Stories of Hope (Part 3)
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‘I’m going to do everything I can to help them land on their feet.’ How one Chicagoan is helping a family navigate this sanctuary city
By Heidi Stevens and Tribune News Service. Published: Jan 05, 2024
Brad Zibung and the Torres family outside of their new apartment, which he helped them secure.
(Courtesy of Brad Zibung)
Brad Zibung, a Chicago real estate agent, was heading east on the North Avenue bus to see a play at the Steppenwolf Theatre. It was November. The play was “Sanctuary City,” Martyna Majok’s story about the uncertain future of two undocumented teenagers brought to the United States as children.
Zibung noticed a family — mom, dad and two young kids — carrying a lot of items and dressed in clothes that wouldn’t stand up to Chicago’s cold. They got off the bus at the same stop as Zibung and he watched them struggle to carry a large vinyl bag filled with, it turned out, canned goods. He offered to help. The family accepted
They were headed to the Red Line station and Zibung walked with them. Together they carried the bag down a long flight of steps to the train. The family only spoke Spanish, so Zibung and the father made conversation by texting each other’s phones and hitting Google translate while they waited for a train.
The family, named Torres, was from Venezuela, Zibung learned. They were heading south to 95th Street and then west to a shelter.
“Turns out it was the same day of the Northwestern-Iowa game at Wrigley,” Zibung said, “so the train rolls up and it’s packed with drunk fans.”
A Red Line rite of passage.
The family of four squeezed in a train car. Zibung assured them the crowds would thin out after the downtown stops and asked them to text him when they arrived at the shelter. They obliged.
The texts continued through the holidays. The family was staying in Dolton where the parents were finding odd jobs.
Zibung visited with winter clothes that his sister picked out for them during her holiday shopping. Zibung took them grocery shopping and Target shopping.
What began as a bit of kismet — guy heading to a play called “Sanctuary City” gets off the bus with a family trying to navigate life in an actual sanctuary city — was budding into a friendship. They went to the Billy Goat. They swung by the Church’s Chicken near the United Center one day and Zibung watched the dad give some of his cash to a woman standing outside asking for help. To read more, click on this link: Heidi Stevens: One Chicagoan helps a family navigate our sanctuary city (chicagotribune.com)
DailyGood was born in 1998, when one college student started sharing inspiration with a half a dozen of his friends by sending them an enriching quote every day.
Today, DailyGood leverages the internet to promote positive and uplifting news around the world to more than 100,000 subscribers through the daily and weekly newsletters. Readers receive a news story, an inspiring quote, and a suggested action that each person can take to make a difference in their own lives and the world around them.
Often watching the nightly news and reading mainstream newspapers it's hard to remember the presence of good in the world. And yet it is constantly around us. The world is full of everyday heroes and true stories of transformation. They have helped sustain life down the ages in a multitude of ways, small, simple and profound. DailyGood aims to shine a light on these stories and in doing so to change the nature of our conversations. If it can spread a few smiles along the way, its purpose is served.
Our philosophy is quite simple: "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." The entire project is fully run by dedicated volunteers who contribute hundreds of hours finding the right stories and quotes. All of our content is distributed and syndicated for free. We don't advertise or promote any products. We don't ask for anything with the trust that whatever is needed will come.
And in the end, we are thankful that so many benefit from DailyGood because it gives us a meaningful opportunity to serve.
Thank you for your partnership in spreading the good.
The DailyGood Team
To learn more about the DailyGood Team and their work, click on this link: DailyGood: News That Inspires
Over 550 RUSD middle school girls attend GEMS conference
Racine Journal Times, Article and photos by Ryan Patterson Jan 14, 2024
Temple Lester gives the keynote address during the Girls Empowered by Math and Science Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Lester was occasionally made fun of for her interest in science, but she did not let that deter her.
SOMERS — As the only girl at a science camp in elementary school, Temple Lester was initially told she would be a princess.
After talking with her mother, Lester stood up for herself the next day.
“I don’t want to be a princess,” she told camp counselors. “I want to be a scientist just like all the boys.”
That is when Lester learned the importance of self-advocacy, a lesson she shared Thursday during the 11th annual Girls Empowered by Math and Science Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Lester, the GEMS conference keynote speaker, was occasionally made fun of for her interest in science, but she did not let that deter her.
“I used to not like telling people what I did in fear of their judgment, but I had to learn that it’s OK to be myself, and there’s people out there who will celebrate me no matter what,” Lester said.
That stood out for Jada Lue, an eighth grader at the R.E.A.L. School.
“Most people told (Lester) no; she still did what she believed she could do,” Lue said.
Lue was one of more than 550 Racine Unified middle school girls, nearly all of whom were eighth graders, who attended the GEMS conference.
Students were from all seven RUSD buildings with middle schoolers: Gifford, Gilmore Fine Arts, Jerstad-Agerholm, Mitchell, R.E.A.L, Starbuck and Walden.
The girls spent the day at UW-Parkside’s campus. After hearing from speakers in the morning, students participated in several workshops and listened to a panel discussion.
Workshops included students building Bluetooth speakers, making jewelry and learning about brains.
Having fun! Students laugh with one another during the Girls Empowered by Math and Science Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. (Photo, Ryan Patterson) To learn more, click on this link: GEMS conference draws more than 550 RUSD middle school girls (journaltimes.com)
Previous Story of Hope follow-up: Continuing the story of Attitude of Gratitude which was in the January 2024 Hope Newsletter, below is a message I received form one of our subscribers to the Hope Newsletter. The writer of the message is, among many things, a spiritual guide who works with many individuals and groups of people. In this instance, the group he is talking with are men who are or have been engaged with the criminal justice system.
Hi Bob----
Thought you would appreciate this in light of the theme of this month’s newsletter. 😊
At yesterday’s session the five men and I read this together:
Lakota author and activist Doug Good Feather is committed to sharing Native American wisdom and practices with nonnative audiences as a way to help and heal humanity. He writes that no matter what our circumstances, gratitude is available to us
Each and every morning offers us a chance to start anew, fresh, and to begin again. Each morning when we wake—if we choose to listen—is a message from the Creator to remember the privilege we were given of waking up. It’s a reminder to get up and prepare us, to honor ourselves, to connect with Mother Earth and the hearts of other beings, to inspire and encourage those who cross our paths, and most importantly, to enjoy life.
Gratitude moves stagnant energy when we’re feeling stuck in life. The simple act of practicing gratitude disrupts negative thoughts and changes our mindset to see the world in a positive way. Not only are we more attractive to others when we live in gratitude, but the most ordinary things can become extraordinary, creating a fuller, more beautiful expression of our life.
After reading this I asked the men if they knew what the word gratitude meant. All of them said “no.” I said it’s what you feel when you feel grateful about something. (My wife laughed at that part---she thought my explanation was pretty lame. 😊) One of the men asked, “Is it like appreciation?” I said, “Yes, gratitude is like feeling appreciation for something.”
I was reminded how important words are. Without knowing the word “gratitude,” one might be less able to experience it. I felt blessed to be able to share that with the men.
Continuing the story of Attitude of Gratitude which was in the January 2024 Hope Newsletter, below is a message I received form one of our subscribers to the Hope Newsletter. The writer of the message is, among many things, a spiritual guide who works with many individuals and groups of people. In this instance, the group he is talking with are men who are or have been engaged with the criminal justice system.
I received the email below from one of the subscribers to the Hope From the Bottom Up website and monthly newsletter.
“Dear Robert, I thought you might find the Attitude of Gratitude (AoG) website and related Facebook group interesting and worth sharing with the Hope From The Bottom Up group. Here is the link to Attitude of Gratitude (AoG). https://www.gratitudeaddict.com/attitude-of-gratitude-with-chronic-pain
There’s a Facebook Group with the name, and then Lauren Zalewski (the founder of the group) has gratitude addict as a webpage.
Like I said, it helped me TREMENDOUSLY when I was devastated by my injury and pain and accompanying physical limitations. It helped me “move” my mindset to what I could do, even if that meant drawing in a reclining position!
