March 4, 2009 – Robert Marks, 31, and his wife, Deborah, were ecstatic to learn last July that she was pregnant. But the news couldn't have come at a worse time for Marks, who lost his employer-sponsored insurance when GE Captial in Chicago laid him off four months earlier under the pressure of a crumbling economy.

When his severance ran out in May, Marks reluctantly enrolled in COBRA, a government mandated health insurance continuation plan. Marks worried about the plan's high premiums, which would cost about $850 a month for two people, more than half of his monthly unemployment check.

But Marks says he had no other choice. His wife, a psychologist, didn't have access to insurance from an employer and with a baby on the way, becoming two more of America's 50 million uninsured was not an option, he said.

For millions of Americans, a $25 billion earmark to provide federal subsidies to COBRA participants included in the stimulus plan, which became law earlier this week, came just in the nick of time.

The U.S. Department of Labor last week reported 3.6 million people have lost their jobs since December 2007 and, according to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, about 14,000 people a day lose their health insurance.

But while the policy aims to help as many 7 million workers let go between September 2008 and December 2009, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it provides little relief to Marks and more than a million others who lost their jobs in the earliest months of the recession.

"It's frustrating," said Marks, "because while I'm glad they extended unemployment benefits, I don't understand why they didn't extend COBRA to everybody. I lost my job because of the recession, too."

As of March 1, the federal government has begun reimbursing workers laid-off in the recession 65 percent of the cost of their COBRA premiums for up to 18 months. Those premiums, on average, cost individual consumers more than $400 a month and families more than $1000 a month.

Currently, COBRA enrollment is about 9 percent of eligible workers as few can afford the premiums, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan think tank in New York. 

Greg D'Angelo, a spokesman for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., said even with subsidy, COBRA's reach is limited.

"The majority of the unemployed are unlikely to be eligible for the COBRA subsidy," he said. "And for those that are eligible, it's still very expensive."

D'Angelo estimates that only about two-thirds of all U.S. workers will qualify for COBRA assistance and even fewer will enroll. Instead of a COBRA subsidy, D'Angelo said a better option would be to a tax credit or voucher that would allow consumers to choose their own health providers.

"What they're saying is: it's COBRA or nothing," he said.

But the subsidy is a strong incentive for those who qualify.

Sara Olson, 25, said she initially turned down the COBRA offer when she was fired from her job with Fox Broadcasting Company in January because the premiums were too expensive on her now part-time waitressing income.

"COBRA is so expensive – it would have been almost $500. [Fox] offered to pay the first month, but I couldn't afford to keep it up," said Olson, who added that she would reconsider COBRA now that the price has dropped.

"I had really good insurance at Fox," she said. "Now I have emergency insurance," which comes at a small premium but with a high deductable that consumers generally meet only in serious medical emergencies, or, as Olson put it, "in case I get hit by a car."

Only companies with 20 or more employees are subject to the federal provision. Smaller businesses are tied to state law, which, in Illinois, requires them to offer COBRA to former employees for up to nine months. State Rep. Karen May (58th) introduced a bill last week to extend that coverage to 18 months.

Marks said he is optimistic that he will find a job with health benefits before his COBRA coverage expires in September, so that his newborn will have access to the health care he or she needs.

In the meantime, he said, he and his wife are tightening their budget in anticipation of the baby's birth, expected next month, when both will be out of work and their monthly premium will likely go up by about 50 percent.

"We just budget," he said. "Few other people our age live the way we do. But I'd rather struggle financially than risk having an unhealthy baby."

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Mind & Body Money Matters Nationwide Politics Public
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March 2, 2009 – How's this for a deal? An eight-piece dinner set, which funds programs at the Children's Memorial Hospital for $45. Or a pair of vintage cowboy boots for under $10 that saves a cat's life?

Local charity stores have always been a goldmine for budget-conscious shoppers while also providing much-need funding for community programs. However, as local charity thrift stores' sales increase, some report of donations dropping off.

Thrift stores like the Brown Elephant, which supports the Howard Brown Health Center and the White Elephant, associated with Children's Memorial Hospital, both have reported sale increases, yet said the economy was having an impact on current donation levels.

The White Elephant Shop saw a decrease in donations at the end of December and January, a historically busy time. Yet, they have seen a 10 percent increase in clothing sales along with furniture and household items, and are projecting a sales growth for the year.

The White Elephant Shop receives donations from the Lakeshore, Gold Coast and Lincoln Park areas. Leonard Muircroft, director of retail operations, said those and several other area donors are probably to "get more practical" in terms of redecorating during the recession therefore contributing to a drop in furniture donations. 

Donald Rolfe, director of development for the Brown Elephant Retail Stops, said the agency has had "to make adjustments in terms of expectations" for this year's budget.

However, this has had no impact on the 28,000 clients they serve, 50 percent who are uninsured, in the LGBTI community.

Rolfe said they are "casting a wider net" by going beyond their current northern and southwestern boundaries for donation pick-ups to maintain current budget needs.

But for one thrift store, donations haven't been enough to continue to support a much-needed community program.

The Ark, a not-for-profit, community-funded social service agency based on Chicago's North Side, will discontinue a vocational workshop in March due to a drop in profits. In January, they lost money and are hoping to break even by the end of February.

Revenues from the Ark's two shops provide support for a wide range of social and medical programs, such as a food pantry, mental health services and housing for the homeless.  

Miriam Weinberger, director of the Ark, said there is concern about making their budget this year due to two factors — an increase in minimum wage, and operations costs have risen. What's more, Weinberger said there has been a 25 percent increase in requests for food assistance.

Weinberger said historically winter months have been "losing months for them" but because the weather was especially harsh this year, "it's been worse than ever." The lack of donations could be linked to the economy, as people are being reluctant to redecorate.

Profits from sales of their most profitable item, furniture, have been down while clothing sales are up.

Weinberger says stores like Wal-Mart and Sam's Club have had impact on their sales.

"It's very difficult to compete with them with used clothing," said Weinerger.

Weinberger said they having to sell more slacks and shirts to make the same profits as they would from furniture.

"I think it's all the economy. People are very worried and cautious so they are reluctant to go out and buy new furniture," said Weinberger about January's losses.

"Even our customers are being cautious of what they are spending."

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Citywide Money Matters Public Social Issues
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donations economy non-profit

Feb. 26, 2009 – Today, most people under the age of 30 have been introduced to computer tools that let you paint, manipulate, and create images. For most grade schoolers this is part of art, as well as media literacy. There are plenty of free paint-style programs, even some that come with whatever computer operating system you work with. Photo manipulation is pretty commonplace as well, through iPhoto (Mac) or picasa.com (PC), or Flickr.com which is integrated with picnik.com.

Up to now, it has been difficult to find free vector-based drawing software. This is what designers use to create logos and advertising images. Aviary is rolling out a beta version of Raven, a free online vector design program. To be an artist, e.g. a painter, you probably need some artistic skill and training. Vector art is for those who have an eye for space, color, and shape, but can't draw on their own. There is lots of tracing involved, and use geometry (don't worry, it is performed by the computer) to shape, shadow and create an image design. Vector graphics don't degrade when you try and make them larger. You might have seen how a computer picture looks fuzzy when you blow it up. If you make it a vector graphic, you can scale it up or down without any loss of quality. This is very helpful if you have a logo you need to use on business cards, stationary, and posters.

"Huh?" you say, so what?

This kind of program is great for designing logos for your MySpace page, or your own Etsy logo. And what about T-shirts? While there are lots of places where you choose an image and get a shirt with the image imprinted on it. With Raven, you can try your hand at creating your own T-shirt art. Good for fashion uniqueness, as well as a possible income source, if you have a talent for this kind of design.

A word of warning. Vector programs are not as intuitive and easy to master out of the box, as painting and image manipulation programs are. However, you can achieve great precision and do awesome things with text if you master the basics. Whether you want to be an anime artists, fabric design artiste, or just fool around for an hour or two, Raven, might be an interesting diversion.

About vector drawing, including the basics:

http://www.lazymask.com/vector-tutorial.html

Learn what "bezier curves" are and how to use them to bring your vision to the screen

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Art & Entertainment At Play DIY Money Matters New Story Public

Feb. 25, 2009 – Tens of thousands of Illinois students who maintain a “B” or better grade point average could receive scholarships covering the costs of college tuition and related fees under legislation introduced to the Illinois General Assembly, though opponents of the legislation say it’s too costly.

Though it’s unclear whether the proposal — House Bill 0079 — will survive a hearing in the Higher Education Committee, scheduled for 4 p.m. today, and be voted on by the entire House of Representatives, its sponsor wants the legislature to make college more affordable for the more than 800,000 students who attend school in Illinois, many of whom struggle to pay for college, but don’t qualify for government grants or scholarships.

“Middle-class students sometimes get squeezed,” said Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), the assistant majority leader and bill sponsor. “My goal is to create a program to help people in the middle… people who don’t get much elsewhere. We want to reward hard and good work.”

Lang introduced the legislation last month. The bill, titled the “Higher Education Scholarship Act,” sets state residency standards and requires students to achieve and maintain a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, while maintaining full-time status of 30 or more credit hours per school year.

Students at the state’s nine public universities on 12 campuses and 48 community colleges would receive a scholarship covering tuition and “approved mandatory fees” not covered by other grants and scholarships. Tuition at public schools in the state ranged from about $6,000 per school year at Governors State University to just over $11,000 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007-2008.

Students at the state’s 132 private for-profit and not-for-profit colleges and universities would receive an amount towards tuition and mandatory fees not to exceed the amount specified by the Higher Education Assistance Act, which designates $5,468 for fiscal year 2009 and adds an additional $500 for 2010.

At least one lawmaker said the state, with a budget deficit nearing $9 billion, simply can’t afford it.

“It sounds good in theory,” said Rep. Mike Bost (R-Carbondale). “To apply this in higher education, you could break the bank when we’re already broke.”

Lang admits the state’s current economic situation is the bill’s biggest obstacle.

“Economics in the state are in a dreadful place,” Lang said. “We could pass it and put it on the books, but it would be delayed until we can pay for it.”

Lang said perhaps money for the bill — whose cost the lawmaker couldn’t estimate — could come from the federal stimulus package, a potential increase in state taxes or cuts to other areas of the state budget.

The lawmaker acknowledges the first estimate was “astronomical,” however students are required to go through the financial aid process to be eligible, and this scholarship would supplement other grants, not replace them, “which will reduce the cost.”

A program in Georgia, which awards $3,500 Hope Scholarships to students who maintain a “B” average, cost that state $452.2 million in 2008-2009 and had nearly 193,000 recipients.

