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Vol. 34 No. 45

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Details on page 2

High tech high school could be coming to West Side,

November 4, 2020

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Also serving Garfield Park

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Meet Arturo Carillo, ll PAGE 3

West Siders on the City’s 2021 Budget Process

“It sucks,” one respondent said

By GRACE DEL VECCHIO, KELLY GARCIA, CORLI JAY AND F. AMANDA TUGADE City Bureau

Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently released a budget proposal to offset a historic $1.2 billion deficit. A $94 million property tax increase, a 3-cent per gallon gas hike and layoffs and furloughs for hundreds of city staff topped her list.

This year, more than 38,000 people responded to the city’s online budget survey, a 400% increase from last year. It was a part of the annual budget engagement process where the city aims to listen to residents on what they want in the budget. For Chicagoans, community services and public health are the top two city-funded programs they care about the most.

But, the number of respondents is minimal in comparison to the city’s population of 2.7 million, and the sample was highly skewed when it comes to geographic representation.

Nearly half (45%) of responses came from the North Side while West Side respondents clocked in at only 4%. South Side’s representation was slightly higher at 9% with 8% from the Southwest Side.

It’s a glaring indicator that voices from the West and South Side communities are left out by the city in its decision making processes.

Before Lightfoot’s official budget announcement, City Bureau talked to four West Siders about what they know—and don’t know— about the annual city budget process and how See BUDGET on page 4

ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer

MAKING ART FROM PAIN: Artist and educator Lavie Raven spearheaded the creation of a mural for Breonna Taylor days after the police officers responsible for her murder avoided serious charges.

A mural for Breonna Taylor rises in Homan Square

Outrage channeled into a call to action and work of art

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Last September, after a grand jury decided not to charge the officers who shot

26-year-old Breonna Taylor during a “no knock” raid at her Louisville home, conducted while she was asleep, protests erupted across the country. The news prompted a moment of synergy between west suburban Oak Park and the West Side, with two Oak Park and River Forest High School educators channeling their frustration in creative ways.

LeVar Ammons, OPRF’s executive direc-

tor of equity and student success, penned an essay that was posted to the high school’s website on Oct. 1 that explored the indictment’s deeper historical roots.

“When it comes to the Black American experience, relative to the relationship with policing and the legal system in our country, justice has historically been an See MURAL on page 9

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

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To donate, visit www.austinweeklynews.com/donations

Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

West Side Lives

a non-police emergency response system.

Rodriguez-Sanchez’s ordinance wants to build up the city’s mental health clinics and create community advisory councils at each one. Many mental health clinics are currently run by nonprofit organizations and they are not accountable to the general public.

Any investment that goes to a nonprofit organization, you do not, as a general public, have the opportunity to actually examine, provide input and feedback to shape the programming. On the other hand, a public mental health clinic with a community advisory council would allow for more oversight, transparency and accountability where we can cut down on barriers that community members may face in accessing care. It also means increased cultural competency, programming and triaging beyond local government services.

That sort of input improves the quality of those public mental health clinics. It also maintains the accountability necessary to ensure that those clinics are able to do the types of follow-up care that are essential to respond to community needs.

Arturo Carillo, licensed social worker, calls for more mental health resources on West Side

By F. AMANDA TUGADE City Bureau

For this edition of West Side Lives, we’ll publishing an insightful interview with Arturo Carillo by our friends at City Bureau.

Less than a decade ago, former Gov. Pat Quinn gutted $114 million in general revenue funding for mental health in the state’s budget and closed three state-run mental health facilities. In 2012, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel pulled a similar stunt, shutting down six of the city’s 12 public mental health clinics. Four of them were located on the South Side.

Around that time, Arturo Carrillo, a licensed social worker, was leading Saint Anthony Hospital’s free mental health program. He had already seen how a lack of resources on the West Side impacted a community with growing needs. But with deep fiscal cuts, that hole grew even bigger. The problem swung like a pendulum: More and more clients were walking into Saint Anthony, while the city laid off social workers and mental health professionals.

“I can’t imagine how many other people just ended up falling through the cracks after that,” says Carrillo, now a director of health initiatives and violence prevention at the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.

He is also a coordinator at the Collaborative for Community Wellness (CCW), an advocacy group for mental health professionals, local organizations and residents.