I was approximately member number 450 back in 2015 when I joined the group, and now there are over 10,000 members. People make positive connections with others who are in the same boat! We don’t discuss anything medical or about pain on the Facebook page. It’s prohibited. But some people break off into their own Chat Groups on Messenger, which is private amongst the Chat Group members.
Sharing this information in your Hope Newsletter would be awesome. If it can help anyone else who sees it or they spread the word to someone else who may benefit from it, that would be great.”
Walden school donates hundreds of boxes of food, more than $9,000
Ryan Patterson, Racine Journal Times, November 24, 2023
RACINE — Dozens of students carried boxes of food Tuesday morning onto pallets. The boxes were then placed in a truck and will eventually help feed area residents.
That team effort illustrated the collective work done this month by students and staff at Walden III Middle School and High School during the building’s annual food drive.
Walden collected 472 boxes of food and $9,183 for the Racine County Food Bank, 2000 De Koven Ave. Cash was collected Tuesday during an all-school assembly, where an additional $243 were raised.
That total is slightly less than the school donated last year, but it remains one of the county’s largest food drives.
“This is still so much food, and we’re still so proud of all of our efforts,” said Eliana Hanson, Walden student government president.
Walden school donates hundreds of boxes of food, more than $9,000
Ryan Patterson, Racine Journal Times, November 24, 2023
RACINE — Dozens of students carried boxes of food Tuesday morning onto pallets. The boxes were then placed in a truck and will eventually help feed area residents.
That team effort illustrated the collective work done this month by students and staff at Walden III Middle School and High School during the building’s annual food drive.
Walden collected 472 boxes of food and $9,183 for the Racine County Food Bank, 2000 De Koven Ave. Cash was collected Tuesday during an all-school assembly, where an additional $243 were raised.
That total is slightly less than the school donated last year, but it remains one of the county’s largest food drives.
“This is still so much food, and we’re still so proud of all of our efforts,” said Eliana Hanson, Walden student government president.
“This is still so much food, and we’re still so proud of all of our efforts,” said Eliana Hanson, Walden student government president.
Racine Mayor Cory Mason, left, listens to Eliana Hanson, Walden student government president,
during the annual food drive at Walden III school.
Walden’s annual food drive has occurred for decades, and Hanson said she was “overjoyed to be continuing this long-standing tradition.”
Hanson helped organize the food drive and said it is one of her favorite times of the year because it brings the school closer.
Hanson helped organize the food drive and said it is one of her favorite times of the year because it brings the school closer.
“Coming together to work toward this one big goal is really, really amazing,” Hanson said.
Casi Schatzman, Walden student government advisor, said it is fun to see teamwork and collaboration during a time of giving. “It gets the kids excited, gives them something to work together for,” Schatzman said. “It really fosters a good sense of community.”
Schatzman enjoys seeing the students’ work pay off “in a tangible way.” “It takes the abstract and makes it very real,” Schatzman said. “We have done a lot together.”
Dan Taivalkoski, Racine County Food Bank executive director, said Tuesday was one of his favorite days of the year, and he praised and thanked students. “We couldn’t do what we do without folks like you,” Taivalkoski said. “As I look around the room, the future of our community is in very good hands.”
Racine Mayor Cory Mason agreed and expressed pride in the students’ leadership. “It makes you a wonderful reflection of our community,” Mason said. “It is really going to make the lives of people in this community much better because of the work that you’ve done.”
The food drive started Nov. 13. There were competitions to encourage donations, and several prizes were awarded to middle school and high school home groups at Walden, 2340 Mohr Ave.
After the awards, a few award-winning students smashed pies in teachers’ faces. Sounds like a lot of fun 😊
Colleen Kujawa: Want a cure for cynicism? Try digging holes and planting trees.
By Colleen Kujawa Chicago Tribune Oct 13, 2023
I spent the last Saturday in September digging and standing in holes. I walked home sore, sweaty and happy. And buoyed against the naysaying that goes hand in hand with living in a complicated city.
Dozens of people showed up at Athletic Field Park in Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood that morning for a mass tree planting. They picked up shovels and swung dirt to bring verdant new life to the parkways of the streets nearby. The old proverb is still true: It takes a village to make a difference. It takes people showing up.
My team of four, led by Openlands treekeeper Floyd, planted five trees in three hours. We hustled. We measured, we dug, we finessed. When we found ourselves planting in the shade, we celebrated our good fortune. When we moved on to the next patch of grass and had to labor under the sun, we quietly cursed. Or at least I did.
When you plant a tree, the hole you’ve dug has to have a flat bottom. Otherwise, the tree won’t stand and grow straight, as my teammates and I learned from Floyd. That means you have to stomp the dirt with your feet. After three hours of work, I mastered the art of stomping Chicago parkway dirt flat.
Volunteer Maureen consults with Openlands treekeeper Floyd during a tree planting event Sept. 30, 2023, near Athletic Field Park in Chicago's Irving Park neighborhood. (Colleen Kujawa/Chicago Tribune)
My teammates Maureen and Arsenio weren’t tree planting newbies like Cristina and me, which I playfully declared gave us an edge over the other teams. We weren’t competing, but still, five trees in three hours? Floyd looked at us like a proud papa.
Arsenio told us that he likes to check on one of the trees he planted in another neighborhood at a previous event. He drives by in his car to take a look. After committing my sweat and modest muscle power to this effort, I understood why. I became part of that investment — of so many people’s time, as well as money, support and coordination from the organizations and leaders who make good things happen… We make a difference by showing up. If you’ll forgive my bluntness, cynicism is for the lazy. I helped put trees in the ground because I am making a choice. To read more, click on this link: Colleen Kujawa: Want a cure for cynicism? Try planting trees. (chicagotribune.com)
Walden No Place for Hate Group continues positive work
Ryan Patterson, Racine Journal Times, Oct 8, 2023
Makenzie McKnight, No Place for Hate member, goes through a gift bag Thursday at Walden III High School,
2340 Mohr Ave. McKnight has faced discrimination, and now she is working to help people
who have gone through similar ordeals.
RACINE — Makenzie McKnight has faced discrimination, and now she is working to help people who have gone through similar ordeals.
“As someone who’s once experienced hate, I want to be able to help other people that may be going through it,” McKnight said.
Makenzie McKnight, No Place for Hate member, goes through a gift bag Thursday at Walden III High School, 2340 Mohr Ave. McKnight has faced discrimination, and now she is working to help people who have gone through similar ordeals
McKnight, a sophomore, is one of about 15 Walden III High School students in a No Place for Hate group recognized Thursday morning for its ongoing efforts to create positive school cultures by improving equity and combating bias and bullying.
For the second consecutive year, the group received a banner from the Anti-Defamation League.
“No Place for Hate strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable climate while working on building safe spaces and communities to empower adolescents to stand up against bias and embrace their background and heritage,” said senior Yasmeen Patrick, NPFH co-president. To read more, click on this link:
I THINK MY EARLIEST UNDERSTANDING OF WANTING TO WORK WITH WILDLIFE WAS PROBABLY
WHEN I WAS SIX OR SEVEN, AND MY PARENTS HAD A GUEST VISITING FROM OUT OF TOWN.
Following a Master Naturalist Path
Becky Sapper| Ashland, WI
A story from “Love Wisconsin.”
Becky Sapper has the perfect job — she is a nature lover who gets to teach volunteers all about Wisconsin's natural world. Growing up she was very interested in wildlife and had her trusty field guide to help identify what she found in the woods. She has always loved the cozy feeling of being surrounded by trees. Today she lives up in the North Woods and runs the Master Naturalist program.
If you are not exactly sure what a Master Naturalist is – we weren’t either before we talked with Becky. It is one of the many UW Extension programs quietly making an impact in every corner of our state. Master naturalists are the folks you see doing trail maintenance, prescribed burns, leading hikes in state parks, or doing citizen science to collect important data about birds, water quality, and invasive species.
You can find her story on The Love Wisconsin website at this link: Following a Master Naturalist Path - Love Wisconsin We hope you enjoy spending time with Becky and hearing from her why she really believes that people can make the difference.
Wetlands are Back at Cliffside Park!
