15 years. In 2008, residents pleaded with the Chicago Housing Authority to put 300 units back into service. CHA rejected that proposal, saying it would begin the redevelopment of Lathrop the next year, in 2009. In 2011, 86 families living north of Diversey were “consolidated” with the residents on the south end. Since then, the north end of Lathrop has been a ghost town.

Like Mary and Joseph, families have been turned away from the Lathrop Homes for the last 15 years. In 2000, CHA promised to renovate Lathrop as public housing, starting in 2001. But that rehab never began. And a freeze on all new leasing, imposed in 2000, and was never lifted. The residents who remained here were left in limbo. We were told they could remain here, move to another development or take a Housing Choice Voucher. When we asked what would happen to Lathrop, we were told that plan was “TBD.” Because of that uncertainly, many chose to move out. Today, there are only 150 families here, but we are determined to stay here and plan the future of our community.

The proposed Master Plan for Lathrop calls for 45 percent market-rate development. But the area around this development has experienced plenty of market rate development over the last 25 years, while thousands of low- and moderate income families have been displaced. Because of high rents, very few families are able to use Section 8 or Housing Choice Vouchers in this area. Dedicated public housing units are a precious resource in gentrifying neighborhoods.


The proposed Master Plan for Lathrop would eliminate 525 of Lathrop's 925 public housing units. The CHA has made no written commitment to replace these apartments – anywhere, ever. The Preserve Lathrop campaign demands that CHA include this commitment in the Lathrop Master Plan, and that all of these units be returned on Chicago’s North Side.

The CHA is hoarding hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that could be housing families. Look at all the vacant units you see here. The CHA receives the same federal funding for each vacant unit that it gets for each occupied unit, year after year. How can this be? In 1998, Mayor Daley negotiated a special de-regulation agreement with the federal government that makes it impossible for HUD to hold the CHA accountable.

The Keeping the Promise Ordinance would create a local accountability mechanism by linking City funding for CHA-related projects to basic performance standards. Three months after the ordinance was introduced, the City Council Housing Committee has yet to schedule a hearing on it. (This despite the fact that the ordinance is already supported by of TWENTY-THREE (23) of the city's fifty alderman!

TAKE ACTION: 

Participants and supporters are encouraged to call 

Alderman Ray Suarez at the 31st Ward Office:

(773) 276-9100. 

Suarez is Chicago’s Vice Mayor and chairman

of the City Council Housing Committee. 

Urge Alderman Suarez to schedule hearings

on the Keeping the Promise Ordinance immediately!

Full photo album and details of the event follow . . . .

Las Posadas procession at Lathrop Homes
Rev. Erik Christensen, pastor at St. Luke's Logan Square,
leads the singing along Clybourne Avenue.
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

Mary and Joseph lead the procession door to door
at Lathrop Homes, seeking shelter from the cold.
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

Numerous community leaders joined Las Posadas at Lathrop.
(front l-r) Leslie Willis, Kimball Avenue Church, Delia Ramirez; Humboldt
Park United Methodist; Alderman Joe Moreno, 32nd Ward; Alderman Scott
Waugespack, 1st Ward. (Photographer at rear unidentified.)
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

Why have so many been left out in the cold?
Rev. Bruce Ray, pastor at Kimball Avenue Church, explains
how doors remain closed to so many at Lathrop Homes
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

The crowd swells . . .
The procession continued up Leavitt Street, along the Chicago River.
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

Making the Bethlehem connection
At another of the closed doors of Lathrop Homes, Ellen Ray, , Executive
Director of Center for Changing Lives, asked participants to consider 
the ways many Chicago residents are at the mercy of the Chicago Housing
Authority (CHA): like being under the thumb of Empire.

(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

Walking tall at Lathrop
Exhausted by their search, but still walking tall, Mary and
Joseph lead the final stages of this year's Las Posadas.
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

All reading from the same music
Las Posadas 2014 at Lathrop Homes began and ended at New
Life Community Church, where participants enjoyed refreshments and
 fellowship, did some focused study and organizing about Chicago's
"Keeping the Promise Ordinance" . . . and had a 
quick refresher on traditional songs for Las Posadas!
(Photo courtesy Jeff Lucas)

MEDIA ADVISORY - For Immediate Release - December 13, 2014

Contact: John McDermott, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, (773) 617-3949

Saturday afternoon procession of church leaders, Lathrop Homes residents will call attention to 'unjust' plan Mary and Joseph to seek shelter at North Side public housing development

Who: Current and former residents of the Lathrop Homes, a low-rise public housing development, along with local religious and community leaders. The Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance is organizing the event in cooperation with Lathrop leaders and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.

What: Young people dressed as Mary and Joseph will lead a procession through the mostly-vacant development, reenacting the biblical story of Bethlehem, where Mary and Joseph searched for room at an inn before the first Christmas. They will stop at several doors to seek shelter, but at each door they will be turned away, until the final door, where they will be admitted and the community will celebrate.

The procession, called Las Posadas after the Spanish word for "inn," is a pre-Christmas tradition in parts of Latin America. Leaders say Saturday's event will symbolize the plight of Chicago families left in the cold by Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) policies.

