Charles Brown, a 43-year resident of Englewood, shows journalists the many vacant homes in his neighborhood.

In its continued efforts to show journalists a side of the city that many have not seen, the Grassroots Collaborative took local and national journalists on day two of the “99% Tour.” The tour, which visited Little Village and Back of the Yards on day one, took the small group of journalists to Englewood and Brighton Park in its second day.

Englewood, a neighborhood troubled by high foreclosure rates, has experienced an increase in the amount of vacant homes in the area—a concern to residents like Charles Brown, who said the homes attract violence and drug activity.

“This is what creates the crime, this is what creates the danger in our area. It’s a terrible situation and it has gotten worse,” he said.

Brown, a former Chicago police officer and 43-year resident of Englewood, has worked to bring awareness to the vacant homes in his neighborhood, advocating for legislations such as an amendment to the Vacant Property Ordinance.

Passed last year, the amendment changes the definition of a homeowner to include banks, as the lenders, and makes them responsible for the building’s safety and maintenance while vacant. If they do not comply, they are fined by the city.

“We could start putting this money back into our neighborhoods, then we can cut out crime and increase our ability to educate our children and definitely have it more safer in these neighborhoods,” said Brown.

However, according to him, more money is needed to fund watchmen that would guard vacant homes and prevent violence and drug activity from occurring. That money, he said, could easily come from the city if they spent less money funding events like NATO.

Currently Action Now, an organization that works on foreclosure issues in the city, is working to get the Safe Passage Ordinance approved in City Council. The ordinance would require the implementation of watchmen in unsafe vacant buildings within 1,000 yards of a school. Advocates of the ordinance say this would help keep children who walk home from school safe from criminals.

Keeping children safe is also a concern for residents of Brighton Park. Last month, the neighborhood experienced six shootings and three fatalities due to gang activity.

A group of volunteer mothers is part of a parent patrol at Davis Elementary that helps keep their neighborhood of Brighton Park safe during school hours.

These shootings, according to lead organizer of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC) Mariela Estrada, often occur near local schools, endangering the lives of the students who attend them.

Taking measures to stop the violence, a group of volunteer mothers has formed safety patrols in five elementary schools in the neighborhood.

“Although it’s the city’s job to provide public safety, we had to respond since our children our in danger and continue to face threats of gang violence,” said Nancy Barraza, a Brighton Park leader and Parent Patrol volunteer.

The patrol, according to Barraza, has helped deter gang activity in school zones during school hours, however it has not helped eliminate it completely.

During the Brighton Park tour, as journalists took pictures of gang graffiti along a building façade, a member of the Two-Six gang approached them and urged them to leave his “’hood.”

This type of intimidation, according to members of the parent patrol, is common in the area.

“That’s why it’s so important for us to be here,” said Teresa Padilla, a parent patrol at Davis Elementary. “We need to keep our kids safe from people like that.”

But keeping kids safe requires money that, according to Barraza, the patrol simply does not have.

“We want people to understand that there’s a need for funding for programs such as these,” she said. “If we only receive a portion of what NATO is costing the city in security we would have this program for many years to come.”

The Robin Hood tax is a small tax on financial institutions that would be allocated to public services. According to robinhoodtax.org, this tax on the financial sector has the power to raise hundreds of billions every year to provide funding for jobs to kick start the economy and get America back on its feet.

“We are not protesting today, we are promoting the Robin Hood tax,” said Martha Kuhl, a member of the National Nurses United. “It’s a tiny tax. It’s 50 cents on $100 on financial speculations, on derivatives, stock trade, credit default swamps all those things that cause the problems. Just like you or I pay taxes on the things we buy, we want the big traders to pay a tiny sales tax on the things they buy and sell.”

According to the financial experts, Kuhl added, the Robin Hood tax could amount to as much as $350 billion—money that could be used for public services, health care, education, libraries and all other public programs.

The National Nurses United is one of the biggest rallies so far in anticipation to the NATO summit that will begin on Sunday. The area was strictly barricaded around the sidewalks surrounding the Daley Plaza and the Picasso sculpture.

Over the last decade in Illinois, a combined 56 percent of the bases for complaints of fair housing law violations involved discrimination based on race and national origin, with much of it targeted towards Latinos. -- Latino Policy Forum

Diana Gonzalez was looking to rent a three-bedroom apartment for her and her six kids. She looked for areas in the city with decent schools for her children, but after being turned down by countless landlords, she settled into a place on Halsted and 43rd Streets.

With two disabled kids, Gonzalez currently receives $2,000 in Social Se­curity benefits every month in addition to food stamps and Section 8 vouchers –according to Gonzalez, enough to af­ford an $800 or $1,200 apartment.

However, not every landlord be­lieves she could make the monthly rent even with the housing assistance, which allows Gonzalez to pay a total of about $457— 23 percent of her month­ly income.

