News
Read about people, places and things that are happening in the Woodlawn community.
NCP's 1000 Man March attend by almost 2000 in support of rebuilding the village of Woodlawn.
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For one week the Chicago Youth Leadership Academy provided a ratio of 6:1 boys to police officers. For that week the boys had no access to television, radio, cell phones, or beepers and could not make contact with anyone from their home or the “hood”.
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On Saturday, August 15, 2009 the NCP Woodlawn Education committee hosted a breakfast meeting at the beautiful Grand Ballroom to share the concept of a “Woodlawn Children’s Promise Zone (WCPZ)” with 75 Woodlawn Local School Council members, principals and NCP Woodlawn members.
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Talk of product expenses, hourly price rates, industry competitors, customer service, marketing strategies, and business pitches might seem odd for teenagers. But young people at Sunshine Gospel Ministries recently tossed around business lingo readily.
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MAGIC’s National Teen Test Day is an example of the Woodlawn non-profit’s determination to grapple with serious issues and have young people save themselves when it comes to things that affect their lives. Teen Test Day, which is actually a year round program, is building a youth movement to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
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February is also National Heart Month and the first weekend in the month was devoted to highlighting the need for women to be especially careful when it comes to heart health. A partnership with Advocate Health Care allows some women in Illinois to receive free screenings the week of Valentine’s Day. To register for one of these screenings or to find out about additional screenings and classes at other Advocate sites, please call 1-800-3-ADVOCATE (1-800-323-8622).
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The Ask the Doctor initiative in Woodlawn gives community residents and stakeholders the opportunity to learn about health issues through sessions that highlight disease and offer wellness information. The sessions include a chance to Ask the Doctor questions and get answers anonymously — which helps break through fears and allows discussions of health issues in a relaxed atmosphere.
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Housing-related issues in Woodlawn
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Dr. Rick Kittles, Ph.D., took Woodlawn residents on a journey through genetic science, history, and medical research to explain how these areas intersect and impact the lives of African Americans.
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Woodlawn residents will have the opportunity to undergo kidney screening July 26 thanks to the NCP Woodlawn Health and Human Services Committee. The screenings will run from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Jackson Parkside Apartments, located at 6040 S. Harper Avenue. The screening is another example of how a small but determined group leverages relationships to promote health education and provide access to health services.
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Starving artists may at last be able to find a place to live at The Strand Artists Lofts in Woodlawn. Three community meetings about the affordable, south side condominium development are scheduled, including Saturday July 12, Sunday July 20, and Saturday July 26. Meetings will be held at the Grand Ballroom located at 6351 S. Cottage Grove Ave. (1/2 block from The Strand). The Strand Hotel was a major commercial and entertainment venue during the roaring 1920s.
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Sponsored by the University of Chicago Medical Hospital Office of Community Affairs volunteers assisted with beautification efforts in Grove Parc on Saturday, May 17, 2008. The project known as "Give Big" was well appreciated and well-received by U of C's Grove Parc neighbors.
For information on additional activities visit the Univeristy of Chicago Hospital Office of Community Affairs website at:
http://www.uchospitals.edu/programs/community/
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WECAN held a weatherization workshop at AKA Community Center, 6228 South Ingleside Avenue, on Saturday May 17, 2008. The Workshop was a tremendous hit. WECAN partnered with Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), Woodlawn Community Service Corporation, The Cook County Assessor's office and the South Side Federal Credit Union.
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The WECAN Housing Resource Center continues to look for technical, innovative ways to expand it's marketing and outreach message. WECAN plans to publish and distribute both paper and electronic editions of it's HRC newsletter in June, 2008.
WECAN also has plans to record it's first podcast in June, 2008. Stay tuned.
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On Saturday, May 17, the 61st Street Farmers Market (61st & Blackstone) opened, bringing sustainably grown fresh fruits & vegetables, meats, cheeses, bakery items, and more to residents of Woodlawn, Hyde Park, and the surrounding neighborhoods! View an audio slideshow of opening day participants.
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On Saturday, may 17, 2008 you and community groups in your area can make an immediate difference in you neighborhood by volunteering your time and efforts to take part in Mayor Daley's Spring Clean and Green Day
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Attend the WECAN Housing Resource Center's Spring 2008 Weatherization Workshop, co-sponsored by Woodlawn Community Service Corporation, and Akarama Foundation, Inc.-Theta Omega Chapter
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Baseball, America’s favorite past time, has made it to Woodlawn in the form of the Woodlawn Little League!!!
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Under Brian Echols watch the Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilization (M.A.G.I.C) has launched exciting programs for teens, such as a young women's leadership development program, mural arts programs, youth organizing training, and the NCP-funded gem Woodlawn String Instrument Program.
For more information on MAGIC programs visit www.magicchicago.org
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N. Jeane Clark has been a staunch advocate for community beautification and safety through her leadership fo the 6100 S. Rhodes Block Club, and she has also assisted other residents in organizing and maintaining functioning block clubs. As a member of The Woodlawn Organization's Steering committee, she serves on the housing and youth subcommittees to help catalyze other grassroots initiatives throughout the neighborhood.
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Check out press coverage of programs and developments related to the New Communities Program Woodlawn and its partners.