Root-Pike WIN & Racine County Break Ground on this Major Wind Point Plan Project
Wetland work has begun at Cliffside Park! Listed as “Highly Critical” in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-approved Wind Point Watershed Restoration Plan, this 40-acre project will enhance native flora to encourage migratory bird stopovers, boost pollinator foraging, and reduce sheet runoff to the eroding Lake Michigan bluffs.
The wetland scrapes have been recreated and now have open water. Planting and seeding of native species, as well as invasive species eradication, will occur through the fall and into next year.
Thank you to Racine County, U.S. Fush and Wildlife Service, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and Microsoft whose generous support and funding made this project possible!
For more information about the Root-Pike WIN organization on the Hope From the Bottom Up website, click on this link: https://hopefromthebottomup.com/hope-filled-organizations#root
Judge rules in favor of youth plaintiffs
in landmark Montana climate case
Sam Wilson, Racine Journal Times, August 14, 2023
A Montana district court judge ruled Monday that a state law barring its agencies from considering the impacts of climate change when issuing permits is a violation of the state Constitution’s right to a “clean and healthful environment.”
The ruling comes two months after the conclusion of a seven-day trial in Helena that attracted national attention as one of the first to challenge a state’s fossil fuel policies on constitutional grounds. A group of 16 young Montanans filed the lawsuit in 2020, alleging that Montana’s laws supporting fossil fuel development are contributing to climate change, the impacts of which are violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
The 16 youth plaintiffs outside the Lewis & Clark County Court House in Montana.
“Montana’s (greenhouse gas) emissions and climate change have been proven to be a substantial factor in causing climate impacts to Montana’s environment and harm and injury to the youth plaintiffs,” Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley wrote in the order.
She continued, “Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate as part of the environmental life-support system.”
The state Legislature is specifically tasked with protecting that “environmental life-support system” under Montana’s Constitution. In the legislative session that concluded earlier this year, Republican lawmakers amended the Montana Environmental Policy Act, or MEPA, to prohibit consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in permitting decisions. MEPA guides the environmental review process for permits, such as those granted for coal mine expansions or new power plants. That prohibition within MEPA, passed as Senate Bill 557, is now invalid, under Seeley’s decision. To learn more, click on this link: Montana youth win climate trial, first of its kind in US (journaltimes.com)
'You do not have to suffer alone'
New nonprofit provides transitional assistance
Alex Rodriguez, Racine Journal Times, Sept 28, 2023
RACINE — A new nonprofit organization hosted a block party Saturday at Pritchard Park to celebrate its launch and introduce itself to the community.
Lovingkindness Transitional Services, which provides assistance to individuals transitioning from homelessness into housing, is a branch of Lovingkindness Homes. Both were started by Lakesha Davis.
About 25 years ago, Davis moved to Wisconsin to escape domestic violence and found herself homeless.
While staying at the Shalom Center in Kenosha, Davis decided to find a way to create a better environment and “create a clear path toward success.”
“From that point, I started to educate myself financially and with education to learn how to get myself out of that situation,” she said. “I just took it all in and want to give it back to people. This is how you move from homelessness to home-owning to business-owning. This is the blueprint and I just wanted to share that with everyone.”
Related to her not for profit work described above, Lakesha and her husband started an LLC in 2020 which provides a broad range of services to individuals and families to live in and eventually own their home. It is called Loving Kindness Homes.
“From that point, I started to educate myself financially and with education to learn how to get myself out of that situation,” she said. “I just took it all in and want to give it back to people. This is how you move from homelessness to home-owning to business-owning. This is the blueprint and I just wanted to share that with everyone.”
Related to her not for profit work described above, Lakesha and her husband started an LLC in 2020 which provides a broad range of services to individuals and families to live in and eventually own their home. It is called Loving Kindness Homes.
Here is a link to their business, Loving Kindness Homes, LLC: https://lovingkindnesshome.com/
Tony’s Community Meals offers free healthy meals weekly
to Union Grove residents
by Emma Widmar, The Racine County Eye, August 16, 2023
UNION GROVE — Tony Stephens Jr. spends every weekend grocery shopping, meal prepping and cooking as a way to provide healthy meals to his neighbors in Union Grove, who are in need.
The resident, who moved to the area about three years ago, has taken his love for cooking and pays it forward through what he crafts in his kitchen.
Stephens, who works 12-hour days during the second shift as a full-time CNC machinist, began what is now known as Tony’s Community Meals through work.
Chicken teriyaki stir fry is just one of many examples of the delicious, from-scratch cooking available through Tony's Community Meals in Union Grove. – Credit: Tony Stephens Jr.
Meal prepping has always been a part of his routine and during the pandemic, he found himself cooking for his coworkers due to the difficult times.
Even with cooking for himself and others, there were still meals that had gone uneaten.
“At the end of the week, I’d have a bunch of meals. I don’t wanna throw them away, so I started giving them out,” explains Tony.
Tony began paying it forward to his neighbors.
“I started seeing people in the Union Grove Newsletter, people that needed them, so I started giving them to them, rather than throwing them in my freezer, or throwing them away,” says Tony. To read more, click on this link: Tony's Community Meals offers free healthy meals weekly to Union Grove residents | Racine County Eye
‘They come to this country with a dream’: Woman teaches English to migrants on a South Loop basketball court
By Laura Rodríguez Presa, Chicago Tribune, Jul 17, 2023
Samantha Oulavong, right, teaches basic English to Karla Urbino, 45, from Nicaragua, and Brayan Lozano, 28 from Colombia, at Margaret Hie Ding Lin Park across from the 1st District police station on June 29, 2023, in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
There hasn’t been a single day since May that Samantha Oulavong is not thinking of the migrants who stay at the police station in her neighborhood in the South Loop. The children, she said, remind her of her younger self, when her parents made their way from Laos seeking asylum in the Chicago area when she was 5 years old.
Of course, in more than one way, their story is not the same, she said, “but our heart is.”
“They come to this country with a dream,” she said.
Oulavong has been visiting the 1st District police station almost every day since May, when the first families began to seek refuge at the station near her home. She drops off food and clothes and, most recently, has begun to teach basic English to the migrants and their children regardless of a language barrier — she doesn’t really speak Spanish — in the bleachers of a basketball court across from the South Loop station.
“Most want to know how they can ask for a job,” she said. “‘Busco trabajo,’ I tell them to say, meaning, ‘I’m looking for a job.’”
Oulavong is just one of the many Chicagoans who have stepped up to provide more than just food and donations for the thousands of asylum-seekers who have arrived to the city since August of last year, filling a void as state and city official grapple to create more temporary housing for the migrants.
The volunteers have celebrated birthdays with migrants, taken them to baseball games, given them haircuts, provided professional therapy — and now are teaching them English. To read more, click on this link: Woman teaches English to migrants on a Chicago basketball court (chicagotribune.com)
Hiring workers from the South and West sides
is a win-win for Chicago
By Bob Karr, Chicago Tribune, Published: Jul 23, 2023
Bob Karr is the senior vice president of administration and chief legal officer at Blommer Chocolate Co.
Can a job stop a bullet? For a city struggling with gun violence, it’s an important question.
There is no doubt much of our crime has its roots in economic distress. People without opportunity in the legal economy will resort to the illegal economy if only to eat, pay rent and feed their families.
For several years, Blommer Chocolate has been hiring from communities on the South and West sides of Chicago where gun violence is an everyday occurrence. Some of our employees have come to us through the violence prevention program Chicago CRED.
We first learned about Chicago CRED at an event in the Englewood neighborhood where Arne Duncan, CRED’s founder and a former U.S. secretary of education, was speaking. Duncan talked about growing up on the South Side and losing friends to gun violence in his teenage years. He talked about the pain of returning to Chicago after serving in Washington only to experience heartbreak at the level of gun violence. And he vowed to do something about it.
CRED works with young people at the highest risk of being gun violence victims or offenders. They get a lot of help from CRED, but the one thing CRED can’t provide is a job.
That’s where we come in.
Over the years, we’ve hired more than a dozen Chicago CRED graduates. We are one of more than 40 companies in 17 industries that have hired CRED grads, and we will keep hiring them because they are hardworking, talented and hungry to succeed. They are desperate to do something with their lives.