“There [were] a lot of different places [where] I looked and all of them turned me away because of the kids,” said Gonzalez.

Other landlords did not want to deal with Section 8 and asked her for a background check even though she explained that in order to qualify for the Chicago Choice voucher program (Section 8), an individual needs to first undergo a criminal background check.

“They were asking too many per­sonal questions and I didn’t think it was right,” added Gonzalez. “They wanted credit and criminal back­ground checks and I had to pay for it. We missed out on a couple of great houses because landlords didn’t want to deal with Section 8.”

According to Gonzalez, many times she was the first person to submit a tenant application. But when she called to follow up, the landlord had already given the apartment to some­one else.

“One landlord was asking if my hus­band was legal or illegal,” added Gon­zalez.

Though Gonzalez feels that she and her family were discriminated, she was unaware of fair housing laws or that she could file a complaint with some of the local housing organiza­tions – an issue that many advocates and housing specialists deem crucial when ending housing inequality.

In efforts to tackle housing discrim­ination in Chicago and the growing La­tino suburban community, the Latino Policy Forum and the Lake County Community Foundation welcomed U.S. Department of Housing and Ur­ban Development (HUD) assistant secretary John Trasviña during their 2012 regional housing summit on Fri­day, May 11.

Trasviña spoke of HUD’s efforts to prevent housing discrimination, es­pecially among immigrants. He also encouraged new partnerships with HUD to document and as­sist those who are victimized during the renting or home buying process.

“It’s our goal to make sure our immigrants are integrated in our society,” said Trasviña. “The real­ity is that we need your cooperation.”

The federal Fair Housing Act declared it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability or familiar status in rental housing, real estate sales, lending, insur­ance, and any financial or other services related to housing. But, recent analysis by the Latino Policy Forum indicates that an estimated four million vio­lations of the federal Fair Housing Act continue to occur each year after the act passed 44 years ago.

In addition, HUD data requested by the forum indicates that between 2000 and 2011, race contin­ues to pose restrictions on housing choice for many families with race related complaints comprising the basis of nearly half (43 percent) of Illinois’ dis­crimination related complaints. And for discrimi­nation complaints based on national origin, 61 percent involved discrimination towards Latinos.

One of the major conflicts with housing dis­crimination based on national origin is related to an individual’s immigration status.

Summit speaker Lakeeshia Austin Fox, HUD presidential management fellow, explained that even when states or town villages enact anti-immi­grant housing legislation, individuals are protected under federal fair housing rights. She assures that while individuals are in the country legally or not, everyone is covered under the Fair Housing Act and cannot be discriminated against when it comes to housing.

“A lot of the states are enacting anti-immigrant legislation statues locally,” said Fox. “[People] don’t come forward to tell us what is going on. That is why we want to get the word out and let them know, you have this right regardless of what the state law says or what they enacted. You still have federal fair housing rights and we want to know if you are experiencing some form of discrimina­tion.”

In many occasions, being undocumented opens the doors for harassment as landlords may threat­en tenants of reporting them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

When HUD does investigations on national origin housing discrimination cases, Fox added, it does not ask about immigration status when some­one files a complaint.

In addition Fox said, “we have spoken with ICE on this topic. They informed us that this isn’t a high priority for them. They are more concerned with the violent offenders and someone who is doing a criminal act that is in the country illegally.”

Trasviña also explained that if there was an on­going civil rights action, ICE would not intervene and look into that person’s status.

“On the specifics of someone having a civil rights action, [ICE] will recognize that,” he said. “The trick is if anyone gets in that situation they need to show that they have a complaint on file and we will work agency to agency. [ICE] respects our independent civil rights agenda and mission and they don’t want to be dragged into the middle of things. The actual assurance is maximized when you, advocates, [and] others are able to let us know that something is missing and then we can get involved.”

The Gate called ICE to find out the extent of its enforcement related to undocumented individuals reporting housing discrimination. Although Gail Montenegro, spokesperson for ICE’s Midwest Office agreed to send in­formation on what the office’s focus is in regards to enforcement in general, she did not give specifics about housing discrimination.

“ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that priori­tizes the removal of criminal aliens, recent border crossers and egregious immigration law violators, such as those who have been previously removed from the United States. The agency exercises prosecutorial discretion, on a case by case basis, as necessary to focus resources on these priorities.”

The regional housing summit welcomed representatives from dozens of community and government organizations, collaborating on training and dialogue around regional housing challenges, with a special focus on di­verse communities.

Sylvia Zaldivar-Sykes, executive director of the Lake County Community Foundation stated that many non-profit agencies have day-to-day contact with potential victims in many communities, but do not have the tools to impart the right information to the people that they serve.

She proposes, as a call to action and a commitment, to host a series of events this coming year to train the trainers.

