President of R.A.G.E. featured on a documentary about Whole Foods Market Englewood #teamwfm

Below I will share both screencaps shown from the R.A.G.E. instagram page. Unless someone from R.A.G.E. corrects me there didn't appear to be any advanced notice that this documentary was going to are on WCIU Too! Hopefully as indicated in the gram that was reposted to The Sixth Ward's ig we may learn about future replays.

The Whole Foods store in Englewood has been open since September 2016 to great fanfare.

Disclosure: One of the bloggers here is a Whole Foods Market team member.

A post shared by R.A.G.E. (@rage_englewood) on Apr 23, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

Spotlight on Englewood now on WCIU Too! It's a documentary about the opening of Whole Foods...#EnglewoodRising

A post shared by R.A.G.E. (@rage_englewood) on Apr 23, 2017 at 6:53am PDT

Whole Foods Market Englewood updates

Two meetings are coming up next week where Englewood residents will receive updates on the future Whole Foods Market coming to 63rd & Halsted. First up you will hear updates regarding employment, opening and other ways to support the future store at a RAGE meeting next Tuesday:

The Resident Association of Greater Englewood has invited Whole Foods to provide an update to the community on Tuesday.

Co-CEO Walter Robb is scheduled to attend the meeting to give an update on the progress of the new 18,000-square-foot Englewood store at 63rd and Halsted streets.

The RAGE meeting will be held at Kennedy-King College, 6301 S. Halsted, Room U-105 from 6-8 p.m. Dinner will be served.

On Saturday 16th Ward Ald. Toni Foulkes will also discuss the future Whole Foods Market among other issues at her meeting as well:

Ald. Toni Foulkes (16th) will discuss the new Englewood Whole Foods and more at a community development meeting on Saturday.

The meeting will take place from 10 a.m.-noon at Providence Elementary School, 6515 S. Ashland Ave.

Foulkes will also give updates on on Woods Academy and Botemps Public School, commercial property at 60th Street and Western Avenue and the Montclare Senior Residence building.

Alderman Sawyer New Video

Alderman Sawyer released a new video

Englewood International Film Festivals Kicks Off Tonight!!! #GOODINENGLEWOOD

Originally posted on Rage's blog:

http://ragenglewood.org/2014/10/23/englewood-international-film-festivals-kicks-off-tonight-goodinenglewood/

The 4th Annual Englewood International Film Festival (EIFF) kicks off tonight with a private reception and then all are welcome to attend the Opening Film “Englewood” – Friday, Oct. 24th! The Red Carpet Reception starts at 6 p.m. at the Chatham 14 Theater – 210 West 87th Street!!

RAGE is excited this year to partner with (EIFF) to host career day at various schools in the Englewood Community!! Please come out & support by screening the films, attending the panels or workshops happening all weekend – for a full schedule link here: http://www.eiff.org!

Join us as we support our very own film festival because this is truly -

GOOD IN ENGLEWOOD!!

Razing VS Rehabbing: What Makes More Sense

Over the past week I have seen a number of tweets from RAGE (Resident Association of Greater Englewood)  about property. RAGE  current service area include the Greater Grand Crossing portion of the 6th ward and will cover more when the boundaries move further west to include a portion of Englewood. The tweets look at the current state of property in Englewood/Greater Grand Crossing. There were examples of great Queen Anne style properties as well as dilapidated multifamily brick structures.

Over at Crain's there is an editorial piece that questions whether rehabbing a property or properties on blocks or areas with large number of dilapidated properties is the best use of money or is a better and higher use of money to raze blocks and start over and give those property owners who have maintained there properties a chance to recoup their investments.

The editorial was based on an article Crain's ran last week on the foreclosure crisis. Here is an excerpt from the article

Nine buildings are boarded up in the 5200 block of South Wood Street in Back of the Yards. Mary Washington's home might have become No. 10.

Unable to make her $1,425 monthly mortgage payment, Ms. Washington was facing foreclosure on the two-story shotgun house that she and her late husband bought in 1985. Earlier this fall, she says, she worked out a trial loan modification with her lender that lowered her payment to $617 and allowed her to keep the property.

“I thought about giving up, but everything I had and have I put into this house,” she says. “I would have had nowhere to go but the sidewalk.”

Foreclosure and board-ups are a part of life today on the street that Ms. Washington, 73, says was “just beautiful” when her family moved there from the Cabrini-Green housing project on the North Side.

Read the complete article at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20131109/ISSUE01/131029913

So what do you think?