Undergraduate students in Illinois received nearly $3.9 billion in financial aid dollars during the fiscal year 2006-2007, about $560 million of which came from the approximately $51.5 billion state budget in fiscal year 2007, according to data published by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Rep. Mike Boland (D-Moline), one of the bill’s chief co-sponsors and chairman of the House’s Higher Education Committee, said he knows the expense of paying for college.

“I had a real struggle to get through school,” Boland said, noting it took him seven years to get through college, as he alternated between classes and jobs as a factory and construction worker, a custodian and “whatever I could get.”

“By being able to get through college, I was able to be a teacher,” Boland said. “I feel like I did something worthwhile.”

Boland said college graduates earn more money, pay more in taxes and “contribute more to society.”

Lang said the state would benefit from the bill in many ways.

“We have a brain-drain in Illinois. Some students never come back,” Lang said. “The idea is to keep the best and the brightest here to help Illinois.”

Data released by the Illinois Board of Higher Education shows over 24,000 “first-time students” left Illinois to attend an out-of-state institution in the fall of 2006.

The proposed bill would enable some students from out-of-state to also receive scholarships by establishing residency in the state and attending an Illinois college or university.

This isn’t the first time a bill like this has been introduced to the General Assembly.

Both Lang and Boland expressed optimism that the Higher Education Scholarship Act might pass this time.

“If it gets to the floor, I feel confident it would pass,” Boland said.

But Bost doesn’t think that will happen.

“I’ve always been opposed to it,” said Bost, a member of the Higher Education Committee that will consider the bill today. “You’ve got to weigh out the whole proposal, the whole cost. It’s more out of reach than before.”

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Feb. 24, 2009 – Chicago Public Schools' plan to close, phase out and turnaround up to 16 schools next year could be stopped under legislation being considered by the Illinois General Assembly. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the list of school closures was lowered from 22 to 16 Monday by new Schools CEO Ron Huberman.

"This sudden interruption of children's education is not fair," said Rep. Cynthia Soto (D-Chicago), who introduced House Bill 363 on Jan. 30 (as reported in a previous story by Curtis Black of Community Media Workshop), after learning two schools in her West side district could be closed.

If passed by the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, the bill could face a vote in the 118-member House in two or three weeks, said Soto.

Soto said she was forced to introduce the measure after CPS officials broke an agreement they had made with her and other lawmakers in 2007.

A CPS official, however, said the Board of Education had not violated the school closing policy, giving all schools a 6-month notice that they were being considered for closure.

"We briefed Rep. Soto about the proposed school closings in late December," said José Alvarez, executive director at the CPS Office of Local School Council and Community Relations."We're reviewing bill 363 and how it may affect our policies," said Alvarez, "but we fully implemented the school closing policy."

According to Soto, the current school closing policy was drafted in spring 2007, after she received a call from CPS CEO Arne Duncan asking her to drop a school-closing moratorium bill she was working on. Duncan, who's now the U.S. Education Secretary, and Soto agreed that a panel of experts would meet on a regular basis with CPS officials before any closure decisions were made.

"I met with Duncan, and he was very courteous. We started meeting with CPS on a regular basis," said Soto. "But now they have violated the agreement by not letting us know in advance about school closings. They feel like no one should be telling them what to do."

Some of the schools being examined by CPS would be facing a phase out period without introducing new kindergarten or first grade classes. Other schools will undergo turnarounds that will change their staff and leadership. Five schools face an immediate closure this summer. Two of these, Carpenter elementary and Peabody, are in Soto's district. Peabody was one of the six recently spared from closing by Huberman Monday.

The final decision on the remaining 16 school closings is expected to be approved at the Feb. 25th Chicago Schools' Board of Education meeting.

"We have been proposed for a phase-out," said Dwayne Pitts, assistant principal at Carpenter Elementary School, 1250 W. Erie St.

If the phase-out were to be approved, Carpenter would stop opening new kindergarten and pre-K classes but would keep providing classes for its current students all throughout eighth grade.

"Technically, CPS says we have a poor student/teacher ratio," said Pitts, "but that depends on how you see the issue. Our student/ teacher is 12 to 15 students per teacher; meanwhile, CPS says a regular class should have a 31 to 1 ratio. Research has proven that smaller classes provide a better teaching environment.

"We're very frustrated," said Pitts.

Staff and faculty at Peabody Elementary met with about 70 people on Feb. 9th to discuss the proposed school closure.

"To be honest, I had a feeling the school might soon close," said Maria Reyes, Peabody's school clerk. CPS wants to close the school because it uses less than 40 percent of its space.

"The community here in West Town is rapidly changing and people are moving out," said Reyes. "The community is not involved in the school anymore because the people moving in are sending their children to other schools. Our situation started changing in 2003, when this gentrification process started."

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Citywide Local Politics Money Matters Politics Public Schools & Education West Side
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chicago public schools education illinois general aseembly renaissance 2010

Times are hard. Not every graduate has his or her dream job. What's a struggling young professional to do? When the going gets tough, the techies go networking.

If you have an interest in technology, as in being online, working online, creating a the next "killer app," or just networking to find collaborators to help you create the startup business you know will succeed, first check out the Chicago TECH cocktail site , and then their events. TECH cocktail is an umbrella social network site with lots of local sites, designed as  "A community for developers, designers, bloggers, technology enthusiasts & entrepreneurs interested in technology in local communities". As a student, going to events like those sponsored by TECH cocktail, will let you discover opportunities you hadn't heard or thought of. It is a way to meet people to find out about internships, "the next big thing," and to begin to establish your "brand" in the world beyond school. Lest it sound too serious, it is also a social event, where you can meet new friends F2F, instead of online.

See TECH cocktail COMMUNITY in action.

In April, they are sponsoring Startup Weekend , an intense 54 hour event aimed at bringing brilliant tech minds (developers, designers, marketers, etc.) together. The idea is to get people connected and working to create a company (or as many as the community wants) from concept to launch!

The idea of Startup Weekend is to combine fun and business, in a highly interactive weekend that encourages technology entrepreneurship. Over the weekend of April 3-5th, there will be Startup Weekend events in many other cities, pitting Chicago's best minds against the rest of the "technosphere."

To learn more about Startup Weekend Chicago please visit the website. http://chicago.startupweekend.com/ or to register, go to http://chicagostartupweekend.eventbrite.com/

ITA is the host for  Startup Weekend Chicago at their Tech Nexus space located at 200 South Wacker Drive – 15th Floor.

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At Work DIY In the Loop Money Matters New Story Public Techology

Feb. 11, 2009 – College students from low-income households stand to benefit most from the educational provisions in the economic stimulus package, but paying for college will remain a daunting task for many Illinois families.

The House of Representatives’ version of the economic stimulus package designates $15.64 billion for Pell Grants, with an additional $1.47 billion in “recovery funding” for the need-based scholarships, for the next two school years starting this fall.

The Senate version calls for less money, but students who qualify for the maximum Pell Grant award would likely see a $400 to $500 increase in the size of their annual grants in the compromise legislation that could be worked out yet this week.

Financial aid experts agree an increase is long overdue.

“It’s the biggest jump we’ve had on Pell Grants in some time. This is a decent jump,” said Bob Anderson, associate director of financial aid at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Anderson said the approximately 10 percent increase would be far more than the “1 percent or less” rise seen in recent years.

While he welcomed an increase, Anderson said the additional funds for Pell Grants wouldn’t help everyone.

“It’s a pretty small percentage that would be helped. We have about 28,000 undergrads and about 5,000 get Pell Grants,” said Anderson.

Currently, the minimum Pell Grant awarded is $400, while the average grant awarded in fiscal year 2008 was $2,945, according to the U.S. Department of Education website.

The House version would increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $500 to $5350 per year in 2009-2010 and up to $5500 the following school year, according to Melissa Salmanowitz, press secretary for the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said helping families pay for college is “critical” right now.

“With high college costs already making it harder for young Americans to earn their degree, the economic recession has further increased that burden. By increasing funding for Pell Grants… and expanding the Higher Education tax credit, the economic recovery package will help students pursue their dream of a college education,” said Titus in an emailed response from her chief of staff.

“It’s wonderful for a low-income family,” said Gerrie Hatten, assistant director of financial aid at Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “It’s not really built for middle-income families.”

Many students seem resigned to working and borrowing their way through school.

Cara Boldarini, a senior art history and women’s and gender studies major at Roosevelt University in Chicago, said she has “over six figures out in loans right now.” She’s working two jobs “just to pay my rent.”

Boldarini said she has never qualified for a Pell Grant.

Neither has Mackenzie White, an advertising/art direction major at Columbia College Chicago.

“If I could get any money, it would make a difference for me. I have a job, but any money would help me out because Starbucks is my only form of income. The rest is loans. It sucks to be middle class going to college,” said White.

Although the increase in Pell Grants funding won’t affect the majority of college students, there are aspects of the stimulus package, formally called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” that could help ease the burden of paying for school.

One financial aid expert points to an increase in the amount of the Hope Scholarship tax credit as a means of assistance.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the student resource site FinAid.org and author of two books on financial aid, said both the House and Senate version of the stimulus package calls for a $700 increase in the tax credit, from $1800 to $2500 per student per school year.

“Low- and middle-income families will benefit from this tax credit, which is the same regardless of income,” said Kantrowitz.

He said families of college students can “actually get a refund for part of the credit. Normally, a tax credit can only offset a tax liability.”

Anderson pointed to an increase in funding for college work-study and an increase in unsubsidized loans as being of some assistance to students from middle-income families. Anderson said increasing the amount of unsubsidized loans students can receive is important because “alternative or private loans are drying up all over the place. They’re difficult to get right now.”

Most students who qualify for Pell Grants come from households with a family income “under $50,000,” Kantrowitz said.

In her experiences working with families and students in the financial aid realm, Hatten said, “College seems like a big stretch for most families.”

“No matter how big the Pell Grant gets, it’s just a drop in the bucket. A Pell Grant won’t solve someone’s financial aid issues,” Hatten said. “Loans allow the government to support a wider range of families. Of course everyone would rather have a grant.”

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Editor’s Choice Money Matters Nationwide New Story Politics Public Schools & Education
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Feb. 19, 2009 – Americans are worrying themselves sick over their financial security in a declining economy. Doctors nationwide have reported increasing patient complaints of fatigue, irritability, sleeplessness and apathy, which are common symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to an October 2008 report by the American Psychological Association.

But just as the need for mental health services is reaching record highs, access to treatment for the insured and uninsured alike is shrinking, along with state and federal funding.

In March, four public mental health clinics on Chicago's South and Southwest Sides will close their doors due to state budget cuts, leaving only eight pubic clinics open in the city, said Tim Hadac, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Public Health, which oversees the administration for the clinics.

Health care advocates say they are worried that the closings will devastate communities in need of mental health services now more than ever.