When: TODAY - Saturday, December 13 - 2 to 4 pm

Where: Participants will gather at 2 pm at New Life Community Church, 2958 N. Damen (enter on Wellington) The first stop in the procession will occur at about 2:30 pm near 2900 N. Clybourn. (Television crews can meet the procession there.) After a walk of approximately 45 minutes, participants will return to New Life Community Church for a brief program and celebration. (To meet the procession en route, text 773-617-3949.)

Why: As they walk, participants will pass more than 750 vacant units. CHA promised to rehabilitate Lathrop as public housing, beginning in the year 2001. The rehab never started, but a freeze on leasing has remained in place ever since.
Like Mary and Joseph, low- and moderate-income families are being turned away from the Lathrop Homes, organizers said. "For more than a decade, hundreds of units at the Lathrop Homes have been left vacant, instead of being made available to families in need," said Lissette Castaneda, housing co-chair for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA). "The proposed plans for Lathrop would compound this injustice by eliminating 525 public housing units with no written commitment to replace them and using 45% of the site for market-rate housing."

Participants will urge Mayor Emanuel and City Council Housing Chair Ald. Ray Suarez (31st) to act this winter to address the issues.

Local Aldermen Joe Moreno (1st) and Scott Waguespack (32nd) will participate in Saturday's event.

En español: Several leaders will speak in Spanish. Residents and community leaders will also be available for interviews in Spanish.

Photos: Photos will be available upon request after the event.

ON FACEBOOK:  LAS POSADAS in support of Public and Affordable Housing at Lathrop Homes

Photos and details of 2013 event: POSADA 2013: Is there room at the inn at the CHA’s Lathrop Homes? 


Related posts

On the heels of a December 10, 2013, community meeting that brought over 400 people out to demand an immediate opening of unused units to people in need of housing, on Saturday a coalition of churches, community organizations, and residents associations will hold a holiday Posada -- a Latin American traditional re-enactment of the search by the parents of Jesus for hospitality -- that does double-duty dramatizing the plight of people left in the cold by Chicago housing policies.

(See POSADA 2013: Is there room at the inn at the CHA’s Lathrop Homes? on the Remedy for Violence website.)


On September 11, 2014, we held a vigil to honor the memory o Mr. Ernesto Garcia -- to afford him the dignity he deserves and allow us all to grieve his death, and also as an opportunity to advocate for the needs of men and women who daily face exposure to harm because of housing insecurity.

(See Public Vigil for Ernesto Garcia )














Here are links to useful information on recent developments with respect to affordable housing in Logan Square.
(See Resource Page: Recent Developments in Affordable Housing in Logan Square ) 

Looking Ahead: November "Connecting" Event, December Posada

LSEA 2013 Posada Poster
(Art: Andrew Willis)

Our congregations have enjoyed doing numerous events together, including Palm Sunday gatherings for the past three years, a Posada in December 2013, and several events at the Logan Square eagle monument in recent weeks. We feel fulfilled by our shared work, and we want to get to know each other better!

We have now firmed up the following plans:

* December -- We have reserved the afternoon of Saturday, December 13, 2014, for this year's posada observance. (See "POSADA 2013: Is there room at the inn at the CHA’s Lathrop Homes?" for an idea of what we did last year.) Please SAVE THE DATE and get involved with us the planning at upcoming November events (below).

* November -- We've conceived a several-hour gathering on a Saturday, November 22, called "Connecting With Our Neighbors: Uniting Congregations for Social Justice." We will gather at 10:30 a.m. that day at Humboldt Park United Methodist for devotions, conversations, and a meal together.

Approximate event schedule:

10:30 Devotion
11:30 Small group conversations
12:30 Pot Luck Lunch

This "connecting" event is an opportunity for one-on-one interaction, fellowship, and creating a foundation for future action for members of our various congregations. The event is open to anyone who wants to join with people of faith in the Logan Square area to advance social justice. Please join on Facebook and share with friends!

Our next monthly meeting Tuesday, December 2, 12 noon - 2 p.m. (Location: 2401 W North, ALSO office). Please plan to join us to participate in planning . . . and/or get updates by "liking" our Facebook page!


Related posts

On the heels of a December 10, 2013, community meeting that brought over 400 people out to demand an immediate opening of unused units to people in need of housing, on Saturday a coalition of churches, community organizations, and residents associations will hold a holiday Posada -- a Latin American traditional re-enactment of the search by the parents of Jesus for hospitality -- that does double-duty dramatizing the plight of people left in the cold by Chicago housing policies.

(See POSADA 2013: Is there room at the inn at the CHA’s Lathrop Homes? on the Remedy for Violence website.)


On September 11, 2014, we held a vigil to honor the memory o Mr. Ernesto Garcia -- to afford him the dignity he deserves and allow us all to grieve his death, and also as an opportunity to advocate for the needs of men and women who daily face exposure to harm because of housing insecurity.

(See Public Vigil for Ernesto Garcia )











Here are links to useful information on recent developments with respect to affordable housing in Logan Square.
(See Resource Page: Recent Developments in Affordable Housing in Logan Square )