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Violence on a Woodlawn playground named in honor of the mother of Emmit Till, the 14-year-old Chicago youth whose brutal murder by whites in a small Mississippi town helped ignited the modern civil rights movement, was especially disheartening. But residents aren't just hurt by the loss of Black life, they held a peace march and rally in Mamie Till Mobley Park as a step toward bringing the block back and creating a safe space for youth.
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If you were in Woodlawn on a recent Tuesday afternoon, you might have seen the talented African American actress Angela Bassett running for a bus near 63rd St. and Cottage Grove Avenue. A bus scene was one of many during a one-day taping in the neighborhood for producer Tyler Perry’s upcoming movie, “Meet the Browns.”
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The gymnasium/auditorium at Andrew Carnegie School was packed as young musicians in bright blue t-shirts took to the stage for the first “Music Is Magic” recital by the Woodlawn Stringed Instrument Program. The audience was not disappointed.
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Woodlawn residents were invited to check out the new location of Sunshine Gospel Ministries during a recent open house. The event showcased what the ministry has to offer, including a soon-to-be-completed computer technology center.
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Elementary schools from Woodlawn had a chance to display their creative and computer skills at the 2007 CUIP Technology Expo at King College Prep High School , where over 30 projects were displayed as part of efforts to inspire greater and more effective use of technology by students and teachers.
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The Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., the NCP/Woodlawn lead agency, joined with the Third Police District Youth Committee, the Community Alternative Policing Strategy program, South Side YMCA and other partners to provide a day of food and fun for parents and children. At the end of the day, each child received a book bag with school supplies to start the academic year off right.
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The motto for LISC/Chicago's Americorps program could be “ask what you can do for your community.” The volunteers work with lead agencies in the New Communities Program, their partners, and other non-profits. The group visited Woodlawn for a meeting.
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Leadership Greater Chicago 2007 fellows spent the day in Woodlawn learning about its history and its challenges as the south side neighborhood strives to make progress.
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Community Heroes are individuals who offer their passion, strength and talent to improve their neighborhoods, benefiting people who may never know them by name, but who will reap the rewards of their work. The Community Heroes for Woodlawn are Linda Austin and Loren Cress Love.
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Woodlawn is promoting the The Woodlawn String Instrument Program (SIP) as part of the New Communities Program's Community Investment Portfolio.
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Cities and neighborhoods, like businesses, rise or fall based on investment. Many parts of Chicago—downtown in particular—have boomed thanks to public and private investment in such projects as residential Dearborn Park, the restoration of Wacker Drive and, most recently, Millennium Park on Chicago's magnificent lakefront.
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The newly dedicated Harriet M. Harris Park building boasts a stunning mural depicting the heroes of Woodlawn, both past and present. Neighborhood youth designed and created the mural through a program run by MAGIC, a community organization dedicated to fostering creative expression, skills building and leadership development opportunities for young people.
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The Grove Parc Safety Committee's efforts to make their community better and safer were recognized by Chicago police and the Community Alternative Policing Strategy program. Committee members are pretty serious, one actually apprehended a burglar.
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Chicago's neighborhood Summer Assembly at Navy Pier included good music, an awards program and an opportunty for community leaders that aren't part of the New Communities Program mix to benefit from lessons gleaned from work in NCP neighborhoods.
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A Saturday morning session at Bessie Coleman Library helps Woodlawn residents get a start on spring planting and offers ideas for neighborhood beautification.
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Leaders from NCP neighborhoods visited City Hall in the fall 2005 for a series of fifth-floor meetings with Mayor Richard M. Daley. The 50-minute sit-downs came at the invitation of the mayor, who wanted to learn more about the neighborhood quality-of-life plans and how they are being implemented.
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To appreciate the historic change now unfolding in Woodlawn, it's useful to compare then with now.
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It takes a village to raise a child. This African proverb has been bandied about a lot in recent years, from the cover of Hillary Rodham Clinton's book to the lips of Oprah Winfrey. It has a much longer tradition in the Woodlawn community.
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Citizens of the Grove Parc Plaza housing development celebrated the initiation of "Operation Clean" on April 13 as part of an effort to improve the community's stability.
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A team of volunteers from the University of Chicago Hospitals and residents touched up a local high school and tended to a nearby Senior Garden.
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South Side organizations including several New Communities Program lead agencies will participate in a summit on June 3 to address the possible loss of more than 9,000 apartments on the South Side that are tied to affordable rental housing programs.
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Eighty leaders of South Side social service and community organizations came together in late June to identify common issues and plan for improved collaboration and resource use.
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Woodlawn resident Lonnie Richardson will be honored March 10 by Woodlawn Community Service Corp. for his years of devotion to the community.
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Organized by the youth service organization MAGIC and targeted to local children from four to six years old, a music program at Carnegie Elementary School links children, parents and the Woodlawn community.
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Bishop Arthur M. Brazier has been named the first LISC/Chicago Senior Fellow. Bishop Brazier is a nationally renowned civil rights leader and a founder of The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) in Chicago, a participant in LISC’s New Communities Program.
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Activities related to Experimental Station at 61st and Dorchester
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Health related activities in conjunction with various Woodlawn organizations, the University of Chicago and University of Chicago Hospitals.
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Phase 1 of the Grove Parc Demolition has begun.
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NCP Woodlawn assembles community leaders in support of violence reduction.
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