Throughout the years, Carrillo has joined other public health advocates and local activists in the fight to not only reopen those clinics but create more programs, especially for Black and brown residents. That fight has now wedged itself in the middle of a critical moment, as the city faces financial hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic and public outcry to defund the Chicago Police Department.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently unveiled plans to launch a 911 co-responder model where police and mental health workers would answer certain calls as a part of the city’s 2021 budget proposal. It’s a model that Carrillo and other leaders at CCW don’t support.

“Having a police vehicle and a police officer show up to the scene immediately escalates a situation,” he explains.

City Bureau spoke to Carrillo about the decade-long battle for more city-run mental health clinics and why he believes investing in mental health may just be the plan to save the city’s people. This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Saint Anthony Hospital’s Community Wellness Programs offer free mental health services to Chicago’s West and

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SAMANTHA CABRERA FRIEND/City Bureau

CALLING FOR MORE RESOURCES: Arturo Carillo is a licensed social worker. He said he’s seen how a lack of resources to the West Side impacted a community with growing needs.

Southwest Side. What are the greatest mental health needs in those areas?

The common denominator in Black and brown communities on the West and Southwest side is exposure to trauma, poverty and life circumstances that lead from one crisis to another without actually receiving support when people need it.

At Saint Anthony with those 12 staff, it felt like we were plugging an enormous hole with our thumb. It was great to be there and build the program at Saint Anthony—and develop clinicians who could serve in these communities. But ultimately, the problem was bigger than what any one organization could do to address.

When former Mayor Emanuel closed six of 12 city-run mental health clinics in 2012, what was the short-term and long-term impact?

Short-term effects were—there were lives lost. People died as a result of that decision.

Many of the people who needed that care lost it, and in some cases ended up losing their lives. The other short-term effect was that a lot of people fell through the cracks. There was no real systematic way of tracking where people were being referred to or how those people were going to receive services.

What we’re seeing with the long-term consequences are that when you do not have a proper investment in the public infrastructure necessary to address this enormous situation and you rely exclusively on the private sector, including the nonprofits, you end up having this messy patchwork of in-

complete services.

Why is it important to reopen these clinics?

Like the county health system, when the nonprofits fail, when the health clinics fail to provide people access to care, you have a publicly-funded institution that is there and baked into the costs of the city to ensure that no one falls through the safety net. Public mental health clinics give people access to care in areas of the city that they can walk to and get support.

You’ve shown support for Ald. Rossanna Rodriguez-Sanchez’s (33rd) “Treatment Not Trauma” proposed order. It plans to expand mental health services in Chicago, including teams of medical and mental health providers who are available 24-hours a day to respond to crises and the number of city-run mental health clinics. What is it about her plan that stands out to you?

The moment the police show up to a situation, that situation escalates immediately.

Having a plain-clothed social worker who is showing up in an ambulance or in an unmarked van to help de-escalate the situation would lead to an incredibly different outcome in a lot of the crises that end with Black men and women losing their lives. On the other hand, police response to a mental health crisis also leads to an enormous amount of lawsuits and settlements. That money would be better invested in these preventative services, mental health clinics and

Is this the first time you’ve seen a group of city councilmen unite and create this type of proposal?

Yes, because I think this proposal is worthwhile. It’s really sketching out the alternative system that is necessary and smartly bakes it into the public infrastructure of the city. The aldermen are saying what we need is to actually create a response system for mental health crises, just like the fire department that is responding to the city’s medical and fire needs.

Mental health requires the same sort of investment. What they’re really saying is that mental health has to be a public initiative that’s publicly funded and publicly run. It goes beyond just reopening mental health clinics.

The need for mental health services continues to grow louder, especially as we’re talking about the movement to ‘Defund CPD’. If we invested in mental health workers like we have in police, what would the outcome be?

If we had more positions created just like we’re proposing in Ald. Rodriguez-Sanchez’s council order for public employees, in this case social workers would be employed in the way the police officers are by having a great salary and good benefits. You’re going to transfer positions in a way that can create more opportunities for social workers. They can have—just like police officers—their livelihood respected in the way that they’re paid well and fairly.

It really is about creating alternative systems that can be reparative and restorative while providing opportunities for engagement by people who are of the community to respond to crises in the community.