Is Rahm Pimpin Englewood

I guess my age is catching up with me. I can remember the dreary bus ride along 63rd street to Lindblom Technical High School. The only non blighted spot on 63rd street was the 63rd Halsted Street mall. The mall had stores that included Sears, Jewel Foods and a movie theater. From my freshman year to my senior year the mall went from vibrant to blighted, Sears and the theater closed and all was left was small "junky" stores selling cheap substandard merchandise.

 Once the mall hit rock bottom the city under the direction of Mayor Richard Daley decided to tear down the mall and move Kennedy King College on most of the site and Jewel Foods would build a state of art store at the corner of 63rd Halsted. The college was built but the Jewel Food store was never built.  After years of sitting vacant the site was submitted to Walmart but they passed and several other retailers have been asked to look at the site but all have passed.

Now, Whole Foods has announced that they will open a store on this site by 2016. While I applaud the company for seeing potential in the site I only asked why 2.5 years later?  When it was announced that they were coming to Hyde Park, it was not 2.5 years later.

Hmmm, so I had to ask the questions that others don't want to ask.

• Is the scheduled completion date set conveniently after the 2015 election? 
• Is the Mayor taking advantage of a lame duck ineffective Alderman Joann Thompson? 
• Is this a compromise to give the mayor access to the Englewood TIF funds?

The biggest question I have deals with the blow the mayor took several weeks ago when the proposed Norfolk Southern freight yard. Over the last several years, the railroad has been purchasing vacant lots and occupied homes from Englewood residents. The freight yard is scheduled to open 2015. Environmentalist, community organizations such as R.A.G.E have opposed the way the land has and is being acquired and where the freight yard is going to be located.  The mayor supports the freight yard as he sees it part of a larger plan to make the city of Chicago a transportation hub. So my question is was this announcement planned to lessen the opposition to the proposed freight yard that is scheduled to come up for a vote? While I'm aware that Englewood needs a full service grocery store, I question the timing of this proposal. Recently,

I attended the Resident Association of Greater Englewood(R.A.G.E.) general meeting. They had contacted Jewel Foods about opening another grocery store and were informed that Jewel did not have an interest in reopening a full service store in Englewood ,but rather their limited offering store  "Save A Lot". The closest full service stores are either the Food For Less at 69th Ashland or Walmart Express at 47th Ashland. This is woofully inadequate as a community needs a full service grocery store for approximately every 10,000 residents. So we will see what happens this time around.

If the freight yard gets blocked will the corner of 63rd Halsted stay vacant?    

EVENT: Role Model Movement at Whitney Young Library

Recently Role Model Movement's Jahmal Cole alerted us that he was asked to do monthly presentations at the Whitney Young Library located at 79th & King Drive. One of the speakers for this month's event is Resident Association of Greater Englewood's Ay-Sha Butler. She will fit in with the topic of revamping our education system as Englewood is very serious about having a discussion about the schools in their neighborhood. Will you be there on Tuesday March 26th? Refer to the graphic below for more details and expect a reminder as the day of the event approaches.

BTW, the more people who attends these events at Whitney Young Library the more likely a new library can be built. I suppose doing so would be two-fold, supporting a future local leader and insuring that a more adequate facility can finally be built!

ChicagoTalks: Roseland profile

Roseland Community Area

During the remap debate last year a lot of people were very apprehensive of being combined with Roseland in the 9th Ward. In fact they used Roseland and 9th Ward almost interchangeably in discussing this issue. There were concerns (although certainly baseless) that property values will dip if their neighborhood was drawn into 9th Ward. Aside from the change in electoral precinct and one Alderman wanting to use the new map in zoning decisions we're not quite there yet.

However, this article gives me an excuse to talk about Roseland. If you're concerned about Roseland I'm not sure this article will give anyone any ease at all.

According to EveryBlockChicago.com, a website that tracks crime, there were 116 crimes in Roseland during the past week. Meanwhile in Lincoln Park on the North Side, there were only 10 crimes reported during the same week. Crimes in Roseland were more violent, including theft, battery and narcotics possession. In other areas of the city, crimes reported often consisted of home burglaries and thefts of smart phones or iPods.

“This is a dangerous area, no doubt about it,” said Jamal Pearson, 47, a CPD officer who has worked in Roseland for 11 years. “You’ll be wanting to watch yourself in this area. This is one of the worst areas in the city.”

But some residents said they keep to themselves and manage to avoid becoming victims of crime.

“If you mind your own business then you’re safe. You don’t have to worry about nobody coming after you,” McCoy said.