“We heard from several people saying ‘I am not a fair housing expert’ but yet they are doing it every day,” said Zaldivar-Sykes. “They have to have some level of knowledge and some way to direct the clients that they are working for and with around some of these issues. If people are coming to you with fair housing issues, then we need to pay attention to that as a community.”

Cumbre Regional Trata Discriminación de Vivienda

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assistant secretary John Trasviña speaks to housing experts and advocates during the 2012 regional housing summit on Friday, May 11.

Diana González buscaba alquilar un departamento de tres recámaras para ella y sus seis hijos. Ella buscó en áreas de la ciudad con buenas escuelas para sus hijos, pero después de haber sido rechazada por un sinnúmero de propietarios, se conformó con un lugar en las Calles 43 y Halsted.

Con dos hijos discapacitados, González actualmente recibe $2,000 en beneficios del Seguro Social al mes además de estampillas de alimentos y vales de la Sección 8—según González, lo suficiente para pagar un departamento de $800 o $1,200.

Sin embargo, no todos los propietarios creen que ella puede pagar la renta mensual incluso con la asistencia de vivienda, la cual le permite a González pagar un total de aproximadamente $457—el 23 por ciento de sus ingresos mensuales.

“Hubieron muchos lugares [donde] fui a ver y todos me rechazaron por los niños “, dijo González.

Otros propietarios no querían tratar con la Sección 8 y le pedían una verificación de antecedentes aunque ella les explicaba que para poder ser elegible para el programa de vales Chicago Choice (Sección 8), una persona necesita someterse a una verificación de antecedentes penales.

“Me hacían demasiadas preguntas personales y yo no creía que eso estaba bien”, agregó González. “Querían verificaciones de crédito y de antecedentes y yo tenía que pagarlas. Nos perdimos de un par de muy buenas casas porque los propietarios no querían tratar con la Sección 8”.

Según González, muchas veces ella era la primera persona en entregar la solicitud de inquilino. Pero cuando llamaba para darle seguimiento, el propietario ya le había dado el departamento a alguien más.

“Un propietario [me] preguntó si mi esposo era legal o si era ilegal”, agregó González.

Aunque González siente que ella y su familia fueron discriminados, no estaba consciente de las leyes de vivienda justa o de que ella podía presentar una denuncia con algunas de las organizaciones locales de vivienda—un problema que muchos defensores y especialistas de vivienda consideran crucial al acabar con la desigualdad de vivienda.

Con el fin de reducir la discriminación de vivienda en Chicago y en la creciente comunidad latina de los suburbios, el Foro de Política Latina y la Fundación Comunitaria del Condado de Lake le dieron la bienvenida al Secretario Asistente del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Humano de EE.UU. (HUD) John Trasviña durante su cumbre regional de vivienda 2012 el pasado viernes 11 de mayo.

Trasviña habló de los esfuerzos de HUD para evitar la discriminación de vivienda, especialmente entre los inmigrantes que están siendo victimizados durante el proceso de alquiler o compra de vivienda.

“Es nuestro objetivo asegurarnos de que nuestros inmigrantes estén integrados en nuestra sociedad”, dijo Trasviña. “La realidad es que necesitamos su cooperación”.

La Ley federal de Vivienda Justa declaró que es ilegal discriminar en base a raza, color, religión, origen nacional, sexo, discapacidad o estatus familiar en vivienda de alquiler, ventas de bienes y raíces, préstamos, seguro, y cualquier servicio financiero u otros relacionados a la vivienda. Pero un reciente análisis del Foro de Política Latina indica que un estimado de cuatro millones de violaciones a la Ley Federal de Vivienda siguen ocurriendo cada año después de que fuese aprobada hace 44 años en abril de 1968.

Además, los datos de HUD obtenidos por el foro indican que entre 2000 y 2011, la raza continúa imponiendo restricciones a las opciones de vivienda para muchas familias, siendo las denuncias relacionadas a la vivienda las que comprenden casi la mitad (43 por ciento) de las denuncias de discriminación en Illinois. Y en lo referente a denuncias por discriminación de origen nacional, el 61 porciento se trataban de discriminación en contra de latinos.

Uno de los mayores conflictos con la discriminación de vivienda basada en origen nacional está relacionado al estatus migratorio de una persona.
La oradora de la cumbre Lakeeshia Austin Fox, beneficiaria de gestión presidencial de HUD, explicó que incluso cuando los estados o municipalidades promulgan legislaciones anti inmigrantes de vivienda, las personas están protegidas bajo los derechos federales de vivienda justa. Ella asegura que mientras las personas estén legalmente o no en el país, todos están cubiertos bajo la Ley de Vivienda Justa y no pueden ser discriminados cuando se trata de vivienda.