This report was produced by City Bureau, a civic journalism lab based in Bronzeville.

For more stories on the 2021 budget, visit citybureau.org/budget.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020 lice, they know that they’re about to come and mess with them, [police harassment] is not proper. That’s inappropriate.

In what ways would you like to see the city to share its budget information with your community?

Chicago has a $1.2 billion dollar budget gap because of the COVID-19 pandemic. How should the city raise money to close the gap?

When you start talking about numbers, you can tell me how much money you got and you can tell me where you’re going to spend that, it doesn’t really matter. It’s what we do with it.

This is about production. Can we get some food in the neighborhood? Isn’t that like a basic necessity for human beings? Can we get proper policing, not just when there’s shootings and things like that? Sharing budgetary ideas doesn’t mean anything if I’m not participating in it.

First of all, we have to acknowledge that there was a gap before. When we say it in relation to COVID-19, I guess we would have to say, what do we do, period?

Everything can’t be politically motivated.

Everything can’t be motivated by who’s going to get a couple extra bucks in their pocket and

DEBORAH WILLIAMS

BUDGET

Giving their input from page 1 they hope the city will reinvest in their communities next year.

Deborah Williams, 53, lifelong Austin resident, community outreach and engagement supervisor for Habilitative Systems, Inc. and a member of Counting on Chicago Coalition What city investments in your community would you like to see?

We’ve been asking for more traffic signs on Austin Boulevard near the 290 expressway. We also need more youth programming, more parenting programs. I’d like to see more schools really start to promote civic engagement.

In what ways would you like to see the city to share its budget information with your community?

hear about it?

I heard it sucks. Is that elaborate enough?

The budget is not as accessible for people.

When I say not accessible, oftentimes it’s a committee or something like that that makes a decision how the budget and the money are going to be allocated. That’s a process that doesn’t really involve the local community in the decision-making. It’s not that community residents are not willing participants. A lot of them just don’t know—or they are living their lives—to not have an opportunity to put forth an opinion about it.

What city investments in your community would you like to see?

There’s no food in the area, and aside from all the other things that go with a low-income neighborhood, police treat people a certain kind of way. When I walk down the street and I see a group of young men—maybe in high school or something like that—just lift up their shirts just because they see the po-

DEBRA GORDON things like that. We have to have something in plan to move forward, to maintain. It’s not impressive for the city to come up with a community program, and then it fizzles out in two years and there’s nothing left.

What city investments would you like to see your community?

I think we need to do something with streets and traffic. I’m currently working with our alderman and CAPS because we have a speeding problem up and down Washington Boulevard.

If you want to have a stable community—because I’ve lived over here for over 35 years—you gotta make it where people feel comfortable and safe. That starts at the little stuff like cleaning up city-owned lots and blocking them off so people can’t dump on them.

I believe that we should have police in our community because I think they serve as a deterrent, but also don’t close down all of the mental health facilities. When you have individuals who either are former addicts or they have other mental things, we should have more than one or two locations in the city that they can go to.

The budget should be presented by each community area. We should have not just one or two budget hearings. We might need to have a budget hearing for all 77 communities and see what’s in it for a particular community. Break the budget down to 77 communities, so we can compare.

Did you know that the city actually had budget ambassadors and held community roundtables in 66 communities?

Lately, doing this?

In September.

No, ma’am.

Sherman Lofton, 43, a North Lawndale resident, a member of Gardeneers What have you heard about the Chicago city budget process? Where did you

Debra Gordon, 65, East Garfield Park

SHERMAN LOFTON

Chicago has a $1.2 billion dollar budget gap because of the COVID-19 pandemic. How should the city raise money to close the gap?

I think they should do 10% budget cuts

Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

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SHENELL OLLIE across the board. They should have all municipal employees do three to four furlough days and probably try to borrow the rest.

I don’t think that they should go up on property taxes anymore because that seems to be the go-to answer for everything. I know that the [union] contract is coming up with the police. They need to make sure they negotiate a contract that doesn’t put more burden on the taxpayers for pensions and salaries.

We need to focus more on having strong community schools. I do definitely think the mayor should start with budget cuts and furloughs, and I think every employee should take a furlough.

Do you feel like Chicago residents should have more say in the city budget?

How would you want to give your input?