"There's going to be a terrible deficit of services available," said Lora Thomas, executive director of NAMI Illinois. "I'm very fearful."

"The need for mental health services is what we call countercyclical," said Mark Heyrman, chairman of the Mental Health Summit, a mental health advocacy group at the University of Chicago. "The worse the economy, the more mental health services are needed."

Tom Green, Spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services, which funds the clinics, said the department is doing its best to continue to provide adequate services.

"With a tight budget, all state agencies are having to make decisions on funding," he said. "The department is doing the best they can with the resources available."

In 2006, Illinois ranked in the bottom six states for its overall provision mental health services and received a grade of F from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI reported that while Illinois ranked 11^th among the 50 states in per capita income, on mental health services, it fell in the bottom 32 percent — with a rank of 34 — on per capita mental health spending.

Last year an estimated 24.3 million adult Americans suffered "serious psychological distress," according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a federal agency in Rockville, Md. that is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and some experts are predicting that number will rise as the economic recession deepens.

Fear of unemployment, the threat of home foreclosure and other personal financial crises, which are becoming increasingly common in the weakening economy, can lead to serious, long-term mental and physical health problems, said Dr. Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist in Wilmette, Ill., an affluent Chicago suburb, and public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association in the Midwest.

"I've been practicing for 25 years and I've never seen anything like this," said Molitor. "This is impacting practically everyone who comes in to see me now. I believe this is our next public health crisis."

Molitor said high stress due to job loss or financial woes often leads to panic disorders, insomnia, depression and anxiety.

About 86.6 percent of Illinoisans had health insurance in 2007, which is about average compared with other states, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. By state law, insurers in Illinois must cover 50 percent of the cost of the treatment of 12 mental illnesses including major depressive disorders, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, beyond what is ordinarily deductable under the patient's health plan.

But treatment is costly and patients are still required to pay the difference out of pocket, said Molitor.

For the state's 1.8 million uninsured, public health services may be the only solution and those services are becoming fewer since the state slashed funding this year for Chicago mental health clinics by $1.2 million – about 15 percent.

Hadac said he hopes the remaining clinics, which will absorb the staffs from those folding, will be able to handle all of the city's 6,500 regular clients.

The Chicago Department of Public Health is launching an extensive public awareness campaign to ensure current and potential patients are aware of their options once their regular clinics close and that all therapists will be moved to the next closest clinic to help patients maintain treatment, said Green.

Not all Americans are at the same level of risk for mental health problems. People with a prior or family history of mental illness, for example are more likely to experience to a serious psychological problem when they lose their job or another traumatic event occurs.

Molitor said other risk factors include isolation, poor physical health, a tendency toward pessimism and a family history of mental illness.

Those feeling highly stressed or moderately depressed can help reverse the course of mild anxiety and depression, she said, by reaching out to a friend or family member or doing physical exercise.

Illinois residents feeling extreme stress or worried that they are experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety can find their closest public mental health clinic by calling the Illinois Department of Human Services help line at 1-800-843-6154, or visiting the department's online clinic finder.

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Mind & Body Money Matters Nationwide Public Social Issues
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Feb. 17, 2009 – Chicago legal aid societies, providing services for some of the city’s poorest residents with non-criminal cases, are bracing themselves.

As a result of lowered federal interest rates, these organizations will see a sharp cut in funding, while requests for their services has, in some cases, doubled.

Legal aid societies have benefited from a program called Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Accounts, or IOLTA. Interest gained from short-term accounts, such as real estate transactions and retainers, are placed in this pooled-interest bearing trust account.

In Illinois, the IOLTA fund has two sources of funding – interest from short-term accounts and from state licensing fees, which brings in $2.5 million, with all of it going toward legal representation for the poor or working-class poor. Other states are directed by law or choose to direct their funds toward services in high demand.

During the 2008 fiscal year, which began July 1, $17.1 million was available for some agencies to expand services, recruit and retain lawyers and improve technology.

Thirty-four Cook County firms received grants from IOLTA in 2008, with  $3.1 million allocated among the three largest firms – CARPLS , Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services .

But as interest rates dropped from 5.25 percent to between 0 and 0.25 percent, Illinois IOLTA income could plunge to about $5 million total for fiscal year 2009.

Now, many agencies will seek alternative sources – private firms and donors – in addition to fundraisers to meet the growing public need for legal advice.

Kendra Reinshagen, executive director of Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family Services , said that she wouldn’t know until April how much in IOLTA grant funds her agency will receive for fiscal year 2009, but they are prepared for it to be lower than previous years.

“We’re reaching out to the law firms and other sources for funding,” said Reinshagen.

Last year, an increase of $50,000 in grant funds enabled the firm hire an eighth lawyer to serve the Southwest suburbs. This year separate funding for this position will not be available. Reinshagen is hoping to raise additional funds from outside sources to maintain the position.

Also, Reinshagen said her firm is telling staff about the possibility of furloughs and no raises for the year. She said many local agencies are already doing so.

The decrease in funding comes at a time where many firms are seeing an increase in requests for legal assistance for foreclosures, consumer debts and family issues. At the Richard M. Daley Center , CARPLS operates four legal advice desks and has seen 6,500 clients in the past year seeking assistance.

Selene James, 62, a project manager at Healthy Families of Illinois, was recently served with a judgment by Midland Financial Bank for unknown debt. She called the CARPLS hotline and was referred to their municipal desk on the sixth floor at the Daley Center.

As she waited more than 30-minutes to speak with a CARPLS’ attorney, she said wasn’t aware any such debt and suspected they bought the debt from some other company. James said the company claimed her sister was served with papers in 2008.

She doesn’t have a sister.

Concerned, James said if the judgment was made against her, she would face having her wages garnished.

Ashlee Highland, supervising attorney at the 1401 collections desk at the Daley Center, said the numbers alone don’t reflect the problem clients are faced with. She is concerned with any cuts in services due to lack of funding.

“I think if we weren’t available, people won’t be aware of certain rights,” said Highland. “And they might waive them or lose them.”

The Chicago Legal Clinic created their chancery desk five years ago, designed to assist clients in understand court procedures such as mortgages and name changes. At that time Executive Director Edward Grossman estimated the desk would see roughly 20 clients a day.  Now, on some days, it’s up to 40 a day, he said.

Allen C. Schwartz, executive director at CARPLS, said they have been able to maintain their current budget, but he worries about the coming fiscal year because of the indications funding will be reduced.

A recent survey of calls to their hotline in the second quarter in 2009 showed a 25 percent increase from 2008. Requests for foreclosure and consumer debt were up 58 percent and 34 percent respectively. Their Spanish hotline saw an increase of 49 percent. Schwartz said Hispanics are a population that is being hit disproportionately.

Besides the concerns CARPLS has over IOLTA funding, they are also worried about funding they receive from the city, state and county. Schwartz said it isn’t clear what the economic crisis impact will have on those sources of revenue.

“We’re hoping for the best, at this point we’re hoping to maintain the current levels of service and staffing but basically we have to play it by ear,” said Schwartz. “It’s a month to month thing.”

Some legal aid societies said there are not enough legal services available to the poor in Illinois. If service is cut because of funding, it will have a direct impact on their ability to protect their rights.

“A lot of times we are the only thing that separates folks between a proper resolution of their legal problems,” said Schwartz. “Most unrepresented litigants are people not familiar with the law and don’t tend to come out on the right side of the law when they have a legal problem.” 

Schwartz said this could manifest in higher levels of wage garnishments, evictions, and foreclosures. 

Ruth Ann Schmitt, executive director for the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois , said there will be an impact next year if funds did not increase and by 2011 the impact could be “devastating” for many programs.

Schmitt said most programs will be able to weather the economic storm with slight adjustments in their budgets, but beyond the 2010 budget year, many could close or merge.

“I think we have hit rock bottom in terms of monthly income,” said Schmitt. “Right now, the real question is how long will [federal] rates stay this low. And number two, how can we stretch the limited reserves to meet needs.”

Schmitt said the IOLTA reserves were “beefed up” because of the income generated in 2008 but now these reserves will sustain for one or two years but after that they will be depleted. She said if the income per year were $1 million to $2 million, it would put IOLTA back 10 to 20 years in grant funding.

“Money is very tight,” said Schmitt. “And that’s why it’s gonna take all of our ingenuity to preserve IOLTA as a viable funding source through out this crisis.”

For more information about legal services in Cook County contact or visit the following websites:

Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago
111 W. Jackson Blvd. 3rd Floor
Phone: (312) 341-1070
www.lafchicago.org

CARPLS
(312)738-9200
www.carpls.org

Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc.
2938 E. 91st Street
Chicago, IL 60617
(773)731-1762
www.clclaw.org

Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
100 North LaSalle Street, Suite 900,
Chicago, Illinois
Phone: (312) 332-1624
www.cvls.org

Chicago Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Services
(312) 986-4000
http://www.metrofamily.org

Illinois Legal Aid.Org

http://www.illinoislegalaid.org

Prairie State Legal Services

http://www.pslegal.org.

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Mr. Beef, a popular River North lunchtime and anytime beef joint, is facing a foreclosure suit, according to Thomas A. Corfman in Chicago Real Estate Daily .

Mr. Beef’s co-owners, Joseph Zucchero and Michael Genevese, are alleged to have failed to pay off two loans, and missed payments on the establishment, located at 666 N. Orleans. Mr. Zucchero told Mr. Corfman that this is evidence of the problems of our economy now, where lenders are being too "tight-fisted" with loans, and thus hurting local entrepreneurs and small business people.

Mr. Beef's owners have another restaurant, Natalino's, at 1523 We. Chicago Ave. They say business is good, but in this economic climate, interest rates are too high, and they want to work with the banks to refinance several loans.

Mr. Beef has been a Chicago hangout for a beef and quick bite for 20 years. Beef lovers all over Chicago will fervently hope that Mr. Zucchero can work out new financing and loans and keep Mr. Beef open until the economy improves.

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Editors note: This story was originally printed on www.propublica.org on Jan. 26, 2009.

Story by Olga Pierce of ProPublica

Jan. 27, 2009 – Who knew that reading the stimulus package could be so stimulating?

We’ve been scouring the $825 billion House version [1] (PDF) of the pending economic stimulus bill this morning, and here are five curious clauses we’ve found so far. While we’re making phone calls, please contact us with any others you find.

1. Blago Out, Stimulus Bucks In

No Illinois state agency can spend stimulus money without the state legislature’s approval, the bill says, until a certain “Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illinois.” Ouch. We’ve put a call into the governor’s office to see what he thinks of this.

2. Sorry, Las Vegas

The bill specifically prohibits stimulus funding “for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool.” No mention of roller-skating rinks.