Blommer’s original and oldest operating factory is in downtown Chicago. Since it is not as fully automated or modernized as our other factories around the world, we can recruit and develop many of the young men coming out of Chicago CRED. On average, they earn $20 to $24 per hour, not including overtime.
One of them is Brendan Taylor, who is among the first graduates of Chicago CRED. Brendan began working in the mailroom at Deloitte in 2018. He was a model employee and was training to become a paralegal when he was shot and wounded in a drive-by incident near his South Side home.
Brendan Taylor, among the first graduates of Chicago CRED, at his job at the Blommer Chocolate factory
on July 20, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Brendan’s co-workers supported him through his recovery, visited him in the hospital and extended the kind of love and support any one of us would need in a similar crisis. We got to know Brendan and offered him a job. Today, he’s an environmental health specialist earning a respectable salary, plus health and retirement benefits.
Some employers may justifiably ask why they would take on the challenge of hiring young people with limited work experience and troubled backgrounds. My answer is this
This is our community. This is our city. Pretending that young men like Brendan don’t exist will not make them go away. Just because most of the gun violence happens away from our homes or businesses does not mean we don’t have a responsibility to help address it. We can all be part of the solution. To read the entire article, click on this link: Op-ed: Hiring workers from the South and West Sides is a win-win for Chicago (chicagotribune.com)
The US has tons of leftover food. Upcycling turns would-be trash into ice cream and pizza.
HAVEN DALEY Associated Press Jun 23, 2023 Updated Jun 23, 2023
LOS GATOS, Calif. — At Tyler Malek's ice cream parlors, one cook's trash is another chef's frosty treat.
The head ice cream maker at the Portland, Oregon-based Salt & Straw uses the whey leftover from yogurt makers in upstate New York to make his lemon curd flavor. For chocolate barley milk, he mixes in the remnants of rice and grains from beer brewing to give it a light and creamy taste.
"Instead of calling this food waste, we need to call it wasted food and start decreasing how much wasting we're doing," Malek said.
Founder Salt & Straw Ice Cream Tyler Malek scoops "Day-Old Bread Pudding" upcycled ice cream at the franchise's newest location in Los Gatos, Calif., on June 2 (Haven Daley, Associated Press)
Malek's ice cream chain is among those at the forefront of the upcycling movement, the process of creating high-quality products from leftover food. Malek's shops from the Pacific Northwest to Miami now feature flavors like "Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato," which is made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production that otherwise would have gone to waste.
It's a trend gaining ground as consumers spend more time reading packaging labels and menu ingredients to learn where their food comes from and how it affects the environment. More than 35 million tons of food are wasted every year in the U.S. — about 40% of the country's food production — costing the national economy more than $200 billion, according to the Upcycled Food Association.
Upcycled food is becoming increasingly common in cake mixes and veggie chips at natural grocery stores. Ingredients include fruits and vegetables from farms nationwide that are perfectly edible but often rejected by restaurants and grocery stores because of their shape or color, like white strawberries, wilted greens and ugly mushrooms.
The Upcycled Food Association, which will celebrate World Upcycling Day on Saturday, issues an official "Upcycling Certified" seal to qualifying products. These seals, which adorn the new Salt & Straw upcycled flavors, raise awareness with consumers that the company makes the food using such ingredients.
The association initially certified about 30 products in 2021 and now has 450 carrying the label.
"A lot of the food that is uneaten or thrown away in our supply chain is actually due to archaic cosmetic standards or sort of perceptions that what we think is edible or quality food," said Angie Crone, the association's chief executive. "So, this is a mark that you can see on the products wherever you go shopping, to be able to understand how that company is reducing food waste in their supply chain. To learn more click on this link: The US has tons of leftover food. Upcycling turns would-be trash into ice cream and pizza. (journaltimes.com)
Faces of volunteers: They provide more than donations and shelter to migrants in Chicago. They give love
Story by Laura Rodríguez Presa, Nell Salzman, Chicago Tribune • Thursday, June 1, 2023
Susie Moya, right, a licensed clinical social worker and mental health therapist, speaks with a migrant woman about a support group for women she offers in a Pilsen shelter on May 26, 2023. © E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS
CHICAGO -- The buses had just begun to arrive at Union Station that hot and sticky night in August when Ricky Flores heard from an activist friend that a group of asylum-seekers had nowhere to go.
Flores sped to the station in his black and red Rammer truck, with speakers blaring music, followed by friends in other trucks, all ready to help transport the migrants to the first shelter that the city had quickly assembled.
As they waited, they shared phone numbers, laughter and cigarettes with the migrants. And over a single puff, the group forgot the uncertainty of their future on their first night in Chicago after crossing several borders, mostly all the way from Venezuela.
Flores stood by their side until the migrants were picked up. And he is still by their side.
Flores is one of the countless Chicagoans who have stepped up since August 2022 to help the migrants, going beyond assisting them with basic needs such as shelter, food and clothes — also making them feel welcome. The volunteers have celebrated birthdays, organized cookouts, provided free therapy services, driven migrants to doctor appointments and job interviews and helped them access showers.
Volunteer Ricky Flores, left, uses a rope to control the pinata as Sobrino Luciano, 8, attempts to hit it during a group birthday celebration in a temporary migrant shelter in Pilsen on May 21, 2023. © Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS
To read more, click on this link: Faces of volunteers: They provide more than donations and shelter to migrants in Chicago. They give love (msn.com)
Golden Apple Award winners full of emotion receiving cheers from students: ‘My heart cannot hold all the love’
By Zareen Syed Chicago Tribune, May 10, 2023 at 5:53 pm
Helen Chan Rick Coppola
Immediately after being “surprise bombed” with a Golden Apple Award on Wednesday, South Loop Elementary School fourth grade teacher Helen Chan, tried her hardest not to get choked up.
“I really don’t want to start crying,” Chan said, with tears halfway down her face. “I want to thank you for all the support that I have received, especially from my students. I feel like you guys give me 100% every single day and you’re like my little cheerleaders every day.”
Chan and her co-worker Rick Coppola, a seventh grade teacher at South Loop Elementary, were among the 10 Illinois recipients of the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Alan Mather, president of the Golden Apple Foundation, said it was a first for the foundation to have two teachers from the same school win the same year. The winners were awarded $5,000 and a free spring sabbatical provided by Northwestern University.
Coppola said when he switched to a career in teaching, one of his mentors was a past winner.
“I was like, oh, seems like a good goal. Maybe one day — I’ll set that as a star to reach,” Coppola said.
Since 1985, the Golden Apple Award has been given to educators who have shown dedication to their students and school communities. This year, more than 570 fourth- to eighth-grade teachers were nominated for the prize, according to the Golden Apple Foundation. At the surprise school visits, the foundation gathers the winners’ friends, families and colleagues to share in the celebration.
To read more about these two teachers and the Golden Apple awards, please click on this link: Golden Apple Award winners full of emotion receiving cheers from students: ‘My heart cannot hold all the love’ – Chicago Tribune
Inspired by lessons his mom taught
Probation officer hits 50 states in superhero guises for sick kids, homeless
Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2023, By Hunter Lee
Yuri Williams, wearing his Mandalorian costume, is a deputy juvenile correctional officer in Orange County, California. Williams dresses in superhero costumes when visiting sick children and homeless adults.
When Yuri Williams was 8 years old, his mother sometimes took him with her to work at the Los Angeles County’s Central Juvenile Hall when she couldn’t find a sitter. Lynda C. Hubbard worked there, with troubled children and young adults as a juvenile correctional officer, for more than three decades.
“There was this one big guy banging on the walls in his room,” Williams recalled, who is now 46 and lives in Signal Hill.
“My mom walked in and asked him what was going on and he just started crying and she was holding this much bigger person in her arms.
Williams ended up following in his mother’s footsteps, becoming a deputy juvenile correctional officer for the Orange County Probation Department. Over the years, he sought guidance from his mother, who told him how to speak with those in custody, how to help the boys and girls.