“Todos los estados están promulgando estatutos de legislaciones anti inmigrantes a nivel local”, dijo Fox. “[La gente] no viene a decirnos lo que sucede. Es por eso que queremos pasar la voz y hacerles saber, tú tienes este derecho sin importar lo que la ley estatal diga o lo que han promulgado. Tú todavía tienes derechos de vivienda justa y queremos saber si estás sufriendo alguna forma de discriminación”.

En muchas ocasiones, el ser indocumentados abre las puertas a los acosos ya que los propietarios pueden amenazar a los inquilinos o reportarlos al Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE).

Cuando HUD conduce investigaciones de los casos de discriminación de vivienda por origen nacional, Fox agregó, no pregunta el estatus migratorio cuando alguien presenta una denuncia.

Además, dijo Fox, “hemos hablado con ICE de este tema. Nos informaron que esto no es de alta prioridad para ellos. A ellos les preocupan más los delincuentes violentos o alguien que esté cometiendo un acto criminal que esté en el país ilegalmente”.

Trasviña también explicó que si hubiera una continua acción de derechos civiles, ICE no intervendría y revisaría el estatus de esa persona.

“Sobre los detalles de que alguien tiene una acción de derechos civiles, [ICE] lo va a reconocer”, el dijo. “El truco es que si alguien está en esa situación necesitan comprobar que tienen una denuncia interpuesta y trabajaremos de agencia a agencia. [ICE] respeta nuestra agenda independiente de derechos civiles y misión y no quiere ser arrastrado al centro de las cosas.La actual seguridad se maximiza cuando ustedes, los defensores [y] demás pueden avisarnos que algo falta y luego nos podemos involucrar”.

El periódico The Gate llamó a ICE para averiguar la aplicación de la ley en relación a las personas indocumentadas que reportan discriminación de vivienda. Aunque Gail Montenegro, la portavoz de la Oficina del Medio Oeste de ICE acordó enviar información sobre el enfoque de la oficina relacionada a la aplicación general, no dio detalles específicos sobre la discriminación de vivienda.

“ICE está enfocado en una aplicación de las leyes de inmigración inteligente, efectiva que prioriza el retiro de los extranjeros criminales, las personas que recientemente cruzaron la frontera y los flagrantes violadores de la ley de inmigración, tales como los que previamente habían sido retirados de los Estados Unidos. La agencia ejercita discreción fiscal, en base al caso, a medida que sea necesario para enfocar los recursos en estas prioridades”.

La cumbre regional de vivienda le dio la bienvenida a representantes de docenas de organizaciones comunitarias y gubernamentales, que colaboraron en el entrenamiento y diálogo alrededor de los retos regionales de vivienda, con un enfoque en las comunidades diversas.

Sylvia Zaldivar-Sykes, directora ejecutiva de la Fundación Comunitaria del Condado de Lake declaró que en muchos casos las agencias sin fines de lucro tienen contacto a diario con víctimas de discriminación en varias comunidades, pero no tienen las herramientas para impartir la información correcta a las personas que sirven.

Ella propone, como un llamado de acción y un compromiso para organizar, una serie de eventos el próximo año para capacitar a los entrenadores.

“Hemos oído a varias personas decir ‘no soy un experto en vivienda’ pero lo hacen todos los días”, dijo Zaldivar-Sykes. “Tienen que tener algún nivel de conocimiento y alguna forma de dirigir a los clientes para los que trabajan y con quienes trabajan alrededor de algunos de estos problemas. Si la gente acude a ti con problemas de vivienda justa, entonces necesitamos ponerle atención a eso como comunidad”.

Moderator Angela Sanbrano, president of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities and Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia

In efforts to open an inclusive space to explore the policy and political agenda of the Latino community in the U.S., local and national Latino leaders gathered in the heart of Pilsen to launch the 2012 National Latino Congreso.

The kick off press conference held at Casa Michoacan on Thursday, May 17, is the beginning of the sixth annual three-day event being held at the Arturo Velazquez Institute.

The Congreso, first organized in 2006 by leading national Latino organizations, is convening for the first time in Chicago. Scheduled around the NATO summit, the event will highlight the most predominant issues that Latinos face in the U.S. today.

“The Latino Congreso is a unique place to identify strategies that will contribute to the advancement of our community,” said Angela Sanbrano, board president of the National Alliance of the Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC).

The three-day event, from May 17 to May 19, consists of a series of workshops and panel discussions to spark dialogue about the role that Latinos will play in this year’s upcoming elections.

“The National Latino Congreso is taking place in a very critical and challenging time for the Latino community entering an extremely complex and difficult political environment,” added Sanbrano.  “Not only because of the 2012 elections but because we are facing a very serious economic crisis that impacts all the social-political dimensions of the Latino community.”

The event brings together key national and state organizations that not only will be strategizing about immigration reform but will be focusing on key issues related to health, the economy, jobs and housing— issues where Latinos need to be at the forefront during these upcoming elections, explained Silvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum.