3. At Least We’ll Have Our Health

A variety of allocations in the bill go to health-related projects that do not appear to be directly related to the country’s economic health, including $500 million to the Department of Health and Human Services for “evidence-based interventions in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, tobacco cessation and smoking prevention, and oral health,” another $335 million for “domestic HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually-transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis prevention programs,” and $420 million for flu vaccine.

4. One Less Thing to Worry About

What’s worse than the Great Depression II? Lava. The bill specifies $200 million to the U.S. Geological Survey for maintenance projects including “equipment replacement and upgrades including stream gages, and seismic and volcano monitoring systems…”

5. It Is Rocket Science

The bill sets aside $400 million for NASA, $250 million of which is for climate research projects. But the remaining $150 million is for “aeronautics.” If they told us, we probably wouldn’t understand.

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Jan. 14, 2009 – With the still-growing housing crisis at the core of the sharpest economic downturn since the Great Depression, advocates called for affordable housing to be a key component of stimulus and recovery plans.

"Housing is infrastructure," said Jack Markowski of the Chicago-based Community Investment Corporation, alluding to massive infrastructure investments planned in the forthcoming stimulus program. "It employs people. It provides the foundation to allow people to be part of the workforce." And with a growing need for energy conservation, "it's part of the green economy.

"We have proposals that are shovel-ready," he added, speaking at a gathering of over 200 community housing practitioners convened by the Chicago Rehab Network at Roosevelt University Monday.

Markowski called for tripling expenditures for the federal HOME Investment Partnership Program, which finances affordable housing production — at $2 billion a year, its budget has not been increased since 1990, he said — as well as for the $4 billion Community Development Block Grant Program.

U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) described efforts by congressional leadership to include $23 billion for affordable housing development in the stimulus package, including $10 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund to build or save 100,000 low-income rental homes over two years, as well as funds for more low-income rental subsidies, upgrading public housing units to green standards, and helping cities redevelop foreclosed properties.

Together the proposed spending would assist 800,000 hard-hit households and create 200,000 new jobs, she said.

Schakowsky also discussed efforts to require any further spending under the TARP financial bailout program to include at least $40 billion for foreclosure mitigation.

Participants in two panels expressed high hopes for the incoming Obama administration. "We need a HUD that wants to do housing," said Andrew Geer of Heartland Housing.

Community Media Workshop president Thom Clark moderated the panel discussions.

Joy Aruguete of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation emphasized the connection between affordable housing and a green jobs program, and Ted Wysocki of the LEED Council stressed the need for immediate training for green jobs.

Housing consultant Teresa Prim discussed the economic recovery plan proposed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Steven McCullough of Bethel New Life called for "holding financial institutions accountable and making sure capital is flowing to the people who really need it…. We're at the point where a large number of multifamily buildings are in trouble because of [lack of] capital flow."

McCullough said the worker sit-in at Republic Windows last month could be replicated in multifamily rental buildings, with families refusing to move when buildings go into foreclosure.

"In Chicago we've seen overinvestment in high-end housing causing displacement, and in Washington we've seen that a top-down housing policy allows the bottom to fall out," said Pat Abrams of The Renaissance Collaborative. "But we who work at the community level have an alternative to the top-down approach.

"Affordable housing is a community anchor," Abrams said. "We must ensure that affordable housing, and especially rental housing, is the centerpiece of any economy recovery."

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Jan. 15, 2009 – Andrea Tahlier, manager of Kroll's South Loop, says the end-of-year holidays are usually the restaurants busiest time of the year, but lately she's noticed fewer customers at lunch time.

"People just don't seem to be going out for lunch anymore," Tahlier said. While the bar at Kroll's has boosted business. "When times are hard, people tend to be more drawn to bars," she added.

Kroll's is not alone in the slow down. Rising food costs and dwindling numbers of customers are hurting restaurants around Chicago. Restaurant owners say some consumers are choosing to eat out less while others are opting for cheaper eateries.

According to reports from the National Restaurant Association, eating and drinking establishments have cut nearly 36,000 jobs in the last four months. In addition to the increase in job losses in the restaurant industry, eateries also have had to cut back on their employees' hours.  The average weekly hours worked by non-management employees is only 24.1 hours.

Some restaurants have even closed their doors. Chain restaurants Bennigan's and Steak & Ale closed many of their locations after their owner, S&A Restaurant Corp., filed for bankruptcy in July. Bakers Square owner Vicorp Restaurants Inc. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in April.

In a survey conducted this year by the National Restaurant Association, 29 percent of restaurant owners and operators identified the economy as their No. 1 challenge.

Employees in many areas are feeling the pinch as well.

Aleya James, who works for Starbucks in South Chicago said, "After the economy started getting really bad, I noticed a decrease in the amount of hours I was being given. I work part time and attend school. The 20 hours or so that I was working, I needed to pay for necessities. It's definitely a financial strain."

Chicago residents say they are not frequenting restaurants as much because of rising costs and financial worries.

"I know to watch how often I eat out," said Mia Madison, 42, from South Chicago. "I work downtown and I used to be able to buy lunch frequently. I eat out less, and if I do eat out it is unhealthy because I go to the Dollar Menu at McDonald's. I try to bring my lunch." 

Vernon McCallum, 20, from South Chicago said, "The economy has definitely slowed down how often I eat out. Most people are losing their jobs or don't have one. Nowadays I stay in and cook."

A rise in food costs is affecting restaurant profit as well. Since January last year, the average cost for a dozen eggs went up from $1.38 to $2.17. Milk increased from $2.67 to $3.54 a gallon and a loaf a bread is up to $1.26 from $1.01. The Consumer Price Index for Chicagoland has increased 4.4 percent, which is the highest increase since 1996.

South Loop Dunkin Donuts manager Ladarrius Wallace said his franchise is more affected by rising food costs than dwindling costumers.

Many consumers say they are going to less expensive places to dine.

Stephanie Mueller, 25, of North Chicago, said, "My eating habits have been greatly affected. I don't go and do nice dinners anymore. I probably eat out not even three times a week. If the economy were better, I definitely would go to nicer restaurants as opposed to grabbing a sandwich."

Some restaurants have been impervious to the economic slowdown.

Lisa Ko, owner of Tamarind Restaurant in the South Loop, said her business is not being significantly affected by the nation's economy. Ko attributes Tamarind's success to ability to draw business To good service, and above all, low prices. "We have good and affordable food," she said.

Ko also said the restaurant is close to hotels and colleges, which also helps keep business steady.

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Dec. 19, 2008 – Long after the polling machines have been put away and the campaign yard signs taken down, political memorabilia stores and online auction sites still have plenty of presidential campaign items to get rid of. Candidate buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts and masks are still being sold — even from the losing candidate.

Sets of McCain/Palin campaign pins are being sold on eBay for up to $79 with individual pins going for around $20. A McCain/Palin poster signed by both the GOP candidates is $299 on the online auction website. Even McCain's website still has hundreds items for sale from different stores including GOPTrunk.com.

Lori Ferber Presidential Memorabilia, an online political memorabilia store, is selling McCain single buttons for $3.95 each. A set of 5 buttons is going for $12.95 and a life-size standup cut-out of McCain is $34.95.

But are people still buying these items?

About a week after the election, orders for McCain items were plentiful, said Steve Ferber, who runs the Web site collection with his wife, Lori, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Now, more than a month after the election, orders are dying down.

While the number of sales has decreased, people are still paying as much as they did before the election, said Ferber, but he imagines prices will drop with time.

"Prices are always determined by supply and demand," said Ferber.

People buying memorabilia of a losing candidate after the election is not unusual, said Ferber, who has been selling political memorabilia for the past 35 years. Unsuccessful candidates dating back 50 years were sometimes of more interest to collectors because their memorabilia disappeared faster than those who won, he said.

Today memorabilia from President-elect Barack Obama's campaign is more widely bought, but items featuring former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) continue to be top sellers, said Ferber, at times outselling Obama gear.

And now that Obama nominated Clinton to be the nation's new secretary of State, Ferber thinks interest will remain high for her items because people believe she will continue to be a force in politics and may even run again for president.

However, Ferber doesn't think that will be the case for McCain. 

Jim Warlick, a personal political memorabilia collector and owner of the store Political Americana in Washington, D.C., said people mostly buy items of a losing candidate to be part of a collection, not because of any personal reason or tie to the candidate.

Warlick said there are two completely different groups of memorabilia buyers — people who buy during the campaign to show support for their favorite candidate and those who buy items as collectables. 

Many collectors, like the ones that are members of the national collectors' organization American Political Items Collectors, purchase items of value to make a profit, said Ben Rogers, director of Baylor University's Collections of Political Materials in Texas. But a lot of the McCain/Palin items being sold are not worth what some people are paying for them, he said.

Rogers said the same for some Obama items, like all the inaugural special issues of newspapers on sale. The more that are produced and widely bought, the less they will be worth in the future, he said.

However, Rogers thinks people are still interested in McCain items because Sarah Palin brought the real possibility of the first-ever female vice president.

Warlick agreed that what makes McCain items valuable to some people is Palin, and the possibility that she will run for higher political office beyond governor of Alaska. Warlick said he's had customers asking for Palin gear without McCain on it.

But McCain memorabilia will not be worth much or sell well until the 72-year-old senator dies, as it usually goes for any losing candidate, said Warlick. For example, he saw a spike in sales for memorabilia of Barry Goldwater when he died in 1987. Goldwater was the Republican Party presidential nominee in 1964 who was beat in the general election by Lyndon B. Johnson.

After the election, Political Americana pulled all its McCain items off the shelves and moved them to a warehouse with other campaign gear of political past, such as a million and a half buttons from other political candidates.

The items were taken off the shelves because the store shifts to selling inaugural gear after an election, but the McCain memorabilia will probably emerge from the warehouse in March, said Warlick. He'll give the items a year on the shelves and hopes that some will sell at collectors' shows. However, he is not optimistic about getting rid of it all.

"It just will not sell probably," said Warlick. "Not in my lifetime."

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Dec. 18, 2008

Story by John McCarron

It was the red dots-scores of little red specks sprinkled across a map of just one neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side-that spoke the loudest.

Several high-powered experts spoke Dec. 4 in Chicago at a field hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services. But Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who chairs the subcommittee, and as assistant majority leader figures to play a key supporting role in the upcoming Obama administration, seemed just as impressed by the testimony of the dots.

“The red dots on this chart are for just one single ZIP code,” Durbin explained to those gathered in the ceremonial courtroom of the Dirksen Federal Building. “You can see there’s barely a block on which there haven’t been any foreclosures this year.

“This is a cancer or a blight that’s going from home to home, neighborhood to neighborhood,” said Durbin, nodding toward two oversized maps mounted on easels, “that will really threaten us if we don’t do something quickly.”

