JCUA in Letter to Rahm: Keep Lathrop Homes Public

JCUA speaks up in solidarity with Lathrop Homes residents in a letter to city officials, stating: Keep Lathrop Homes 100% public housing, and lease up the hundreds of units at Lathrop that are currently vacant.

——————————

Lathrop Homes

Sefer Hasidim (a 12th-century legal text) teaches that “if a community lacks a place of worship and a shelter for the poor, it is first obligated to build a shelter for the poor.”

Since 2010, JCUA has been working directly with residents at the Lathrop Homes public housing development, to empower the voice of the residents in the debate over the future of Lathrop Homes. The future of Lathrop Homes is critical for the following reasons:

• There are tens of thousands of families in Chicago on the waiting list for public housing.
• There are tens of thousands more who could not get on the waiting list since it was full and closed.
• Even with all this tremendous need for housing in Chicago, under 150 of Lathrop’s 900 units are currently occupied. Over 750 units of housing stand vacant in this development alone.
  

Our Story: Or Tzedek Advanced Activism 2012

By Natasha Madorsky, Dan Lapidus, Emma Hultgren, Sophie Leff, Sarah Crotty, Elizabeth Barras, Madison Reisler, and Hannah Kaplan
Participants in the 2012 “Advanced Activism” session of Or Tzedek

(Cross-posted from the Or Tzedek blog)

Or Tzedek Advanced Activism participants, summer 2012.

While most of our peers are spending their summers at the pool or at camp, eight of us – teens from around the Chicago area (and Cleveland, Ohio) – came together to pursue social justice for the diverse communities around us.

The thing is, we all came from different communities and we all have different Jewish experiences. Some of us came from the city and some from the suburbs. Some of us go to Jewish day schools and some of us go to public schools. We represent a wide range of denominations of Judaism; we are Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform and Unaffiliated. Although we may be passionate about different issues, we all want the same thing- JUSTICE.

In these past eight days, we’ve all driven down streets lined with foreclosed and abandoned homes. Until Or Tzedek, we never quite realized the gravity of the issue. Several of us spent the week interning at the Humboldt Park-based organization LUCHA (Latin United Community Housing Association), which works on affordable housing and related issues within the community. Through this experience, we were able to interact with neighborhood residents and deepen our understanding of how affordable housing affects individuals and communities.

» A few spots are still open in the remaining Or Tzedek sessions July 15-22 and Aug. 5-12. Learn more and register here.

Later on in the week, we spoke with residents of Lathrop Homes, a public housing development. The restrictions placed on access to housing and the governmental neglect found in Lathrop is appalling. Institutionalized oppression tears these communities and lives apart.

Or Tzedek stands for light of justice, which is exactly what we think everyone needs to be aware of. The light is “shining” on our generation to get involved in the problems of our world. M’dor l’dor, from generation to generation, we need to create a society where everyone has what they need. Or Tzedek has given us inspiration to find different causes closer to home. Everyone can make a difference.

Make the Vision Possible, Says JCUA’s CEO

Judy Levey, JCUA’s chief executive officer, was a featured speaker at our recent “Acts of Change” event (June 20, 2012). She identifies JCUA’s main issue areas as immigration, housing, Jewish-Muslim community building and empowerment of Jewish teens. The event honored immigration attorney Kalman Resnick and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia with the Rabbi Robert J. Marx Social Justice Award.

---

Judy Levey, JCUA CEO

It is an honor to be here, following the great tradition of Rabbi Marx, Jane Ramsey, and others have led this organization. Our honorees, Kalman and Chuy are role models for social justice. They, together with our community partners, and all of you – are Actors of Change.

I would like to illustrate several of the ways JCUA, with your help, makes our world more just. These examples make clear what a group of committed and focused people can accomplish when we work together.

Proposed Crete Detention Center

Let’s begin with the dramatic recent events taking place in the Village of Crete. The Corrections Corporation of America was hoping to construct a private immigration detention center there. But the CCA has a bad track record, and their profit incentives lead them to skimp on food and health care. Private detention centers in general are notorious for violations of basic human rights.

JCUA has been working in Crete since late last year, joining forces with the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants, of which we are a founding member. With our help, the residents of Crete got organized and fought to make their voices heard.

There were some setbacks, but a couple of weeks ago the Village Board of Crete voted to kill the project.

Did it happen overnight? No, it was the result of the sustained efforts of the residents of Crete, JCUA, and allies, working together, building relationships, and persevering even in the face of what looked like defeat.

Lathrop Homes Advocates Set Teach-In and Action for April 24

Residents at a Lathrop Homes protest last year.

By Holly Krig
JCUA Community Organizer

Supporting the residents of Lathrop Homes, JCUA will host a teach-in and action in collaboration with the Chicago Housing Initiative. Lathrop Homes is a Chicago Housing Authority site in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.

We are working directly with residents at Lathrop Homes, where CHA hopes to enact a plan similar to the mixed-income development at Cabrini’s Parkside, which has forcibly displaced hundreds of families and cost the city $11.4 million in bail-out for mostly market rate housing.

Lathrop Homes Teach-In and Action
(A collaboration of Chicago Housing Initiative, Common Ground and JCUA)
Tuesday, April 24, 10 am-noon (registration begins at 9:30)
Spertus Building, 630 S Michigan Ave., 9th floor
Contact Holly Krig: holly@jcua.org or 312-663-0960, ext 111

The Teach-In, which will help us understand the policy issues from the perspective of those who live with their impact will be followed by a public action. Folks will gather outside Spertus at noon for that portion of the day; details will be announced at the Teach-In. Contact me at JCUA before Friday if you are interested in helping to organize the action.