When Hubbard died of cancer in 2009, Williams fell into a deep depression for five years.
“One day I was just sitting there and tried calling her phone and just started crying,” Williams said.
But his mom’s lessons inspired him.
In 2017, Williams began donning the costumes of superheroes and other iconic figures to raise the spirits of others who are fighting their own battles. A year later he launched his nonprofit, A Future Superhero and Friends, to try and cover the costs of such things as donations and his travel. If he lassos big donors, he wants to create an after-school program of some sort.
“My mom always told me when you do something, try to do it different from others,” Williams said. “I figured by wearing a costume it could be a distraction, because it was rare that people see others in costume coming out to help.”
His started off locally, visiting families and children’s hospitals in Southern California, dressed as characters such as SpiderMan, Deadpool and the Mandalorian.
In February, Williams rolled in three large bins of plush toys — Santa Clauses, unicorns and others — through the doors of the Cherese Mari Laulhere Children’s Village in the Long Beach Medical Center. Because of the coronavirus, he was in street clothes — not able to visit the children in costume as in previous years.
“Yuri has been amazing,” said Rita Goshert, director of the center’s Child Life Program. “He’s been partnering and collaborating with us for several years. He just surprises us with these donations and it just makes all the difference in the world.
“It brightens their day, makes them forget they’re in the hospital and keeps their minds busy,” she said.
To read more, click on this link: https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-tribune-sunday/20230528/282522957844132 To watch a 3 and ½ minute video, click on this link: https://afuturesuperhero.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/177-LBPOST.mp4
An act of kindness, a sign of hope
A recent spring walk took me past a park where a group of children were playing a game of kick ball.
The children of varying ages, genders, and abilities took turns kicking, pitching, and fielding the ball.
Noticing that the younger kids didn't know when or where to run, an older boy took himself out of the line up and named himself "first base coach." He spent the rest of the game teaching the younger children how to play the game
This boy inspires me to invest in the common good, to rise above individualism, and to be a witness to hope.
How can you bring the spirit of this boy into our world today
Hope to see you soon at Siena!
Claire Anderson
Claire is the Executive Director of the Siena Retreat Center in Racine, WI https://www.sienaretreatcenter.org/
Last year in the June 2022 Hope Newsletter ( https://hopefromthebottomup.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/NewsletterJune2022.pdf ) we ran a story about Christiana and Nic Trapani, owners of Door County Candle Company, holding a check for over 1/2 million dollars that represented the amount of money they had raised in a little over two months to help the people of Ukraine. Here is the story update.
Wisconsin candle company hits $1 million in donations to Ukraine
Wisconsin State Journal, Barry Adams, Apr 20, 2023
"That one candle, plus another one candle, plus another one candle is what got us to our goal, and it just shows that one person should never think they can't make a difference." Christiana Trapani.
Door County Candle Company has sold more than 100,000 candles and has donated more than $1 million over the past 14 months to benefit Ukraine.
Christiana Trapani knew within a week or so how popular the sale was of her candles to benefit the people of Ukraine
But on Wednesday, she received further confirmation.
Her Door County Candle Company has surpassed $1 million in donations with the sale of more than 100,000 blue and yellow candles in 16 ounce jars since the start of the war in February 2022.
Trapani initially thought it would be a weekend project and a few weeks later thought maybe 5,000 candles would be a modest goal. Now she says the candle will be a mainstay and even after the war's conclusion, will continue to be sold to help the country rebuild.
"It's such a huge milestone and we're obviously really proud of that," Trapani said Monday by phone. "I never, ever, in my wildest dreams ever thought this would happen."
Trapani, whose maiden name is Gorchynski and who has family and friends in Ukraine, will be in Madison on Tuesday when she meets with the legislators and speaks at the State Capitol. To read more, click on this link: https://journaltimes.com/news/state-and-regional/wisconsin-candle-company-hits-1-million-in-donations-to-ukraine/article_d0f079e4-8612-5636-ae28-e4eff16b0928.html
To view a 4 ½ minute video about this story, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYaSGWH7_Z0
Easter backpack project unites helpers across generations to ‘bring joy’ to homeless kids
By Jeff Vorva, Daily Southtown, Apr 04, 2023
Queen of Martyrs seventh grader Mia McGreal holds up a backpack she and her classmates
helped fill Thursday at Mercy Circle in Chicago. The backpacks were set to be distributed
to children staying in a homeless shelter. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown
Easter has always been a pleasant holiday for seventh grader Mia McGreal.
“My Easters have been nice,” she said. “I’ve been appreciative of everything I have gotten.”
But McGreal, a student at Queen of Martyrs in Evergreen Park, doesn’t have to travel far to hear stories of those less fortunate.
Her mother, Margaret, for example, went through a tough childhood but later rose through the ranks to lieutenant colonel with the Illinois State Police.
“They couldn’t afford much and when they went to the grocery store, they couldn’t afford a box of cereal,” Mia said. “My mom had to get a job when she was 7. She would go on her bike and deliver newspapers.
“She really knows what’s going on.”
What was going on for McGreal on Thursday morning was a gathering at Mercy Circle in Chicago to help those who are down on their luck.
That’s where Mercy Circle residents — many who are retired nuns — tag teamed with Queen of Martyrs seventh graders, including McGreal, to put together backpack care packages for homeless children and teenagers. To read more, click on this link: Easter backpack project unites helpers across generations to ‘bring joy’ to homeless kids – Chicago Tribune
Parkside professor receives teaching excellence award
By Ryan Patterson, Racine Journal Times. April 22, 2023
Jonathan Shailor leads a discussion in 2018 about the Shakespeare Prison Project he directs at the Racine Correctional Institution in Sturtevant. Photo by Bill Siel, Lee Newspapers
SOMERS — Jonathan Shailor thought of his parents when he heard the news.
Last month, Shailor received a teaching award and felt grateful to his mother and father. They are both deceased, but Shailor envisioned how wonderful it would be to inform his parents of the recognition.
Growing up in Massachusetts, Shailor said his mother was an artist and performer, and his father was service-oriented and involved in community organizations.
As a communication professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for the past 28 years, Shailor’s work has combined creativity and service.
Shailor was one of three recipients of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents 31st annual Teaching Excellence Awards, which are the UW System’s highest recognition for faculty members.
“These UW educators and programs are inspiring students to develop invaluable life skills,” Regent Cris Peterson, chair of the selection committee, said in a news release. “With this award, we recognize the innovative, collaborative approaches to teaching that are equipping students to reach their full potential.”
Each recipient is awarded $7,500 to spend on work-related items.
Shailor plans to purchase books and is considering hiring a film crew to make a documentary about the Shakespeare Prison Project that he leads.
Shailor started the Shakespeare Prison Project in 2004 as a way to bring artistic instruction and performance to people incarcerated at the Racine Correctional Institution, an all-male medium-security prison in Sturtevant. To read more, click on this link: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/education/parkside-professor-receives-teaching-excellence-award/article_303636dc-da44-11ed-ac24-f76d6048f657.html?utm_source=journaltimes.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fnews-alert&utm_medium=PostUp&lctg=1387062&tn_email_eh1=01bd8f4bbd87b1b8e02791bc07ac6336d5dd61a8
Spreading the love | Racine Police Department's COP unit
surprises, honors RUSD employees for Love Week
Rachel Kubik, Racine Journal Times, Feb 5, 2023
S.C. Johnson Elementary educational assistant Donnell Taggart, third from left, poses with fellow school staff, members of the Racine Police Department and Hope City Church on Friday at the school, 2420 Kentucky St.
RACINE — Donnell Taggart, an educational assistant at S.C. Johnson Elementary, is known to be the “all-around SCJ kid whisperer.”
Taggart has been with the Racine Unified School District for seven years and runs the after school buses, works with any student who comes her way and offers love and support to staff members.
She’s known to have an “amazing” sense of humor, to be quick with a smile, a hug and a positive solution. She is someone people can count on.
And on Friday morning, she was recognized by the Racine Police Department.
The Community Oriented Policing unit honored RUSD employees who embody the definition of love.