Mike Smith, 28, who works at a clothing store in Roseland, said he has lived there for 10 years. He said the police don’t come around often.

“The [U.S. government] don’t care. As long as we killing each other, the [U.S. government] don’t care,” Smith said. He says he’s not scared and doesn’t plan to leave Roseland. He referred to Roseland as “baby Iraq.”

“I love this [neighborhood]. I’m used to it. It doesn’t bother me,” Smith said. “Its just a fact of life now.”

Staying safe is a matter of minding your own business. How many of you find that bothersome? Although to be sure no one should ask you to be a hero I wonder what it means to "mind your own business".

This area needs it's own version of RAGE!

EVENT: 2nd Annual Educational Empowerment Summit

Coming to Englewood on Saturday January 26, 2013 at Team Englewood High School - located at 6201 S. Steward - from 9 AM to 2 PM. Refer to flyer below.

EVENT: RAGE village meeting

Sorry for the short notice on this blog tonight the Resident Association of Greater Englewood will have a village meeting at Ogden Park 6500 S. Racine from 6:30 PM to 8 PM. Refer to flyer below.

Concerned Citizens of Chatham: Are Community Organizations Relevant Anymore

Very valid questions and Worlee's response to our recent post "Direction: communication & cooperation" it's spelled out even more the conflicts between the various community organizations and especially spells out the purpose of the emerging Re-Unite Chatham noted in the posting here. He does take aim at Greater Chatham Alliance & Chatham/Avalon Park Community Council:

For some residents this is where the usefullness of these organizations begin and end. Some residents have criticized the organizations of political grandstanding, partisian politics, a tool shed for governmental employees and being clueless on what residents want and need. The major criticism is that the presence of two organizations has turned into turf wars. The former president of one sent the other a letter stating that a portion of the community did not want to be represented by them. Also, on several local issues regarding businesses, it turns into one will say yes and the other will automatically say no. It has been a tradition in the ward for the Alderman to refer business owners who want to potentially open up to gain community organization approval. This process has gotten out of hand and prompted the current Alderman to state that he will not allow community organizations to stymie economic development.

Recently, a convenience store that was rumored that they were going to apply for a liquor license finally approached the Alderman for support. The Alderman refused to support the issue and as the news made its way around the community, it was very apparent that the community opposed the issuance of a liquor license. Subsequently, a group of residents decided that they wanted to start a community organization. The group decided on the name ReUnite- Chatham. I was contacted and attended a meeting.

This is where the BS begins, it was apparent that I was not suppose to have been invited to this meeting but it was nothing that could be done. The organizer which is a block club president started off the meeting selling woof tickets. The moderator stated that the current community organizations have not been proactive but reactive to issues, there were a lack of recreational opportunities for young adults and teens and other criticisms. A comment from the audience was a long time resident stated she hadn't heard of the other community organizations. I personally took exception to the statement that the community had a lack of recreational activities for young adults and teens as the church where the meeting took place has a young adult choir and teen club open to the community. Also, the Chicago Park District Superintendent for Cole Park lives in our community and has broght a number of programs back to the Park. Then it hit me what was going on here when former Alderman Niles Sherman(21) who has an on going dispute with current Alderman Howard Brookins was attempted to play political godfather in the 6th ward and the comment he made against one community organization was totally unwarranted and a misrepresentation. After the comments speakers from the Mayor's office and the Chicago Police Department spoke. I left the meeting because I saw that this meeting was political and they wanted to pimp the residents for their political gain. No representatives from either community organization or the Alderman office was invited or present.

As we end this year and enter a new one it appeared that there might be a truce called over the "turf wars" but with this new organization, ReUiting Chatham was not on the agenda but rather the political aspirations of wanna be and defeated political candidates being mentored by a wash up has been former Alderman who has been exiled from his former ward.

While I feel like the question I would like to ask could be a bit loaded, it's worth asking anyway. Are community organizations in Chatham relevant?

BTW, Rev. Marc Robinson is a sub-area Vice President for the Chatham Avalon Park Community Council. He recently announced his resignation from the organization. I'm wondering if this resignation is indicative of the issues that may exist in Chatham neighborhood organizations. Indeed Rev. Robinson does seems to point his finger at the organization he's resigning from.

Also let's note that the organizations that exist in the 6th Ward in addition to the CAPCC and GCA we also have Park Manor Neighbors for example. In this vein Worlee made sure to note that the Resident Association of Greater Englewood has looked east of the Ryan to emulate those organizations. That would be my hope in spreading the idea of The Sixth Ward as "as state of mind".