“While immigration [is] clearly one of the key issues of our community, as Latino individuals living in the state—education, economy, health care—are also important to us,” said Puente.

According to Puente, the Latino Policy Forum has connected analysis to show that every year there will be at least 37,000 Latinos turning 18 in the state of Illinois—an opportunity to build a new, young Latino base during one of the most exciting times in our history, she added.

However, the challenge remains getting those new voters registered, excited and out to the polls.

“In terms of the Latino growth in Illinois the good news is that we know that between 2000 and 2008 the number of registered Latino voters in this state increased by 50 percent to reach 400,000 people, representing about six percent of the electoral. So, we are a growing political force in Illinois,” said Puente. “We have a lot of work to do to get that other 50 percent of our population engaged and out to the polls.”

That is a major focus of the National Latino Congreso. With a number of plenary sessions and an array of workshops about transnationalism, women issues, immigration, environmental justice, farm workers issues, and education, the Congreso will push for a national Latino agenda— particularly, while Chicago is the center of national and international attention during the NATO summit.

“It is significant that during the NATO gathering, there is a gathering of Latinos throughout the country with a Latin American perspective,” said Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia.

At the end of the three-day series, Congreso leaders will present a series of resolutions in a solidified document to be shared with both presidential candidates for the 2012 elections.

The National Latino Congreso is being held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Arturo Velazquez Institute. For more information about its sponsors or to attend the event go to www.latinocongreso.org

Dahriian Espinoza, economic development specialist for Enlace Chicago, speaks to journalists during a stop of the "99% Tour" at Chicago Youth Boxing Club in Little Village.

What do Chicago neighborhoods have to do with NATO?

According to leaders of local community organizations, the answer is a lot.

“Sixty percent of our federal tax dollars go to the military,” said La Villita Community Church Pastor Victor Rodriguez. “In Cook County alone $9.8 billion will go to funding the military and wars. That’s a lot of money that could be spent on youth, on addressing the violence and gang wars in our own neighborhoods.”

Rodriguez along with other community leaders and residents of Little Village and Back of the Yards spoke out against the city’s investment in the NATO summit as part of the Grassroots Collaborative’s two-day “99% Tour.”

Organized to inform local and national journalists of the city’s misplaced priorities by hosting the NATO summit, the first day of the tour took journalists first to the Chicago Youth Boxing Club, a Little Village nonprofit youth development sports program run by Rodriguez.

The program, according to him, helps keep neighborhood youth off the streets and provides a place for them to keep busy between the hours of 3 to 8 p.m.

“I can say with certainty that the gym here makes the difference in whether many of these kids will stay off the streets or be out there and get killed,” he said.

Despite the success of his program, Rodriguez struggles to find the resources to fund the needed boxing equipment. He said a mere $600 would allow him to buy a dozen sparing gloves for the program.

However, instead of taxpayer dollars going toward funding neighborhood programs such as the Chicago Youth Boxing Club, he said, they are used for events such as NATO.

World Business Chicago (WBC), the company hired by the city to raise funds for the summit announced in late March that it had raised $36.5 million  for NATO-related costs, including $14 million for parties and social functions.

Pastor Victor Rodriguez of La Villita Community Church runs a youth boxing club in Little Village and a says a mere $600 will allow him to buy a dozen sparing gloves for his program.

A key point for raising the funds, according to the city, was to refrain local taxpayers from putting up any money for the event. However, executive director of the Grassroots Collaborative Amisha Patel says taxpayers have already subsidized the summit by previous government subsidies given to NATO’s corporate donors.

Some of those donors include United Airlines, which received over $31 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF), Boeing Airlines, which received $24 million in property tax breaks and city grants, and the Chicago Mercantile, which got a $9.8 million property tax break.

“If a corporate company raised $14 million for parties, why can’t we organize to ask for an adjustment from those private sectors in neighborhoods around the city which will have a more profound effect than an event that will last a weekend,” she said. “Here we have $14 million—that’s a lot of champagne, a lot of caviar—if we had even a fraction of that money and those resources in these neighborhoods it would make huge impact.”

The second part of the tour took journalists to Back of the Yards, where one of the 12 mental health clinics closed by the city once operated. The clinic was one of two mental health clinics that provided Spanish-language services to its clients.

According to N’Dana Carter, a consumer of mental health clinics and an organizer for STOP, since April 9, the date of the clinic’s closure, 18 people have been hospitalized for conditions such as anxiety and attempted suicide. Others, she said, have begun to cut themselves again.

Carter believes $14 million would be more than enough to keep mental services available to those in need.

“It would cost $3.3 million to keep all 12 public mental health clinics open,” she said. “Add another $3 million and we could have all the drug assistance programs, we could have more therapists, social workers and psychiatrics.”

Both Carter and Rodriguez plan to join NATO protests this weekend, along with other residents and community leaders of both neighborhoods.