The dot maps were created by David McDowell of the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP).

“It’s a way to get across the impact of what’s happening in our neighborhood,” McDowell said later in an interview. “It shows this is about something larger, not just individuals with a problem, but the fabric of our neighborhood.”

Subscription services such as RealtyTrac.com will tell you there are 2,342 properties within the Chicago Lawn ZIP code currently in pre-foreclosure or already repossessed by lenders. But when McDowell and SWOP merged all those addresses using Microsoft mapping software, a whole different picture emerged – a scary picture of a neighborhood on the brink.

SWOP and its sister organization, Greater Southwest Development Corp. (GSDC), developed the maps as part of an anti-foreclosure program funded by the MacArthur Foundation. A second MacArthur grant to LISC/Chicago funds the New Communities Program (NCP) Foreclosure Response Fund, which is helping NCP’s neighborhood partners reach out to those in danger of losing their homes.

More than two-thirds of families who miss three or more mortgage payments, thereby triggering foreclosure action by lenders, never seek outside help or respond to legal notifications. Many end up losing not just their home, but their credit rating and their neighborhood.

But getting families to seek professional mortgage counseling is only half the battle. Durbin’s subcommittee is exploring ways to prod lenders into modifying the terms of loans so owners can catch up on payments and save their homes. Moreover, many economists warn that until this foreclosure tsunami is reversed, there will be no recovery of the housing market and, consequently, no recovery of the broader economy

Bruce Gottschall, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, testified that ways must be found “to compel mortgage holders to offer proactive, standardized loan modifications to large numbers of mortgagees in a systematic manner.”

Gottschall suggested that the $700 billion now earmarked by Congress to bail out cash-starved banks, insurers and investment houses ought to carry a requirement that loan modifications-reductions of both interest rates and principal amounts-be made available to struggling families.

As it is now, said Gottschall, who fields the largest staff of mortgage counselors in Chicago, lenders and their servicing agents tend to be hard to reach and, once contacted, unable or unwilling to modify loan terms.

Durbin seconded Gottschall’s remarks, as well as those of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who testified about a loan modification settlement her office has reached with Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest home lenders but now a subsidiary Bank of America.

“The most immediate need at this moment,” Madigan said toward the end of the hearing, “is to help homeowners stay in their homes and stabilize our communities.”

It was eloquent summary, underscoring the silence of the red dots.

Gordon Walek contributed to this report

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Dec. 17, 2008 – Costs for using valet services in downtown Chicago might soon rise under an ordinance proposed by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) that would require parking companies to have insurance coverage of at least $1 million and prove all their drivers have a valid license.

This ordinance is long overdue," said Reilly. The issue, he said, "has only grown more frustrating and more complex Downtown as time has gone by."

The ordinance passed last week by the Committee on Traffic Control and Safety could be considered by the full City Council as early as Dec 17. If passed, businesses that seek to hire valet companies would also be required to increase by 15 percent the available parking space for valets, guaranteeing parking spaces for at least 25 percent of the business's seating capacity, a measure adopted to stop valets from leaving cars in public parking spots. The committee also decided to drop a proposal to raise the license fee for valet companies from $300 to $1,000.

Among the problems aldermen cited before unanimously approving the measure: the lack of parking spaces for residents and citizen complaints about valets' behavior.

"Citizens call my office saying there is no parking space in their neighborhood," said Ald. Manuel Flores (1st).

Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) said he received complaints from citizens who witnessed valets eating and smoking in their cars.

"I've personally called a few restaurants where I heard valets eat, smoke and keep warm in customers' cars," said Fioretti, who said he does not like giving his car keys to valets.

No valet company representative was present at the committee meeting and not many appeared to know about the ordinance.

"Usually, they would send us a letter, but I didn't get any notice this time," said Bob Gariti, owner of Regional Valet Service, a parking management company based in Chicago.

Doing business in Chicago, Gariti said he's already insured for $1 million because many Downtown businesses require valet companies to have such a policy.

For some valet companies, such as Michael Munao's Five Star Valet, the ordinance is a good measure to get rid of unlawful competition.

"It's phenomenal," said Munao, owner of Five Star Valet, at 2142 W. Concord Lane in Addison. "It will get the riff-raff out of the valet industry."

Munao has an insurance policy covering his business up to $3 million, which allows him "to sleep at night," he said. "If God forbid something really bad happens, do you think it is only going to cost $1 million?"

Still, insurance costs can be high in the valet business, and owners warn higher insurance costs could translate into higher valet parking costs.

"I pay about $17,000 a year for my insurance," said Jean Pierre Petit, owner of Valet Parking Experts Inc., a five-year-old Miami-based valet company that also does business in Mexico, where Petit says insurance costs less than half what it does here.

"We won't be able to stay in business without raising costs," said Steve Espinoza, owner of Premier Valet Chicago Inc. "Some valet rates will be higher, but restaurants don't want companies to raise their prices."

But restaurants and local businesses might not have a choice, as the limited number of parking spaces Downtown could force clients to rely on valet services anyway.

"The ordinance will not have much of an effect because there are no other options for parking around here," said Kate Naylor, manager at the restaurant Tavern on Rush at 1031 N. Rush St.

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Dec. 11, 2008 – Three days into the new fiscal year, the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an unprecedented $9.8 million medical malpractice settlement last week, as President Todd Stroger seeks $280 million in bonds to cover day-to-day costs.

Commissioner Peter N. Silvestri (9th) called the settlement, involving the 2005 death of 27-year-old Farrah Dickerson, atypical. He said he expected a 12 percent increase in total settlements for 2009 from last year's $80 million due to the large size of the settlement.

Still, Silvestri said $90 million is just a drop in the bucket considering the county's $3.2 billion annual budget. 

Others disagree. 

"Part of the problem is that the budget is not very transparent," said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a government watchdog group specializing in budget analysis in the Chicago area. 

Msall said his group does not specifically track the county's legal settlements but said the way the county uses its Working Cash Fund, an internal savings account estimated to exceed $220 million and tapped in part to finance court settlements, is "subject to debate." 

The question the public must ask of these settlements, Msall said, is whether "the county is learning from [them]." 

Commissioner Earlean Collins (1st) is not sure it is. During last Wednesday's county board meeting, Collins urged commissioners to settle litigation cases more quickly as she reminded them of past lawsuits the board took too long to settle. 

"This could have easily been twice as much," Collins said of the Dickerson settlement. Dickerson died at Stroger Hospital after medical personnel allegedly neglected to treat her excessive bleeding during childbirth.  

"When we get to a point where we can't win, you have to settle them," Collins said of the lawsuits filed against Cook County. Collins hopes the newly formed Board of Health, approved by the County Board in last March, will continue to emphasize "better accountability of nurses" and doctors.  

Collins added that the county should do a better job in tracking the medical malpractice history of its hospitals and doctors.  

Ultimately, Collins said, too many of the cases settled by the county could have been avoided, a trend that is "eating away at our budget." 

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez is responsible for evaluating each lawsuit filed against Cook County. They range from medical malpractice to sexual harassment suits. Alvarez then recommends to the litigation subcommittee of the Cook County Board's Finance Committee whether to settle a case or fight it. Cases involving less than $100,000 in damages don't go before the board, but are left to the discretion of Alvarez's office.

Calls to Alvarez's office were not returned but Silvestri, who heads the litigation sub-committee, said, "routinely more cases are settled [than are brought to trial]." 

The 2008 Cook County budget slashed funding to the county's three major hospitals including Chicago's John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital, by $78 million, from $617 million in 2007 to $413 million.

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Dec. 10, 2008 – It is touted as being one of the hottest and fastest-growing residential neighborhoods in the city, but despite the rapid rise in development that has occurred in this trendy area, even the South Loop is not safe from the ill effects of the looming recession.

It is perhaps most evident at night, when the myriad of new condominium buildings stand tall and dark against the city's skyline.  The construction on most of these buildings has come to an end and residents of the purchased units are fully moved in.  But their lit-up windows are outnumbered by dark, empty units.

In an annual West Loop Town Hall meeting in late November, Ald. Robert Fioretti of the South Loop's 2^nd Ward addressed the crowd of constituents about a rise in home foreclosures in the neighborhood.  

"They're happening right here in this community," Fioretti said. "In the condos, in homes. We are in a tough economic crisis."

According to Fioretti, there have been approximately 500 South Loop foreclosures in the last year. 

"Five hundred families are no longer paying taxes, that means 500 empty homes, 500 boarded-up homes," he said. "And if we don't find a way to end this financial crisis, then we're going to have a city that has a lot of problems."

A report by Appraisal Research Counselors said that the downtown market had only 161 condominium sales in the third quarter of 2008.  That is the lowest number of sales since the downturn in 2001 that followed the 9/11 attacks.

"Sales have definitely slowed, as have rentals," said Ken Baker, a Prudential real estate agent in the South Loop.  "It's a tough time for everyone, and even with reduced sales prices, not many people have the ability to buy right now."

According to the Downtown Chicago Residential Benchmark Report, there were 74 new-construction condominiums, 62 condo conversion units, 25 adaptive-reuse lofts and one new town home in the third quarter.

Despite the housing crisis, construction and development in the South Loop does continue. While condo sales may be down, the economy has not yet stunted the ever-growing number of students in the loop.

A joint venture of two Chicago-based area estate firms, L&H Real Estate Group and Brownstone Realty & Development Co., has requested a zoning change that would allow for a new dormitory in the East Loop. The current owners of the Buckingham, an existing 456-bed dormitory, submitted the request with the intention to connect the 37- floor building at 51 through 67 E. Van Buren St. to the neighboring building.

The new and existing dorms together would comprise 1,677 beds, which would make it the second largest student housing facility in the city, second to the University Center on State Street, which holds 1,720 beds.

In 2007, according to Chicago Loop Alliance, 2,858 students lived in the loop, a population that is largely responsible for the development of businesses in the once deserted central business district.

"I'm sure that we put a ton of money into the local economy," said Ida Gretch, a student at DePaul University.  "Hopefully it will be enough to keep the businesses afloat while they wait for new residents to buy the empty condos."

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Dec. 8, 2008 – In a continued effort to reduce jail overcrowding, the Cook County Board of Commissioners reauthorized Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart last Wednesday to transfer up to 175 detainees at one time from the Cook County jail to facilities in other Illinois counties.

In addition to improving conditions for inmates, who are sometimes stuck sleeping on the floor in overcrowded cells, the plan saves Cook County millions of dollars each year, said Steve Patterson, spokesman for Dart. However, critics of the transfer program question its efficacy, as well as the motives of the sheriff's department.

Under the program, up to 100 male detainees in Cook County could be transferred to Jefferson County and up to 75 to Kankakee County at a cost of $50 or $60 per day, respectively. In addition, Cook County would need to cover all medical and transportation expenses for those detainees.