The RPD visited 19 schools Thursday and Friday, working to build positive relationships with schools, students, families and staff, during the COP unit’s inaugural “Love Week,” understandably taking place during the first week in February, the month of Valentine’s Day. To read and see more, click on this link: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/spreading-the-love-racine-police-departments-cop-unit-surprises-honors-rusd-employees-for-love-week/article_ed4eab44-a3f5-11ed-92af-8b2344ee019c.html?utm_source=journaltimes.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fnews-alert&utm_medium=PostUp&lctg=1387062&tn_email_eh1=01bd8f4bbd87b1b8e02791bc07ac6336d5dd61a8
Managing Stress - Sustaining the Human Spirit in Farm Country
Created with SARE support by Raylene Nickel 2022
A course in skills-based suicide alertness prepared Ruth Linkenmeyer-Meirick for a desperate call from a friend. “She was going through a divorce, and she was so overcome by grief and sadness it was hard to talk with her,” says Meirick. “Had I not taken the course, I wouldn’t have known what to do.” Meirick was able to ask her friend a difficult but important question: “You’re not thinking about death by suicide, are you?” Her friend replied that she was not, and from there, Meirick listened and offered crisis-intervention suggestions.
Meirick understood how to help her friend because she had recently attended the skills-based suicide-prevention training called safeTALK. The training sessions were adapted to address the unique characteristics of agricultural communities. Through her work as the foundation director of the Minnesota Farm Bureau, Meirick has helped to make similar workshops available to Farm Bureau agents and others throughout the state.
The adapted trainings, called safeTALK: Preventing Suicide in Agricultural Communities, resulted from a multi-pronged Minnesota project titled Trying Times: Tools to Understand and Alleviate Farm Stress. The USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program funded the two-year project. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) managed the grant, which involved multiple partners in the public sector and nonprofit community.
The project developed materials and delivered workshop and online training about several farm stress and mental health topics to federal agency staff, state regulatory staff, Extension staff, lenders, clergy, social organizations, business people and others.
Meg Moynihan received support from SARE for her ongoing efforts to train agriculture advisors to respond to the stress they encounter on farms and in rural communities.
To read more, click on this link: https://www.sare.org/publications/managing-stress/sustaining-the-human-spirit-in-farm-country/?utm_source=USDA+SARE&utm_campaign=8a8cc66f91-Organic+Transition+bulletin_COPY_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ea09c80bba-8a8cc66f91-355680241
Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke appears at UW-P
to inspire middle schoolers to go into STEM
By Alex Rodriquez, January 13, 2023
Grace Stanke, Miss America 2023, center, sits with a group of girls attending the Girls in Engineering and Math Conference (GEMS) at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Thursday. Around 450 middle school-aged girls from Racine Unified schools attended a keynote speech by Stanke and several STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workshops Thursday.
A total of 450 girls from Racine Unified School District middle schools attended the 10th annual Girls Empowered by Math and Science conference Thursday and were joined by Stanke, in her first appearance since winning the title.
The girls, students from Gifford School, Walden III, Gilmore Fine Arts, Jersted-Agerholm school, Mitchell School, Starbuck Middle School and The R.E.A.L School — spent the day living like college students at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 900 Wood Road, and attended a keynote speech by Stanke as well as a panel discussion moderated by her, and were assigned to attend different workshops that all focused on different STEM disciplines.
“Science isn’t limited to just one thing,” Stanke said. “For me, I focus on nuclear energy, but there are so many ways it can affect society and continue to improve.”
In her speech, Stanke, 20, told a story of how she was first attracted to STEM, specifically engineering, and started competing in Miss America scholarship events as a necessity for financing after her father was diagnosed with cancer.
Stanke is from Wausau and will be graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s in nuclear engineering this spring. To read more, click on this link: Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke appears at UW-P to inspire middle schoolers to go into STEM (journaltimes.com)
A librarian’s dream helps turn a waiting area at Cook County Jail into an educational nook for children who visit the incarcerated
By Laura Rodriquez Presa, Chicago Tribune, Jan 04, 2023
Before visiting his incarcerated father, 2-year-old K.D. stacks blocks in the early literacy play space inside a Cook County Jail waiting area on Dec. 15, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
When 2-year-old K.D. walked with his aunt inside the waiting area of the Maximum Security Division at Cook County Jail to visit his father, he smiled.
Unlike all the other times his aunt had brought him to the jail, this time, colorful furniture, dozens of books, toys and a vivid mural adorned the space where he typically — and anxiously — waits until an officer escorts him to see his father, who is incarcerated and awaiting trial.
His smile was thanks to the memory of Becca Ruidl, a librarian with the Chicago Public Library who died of COVID-19 in March at age 30. Her dream was to provide a literacy space for children of the incarcerated at the jail, where many children of color tend to spend time while visiting their loved ones, said Elizabeth McChesney, Ruidl’s friend and former boss.
On Dec. 13, an early literacy play space was inaugurated at the jail’s Maximum Security Division thanks to McChesney’s commitment to honor Ruidl’s legacy. McChesney galvanized other leaders who supported the vision to change the narrative of children experiencing trauma and providing them with learning opportunities.
“When you walk into the lobby of visitation, it no longer signals hopelessness; it signals connection, and the impact of that is not just for the children, but also for the individuals who are incarcerated,” said Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia, a clinical psychologist and managing director of justice initiatives at Chicago Beyond. To read more, click on this link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/people/ct-cook-county-jail-adds-child-friendly-center-fights-stigma-incarcerated-20230104-o2pdctt5rje3dhtzxf33jeqmrq-story.html
This organization has been highlighted before on the Hope From the Bottom Up website at https://hopefromthebottomup.com/hope-filled-organizations#map They are very actively working with young political leaders in many states, bringing together Democrat and Republican elected officials to lessen the political polarization in our country. Below is a story of one of their efforts.
On the Rise: Kansas Future Caucus
Young leaders in Kansas are stepping up.
Last week, MAP traveled to Topeka to partner with the Kansas Future Caucus for a moment of action. In a panel discussion titled “A More Collaborative Kansas: How Young Legislators Are Shaking Up Topeka,” the young legislators discussed their work in the state legislature and goals for the 2023 legislative session.
There is a profound culture shift taking place. “The [Future Caucus] idea extends past the legislature... It’s giving people something higher to aspire to… Politics does not have to feel like it has for the past 4, 8, or 12 years… If it’s going to be a long term change, it’s got to be from this generation. It’s got to be from future leaders of our parties and the state, and that’s in this room,” said Rep. Rui Xu, the Democratic co-chair of the caucus during the panel.
“When I first came in, [the legislature] was very polarized. I would stay away from Democrats; that was ingrained in my mind, but that’s not how you get things done. That’s not how you get legislation passed… We are bringing back the fact that: I’m going to disagree with you in committee…. I disagree with you on a lot of things… But afterwards, let’s go get drinks or dinner and have a conversation,” said Rep. Blew, the Republican co-chair of the caucus.
Relationship-building is key to good policymaking. And the Kansas Future Caucus is the go to place where young legislators can find policy partners in the statehouse. Kansas is just one of MAP’s many points of proof that the Future Caucus model works. It creates a permission structure that unites legislators along their shared generational identity so they might transcend their partisan differences.
Learn more about how young legislators are shaking things up in Kansas by reading the full article at this link: https://medium.com/millennial-voices/on-the-rise-tour-kansas-future-caucus-c8580fd42aff
This CNN Hero upcycles old computers to open new worlds for young Kenyans
By Allie Torgan, CNN, Thu July 14, 2022
Growing up in poverty in rural Kenya, Nelly Cheboi watched her single mother, who had only completed fifth grade, work tirelessly so Cheboi and her three sisters could attend school.
From an early age, Cheboi realized that her family, along with others like hers in their village, was stuck in a cycle that left them little hope.
“She was working really hard, and I was still going to bed hungry. I was still sent home for tuition. I was still living in a house that was flooding,” said Cheboi, now 29. “Looking at the poverty in the household, looking at the community and suffering, it just became so clear that I needed to do something.”