Virtual town halls need to be publicized on TV, as well as on the city of Chicago website, so that people who have the ability to log in can do that. I also think that the mayor should send out a white paper of her major budget proposals. What’s that going to take?

You can do that in the mail, just like they send out all this election crap. They can do that for the budget.

If you could create a new department or city service to best solve an issue in your community, what would that be and what would it look like?

I would not create a new department. We have too much bureaucracy right now. I would take the people who are there and actually have them do their jobs better. I think there’s a lot of government inefficiencies.

Shenell Ollie, 44, East Garfield Park

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What city investments in your community would you like to see?

I feel safe where I live now because I know the people in that area, but the way the world is now I don’t know if it’s anything that can actually be done.

Chicago has a $1.2 billion dollar budget gap because of the COVID-19 pandemic. How should the city raise money to close the gap?

I wouldn’t want to see less going to any investments that’s made to mental health, education, or anything that helps with jobs.

I wouldn’t want to see that decrease, and maybe anything that helps with housing.

This plays a big part in what causes neighborhoods and communities to be unsafe.

Do you feel like Chicago residents should have more say in the city budget?

How would you want to give your input?

The city should go through community meetings with aldermen and precinct captains.

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If you could create a new department or city service to best solve an issue in your community, what would that be and what would it look like?

It would probably be a jobs program or a youth program that targets teens, preteens to get them ready to look for jobs, even as a young adult.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

A new high school could be coming to the West Side

But 3 nearby schools would have to close first

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

A state-of-the-art public school is being developed by neighborhood groups on the West Side — but some parents fear the school would cost the community more than it’s worth.

The plan would require three existing neighborhood schools to be closed and consolidated into the new school, which would specialize in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. While most residents and educators — including those at the schools that would close — support the new STEAM academy, some parents balked at the plan, saying the last thing the West Side needs is more closed schools in light of its history of disinvestment and school closures.

The North Lawndale STEAM Partnership Academy plan is spearheaded by the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council under the neighborhood’s Quality of Life Plan. The neighborhood plan launched in 2018 as a community-driven blueprint for improving key issues housing, health and public safety in Lawndale.

A centerpiece of the plan to address education has been the creation of a STEAM school so students would have more access to educational programs in their own neighborhood.

There has been an exodus of West Side students who travel to other schools in other neighborhoods to seek educational programming not available in the area, Betty Allen Green, of the neighborhood’s education committee, told the Chicago Board of Education on Oct. 29.

The estimated 600 students who travel out of Lawndale to access quality educational programs have “left all of our schools within the community highly underutilized,” Green said.

“Whatever options our children choose, we should be able to provide it to them right here in the North Lawndale community,” Green said.

It has been nearly 60 years since a traditional school has been built in Lawndale.

Parent Debbie Sims said the STEAM academy would be an important step to recovering from the legacy of disinvestment toward the West Side.

“Children in low-income communities are always asked to do more with less,” Sims

said. The community needs “the programs and facilities” to bring students back to the North Lawndale, she said.

But some parents want the district to fully fund the schools already in the neighborhood rather than build a new school.

Three schools — Sumner Elementary, Crown Community Academy of Fine Arts and Lawndale Community Academy — would be closed so resources and student bodies could be pooled into the new STEAM academy.

The plan opens up old wounds from the city’s history of neglect toward West Side schools, parents said. Two schools in Lawndale closed in 2013 due to under-enrollment.

Another, Frazier Preparatory Academy, was shut down by the Board of Education this year. At least five schools in the neighborhood have also been targeted by the district as “turnaround schools” in recent years.

Lawndale Community Academy parent Brandy McMahan told the board she worries it would be unsafe for her child to travel across the neighborhood to get to the new school. She knows and trusts the staff at her child’s current school since they understand the community and the struggles the students there face.

“New doesn’t always mean better,” she said.

McMahan also questioned whether Lawndale residents would even benefit from the school. “How do we know our kids will be chosen?” she said.

Pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade students at the three schools would be guaranteed a seat in the new school, organizers said. Tentatively planned to open in 2022, the school would be a traditional public school, not a

charter or a selective enrollment school.

A parent at Sumner told the board that if there is enough funding to build a stateof-the-art facility, then “there is funding to bring up to par and bring STEAM initiatives” to quality neighborhood schools like the one her child attends.