JCUA first came together with Lathrop Homes residents when we joined the Coalition to Protect Public Housing as CHA announced its Plan for Transformation.

Recently JCUA has joined the table again with a new formation of resident leaders called Common Ground. Once again, the timing is critical. CHA plans to announce its “recalibration” of the Plan for Transformation in June.

Myths and Realities of Homelessness and Poverty: A Plan for Transforming Cities

By Jane Ramsey
President, JCUA

This lecture was delivery by Jane Ramsey on Feb. 29 at Iowa State University. Her appearance was cosponsored by the College of Design, the Department of Community and Regional Planning, the Graduate Community and Regional Planning Club and the Committee on Lectures.

We are here tonight to explore the myths and realities of homelessness and poverty, through the lens of Chicago’s supposed “transformation” of public housing. How fascinating that a path has been forged between Chicago and Iowa by some former residents of public housing and others who were forced out of the housing market as a result of the “transformation.”

Let me begin by sharing with you my somewhat unique vantage point as this story unfolded.

It began, coincidentally, for me as a University of Chicago graduate student in 1976 when I was placed as an intern with the city of Chicago’s economic development department, then called the Mayor’s Committee for Economic and Cultural Development. Following my internship I was hired on as a city planner…getting an invaluable, first-hand education about Mayor Richard J. Daley and the Chicago Machine.

2011 Recap: JCUA’s Year in Review

A year’s work for JCUA, “the Jewish Conscience of Chicago”

JCUA provided a zero-interest loan through our Community Ventures LLC to help Breaking Ground rehab 75 foreclosed homes in North Lawndale over three years.  Learn more about Community Ventures.

JCUA assisted public housing residents at Lathrop Homes to avoid displacement. Learn more about Lathrop Homes.

JCUA joined forces with community partners to form the Multifaith Foreclosure Reclamation Initiative, working to secure properties in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood and planning for more. Learn more about the work on Chicago’s Southwest Side.

JCUA leaders were instrumental in passing the Illinois DREAM Act, putting Illinois at the forefront in recognizing that we all benefit when immigrant students have opportunities for higher education. Learn more about JCUA’s involvement in the DREAM Act.

JCUA marked Black History Month with the “Garment of Destiny” multi-media project, an online campaign to combat racism. Watch and read the “Garment of Destiny” project.

JCUA, in meetings with the White House, advocated for comprehensive immigration reform and the creation of additional affordable housing to meet the critical needs of very low income families and individuals. Learn more about JCUA’s advocacy work in the White House.

JCUA’s Or Tzedek Teen program developed a cadre of 75 Jewish social justice leaders who have taken action on the most pressing social justice issues in Chicago. Learn more about Or Tzedek, a Teen Institute for Social Justice.

JCUA brought together more than 1,000 Jews and Muslims, helping to create a more open, embracing society. Watch and read about “Iftar in the Synagogue.”

Lathrop Homes Tashlich Action: A Teen’s Reflections

Lauren, Ariel, Or Tzedek Summer '10 and '11 participant, and Miguel Suarez, Lathrop Homes resident and community leader, at Lathrop Homes

By Lauren Bergelson
Or Tzedek Participant, Summer 2010

Over a year had passed since I was last at Lathrop Homes when I went back there for Tashlich this fall. The day was beautiful (it was Sunday) and Rebecca, another student activist and I were meeting with a Lathrop Homes resident, Sandra, before taking part in the traditional Tashlich ceremony and planning our future actions. Sandra shared poetry with us and voiced her opinion regarding the precarious status of Lathrop Homes, the affordable housing community where she lives and raised her family.

Currently the future of Lathrop Homes is up in the air as steps are being taken to transform much of the property into market-priced homes. This poses a huge problem for the many families and individuals who live and have lived in the community for decades. It was shocking to realize how unpredictable the residents’ futures are. However, it was also inspiring to see Sandra’s passion and love for her community.

I met Sandra in the summer of 2010 when I attended Or Tzedek and it was wonderful to see her again. During the brief time we met with her, I was reminded of her enthusiasm and the vivacity of the Lathrop Homes community. Oftentimes the only image of affordable housing people have is of a dangerous, dilapidated place, but Lathrop Homes looked nothing like what people expect. Later during the Tashlich ceremony we discussed the changes we would like to make this year and committed ourselves to continuing social action, specifically with Lathrop Homes in mind.

 

“Ensuring the Same for All”: Rabbi Bruce Elder on the Importance of Affordable Housing

On Friday, July 29, 2011 leaders from JCUA joined some 160 other representatives of organizations that are part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable at the White House for a policy briefing to exchange ideas on housing, healthcare, food justice and education. Below are two stories Rabbi Bruce Elder, JCUA’s new board president, shared on the importance of affordable housing.

Rabbi Bruce Elder (left) speaking to HUD leaders on the importance of affordable housing

Chicago, like most cities across the country, is in the midst of a housing crisis.  In 2011, a minimum-wage earner has to work 95 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in the Chicago metropolitan area, or more than two full-time jobs.

With this in mind, I want to share two stories:  One exemplifies the problem low-income people and communities are currently facing, and the second demonstrates an effective strategy to solve the dire need for affordable housing.

Lathrop Homes on Chicago’s northwest side is a 900-unit development with 730 current vacancies — a shocking fact considering that over 200,000 families applied for affordable housing when the Chicago Housing Authority opened up the waiting list last year.  Why all these vacancies? Many former residents wanted to stay in their homes, but have been displaced either as a result of the Chicago Housing Authority’s current policies or other market forces beyond their control.

Too many Chicagoans are being uprooted from their homes in public housing without adequate consideration for where they will go.