Cheboi attended college on scholarship in the United States, worked odd jobs to support her family, and discovered her passion for computer science. She credits computer literacy for her ability to find job opportunities and make money doing what she loves. She knew she wanted to share it with her community back home.
Today, she’s giving 4,000 kids the chance for a brighter future through her nonprofit, TechLit Africa. The organization, whose name is short for Technologically Literate Africa, uses recycled computers to create technology labs in schools in rural Kenya.
“I know the pain of poverty, and that’s why I feel so passionate about it,” said Cheboi, a software engineer who splits her time between the US and Kenya. “I never forgot what it was like with my stomach churning because of hunger at night.”
In 2012, Cheboi received a full scholarship to Augustana College in Illinois and began her studies with almost no computer experience. She handwrote papers and struggled to transcribe them on a laptop. She said she never felt comfortable using a computer until her junior year when she took a Java course required for her mathematics major. To read more, click on this link: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/world/education-technology-recycling-kenya-poverty-cnnheroes/index.html
To view a 4 minute video about Nellie and her work, click on this link: CNN Hero: Nelly Cheboi - Bing video
The pioneer woman: Oswego’s Julianne Sitch makes history at University of Chicago:
By Matt Le Cren, Aurora Beacon-News, Dec 09, 2022
Julianne Sitch, head coach for the University of Chicago men's soccer team, oversees training
at Stagg Field in Chicago on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. (Anjali Pinto/The New York Times)
As a player, Sitch starred at Oswego, DePaul and with the Chicago Red Stars. Since that part of her career ended in 2014, she had been an assistant coach for the U. of C. women’s program and an assistant coach with the Red Stars.
Athletic director Angie Torain hired Sitch on April 20 to coach the men’s team, which reached the national semifinals in 2021. It was an opportunity Sitch couldn’t pass up.
“I really loved Chicago’s athletics outside of the fact that it’s just a phenomenal university,” Sitch said. “A big shout out to Angie Torain, who took a chance on hiring me. That was a potential risk, right?”
It actually proved to be a safe bet. The Maroons (22-0-1) thrived under Sitch, who is one of only two women currently coaching a Division III men’s team and set a program record for wins.
Junior forward Ryan Yetishefsky, the team’s leading scorer who converted the final goal of the season with 16 seconds left in the championship game, said the transition to Sitch was seamless.
“First of all, Sitch is an amazing person in general,” Yetishefsky said. “She’s really easy to talk to, gets along with all the players on a personal level, but also, she has a fantastic knowledge of the game.
“Her skills with managing different personalities on the team, giving the team a clear identity to follow during the season and tactics during the game, are all incredible. It’s been a pleasure getting to learn from her.” Sitch, 39, returns the praise. To read more, click on this link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/sports/ct-abn-wso-sitch-st-1213-20221210-4leobjhqnzbxniakmq5gnajgmu-story.html
Racine's Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin to receive $250,000 grant from the Green Bay Packers
Journal Times staff , Dec 6, 2022
RACINE — Green Bay Packers Give Back announced this week the organization has awarded a $250,000 Veterans Impact Grant to Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, the Racine nonprofit that operates the Yout Street tiny home village for veterans at risk of homelessness.
Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin’s mission is to assist primarily homeless and at-risk veterans as they strive for normalcy, providing them with resources such as food, clothing, shelter and other basic human needs.
“The Packers are pleased to support Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin and their critical work providing much-needed assistance to those who have served our country,” stated Mark Murphy, Packer’s president/CEO. “We look forward to seeing how the grant will help this deserving organization grow as they work to ensure veterans in need have access to resources, community and a place they can call home.” To read more, click on this link: Racine's Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin to receive $250,000 grant from the Green Bay Packers
New greenhouse gives a boost to cooks in training at St. Coletta’s
By Jeff Vorva, Daily Southtown, Dec 28, 2022
Amy Quinn already has her dream job.
What could make it better? Possibly a greenhouse?
The culinary arts teacher at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy School for Exceptional Children at St. Coletta’s of Illinois will welcome the January opening of a greenhouse on its Tinley Park campus.
Quinn said this will open some new avenues of learning for her special needs students, ages 6 to 22.
“We are able to start a farm and table program,” Quinn said. “The students will learn to grow their own plants and we’ll start from seeds.
Kennedy School students at St. Coletta's in Tinley Park display some of the cupcakes they made for their first commercial order, from the Atlas Putty Production Company. (St. Coletta's of Illinois)
“After everything starts growing and we get all of our herbs and vegetables, they will learn to cook them and clean them and make a meal with them.”
Quinn has 54 students in her classes and having them learn to cook for themselves is a boost to their self-esteem but could also come in handy for those who want to enter the working world.
“The special needs students with higher functions will go out into the work force — we prepare them so they can work in a restaurant or grocery store,” Quinn said. “Aside from preparing food, they learn mock interviews, preparing resumes, working on deliveries unpacking, cleaning kitchens and other skills.
“They get the whole overall experience. They do all of those things because there is so much going on around here.” To read more, click on this link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-st-colettas-greenhouse-st-1229-20221228-bayqlknywbbctfjg6lexetbrb4-story.html
Her family survived the Holocaust. Now she’s helping a Muslim refugee family start anew in Chicago, including hosting their first Thanksgiving.
By Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune Nov 23, 2022
The tables at the Littmann home in Evanston were set with turkey-themed place cards, handwritten with a mix of Jewish and Muslim names.
The final touches on the holiday feast were almost complete as the guests of honor arrived.
The Dil Mohamad family — Rohingya refugees who resettled in Chicago seven months ago — came to celebrate their first Thanksgiving dinner amid safety and freedom in the United States.
Nurzan Binti Zahid Hussin sits with her husband, Hussin Johar Bin Dil Mohamad, as he holds their 6-month-old son, Aiman, on Nov. 20, 2022, during a Thanksgiving celebration at the Littmann’s Evanston home. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The Rohingya people are a stateless, persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar; more than a million Rohingya refugees have escaped violence in their home country since the 1990s, according to the United Nations. The Dil Mohamads fled Myanmar years ago and had been living as refugees in Malaysia, until they started a new life here in April.
The Littmann family — descendants of Jewish refugees who survived the Holocaust — served as co-sponsors for the Dil Mohamads, forging a deep friendship between two households with disparate backgrounds but parallel stories of survival, immigration and resettlement.
The early holiday gathering held Sunday marked the first taste of turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie for Nurzan Binti Zahid Hussin, 26, and her husband, Hussin Johar Bin Dil Mohamad, 42, who goes by the name Johar.
At one point, Johar looked up from his full plate and gave a thumbs-up sign, nodding his head in approval. Nurzan brought homemade dishes of curry shrimp and chicken in a masala sauce to share with her hosts.
“I am very happy to be here,” she said, through an interpreter.
Their 9-year-old son, Afnan, and 5-year-old twin boys, Aaryan and Aariz, made hand turkey drawings on construction paper before the meal.
“Gobble, gobble!” the boys chanted throughout the day.
In a highchair next to the dining room table sat the youngest son, baby Aiman, whose perilous birth six months prior had ignited a particularly profound connection between the mothers of both families.
Forty-seven-year-old Jessica Littmann was by Nurzan’s side when she went into emergency labor due to preeclampsia, holding her hand and getting a first glimpse as the healthy boy — the first U.S. citizen in the Dil Mohamad family — emerged into the world. To read more, click on this link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-refugee-first-thanksgiving-20221123-puoaohj4gbhwzh3rfy56yul5ie-story.html
Wisconsin woman cooked more than 4,430 meals this year — and gave them all away
By GAYLE WORLAND Lee Newspapers, Nov 24, 2022
FITCHBURG — If you’ve been tussling with a turkey and side dishes to serve to a Thanksgiving crowd and are happy that you only do it once a year, just think about Michelle Ogilvie.
Ogilvie, as a volunteer, cooks about 150 hot, full, hearty meals every week, then gives them all away.
They go to feed people who are experiencing homelessness, often serving it as their best meal of the day. Ogilvie does the meal planning, recipe-hunting, grocery shopping and all the cooking and baking in her Fitchburg home kitchen. On her days “off,” she volunteers for Meals on Wheels, delivering food and some human contact to people who are homebound.