She also criticized the plan for leaving out some community members.

“The community surrounding Sumner has no idea what is being proposed at all,” she said.

The team developing the school has had more than 50 meetings with parents, educators, residents, local school councils and neighborhood groups “to discuss what the community wants in the new proposed North Lawndale STEAM Academy,” said Leonard Moore, cochair of the education committee of the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council.

Even educators at the schools that would be closed have signed onto the plan, Green said.

“Every group that we’ve met with has endorsed this program. Even the teachers and principals that realize that this might impact their jobs,” Green said. “But they are concerned about the education of the children, and because of that they would like to see this school come to this community.”

A Chicago Public Schools spokesman said the district is committed to listening to Lawndale community members who are working to strengthen their schools.

“We will consider moving forward only if their proposal gains significant parent and stakeholder support and they demonstrate a credible path to improved student outcomes,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Based on feedback from parents and educators, the school would be designed to support diverse learners and would have a focus on social-emotional learning as well as restorative justice practices.

The academy will include a parent engagement center to support a student’s home learning environment. Parents involved in the development of the school suggested the center provide resources like cooking classes, financial literacy workshops, a GED program for families and a fitness center.

The curriculum would follow an instructional framework that emphasizes understanding design processes, industrial experiences and activities, collaboration, and awareness of careers in tech. At least 20 community partners have committed to supporting the school, including the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The UIC partnership would help develop the curriculum and place interns at the school to support after-school programs, tutoring and social-emotional services. The partnership would “make learning exciting and relevant to students” and create a pipeline of students going from Lawndale to the university, said UIC Vice Chancellor Susan Poser.

“On a typical day you’d see students recording observations, carrying out experiments, conducting research,” Moore said.

“It would be project-based learning.”

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

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

HIGH-TECH LEARNING: The STEAM Partnership Academy is being developed in North Lawndale. Below left, a rendering of the science lab at the STEAM Partnership Academy.

Provided

Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

C

Cut the taxes, increase the revenue

hicago is the biggest fish in the ocean known as Illinois. As such, it should be outdoing all the smaller suburbs in terms of shopping opportunities, entertainment and tax revenue. However, because of the stupidity of all the administrations that have run this city for the past 60 years plus, vitality and economic growth has been stunted due to an over-reliance on punitive taxation.

Even with all the multiple streams of revenue coming in from the various sources of taxes, it is still not enough to cover the budget of the city.

Thus, #OneTermLori has come up with a new budget that relies heavily on increased taxation of already overtaxed consumers rather than try to go through the budget and cut a lot of wasteful spending and finding creative ways to generate income for the city.

I recently treated myself to an early Christmas present. If there has been one positive aspect of the devastation of COVID-19 shutting down a number of businesses, it has been the decision by those retail businesses to start the Black Friday/ Holiday sales early and online. One of the items that caused me to pull out my debit card was a professional KitchenAid mixer on sale at Best Buy. The mixer was normally $499. They cut the price by $300 and after several days of wavering back and forth, I decided to take the plunge and buy it.

One of the final questions asked of me as I proceeded to make this online purchase, was whether I wanted to pick up the mixer or have it delivered to me. At first I was of-

fered a store at Harlem and Irving Park. But I don’t travel in that direction often so that would have been very inconvenient. My next option was to have it delivered to my front door. A great idea, except the mixer does not come in a brown box.

Nothing can be more attractive to thieves than to have a package sitting on the front steps in its original packaging.

As I vacillated between which Best Buy store to send the package to, I finally decided the one off Sheffield and North Avenue would be a great location. I travel that way often, it has a parking lot, and there are other places I could visit while in the area. As I got ready to swipe to complete the transaction, the adjusted total caught my eye. What had once been $212, was now $220. Oh hell no, I declared. I’m not going to pay an additional $8 in taxes. So I went back into the app and began to determine which other delivery site would cost me less money than having something delivered in Chicago. I soon discovered a UPS store on West North Avenue in Oak Park. Not only is the location convenient, my total went back to the lower amount.

Why doesn’t Chicago lower its tax rate and cause everybody to want to shop here?

Our higher rates are doing nothing but causing people to avoid us. If this city wants to solve its budget shortfall, cut the tax rate and watch how everybody will soon shop here. Otherwise as long as there is an alternative to paying Chicago’s higher tax rates, the smart consumer will.