It now costs Cook County about $117 per day to house and feed each of the county's 9,389 detainees, plus an additional $30 to $40 a day for the approximately 940 detainees suffering from medical problems, said Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16th), who was the only one of 17 commissioners to oppose renewing the contracts. That means the county currently spends more than $1.1 million a day to house all detainees.

At best, the program could save the county almost $3 million a year if the jail population hovers above the 10,000-person capacity and the maximum 175 detainees get sent to facilities in other counties.

From October 2007 to October 2008, Cook County paid about $1.5 million to Kankakee County and about $920,000 to Jefferson County for boarding. Currently, 22 Cook County detainees are housed in other counties.

But given transportation costs and the increased likelihood of court delays when detainees' access to counsel is limited, the transfer program could cost more than holding all detainees in Cook County, Peraica said.

"This is going to end up costing us more — and unnecessarily so," he said.

Peraica said the board should address overcrowding at a higher level, arguing the sheriff's office is intentionally keeping the jail population high to justify its $400 million-plus annual budget.

"The jail population is being artificially held at high levels to maintain patronage hiring and a very high budget," he said.

Rather than transferring detainees out, he said, Dart should place non-violent drug offenders on electronic monitoring, which would allow them live at home and be supervised via global positioning systems at a cost of $30 per day.

Malcolm Young, executive director of the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, agrees the county could manage the number of detainees better if it fully used alternatives like electronic monitoring.

"You'd rather have your local jail handle the population that's being put into the local jail," he said. "Shipping inmates out to another jurisdiction is one measure — you know, other jurisdictions have done this before — that has to be taken in some circumstances. I'm not sure those circumstances exist in Cook County."

The John Howard Association has been monitoring jail overcrowding in Cook County since 1982 under a consent decree stemming from a 1974 lawsuit filed by an Dan Duran, an inmate, against the Cook County sheriff, in which Duran claimed his right to due process had been violated by the prison system. The association visits the jail weekly and provides regular reports to the county on its living conditions.

Young said transferring detainees out of Cook County also poses a problem for their families and attorneys, who would have to travel up to 280 miles to Jefferson or 65 miles to Kankakee, neither of which, he said, is easily accessible by public transportation.

"It's harder on the inmates; it's harder on their families and it's harder on their attorneys," Young said.

Patterson said while he agrees that electronic monitoring would help remedy jail overcrowding, Dart believes it is Chief Judge Tim Evans' responsibility to select candidates for electronic monitoring, not the sheriff's. Evans was not immediately available for comment.

Nonetheless, Patterson said, the transfer program has been a success so far.

"It's worked out great," he said. "We're saving about half the cost, so we've been happy with the way it's worked out."

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Dec. 8, 2008

Story by Dionisia Koutsis

BahJae Davis and her family members were evicted early one morning from their apartment on Chicago’s West Side. Davis says the officers told the family they had only 5-10 minutes to grab what they needed.

“The sheriff came in and kicked us out and we couldn’t get our stuff,” she recalls.

The nine people in Davis’ household were suddenly homeless.

“I’m not going to say it was terrible, but it was an experience,” she says.

Davis, 17, is one of 10,000 high school students who are left homeless each year, but she’s not about to let that interfere with her education. She is a senior at Hirsch Metro High School and her favorite subject is AP calculus.

Being a homeless student offers particular challenges because homeless youth often cannot continue with their education. They are removed from their neighborhood schools and often require specialized counseling and other support services. Failing to earn a high school diploma can place them on a lifelong path to poverty and unemployment.

Nevertheless, there are resources throughout Chicago available to help people access their right to housing. The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) is one such organization, with a law project that aids people who are in unstable housing situations or are homeless.

“We are the only part of the coalition that provides free legal services to people who are homeless or nearly homeless,” said Rene Heybach, the director of the law project. “A lot of our work is around the education rights of homeless children and youth.”

Heybach works with families to help get kids in the right schools and keep them there. She said Chicago Public Schools is doing a lot better with working with students facing homelessness, but the problem persists in other districts, adding that students facing homelessness often do not know their rights.

“A lot of the suburban districts have an idea about who homeless people are… that they are minorities, they are low achievers, and obviously they are poor,” she said.

Heybach tries to inform students who are facing homelessness that no matter what their living situation is, they are allowed to stay in the school in which they were last enrolled. Missing school and changing schools can take a toll on a student’s academic standing. Furthermore, when a child faces homelessness his or her focus may shift away from education.

Through CCH, students not only receive legal advice, but also have the opportunity to obtain scholarships. The program provides financial aid to homeless or formerly homeless youth who want to attend college, no matter what grades they earned in high school. The program targets youth who have the ability to succeed in college and go on to the next phase in their lives.

“We are the richest country in the world,” said Heybach, adding that while homelessness should not be a problem for anyone in this country, it is growing rapidly.

Heybach said that the money spent each month by the United States to finance the war in Iraq would house all the homeless of Chicago.

She worked with President-elect Barack Obama in the past, and hopes he continues to stand for the human right to housing. She said Obama has donated to CCH as well.

“He has been very supportive of our organization and of our work. We view him as an ally,” said Heybach.

CCH also has an internship program for Chicago Public Schools students. The internship is open to Hirsch Metro seniors  in the school’s law program.

Davis is involved the program, working as a law intern at CCH. She helps make brochures and passes them out at schools to inform people that if they are facing homelessness, they have the right to an education.

Davis did not stop attending school, even while her family bounced all around the city. They stayed a short time with her grandmother and then at her aunt’s house. Unfortunately, they could not stay long because there was not enough room for her entire family. Eventually, they found a shelter that accepted the whole family and gave them their own room.

The staff in the school Davis transferred to knew she was living in a homeless shelter and helped out in many ways, offering her a city bus pass and school uniforms.

Davis’ siblings do not have share her enthusiasm about school. She said she tries to stay strong when she sees they are upset.

“I felt my place was to motivate them, and should show them some leadership instead of being sad,” she said.

She tries to talk to her sisters about the importance of an education and help keep them focused on school. Her younger sisters have taken the experience harder than Davis. Other students in their school criticized them when they found out that they lived in a shelter. Davis tries not to let that bother her.

“I’m not going to make anyone let me cry. They don’t know me,” she said.

After three months living in the homeless shelter, Davis’ uncle purchased an apartment building. The apartment is in the same neighborhood her family was living in before, on Chicago’s West Side. The family thought they were done moving, but now the apartment building is being foreclosed. For the second time, Davis’ family will soon have no place to live.

They have prepared their belongings in anticipation of being evicted.

“We know it’s going to happen,” said Davis. “We know what two bags to grab when we leave. I don’t care what happens. I’m going to make sure that I finish school.”

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Dec. 5, 2008 – Karen Yang works at an import jewelry shop in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood. She said the word among business owners is that times are tough and sales are down.

Just up the street from her, a woman behind a counter selling Oriental décor nearly breaks into tears over the slowing economy.

"No business for three months," she said, too choked up and embarrassed to give her name.

Will President-elect Barack Obama be their economic savior? That answer, in part, depends on where he takes the U.S. relationship with their homeland of China, experts say.

With increasing interdependence between the U.S. and China, the two countries will need to work together to confront the global financial crisis, said Sam Crane, Asian studies professor in the political science department at Williams College in Massachusetts.

"We rely on China holding our debt and they rely on us to buy their stuff," Crane said. "That basic arrangement, I believe, has to stay in place and not be weakened, or the economic crisis in both places could get worse."

The two countries have already taken separate strategies for dealing with the economic crisis. The U.S. has decided to pour $700 billion into buying up bad loans from the country's largest financial institutions. China recently revealed its plan to create a nearly $600 billion New Deal-style infrastructure building and job creation package over the next two years.

The tie that most closely binds the U.S. and China is China's purchase of significant amounts of America's $10 trillion national debt through low-rate, long-term bonds. Approximately one-quarter of the debt is owned by foreign countries, with China second only to Japan in holdings. In turn, China depends on Americans spending money on China's low-cost products to keep their economy booming.

"Imagine how working-class Americans would get by without access to relatively cheap Chinese products at Wal-Mart," Crane said.

But with the downtrodden economy, Americans are tightening up their wallets and China's growth has slowed from 9-10 percent annually to 7-8 percent.

This could have several implications for both countries.

"What it means for China, that slowdown, it creates a huge potential threat to social stability," said Clayton Dube, associate director of the University of Southern California's U.S.-China Institute.

Chinese citizens are more willing to demonstrate against the government than ever before, Dube said. If unemployment rises dramatically, especially among those who are already disenfranchised, it could lead to instability throughout the Chinese workforce.

"The Chinese are very aware that there have been winners and losers in this economic game," Dube said, as the gap between the rich and poor grows.

Unemployment is also a serious concern in the U.S., with the jobless rate reaching a 6.5 percent, a 14-year high. And spending is also down.

"I think it is important for Obama to resist the ‘blame China' crowd, those people who complain that China has ‘stolen our jobs.' The world economy is way more complicated than that," Crane said. "Perhaps in private talks with President Hu [Jintao] next year, Obama can make this explicit: We will keep our markets open to Chinese products, if China agrees to hold on to our debt."

The U.S.-China Institute published an analysis, "Obama and China," which was part eight in a series on the 2008 U.S. election. In a video report, reporter Mike Chinoy said, "The policies adopted by the next occupant of the White House will play a central roll in the question critical to the future of the entire world."

The report shows Obama criticizing China in campaign speeches for undervaluing its currency. But he is committed to free trade.

"We're going to try to facilitate trade and investment flows with a China that plays by the rules and try to block it when it doesn't," said Obama adviser Jeffrey Bader with the Brookings Institute in the USC report.

"If foreigners, especially East Asians — Chinese, Japanese and Koreans — stop buying U.S. Treasury bonds, we would face a much worse financial situation here," Crane said.

There is also the issue of product safety. If both the U.S. and Chinese governments expect the American public and the rest of the world to continue buying Chinese-made goods, updated regulations must be placed on products that leave China, Dube said.

And regulations can't be done through legislation alone, Dube added. There have to be monitors in place, helping China with upgrading their standards of inspection.

"Creating a constructive relationship, in general, could have beneficial effects across a range of issues," Crane said.

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Dec. 3, 2008

Story by Leo Moskal

As the country’s financial situation continues to be grim, one little café on the north side of Chicago is trying to help those who are in need.

First Slice Café caters to anybody who is willing to cough up a few dollars and have a piece of pie, but unlike other restaurants, First Slice uses the proceeds to feed the poor. However, this is not a typical soup kitchen, either. Mary Ellen Diaz uses her renowned culinary skills to create meals for paying patrons along with the needy.