As always comments are appreciated!

November 6th Ward Community Organization Meetings

Here is a partial listing of upcoming community meetings
 West Chesterfield Community Association
Saturday
November 3 , 2012
 10am West Chesterfield
Community Fieldhouse
9351 S Michigan

 Park Manor Neighbors Community Council
Monday
November 5,2012
St. Columbanus( Glass House)
317 E. 71st

 
Chatham Avalon Park Community Council
Monday
November 12, 2012
6:30 to 8:30 pm
Chatham Avalon Church of Christ
8601 S. State Street

 
Greater Chatham Alliance Community Organization
Saturday
November 17, 2012
11:00 am to 1:30 pm
St. James Lutheran Church
8001 S. Michigan

 
Resident Association of Greater Englewood
Tuesday
November 20, 2012
Location: TBD

Englewood: 'Not just a charity case,' residents say - Medill

64th & Halsted in 1955 - Englewood as it was!

Englewood: 'Not just a charity case,' residents say

Google “Englewood” and the results are news articles about violence, murders and gangs. Community members are working to rebrand Englewood as the thriving neighborhood it once was.

“Most people when they think of Englewood they think of the poverty, they think of homelessness, they think of the gangs,” said Asiaha Butler, president and co-founder of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood.

Butler said she wants people to know there are residents who are educated and have great jobs and haven’t turned their backs on the community. She added the focus on the community is often on the unemployed and homeless, but there are taxpayers working hard to improve the area.

During the 1850s the intersection of 63rd and LaSalle was known as “Junction Grove“ because of the thriving railroad industry. In the 1970s the community was home to a large shopping center that was the site of parades, concerts and radio broadcasts.

The panelists said community members are trying to relive those eras through civic engagement and empowerment. Volunteers are registering residents to vote, creating art pieces to display in vacant retail shops and cleaning up trash-filled lots. 

Read the whole thing!

RAGE needs your vote to help them rebrand

Former Leon's BBQ 59th & Racine

UPDATE 8:32 PM Forgot to note voting will continue until  Oct. 11th!

RAGE has been promoting this contest they hope to win. This is what's at stake:

 Do you have a good idea for improving your community? Share your plan to creatively move your community forward and you’ll be eligible for a $2,500 grant.

This is what RAGE hopes to do with the grant:

The funds will help us created and distribute memorabilia that highlight our love for Englewood such as: Bracelets, bookmarks, t-shirts, yard, window signs, stickers stating, I AM ENGLEWOOD, Good is in Englewood, Peace in Englewood, etc.

We will also like to create art pieces to display on the vacant retail shops & homes throughout the area. We will like to create “Welcome to Englewood” signs in order to offer a sense of pride and value. We will take photos of residents & use these as billboards highlighting positive stories & images. (For example, My name is blank, an attorney and I AM ENGLEWOOD). This will not only spark hope in the young people here in our area it will show the city as well as America that GOOD exist in Englewood.

You can read the post at RAGE's official website. Click this link to vote and best wishes to RAGE for entering this contest and hopefully they will succeed.

Englewood voter's registration drive

Oct. 9th is the last day to register to vote and R.A.G.E. is providing you with an opportunity to register to vote if you haven't done so already. Englewood Votes, 6th Ward Democratic Organization, and 6th Ward Alderman/Democratic Committeeman Roderick Sawyer hosts this event

• Englewood Voter’s Registration Drive
  Saturday September 29, 2012 from 1pm-4pm
  WBEZ South Side Bureau
  6957 S. Halsted!

A flyer is also posted below

September 6th Ward Community Meeting

Here is a partial listing of upcoming community meetings
 
West Chesterfield Community Association
Saturday
September 8, 2012
Clean & Green
8:30am
West Chesterfield Community Fieldhouse
9351 S Michigan

 Park Manor Neighbors Community Council
Monday
September 10,2012
St. Columbanus( Glass House)
 317 E. 71st

 
Chatham Avalon Park Community Council
Monday
September 10, 2012
6:30 to 8:30 pm
Northern Trust Bank
7800 S. State Street
Topic: Community Issues

 
Greater Chatham Alliance Community Organization
Saturday
September 15, 2012
11:00 am to 1:30 pm
St. James Lutheran Church
8001 S. Michigan
Topic: Community Issues

 
Resident Association of Greater Englewood
Tuesday
September 18,2012
Location: TBD

Invest In Englewood

Invest in Englewood Press Release

This Week's Important Events In the 6th Ward

There is a lot going on this week in the ward. There are important events where important information will be disseminated and some fun events for both children and adults. Some of you state you never see Alderman  Sawyer, so here is your chance to support your community and speak to the Alderman about your concerns.