See what all the buzz is about.

ARLENE JONES

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

Austin leaders break ground on Pop Courts outdoor space

New public space could be finished by Spring 2021

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

Everything about the new Pop Courts outdoor event space in Austin, at the southeast corner of Chicago and Lockwood avenues, will be designed to inspire.

The mural by local artists painted on the nearby wall, the triangular overhangs and the brightly colored concrete floor is meant to catch the eyes of pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.

The new space will host the 40 Acres Fresh Market, provide overflow seating areas for nearby restaurants and serve as a place where residents could sit down and relax.

Pop Courts is a collaboration between Special Service Area 72 Austin Chicago Avenue Cultural Corridor, the Westside Health Authority, United Way Chicago and the Chicago Department of Planning and Development.

Austin artist Vanessa Stokes, who manages SSA 72, wanted to do something with a vacant lot, and the city’s planning department was looking to create community meeting spots as part of the Invest South/West initiative— a program designed to direct city and private resources toward investments in Black and Brown communities in Chicago.

The organizations officially held a groundbreaking on the morning of Oct. 24 to show the early stages of the project, the concrete base where the basketball court will be locat-

ed and the wall where the mural will go.

Stokes said that they hope to complete the project by Spring 2021.

Stokes lives on the 600 block of North Lockwood Avenue and she regularly passed by the lot, which has been vacant for the past five years. She wanted to see an event space near the restaurants and businesses in the area, such as Schweet Cheesecake, IGOR STUDENKOV 5248 W. Chicago Ave. “I’m hoping that BIG PLANS: Austin community leaders take part in a groundbreaking event for the Pop Courts outdoor space on people will start to see Oct. 24. that we can support businesses along our Ald Emma Mitts (37th), whose ward inproject’s community leaders with funders corridors on the West Side,” Stokes said. United Way Chicago and BMO Harris Bank. cludes the Pop Courts, touted the project as “I think people think it’s hard for things to Austin-based Butler Frelix Construction the latest of many developments along Chihappen here and it’s not really that hard handled much of the initial construction. cago Avenue. once you have the community engagement.”

“At Pop Courts, we can have meetings out“It’s a beautiful thing,” reflected company Maurice Cox, the city’s planning and owner Delvonn Frelix. “It’s a much-needed side and just be a community location where development commissioner, said the city beacon of light for the community. I don’t we can be safe outdoors,” she said. “It’s gowants to create public outdoor spaces in ma- think there’s anything else like this on the ing to be even greater when the community jor commercial corridors. paints the concrete. So I’m just excited about West Side.”

“The idea is that we’re trying to create a According to the posters at the ribbon-cut- all the work on Chicago Avenue.” place for the public to gather and to generate ting, the plaza will have space for two food Cox said that the planning department attention [for the corridor],” Cox said. “You trucks on the south side, a basketball court would be interested in doing something simcan change people’s perception of safety and on the east side that anyone can use, artifi- ilar in other West Side neighborhoods. you can change the perception of commu- cial turf and outdoor furniture.

“We hope this will be a model for other Innity.”

Stokes said that she will be working to vest South/West corridors, where we look at Cox explained that the planning depart- bring in 40 Acres market, the business that the soul of the community.” ment “helped cut through the red tape” sells fresh and affordable produce on the in terms of legal hurdles and linked the West Side.

CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

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

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

9

Breast cancer survivors stress importance of mammograms

Early detection, regular mammograms key survivors say

By SUZANNE MCBRIDE AustinTalks

Sonya Davis is diligent about getting a physical, flu shot and mammogram every year. But in 2014, when she realized she had missed the mammogram, she wasted no time in getting to the doctor for her screening.

At 39, Kimberly Morton had not yet had her first mammogram when she felt pain while stretching her hand. Initially, a health professional told her not to worry, but Morton persisted, finally going to another hospital to be screened.

Both Davis and Morton got the news that one in eight women receive at some point during their life time: They had breast cancer.

Morton’s tumor was small; she had a lumpectomy, then chemotherapy and radiation. She’s been in the clear for 16 years.

Davis was “blessed” – she didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation but did have a mastectomy. She’s been cancer free in one breast for 20 years, and 12 in the other.