“We serve the same meals to the needy as we would a paying customer,” said Diaz. “I think the homeless deserve to have fresh, home-cooked meals once in a while.”

Diaz is the founder of First Slice and is a former student of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, l’Ecole des Arts Culinaires in Lyon and Madeleine Kamman’s School for American Chefs at Beringer Vineyards in Napa Valley. She also spent three years working and creating dishes for Lettuce Entertain You restaurants.

Her focus shifted as she became bored with the concept of making great food just for people who could afford it.

“It’s much more satisfying to me to help someone with my food rather than just sell it and have people tell me how great it is,” said Diaz.

The small café is located at 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. in a conjoined building with the Lillstreet Art Center. The interior is adorned with various works of art from the gallery and, though the space only has eight tables, it also serves paying customers through carry-out, catering and meal subscriptions.

The volunteer kitchen that helps feed the homeless is located on 3744 N. Damen Ave. and is where many homeless men and women come weekly for a nutritious, gourmet meal.

John Quinn has been homeless for 15 years and has been coming to First Slice for two of them.

“Before coming here I hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in about 10 years. This is the best food I probably will ever have,” said Quinn, who used to be a factory worker.

The First Slice Café offers an unbelievable array of dishes, but is best known for its pies.

“I think I’m addicted,” said Lupe Rodriguez, an local resident and investment banker who has been ordering pies from First Slice every month. “I tell anyone who wants to come here to try the chocolate peanut butter pie. It is fantastic.”

The vegetarian-friendly menu differs according to what Diaz wants to serve, although there are some mainstays like the Cobb salad and the veggie sandwich.

“The menu is huge for such a little spot,” said Amanda Parr, a first-time customer. “The food was excellent and I get to help others just by stuffing my face.”

First Slice offers family subscriptions that include three meals per week for a family of three. They charge $45 per week for 12 weeks, $180 per month or $540 in full. They also have individual packages for a slightly lower cost and even a senior citizens package.

The café is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and is closed Sunday.

“I just hope this makes a difference for people who have very little,” said Diaz.

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Nov. 25, 2008 – Bob Jackson has kept CeaseFire's Roseland office open since August of 2007, when he and his staff of 15 outreach workers were laid off after Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed $6.5 million in state funds for the violence prevention program.

He's paid rent and utilities, mainly out of his pocket, running a one-person office on West 111th Street, with assistance from some former CeaseFire workers and community members who volunteer when they can. But it's a far cry from working with a full staff — and he's watched with frustration as violence rates go back up.

Now he says the office is too far in debt, the landlord has given his final extension and they're going to have to close down.

Meanwhile, state funding was restored in July — it just hasn't been released to the organization yet, said Tio Hardiman, CeaseFire's director of mediation services. He said he couldn't account for the four-month holdup, but hopes the funding will be forthcoming soon.

In 2004 a new state appropriation allowed CeaseFire to triple the number of communities it served with public education campaigns, intensive work with the most at-risk youth and street workers intervening to prevent violence.

A Northwestern University study found decreases in shootings and homicides as great as 24 percent in areas served by CeaseFire compared to comparable communities without the group's presence. Blagojevich's 2007 veto forced the closing of 16 CeaseFire sites in the city, as well as others from East St. Louis to Waukegan.

But Jackson wouldn't quit. The Roseland office was one of the most successful, he said. Home to the two police beats with the highest rates of shootings and homicides in the city, the staff started bringing those numbers down in the nine months they operated before the layoffs, Jackson said. Since the loss of full-scale operations, the number of shootings has gone up by 68 percent in those two beats, he said.

Jackson's work hasn't gone unnoticed at CeaseFire.

"They were able to get [violence] down when nobody else could," Hardiman said of the Roseland office. There are other agencies, but while they go home at night, Hardiman said CeaseFire Roseland might be open until 2 a.m.

"We were working with a hundred high-risk youth in that community regularly — I mean every day," he said. "That's how you get shootings and homicides down."

Jackson still gets calls from community members and relatives of victims of violence.

"How can you tell them no?" he said. He keeps the office open and talks to kids on the street and in schools. Family members asked him to help mobilize an anti-violence rally this Wednesday at 63rd and Laflin, where the shooting death of two teens on November 6 pushed the city's homicide rate over last year's total.

"It's very frustrating because we were making a difference," Jackson said. "This is bigger than politics. Lives are more important than politics."

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Nov. 21, 2008

Story by Abigail Feil

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and I-GO, a non-profit car-sharing program, plan to unveil a new joint program in December that will make it more eco-friendly and less expensive for commuters to get access to cars when they need them, and public transportation the rest of the time.

The joint Smart Card program, which can be used both to access I-GO cars and on CTA transportation, was announced in the wake of the Chicago Climate Action Plan introduced by Mayor Richard Daley in September. The action plan is a road map for the city to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Chicago. There are five key strategies for change in Chicago in the plan, including recommendations focused on improved transit options, such as the car-sharing by  I-GO.

I-GO was formed in the 1990s and is affiliated with CNT Energy, a division of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, which conducted significant research for the Chicago Climate Action Plan. I-GO currently has approximately 11,000 members sharing 200 cars in 32 Chicago neighborhoods, Evanston and Oak Park, according to Richard Kosmacher, I-GO’s business development manager.

“Cars are seen as the enemy,” Kosmacher said. “This [program] changes that. We’re in the car business sending people to the CTA.”

Transportation emissions comprise 21 percent of harmful greenhouse gases released in the city, and are the second biggest category of concern for the city of Chicago, according to the Climate Action Plan.

“Climate change is real,” said Anne Evens, director of CNT Energy. “I think everyone has pretty much accepted that.”

The joint Smart Card will be available for Chicagoans who apply and are also eligible for an I-GO membership, according to Kosmacher. Members of I-GO who already have a Chicago Card aren’t eligible for the new program, he added. It can be used on CTA transportation and to access I-GO cars.

According to Kosmacher, I-GO is meant to be complimentary to public transportation, so by not owning a car, users could save an estimated $3,000 to $5,000 a year.

“Do you really need to own a car?” asked Kosmacher. “If you don’t need it for a commute, what do you really need it for? It’s a question for yourself to decide if this is for you.”

The Smart Card is a pilot program that will be evaluated after signing up its first 5,000 members, Kosmacher said, which they hope will be achieved in its first year of operation.

The card aims to “shift people away from owning a car,” said Kosmacher. “The goal is to save them money.”

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Nov. 19, 2008

Story by Michelle Doellman

Jose Quintero remembers clutching his mother’s hand on the tarmac of an airport in Havana, Cuba, on August 12, 1960. Soon Quintero would be in America, away from the rising Communist regime of Fidel Castro.

Thirty-four years later, Juan Carlos Subiza, Quintero’s cousin, would make the same decision to leave his homeland, but would take a much more dangerous route. Subiza, along with 13 others, made a raft and set sail for America, praying the Cuban Coast Guard would not pick them up.

Hundreds of thousands of people have left Cuba since Castro took control by force in 1959.

Standing in his sunny kitchen in Quincy, Ill., Quintero tells of a pleasant childhood on a corner lot in Havana, the capital of Cuba. Quintero’s father had a lucrative government job and was a respected man in the sugar industry. The family lived in a compound consisting of four other homes where family members also lived.

An aunt still lives in the compound, but she says it has fallen into disrepair. Quintero has never seen pictures of where his family used to live.

Quintero was chauffeured to private school everyday, along with his two sisters. The family nanny was Celia Cruz, a well known Cuban singer, and servants were always watching over the children.

When Castro assumed power, democracy was promised but by early 1960, it was clear that was not to be the case, said Quintero. The children were not allowed outside the compound alone. Quintero’s mother even had the barber make house calls. Movies were particularly off limits, as theaters were being blown up.

“We heard gunfire every night,” said Quintero. “We would turn off the lights.”

Quintero’s mother owned a small business, but Che Guevara had begun taking money out of the banks and freezing assets. The family’s flight to the U.S. began soon after. Quintero’s father’s assets were either sold or given to Quintero’s aunt to secure visas for the family. Quintero’s father had connections in the U.S., and already had a job when the family arrived.

Quintero and his family were placed on the last flight leaving Cuba for the U.S. Before the plane left Havana airspace, the pilot was told to turn around, but he ignored the order. Quintero’s mother hid her wedding ring in her hair and the entire family had one small suitcase plus the clothes on their back.

“We thought we were going on a trip, but I think Dad knew when he left it would be the last time,” said Quintero.

The family landed at what is now Kennedy Airport in New York City, and then went on to Philadelphia, staying at a motel called The American. The children had already been enrolled in school and started on time that fall. Quintero said he felt no discrimination, but rather acceptance because the other children in school were eager to learn about these new foreign students. Despite being in the fourth or fifth grade, Quintero frequently was in the first grade class in order to learn English, which he knew none of upon arrival.

“The kids were kind of infatuated with us, like a toy,” said Quintero, laughing.

Quintero went on to college in Missouri. He has taught Spanish at the public high school in Quincy for the past 20 years and has also coached football and basketball. He and his wife Kathy have two adult children, Drew and Ashley.

Cuban heritage is not lost on Quintero’s son. Drew has a tattoo on the inside of his bicep of the outline of the Cuban island with the national flag on the inside, and recently threw a Cuba-themed party for family and friends.

While Quintero had an easy life and transition, Subiza’s story stands in sharp contrast.

Subiza had a hard life in Cuba. Although he said he always had a job, the value of Cuban money is low.

“I made about $20 a month and could not own my own house or car,” said Subiza. “How would you like to live like that?”

Subiza came to the U.S. in 1994 with his girlfriend and 11 others. They spent two days in the water before hitting land.

“It feels like you’ve been living in the dark,” said Subiza. “I was 25 when I came here and it felt like I was seeing the light for the first time.”

Everything was new to Subiza upon his arrival, especially democracy. When interviewed, Subiza was getting ready to cast his vote on Election Day in Connecticut. Part of Subiza’s journey was recorded in the documentary Balseros, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Quintero and Subiza both became U.S. citizens. Quintero waited the standard five years before he and most of his family applied for green cards and eventually citizenship. Subiza became a citizen on November 3, 2003.

Adjustments must be made when coming to the U.S. and for Cubans, and there are many, according to Dr. Andy Gomez, assistant provost and senior fellow at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami.

“The biggest adjustment is the psychological transformation of values and attitudes,” said Gomez.

Gomez explained Cubans are not used to having liberty and freedom, so when they arrive in the U.S., they don’t know what to do with it. Also, most of the early arrivals from Cuba were whole family units who have been in the U.S. for years without any family or friends back in Cuba. Now, the newer arrivals are more often individuals who are leaving family and friends behind, said Gomez.