Tuesday
July 17, 2012
6:30 pm
Chesterfield Community Council Meeting with CHA Section 8
Tuley Park
90th King Drive
www.chesterfieldcommunitycouncil.org

Tuesday
July 17, 2012
6:00pm
Bi-Monthly Meeting
Kelly Library
 6151 S. Normal Blvd
http://ragenglewood.org/

Wednesday
July 18, 2012
10am-3pm
City of Chicago Resource Fair
Grand Crossing Park
7655 S Ingleside



Wednesday
 July 18 2012
 6:30pm
Hyde Park Township Tax Appeal Forum
South Shore High School
1955 E 75th St
 FREE

Friday 
July 20, 2012
8 pm
Capt. America
Myering Park
7140 S King Drive
Free (Refreshments will be available for sale
Park District Security will be present

Saturday
July 21, 2012
11:00am
Monthly Meeting
St. James Lutheran Church
8001 S. Michigan

Saturday
July 21, 2012
10am
Taste of WVON
Lorraine Dixon Park
87th Dauphin
Free
www.wvon.com

The following events are on-going through the end of July

 
Tuesdays
July 10,17,24,30
Dusk(6:30 pm)
Movies on the Grazz
Chicago State University
9501 S King Drive
  www.csu.edu
FREE
 
Wednesdays
July 11,18,25
5:00 pm
Jazz on the Grazz
Chicago State University
9501 S King Drive
  www.csu.edu
FREE 

Wednesdays 
July 11,18,25 
10:30 am 
Kids Rule Movie Day 
ICE Chatham 14 Theater 
210 W. 87th Street
 http://www.icetheaters.com/images/Kidsrule/KidsRule2012.jpg 
$2.50 (FREE Bag of Popcorn) 
 
Saturdays 
July 7,14,21,28 
8:00 am 
Zumba 
ICE Chatham 14 Theater 
210 W. 87th Street 
http://www.icetheaters.com/

Englewood parent empowerment series

Quite late posting this. In fact there are a couple of events taking place today courtesy of the Englewood Community Action Council. There are apparently two free workshops today one of them starting at 12:30 PM and another to start at 4PM. Then the other two on Thursday and Saturday. Check the press release below for more details.

ECAC Press Release February 13

Watching this YoChicago video on Englewood

[VIDEO] It was contained within a recent post entitled "Does Englewood have any hope of recovery?" Joe Zekas takes a drive along Normal Avenue starting from 63rd to about 57th Street. In that posting he notes the lack of impact of the new Kennedy-King College Campus and then asks this question about Englewood's prospects:

Some urban neighborhoods are so deteriorated that it’s impossible to reclaim them without first clearing them. Is Englewood one of them?

I'm sure the people at RAGE want to answer this question so here's their opportunity. BTW, I hope you're following their FB page if you didn't already know this photo was out of Englewood (63rd & Morgan) surely you would've thought this was somewhere on the north side

Surely a lot of people who admit that Englewood sure needs a lot of work but I would loath the idea of a clearing. Clear the buildings out of that neighborhood for what? Whatever has been cleared there has remained vacant as if there was no plan for when they clear the lots. Besides they largely cleared the old Englewood downtown and aside from building Kennedy-King no more progress seems to be made from that.

To go back for a second, it seems Zekas takes a drive in roughly the area Aysha Butler took Marc Sims through sometime last year. Little did I know there were two videos click here for both but I will only embed one of them here [VIDEO: PART 1, PART 2]. Basically the land Butler and Sims toured late last year and what you see in the YoChicago video are land that could one day be cleared for a railroad switching yard. You can also read what Mrs. Butler wrote on her blog.

And here's yet another bleak YoChicago report about Englewood entitled "A West Englewood rehab without a building permit". If you watch the video while the building featured @ 6219 S Marshfield Ave looks very nice on the outside the rest of the neighborhood is bleak. It seems Zekas wants to steer people away from Englewood:

HUD’s rent schedule is the same for all of metropolitan Chicago. It isn’t difficult to find housing at those rents in many environments that are far more attractive than West Englewood.

It's been noted Englewood doesn't have much in assets. The one they that neighborhood does have is public transportation, the Green Line. But if you go to that rehab posting you'll see a report from the Ashland/63 Green Line station. That's not even enough to encourage investment.

The next question, I suppose is what would it take to give Englewood the attention it deserves? Does anyone have an answer?