The women shared their stories earlier this month, as part of a virtual webinar organized by The Loretto Hospital, where Austin residents who are uninsured or underinsured can get a free mammogram through the end of October.

“We have the best equipment money can buy, and we have the best people,” said Mary Rinder, Loretto’s director of radiology.

Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi, the Austin hospital’s chief clinical officer, said women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer more than any other cancer; and it’s the second deadliest form of cancer for women, second only to lung cancer.

Early detection is key, Dr. Juvvadi said.

If you’re diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, there’s more than a 90 percent chance of survival. “But you have to get diagnosed.”

White women get diagnosed earlier than Black women. And when African American women get diagnosed, they have a higher rate of death. “That’s where Loretto comes in,” Dr. Juvvadi said.

Davis, who works as a counselor and has published a book about her experience titled “Pink But Not Pitiful,” urged women to get their mammograms – every year or every two years, whichever their doctor recommends.

“The earlier you get it done, the better your results will be,” said Davis, who noted her breast cancer was caught early even though she had skipped her annual mammogram.

Morton said she lives with the fear the cancer will return. Recently, she had a scare; she had lost weight (more than 100 pounds), which concerned doctors. She had both a mammogram and ultrasound, but it turned out to be nothing.

She sees it as her mission to share her experience. “I knew that God had me … that it wasn’t going to be a death sentence.”

Women need to take care of themselves, Morton said. “Pay attention to your body.” Though she has lost weight and is healthier, “it’s a constant battle. It’s a battle that we can all win, but we have to be dedicated and try.”

Dr. Juvvadi said if a woman notices pain or just doesn’t feel right, she shouldn’t feel ashamed or think it’s not a big deal. “Go to your doctor. …

Make the doctor listen to you. We’re there to guide you on the science.”

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

VISIBLE: Lavie Raven’s mural in Homan Square was completed in less than a week. The work of art, a tribute to Breonna Taylor, incorporates quotations by artists, such as: “I see you black girl, you’ll never be invisible to me.”

MURAL

Jumpword subhed from page 1 inaccessible luxury,” Ammons wrote.

The piece was accompanied by a photo of a mural created by OPRF teacher Lavie Raven, who conceptualized the idea for the mural, assembled a team artists and oversaw its creation on a wall in Homan Square all in the span of a few days.

“When the Kentucky verdict happened, I was anxious and thinking about things,” Raven said during an interview on Oct. 27. “I was tired of solidifying our hearts against those things and I thought, ‘We have to paint something.’ So I reached out to five dependable brothers and asked them if they’d be willing to help out. It took two-and-a-half days to conceive it and bring everyone together around the mural.”

Raven said the artists — Eduardo Luna, Jocorey Jenkins, Roderick Sawyer and Eric Villarreal — “felt the need to celebrate women and to send the message that it’s time to change and we’re in solidarity.”

The mural centers Breonna Taylor’s name, which hovers over the words, “Women are the Center.”

Ammons said he hadn’t known that Raven was working on his mural, but their thoughts nonetheless joined on the tragic reality of justice denied. He said Jackie McGoey, OPRF’s communications and community relations coordinator, hatched the idea to post his piece alongside a photo of Raven’s mural on the school’s website.

Raven said the Homan Square location was particularly resonant, since it’s the site of the infamous warehouse complex that, according to multiple media reports, allegedly housed a secret detention facility where many Blacks were tortured by police.

“A block away from the mural was the center of many torture allegations, as Black males were forced

to settle and plea to stuff they didn’t do,” Raven said.

“So it’s this centrifugal space.”

Ammons said the mind-meld between himself and Raven didn’t come out of nowhere. Raven teaches the race equity course at OPRF “and we collaborate on multiple levels. We’ve had sidebar conversations about what’s happening and about everything from equity to music. For this to happen the way it did was just organic.”

Ammons was frank about how he’s been affected by incident after incident of unarmed Blacks being shot by police officers.

“Brutality against Black bodies is nothing new in American history,” he said. “We can trace this back to the Slave Trade.

The justification of this treatment is always a thing to contend with, so when I see these instances of brutality happening over and over again, I become numb, especially given the line of work I’m in.