Gomez himself left Cuba at the age of six and a half and moved with his family to Venezuela before coming to the U.S. in 1965.

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Nov. 17, 2008

Story by Elizabeth Duffrin

Pilsen resident Omar Vega expects to save thousands of dollars in property taxes over the next 12 years in exchange for renovating his historic four flat on West 17th Street.

Vega is among the first in his neighborhood to qualify for a property tax freeze since Pilsen was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Property owners within the Pilsen Historic District — which stretches between Halsted Street and Western Avenue, from 16th Street to Cermak Avenue — can earn tax benefits for renovations that preserve their buildings’ historic value.

So far, more than 40 residents have begun the application process. That process can prove somewhat daunting, however. To ease the way, the 18th St. Development Corp. set up a service to lead owners through the paperwork and site visits required by the state historic preservation agency. “Without that service, I would have hit a lot of roadblocks,” said Vega.

Called the Historic Preservation Initiative, the service may be unique in the state, according to Michael Ward, local government services coordinator with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. It’s the only initiative his office knows of that aims to preserve affordable housing through historic preservation.

And 18th St. Development Corp. may be the only neighborhood group in Illinois providing direct assistance with applications, he said. With 4,400 properties now eligible for tax breaks, Pilsen’s historic district is the state’s largest. Ald. Danny Solis (25th) spearheaded the campaign to designate the district with backing from the 18th St. Development Corp.

19th Century structures

Many of Pilsen’s historic buildings date from the 1870s through the early 1900s, when Bohemian immigrants settled the area following the Great Chicago Fire. The neighborhood continued as a point of entry for immigrants, with Mexican families arriving in large numbers beginning in the 1950s.

In recent years, gentrification has lead to escalating property values and forced many long-time residents from their homes. “A lot of people say taxes are going through the roof,” said Kristy Menas, 18th St. Development Corp.’s historic preservation officer. “We’re using this [program] as a way to keep people in the neighborhood.”

The tax benefit will help Vega, a first-time homeowner at age 28, afford his investment in the century-old building. His parents, both Mexican immigrants, also manage property in Pilsen.

Advice for owners

To earn the tax break, Pilsen property owners can first verify with Menas that their property is on the list of registered historic structures. Staff from her office can visit the property to advise owners on the type of renovations that will likely win approval.

Owners are also encouraged to submit an initial application to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency for feedback before completing the final application. (Renovations completed up to two years prior to an application can still win approval if they meet federal guidelines and are adequately documented.)

Ward said his office is generally most concerned with protecting a historic building’s exterior, particularly the façade, and with the more public areas inside a home such as the entryway and living room.

“You want to maintain and preserve as much of the historic fabric as you can while still making it livable,” he said. Bathrooms and kitchens are of less concern. “It’s rare to find a bathroom or kitchen that hasn’t been updated since the 19th century,” he noted.

The benefit Vega earned is available only for owner-occupied properties with six units or fewer and requires rehab work of at least 25 percent of the county’s estimated market rate value for the building, an amount substantially lower than its actual market rate.

Vega spent $80,000 — double his minimum requirement — to replace the ancient wiring and plumbing and turn a dirt-floored basement into an updated apartment. His benefit will freeze the assessed value of his property at $21,700 for eight years, and then gradually readjust it to market rate over the next four.

Owner occupied

Two other types of tax benefits exist for renovating landmark buildings: a federal income tax benefit for large buildings and a property tax benefit for commercial building owners. However, all but a few of the applicants so far have been small, owner-occupied buildings, which make up the majority of the historic district, said Menas.

Jesse Orozco, another Pilsen resident with a pending application, plans to pass the tax benefit on to the future owners of the affordably priced condos he is creating from a dilapidated six-unit apartment building on South Loomis. Orozco, a city worker who undertook the project with his brother and sister in-law, said he couldn’t have made it through the application process without help from 18th St. Development Corp.

“I’m not a professional developer, and I would not have known where to turn to or how to get the information,” he said.

His project has not unfolded without setbacks, however. The preservation agency nixed his idea for wrought iron Juliet balconies and for exposed brick on the interior walls.

Still, he’s pleased with the final design, which includes new kitchens and bathrooms and, with the removal of an unused attic, raised ceilings and skylights on the top floor. Orozco, who grew up in Little Village and now makes his home in Pilsen, doesn’t expect his renovation project to be much of a money-maker. Rather, the goal is “personal satisfaction,” he explained.

“It’s nice to feel like you’re trying to better a community that you feel really strongly about,” he said. “It’s nice to take something that’s old and neglected [and] bring it back to life and make it shine.”

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Nov. 14, 2008 – Student writers and supporters of Youth Communication Chicago (YCC) will rally at noon on Saturday, November 15, in front of the group's Columbia College office at 619 S. Wabash, to call attention to the organization's financial crisis.

After 32 years of publishing New Expressions as a vehicle for young Chicago writers, YCC suspended operations early this month, said executive director Phil Costello.

"It's the economy, and the squeeze on nonprofits, and the crisis in the newspaper industry — it's a perfect storm," Costello said.

Board member Johnathon Briggs said YCC has been "living hand-to-mouth for years," with Costello sometimes forgoing his salary. A loss of a major funding source precipitated the crisis. The group faces a $160,000 budget shortfall, he said. The board is exploring options for the future, which could entail merging with a similar organization or closing its doors.

Over the years, YCC has provided nearly 4,000 Chicago teens with mass media vehicles — as well as journalism training and mentoring by industry professionals — principally through the bimonthly New Expressions. They also produce a weekly call-in show on CAN-TV produced by teens, as well as Teens Mean Business, a publication that promotes financial literacy. A new Journalism in the Community program sponsors newsletters produced at 32 schools and youth centers around the city, many in communities where young people lack opportunities.

"I don't care what they write about, whether it's what jeans are in style or social justice issues, as long as they use journalism principles," Costello said.

He estimates that only a third of Chicago high schools have school newspapers. New Expressions is distributed in nearly 300 schools and youth centers.

YCC also helps students obtain scholarships and internships.

The organization started similar groups in New York City in 1976 and in Los Angeles in 1984. Board member Briggs, a former Chicago Tribune education reporter, credits LA Youth with inspiring him to become a journalist. "I'd never met a professional journalist. I'd never met anyone who made a living writing," he said. "A whole world opened up for me."

"I don't know what there is like New Expressions in Chicago, a vehicle for young people's voices and a place where they can learn journalism," Briggs said.

The Saturday rally is being held at the initiative of teens involved in YCC. "If they want to speak, I want to listen," Costello said.

Along with Costello, New Expressions editor-in-chief Elizabeth Lopez, a junior at Walter Payton College Prep, will discuss the situation and give a tour of the offices.

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Nov. 13, 2008 – When the Chicago City Council considered an ordinance banning chickens from the city late last year, the folks at the Angelic Organics Learning Center in Woodlawn e-mailed fellow urban agriculture supporters. The ordinance was tabled, but the center heard back from several Chicago chicken owners and many others who were interested in learning more.

It's illegal to slaughter chickens (or any animal) at your home in Chicago, but it's legal to raise them for pets — or for eggs, said Martha Boyd of Angelic Organic's urban initiative.

People are interested not just to save on the rising cost of eggs, she said. It's also knowing the eggs you eat didn't come from chickens fed antibiotics or kept in closely confined factory farms.

Depending on the breed, most hens lay an egg a day or so during the couple of years when they are laying, Boyd said. "And chickens make great pets," she said, "and their waste makes great fertilizer for your garden."

Last Saturday, Angelic Organics offered its first workshop on basic backyard chicken care for Chicago residents at Wellington Avenue Church, 615 W. Wellington, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Chicken farmers from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm in Ottawa, Ill., and Chicago chicken owners discussed chicken raising basics, as well as relevant city regulations. "The idea is to teach good practices so you avoid problems with your neighbors or with the city," Boyd said.

In-town chicken keepers were invited to bring photos, coop designs, stories and perhaps a favorite bird.

Registration for the workshop was full, and a waiting list is growing for the next workshop, which Boyd expects will be held next spring. She says that in Portland and Madison, city chicken boosters hold tours of coops (in Portland it's actually called "Tour de Coop"). "I can see that happening here in no time at all," she said.

The urban outreach project of a 10-year-old community-supported organic farm near Rockford, Angelic Organics Learning Center works with community partners on urban gardens in areas where fresh food is hard to find.

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Nov. 11, 2008

by LISC/Chicago

To help combat the growing lending crisis and the rise of foreclosures in Chicago, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is investing $68 million in grants and low-interest loans in foreclosure prevention and mitigation efforts in local neighborhoods.

The Foundation expects its investment to leverage more than $500 million in capital and to assist 10,000 households, including counseling to 6,000 borrowers and prevention of 2,700 foreclosures by 2010. MacArthur’s initiative represents the largest effort in the United States by a private foundation to address the foreclosure crisis.

“The scale of the foreclosure crisis threatens to disrupt hard-won gains in many of Chicago’s lowest-income neighborhoods,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton.

“Since MacArthur’s inception 30 years ago, we have supported efforts to make cities better places and to help low-income neighborhoods build their assets and their potential,” he said. “Nowhere is this work more urgent, and nowhere is it more important to us than in the city we call home.”

MacArthur grants are supporting prevention efforts, including extensive outreach and counseling for homeowners and legal assistance for victims of fraud or other valid claims.

Program-related investments, which are typically low-cost loans, will help make new mortgage refinancing products available to help owners keep their homes. Legal assistance will help renters facing eviction to keep their homes or gain more time to find alternate rental housing.

The Foundation’s investment also will help stabilize neighborhoods hard hit by vacancy and foreclosure. The City of Chicago expects to collaborate with Mercy Housing Inc., to develop the capacity to acquire for resale, rental, rent-to-own and redevelopment as many as 3,500 properties in Chicago’s hardest hit communities. The redevelopment work will be done in collaboration with numerous developers and community partners.

Recent analyses by the Woodstock Institute indicate that nearly 35 percent of foreclosure filings in 2007 occurred in two-to-six unit, multi-family properties. Therefore, many renters are losing their homes as a result of foreclosures.

With the time it takes for properties to go through the foreclosure process, rental units are lost from the affordable inventory, at least for a time. MacArthur’s project funds outreach to and legal representation for renters in foreclosed buildings to help them stay in their homes and limit the loss of affordable housing in the city.

MacArthur’s board and staff began planning this initiative in 2007 and the foundation started awarding grants earlier this year. Approximately two-thirds of the funding will be provided in 2008, with the rest to come in 2009.

MacArthur has deep roots in Chicago, where it has its headquarters, and where John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur lived. Over the past 30 years, the Chicago region has received the largest share of MacArthur’s philanthropy: nearly $720 million to 860 organizations and individuals.

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