“Grassroots leaders are the global majority. People and families should come first, not corporate and military interests. A global city takes care of its neighborhoods,” said Patel.

The “99% Tour” will continue tomorrow and will take journalists to the neighborhoods of Englewood and Brighton Park to address the foreclosure crisis in the city.

Photo by Steve Rhodes via flickr

Gearing up for the NATO summit, organizers of the only permitted march to the summit site at McCormick Place announced their plans for the event today.

Occupy Chicago and the Coalition Against NATO/G8 (CANG8) have been negotiating with the city of Chicago for months to organize the march that will begin in Chicago’s Grant Park and end at McCormick Place on Sunday, March 20.

“After eleven months, we’ve come to the event we’ve been preparing for,” said Pat Hunt, a leading organizer for CANG8 in a press statement.  “NATO is not a defense organization:  it’s an alliance of nations engaged in warfare. We are a coalition opposed to war, and so we will march on Sunday to where the NATO war makers are holding their summit.”

Other Chicago-based organizations have planned events for local, national and international journalists arriving into the city to cover the summit.

The Grassroots Collaborative, a coalition of local groups that works on policy change, has planned “Chicago 99% Tours” for May 17 and 18 to show journalists the working class neighborhoods in the city. These tours, according to the group, will help them report on the connections between Chicago struggles and their cities.

Chicago artists have also shown their solidarity to the many demonstrations taking place throughout the week. Members of Occupy Chicago’s Arts and Recreation Committee and Occupy Chicago Rebel Arts Collective, installed a public art sculpture at the site of Trinity Episcopal Church on Monday. Named the “Wishing Tree for the 99%,” it welcomes all participants to write their wishes for the future on paper leaves and attach them to the sculpture’s many branches.

Other protests and rallies are scheduled throughout the week including a shut down of the Boeing headquarters and a rally for affordable housing. For a full list of planned events visit http://chicagostories.org/calendar/

Photo by Maureen Murphy via flickr

On Saturday, May 12 at 12:30 p.m., in an effort to bring awareness to the lack of trauma centers in the South Side of the city,  victims’ mothers, youth and students will march from 61^st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue to the nearest trauma center 10 miles away, Northwestern Memorial Hospital 251 E. Huron St.

The first stop of the march will be the University of Chicago Hospital where victims’ mothers, doctors, nurses, youth and students will demand the university reopen their trauma center. The last stop will be Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

“We are marching to show the distance it takes to get the nearest trauma center and to show that we will not give up, we will march hundreds of miles if we have to, we will march until our feet give out and even then we won’t stop until we get a trauma center,” said Victoria Crider, 16, of Fearless Leading by the Youth, the group organizing the march.

The 10 mile march is the latest in a series of actions led by Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY) and University of Chicago students demanding the University of Chicago reopen their trauma center.

The trauma center campaign was started after Damian Turner, who co-founded Fearless Leading by the Youth, was shot by a stray bullet 4 blocks away from the University of Chicago Hospital but was taken all the way to Northwestern Hospital, where he died, because there is not a single adult trauma center on the South Side. Recent studies have found ambulance transport times on the South Side to be far greater than those on the North Side and a soon to be published study by Dr. Marie Crandall of Northwestern Hospital shows that shorter transport times saves lives.

The University of Chicago Hospital closed its trauma center in 1988, causing a domino effect that led to the current trauma center desert on the south side of Chicago. Trauma centers are emergency rooms that have an available operating room and surgical team ready to treat life-threatening injuries at a moment’s notice.

Photo by Frank_am_Main

As we commemorate Mother’s Day, millions of mothers around the world suffer as a result of immigration laws that disregard the human dimension of this issue, as well as the root causes of migration. These laws rooted in prejudice and recklessly enforced, have only led to heartache and humiliation for millions of migrant mothers and their families. The systematic disregard for migrants’ basic rights has made migrants who dare to travel by land through Central America and Mexico especially vulnerable to abuse, rape, abductions, disappearances and even mass executions.

“As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we regret the fact that outdated immigration laws as well as anti-immigrant laws, characterized by their utter disrespect for migrants’ human rights, continue to cause sorrow to migrant mothers and their loved ones” stated Angela Sanbrano, NALACC’s president. “The relentless application of current immigration law continues and has resulted in the forced separation of hundreds of thousands of mothers from their children and loved ones over the past few years,” she added. “A valuable gift for migrant mothers living in the United States would be the termination, once and for all, of the ill-conceived ‘Secure Communities’ program.”

“In addition to the outdated and unfair U.S. federal immigration law, migrants and their families have also been victimized by more severe laws in many localities and states around the country,” said Juvencio Rocha Peralta, president of the Association of Mexicans of North Carolina (AMEXCAN), as well as NALACC’s vice president. “Migrants have been demonized by those with political agendas motivated by hatred and fear as the cause for the economic, social and political deterioration of the last decades, which has led to high levels of anxiety and insecurity in our society. Anti-immigrant laws like those recently passed in Arizona, South Carolina and Alabama; do nothing when it comes to fixing the most challenging problems facing U.S. societies, and instead, they harshly punish immigrant mothers and other hard working, tax paying immigrants in our society.”