“It’s frustrating,” he added. “It puts me in a Photos by ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer space of rage when I see it. The breaking point for me was Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old who was unjustly gunned down in Ohio [after officers saw him playing with a toy gun in a park]. As the father of an 8-year-old boy, that one struck a chord with me. Lavie’s mural matched my sentiment exactly. We have to protect all people, but particularly our women who do so much for us. In this situation, Breonna Taylor was not protected.”

In his essay, which you can read at oprfhs.org or as a One View in Viewpoints (page 28), Ammons said Taylor’s death should prompt some tough questions for Blacks and whites alike. At the end of the piece, he lists resources on race, antiracism, equity and education for readers to explore.

“Our legal system, in this situation, failed to offer the quality of fairness that justice and equity require,” Ammons wrote. “Additionally, this outcome positioned us to ask ourselves, ‘Do all Americans have equal protection under the law?’”

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

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

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CASHIER/RECEPTIONIST Looking for a detailed oriented individual with dealership experience.

Alternate Saturday schedule, must be flexible. call 708-848-8500

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WANTED MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, medals, patches, uniforms, weapons, flags, photos, paperwork, Also toy soldiers – lead or plastic – other misc. toys.

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BILINGUAL CCP SUPERVISOR Sahara Homecare is hiring a Bilingual CCP Supervisor for the Melrose Park location. We provide homecare services to seniors through the state-funded Community Care Program. Duties for the position include managing both homecare aides and client cases.

Requirements -Able to communicate in both Spanish and English -Minimum High School Diploma -Familiarity with Microsoft Office including Excel -Strong written and verbal communication skills Please send your resume to Human Resources Coordinator Habeeba Nazneen at: habeeban@saharahomecare.com.

For more information on job opportunities, please visit https://saharahomecare.com.

ELECTRICIAN’S HELPER PART-TIME Part-time Electrician’s Helper.

Must have own transportation.

Call for more info.

708-738-3848 TEACHER AND TEACHER AIDE MINI ME BUNCH seeks teacher and teacher aide to enhance and expand daycare serving children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Teacher must have at least Associates’ degree in Early Childhood Education. Minimum 1 year experience preferred in each position.

Must love children and be outgoing, patient, flexible. Contact 773-521-9499.

SUBURBAN RENTALS

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312-802-8291 OAK PARK 2BR 2BA CONDO Condo for rent on a great location near downtown oak park: 2 bedroom 2 bath condo, only electric bill not included. $1400 a month, $1400 deposit. For more information please call 224-475-7929.

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PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given, pursuant to â&#x20AC;&#x153;An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,â&#x20AC;? as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: Y20004905 on October 14, 2020 Under the Assumed Business Name of VONLONGMIRE with the business located at: 1639 N. LOREL AVE., CHICAGO, IL 60639. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/partner(s) is: DAVONTE LONGMIRE 1639 N. LOREL AVE. CHICAGO, IL 60639, USA. Published in Austin Weekly News 10/21, 10/28, 11/4/2020

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC D/B/A MR. COOPER Plaintiff, -v.LINDA R. JOSEPH, KWABENA JOSEPH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC., TCF NATIONAL BANK, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS Defendants 2019CH13923 224 N WALLER AVE CHICAGO, IL 60644 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on September 29, 2020, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on December 4, 2020, 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 224 N WALLER AVE, CHICAGO, IL 60644 Property Index No. 16-08-409-0170000 The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

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 â&#x20AC;&#x153;AS ISâ&#x20AC;? condition.

The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court.

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale.

Where a sale of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior to that of the United States, the United States shall have one year from the date of sale within which to redeem, except that with respect to a lien arising under the internal revenue laws the period shall be 120 days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer, and in any case in which, under the provisions of section 505 of the Housing Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720 of title 38 of the United States Code, the right to redeem does not arise, there shall be no right of redemption.

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 (driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

For information, examine the court file, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Attorneys, 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630) 794-9876 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.

CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE IL, 60527 630-794-5300 E-Mail: pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File No. 14-19-10737 Attorney ARDC No. 00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case Number: 2019CH13923 TJSC#: 40-2322 NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 # 2019CH13923 I3159045

Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020

(773) 626-6332 | FAX: (708) 467-9066 | E-MAIL: CLASSIFIEDS@AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

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Austin Weekly News, November 4, 2020