“In the case of the migration corridor between Central America, Mexico and the United States, the obsolete migration laws now in effect have led to a pattern of systematic human rights violations against migrants and those who dare to defend them,” said Clelia Sabio, a NALACC board member based in New York City. “From the United States, we stand in solidarity with the mothers and relatives of missing migrants. We hope for a future in which the whereabouts of all missing migrants is answered, where perpetrators are brought to justice and where immigration laws no longer cause pain and sorrow to migrant mothers and their love ones.”

In addition to media and communication activities in the United States, organizations of families of missing migrants will be organizing demonstrations in Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador as part of a regional effort that aims to reclaim the value of migrants, their right to justice and punishment of those responsible for crimes committed against them.

“Asian Americans make up nearly five percent of Illinois’ population, but only about two and a half percent of state employees.  This legislation will help to encourage more equity in state hiring and help improve services for Illinois’ growing Asian American communities,” stated Senator Muñoz.

Springfield, Illinois —State Senator Tony Munoz (D-Chicago) is sponsoring legislation that will establish an Asian American Employment Plan for Illinois.  This is similar to the Hispanic and African American Employment Plans already in place throughout state government.

“Asian Americans make up nearly five percent of Illinois’ population, but only about two and a half percent of state employees,” said Senator Munoz, a member of the Senate Executive Committee.  “This legislation will help to encourage more equity in state hiring and help improve services for Illinois’ growing Asian American communities.”

House Bill 4510 will establish and implement an Asian American Employment Plan throughout state government to provide fair representation and services.  This measure will help ensure that cultural and linguistic services are available to Asian Americans.  In addition, this measure creates an advisory council that will be tasked with examining the prevalence and impact of Asian Americans employed by State government, the barriers they face when seeking employment or promotional opportunities, and possible incentives to foster the employment of and promotion of Asian Americans in State government.

This plan will require each agency in the state to collect and report annually to the Department of Human Rights on Asian American recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion.

Muñoz Impulsa Legislación que Desarrollará  Plan de Empleo para Asiático-Americanos en Illinois

 “La comunidad asiático- americana conforma casi el cinco por ciento de la población de Illinois, pero solo casi un dos y medio por ciento de los empleados estatales. Esta legislación ayudará a promover una mayor igualdad en la contratación del estado y en el mejoramiento de los servicios para la creciente comunidad asiático-americana”, afirmó el Senador Muñoz

 Springfield, Illinois — El Senador Estatal Tony Muñoz (D-Chicago) ha patrocinado e impulsado la ley que establecerá un Plan de Empleo para la Comunidad asiático-americana de Illinois. Esta ley es similar a los Planes de Empleo para Hispanos y Afro Americanos que ya existen en el gobierno de Illinois”.

“La comunidad asiático- americana conforma casi el cinco por ciento de la población de Illinois, pero solo un dos y medio por ciento de los empleados estatales”, dijo el Senador Muñoz, miembro del Comité Ejecutivo del Estado. “Esta legislación ayudará a promover una mayor igualdad en la contratación del estado y en el mejoramiento de los servicios para la creciente comunidad asiático-americana”.

La Ley de la Cámara de Representantes HB 4510 establecerá e implementará un Plan de Empleo para la Comunidad asiático-americana dentro del gobierno del estado, con el fin de proveer una representación más equitativa y servicios. Esta medida servirá para asegurar que estén disponibles los servicios culturales y lingüísticos. Además, esta medida crea un consejo asesor que tendrá a su cargo el examinar la prevalencia e impacto de los asiático-americanos empleados por el gobierno del estado, las barreras que enfrentan al buscar trabajo o las oportunidades promocionales y los incentivos posibles para fomentar el empleo y promoción de este grupo en el Gobierno del Estado.

Este plan requerirá que cada agencia del estado reúna y reporte  información para el Departamento de Derechos Humanos sobre el reclutamiento, contratación, retención y promoción  de asiático-americanos.

Fr. Brendan Curran, St. Pius Church speaks against potential program cuts for Saint Anthony Hospital

Community Representatives, Patients, Advocates Rally to Save Safety-Net Hospitals

Hilda Martinez, a Little Village resident, visits Saint Anthony Hospital regularly. She is the mother of a 9-month-old and takes full advantage of the hospital’s wellness program and other services for new parents. She fears that future cuts to the Medicaid budget will force her to move to a different hospital far from where she lives.

“It would really affect me because [Saint Anthony] is close to my community and close to [public] transportation. It has excellent doctors, various programs [and] the doctors and the hospitality of everyone [makes it] my second home here,” said Martinez.

On Monday May 7,  Little Village and Pilsen representatives held a press conference against possible staff layoffs and program cuts in response to Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed Medicaid cuts to community safety-net hospitals—among them Saint Anthony Hospital.

The cuts are due to a proposed $2.7 billion slash to the Illinois Medicaid budget and many fear that such cuts to community safety-net hospitals, community-based agencies, mental health providers and nursing homes could devastate hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents.

“As we gather in this building, let’s remember those who built [it] many generations ago. They thought of the need to provide quality aid, with tenderness and respect for each person that passes or enters through these doors,” said Fr. Brendan Curran, St. Pius Church.

South and West Side Chicago community leaders from organizations including Enlace Chicago, Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, Instituto del Progreso Latino, The Resurrection Project and Faith Community MB Church presented more than 7,000 signed cards supporting the safety net hospitals during a press conference held on Monday May 7, 2012.

Safety-net hospitals see more than half a million Medicaid patients each year, employ 12,000 people and drive more than $700 million in economic stimulus in their communities, yet the state only funds about a third or 28 percent of the costs to treat Medicaid patients. The rest is funded by the hospitals themselves and by the federal government, explained Mark Newton, president and CEO of Swedish Covenant Hospital during a press event held by the Safety-net Hospital Coalition on March 28.

Members at the press conference also presented more than 7,000 signed cards in support of the safety-net hospitals that will be delivered to Gov. Quinn.

Attendees included representatives of Enlace Chicago, Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, Instituto del Progreso Latino, The Resurrection Project, Faith Community MB Church, and Ald. George Cardenas.

Hospital San Antonio en Peligro con los Recortes Propuestos al Medicaid

Representantes Comunitarios, Pacientes, Defensores Se Manifiestan para Salvar los Hospitales de la Red de Seguridad

Hilda Martínez, residente de La Villita, visita el hospital San Antonio con regularidad. Ella es madre de un bebé de 9 meses de edad y toma total ventaja del programa de bienestar del hospital y de otros servicios para nuevos padres. Ella teme que los futuros recortes al presupuesto del Medicaid la forzarán a trasladarse a otro hospital lejos de donde ella vive.

“Me afectaría mucho porque [San Antonio] está cerca de mi comunidad, cerca del transporte [público]. Tiene excelentes médicos, diferentes programas [y] los doctores y la amabilidad de todos, es como mi segunda casa aquí”, dijo Martínez.

El lunes 7 de mayo, representantes de La Villita y Pilsen organizaron una conferencia de prensa contra los posibles despidos de personal y los recortes de programas en respuesta a los recortes propuestos del gobernador Pat Quinn a los hospitales comunitarios de la red de seguridad—entre ellos el Hospital San Antonio.

Los recortes se deben al corte propuesto de $2.7 billones al presupuesto del Medicaid de Illinois y muchos temen que tales recortes a los hospitales de la red de seguridad, agencias comunitarias, proveedores de salud mental, y asilos de ancianos podría devastar a cientos de miles de residentes de Illinois.

“[Nos reunimos] en este edificio, para [recordar] a aquellos que [lo] construyeron hace muchas generaciones. Pensaron en la necesidad práctica de proveer ayuda [de] calidad, con cariño y respeto para cada persona que pasa o entra por estas puertas”, dijo el Padre Brendan Curran, Iglesia San Pio.

“[Nos reunimos] en este edificio del hospital de San Antonio, recordemos ya que los que construyeron este edificio hace muchas generaciones, pensaron en la necesidad practica de proveer ayuda con calidad, con un cariño y respeto para cada persona que pasa o entra por estas puertas y también no solamente se queda aquí el cuidado de uno sino a nuestras casa a nuestros barrios ofreciéndonos talleres y muchas más opciones de ayuda.”

Los hospitales de la red de seguridad reciben a más de medio millón de pacientes del Medicaid cada año, emplean a 12,000 personas y generan más de $700 millones en estímulos económicos en sus comunidades, sin embargo el estado sólo financia una tercera parte o el 28 por ciento de los costos para tratar a los pacientes del Medicaid. El resto es financiado por los mismos hospitales y por el gobierno federal, explicó Mark Newton, presidente y director del Hospital Swedish Covenant durante un evento de prensa realizado por la Coalición de la Red de Seguridad el pasado 28 de marzo.

Los miembros durante la conferencia de prensa presentaron más de 7,000 tarjetas firmadas en apoyo a los hospitales de la red de seguridad que se planea sean enviadas al gobernador Quinn.

Los asistentes incluyeron representantes de Enlace Chicago, la Corporación Lawndale de Desarrollo Cristiano, Instituto del Progreso Latino, Proyecto Resurrección, Faith Community MB Church, y el Concejal George Cardenas.