Chocolate and corn muffins and mini pecan and sweet potato pies cool on a rack in Michelle Ogilvie's Fitchburg kitchen. Ogilvie, who baked the Thanksgiving treats for the nonprofit Housing Initiatives, regularly prepares some 150 full meals each week for people experiencing homelessness. AMBER ARNOLD, Lee Newspapers
Beef stew, meatloaf, chuck-roast chili, chicken pot pie: When Michelle Ogilvie brings a load of hot comfort food to the daytime homeless shelter at a Downtown Madison church, the word gets out.
“People will run up to me on the street and say, ‘I heard you were here today!’” she said.
“She cooks high volume like she would cook for her family. “Everybody loves Michelle’s food,” said Karen Andro, case manager and continuum care specialist for Housing Initiatives and a longtime advocate for people experiencing homelessness. To read more, click on this link: Wisconsin woman cooked more than 4,430 meals this year — and gave them all away (journaltimes.com)
Walden students lead the way,
donate 600 boxes of food and raise more than $10K ahead of Thanksgiving
By Alex Rodriguez, Racine Journal Times, November 23, 2022
RACINE — Students at Walden III collected over 600 boxes of food, and more than $10,000, for the Racine County Food Bank.
Left to right: Walden III Student Government President Maren DeSonia, Racine Food Bank Executive Director Dan Taivalkoski and Racine Mayor Cory Mason hold up a handmade check to represent Walden's donation of $10,927 to the bank. On the stage behind them are the 600 boxes of food Walden students collected for the Racine County Food Bank.
The students were joined Tuesday at the gymnasium in Walden III, 2340 Mohr Ave., by Dan Taivalkoski, executive director of the Racine County Food Bank and Racine Mayor Cory Mason in a celebration of their efforts — and to find out how much the students collected for the bank, 2000 De Koven Ave.
“Every year it amazes me that you’re able to do this again and again,” Mason said, “and provide tons of meals, literally tons of meals, to the community. So, it really makes a huge difference that you all do this ... I can’t tell you how inspiring it is, to me as your mayor, to see all of you working on what inspires you to be grateful to give back to your community.”
Walden III’s food collection is an annual event, with students spending the month of November collecting food for the food bank. This is the first time Mason has joined them for the celebration since the COVID-19 pandemic started. To read more, click on this link: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/walden-students-lead-the-way-donate-600-boxes-of-food-and-raise-more-than-10k/article_e5ae2cee-6a83-11ed-b67c-a744a01bf4d6.html?utm_source=journaltimes.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fnews-alert&utm_medium=PostUp&utm_content=01bd8f4bbd87b1b8e02791bc07ac6336d5dd61a8
Dolly Parton’s donation strategy: ‘I just give from my heart’
By Glenn Gamboa - Associated Press - Friday, October 14, 2022
Dolly Parton laughs at the idea that she is some sort of secret philanthropist.
Sure, social media sleuths did piece together this week that the country superstar had been quietly paying for the band uniforms of many Tennessee high schools for years. And yes, it did take decades for her to reveal that she used the songwriting royalties she earned from Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” to purchase a strip mall in Nashville to support the surrounding Black neighborhood in Houston’s honor. Oh, and it did eventually come out that Parton had donated $1 million for research that helped create the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19.
“I don’t do it for attention,” she told The Associated Press in an interview, shortly before she received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy at Gotham Hall in New York City Thursday night. “But look! I’m getting a lot of attention by doing it.
One need Parton does focus on filling is fostering a love of reading in children. Her Imagination Library initiative sends a free book every month to children under five whose parents request them. Currently, Parton sends out about 2 million free books each month.
“This actually started because my father could not read and write and I saw how crippling that could be,” she said. “My dad was a very smart man. And I often wondered what he could have done had he been able to read and write. So that is the inspiration. “To see and listen to her comments when getting the award, click on this link: https://apnews.com/article/videos-6ef0fee8c41e4300a55fc53898f5f6c3
To see and listen to a 4 minute video of the philanthropic work of Andrew Carnegie and the many organizations he helped start, including the Carnegie Medal of philanthropy, please click on this link and scroll down to the first video: https://www.medalofphilanthropy.org/
Ladders to the middle class
Nonprofit training programs give low-income Americans a step up by teaching job skills Steve Lohr, Orlando Sentinel, Oct 5, 2022
For Amber Mitchell Ikpe, learning computer software skills was only part of the experience at Year Up, a nonprofit job training program.
The coursework, followed by a six-month internship at a company, included classes on speaking in public, teamwork, professional behavior and attire. There was a closet with men’s and women’s business clothes, and an ironing board.
Year Up also arranged help with basic needs including subsidized childcare, medical insurance and food assistance. When her car broke down, she got a grant to get it fixed.
“Without all that, I would never have finished,” Ikpe recalled.
After graduating from Year Up, Ikpe landed a technology job with a near six-figure salary. Five years later, she is a homeowner in suburban Atlanta and considers herself upper middle class. She now works for an education and networking nonprofit for Black technology managers. To read more, click on this link: https://www.pressreader.com/usa/orlando-sentinel/20221005/281784222983432
Sameer Bhide: My experience as an immigrant and stroke survivor
reveals the abiding good of a diverse America
By Sameer Bhide, Chicago Tribune, Oct 12, 2022
The topics of critical race theory and diversity have exploded in the public arena, causing further divide in our society between conservatives and liberals. I am not here to justify either point of view. As an immigrant, I just want to share my experience of our rich diversity.
We are indeed a divided country, but as a people, I am amazed at the ability of so many Americans to find ways of coming together. The diversity of America is what has always made it a “promised land” for so many. I want to share a positive reminder of the best this great nation can be.
Originally from India, I lived in the United States for more than 32 years. What I have always found fascinating is that most people could care less about another person’s background, race or religion.
The beauty of this country is that everyone is judged as an individual who has something of value to contribute to society.
My health journey bears out this truth. Five and a half years ago, I had a massive stroke that changed my life. As I reflect on my life since that day, I am struck by joy in remembering the diversity of friends, caregivers and colleagues who aided in my recovery and saved my life.
They were of different races, ethnicities and religions, and many were immigrants. And each of them tirelessly helped me keep going and recover.
Coming together for the greater good, this is the real America. This is the country I am proud to call home.
How is this for a microcosm of America?
● My neurosurgeon was an Indian American.
● My intensive care unit doctor was from Slovenia.
● My rehab doctor and psychologist were white and born here.
● My internist was from Thailand.
● My neurologists included an Indian, an African American and an Iranian.
● My physiatrist was a Latina.
Racism and discrimination continue to be problems in America, but it is not too far gone. This country was built on people standing up for what they believe in and righting wrongs that may date back hundreds of years. No matter what the current challenges are, as an immigrant and a minority, I can say for the most part that America has lived up to its ideals of liberty, equality, justice and fairness for all. To read more, click on this link: My immigrant experience reveals the abiding good of America (chicagotribune.com)
DuSable vs. Fenger is more than a game — it’s believed to be the 1st time in history that 2 Black women will face off as head football coaches
By Shakeia Taylor, Chicago Tribune Sep 15, 2022
Fenger coach Jouscelyn Mayfield instructs players and DuSable coach Konesha Rhea instruct players during practices on Sept. 13, 2022. (Photos by Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
When Fenger’s Jouscelyn Mayfield and DuSable’s Konesha Rhea were first coaching on opposite sidelines, it was “a battle of voices.”
Mayfield was a coach for her son’s youth football team and Rhea was the opposing head coach.
“She’s got a very loud voice. I’ve got a very loud voice. Everybody says all they heard was her bark and my bark,” Rhea said.
“This time around I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a battle of defenses because we’re both defensive-minded. We just have to see how our offenses can execute.”
Mayfield and Rhea will find each other on opposing sidelines once again Thursday at Gately Stadium.
The two never imagined that nearly 10 years after their youth football matchup they’d be on opposite sidelines again, but Thursday’s game will be historic. According to the Illinois High School Association, Mayfield and Rhea will be the first two Black women to go head-to-head as head football coaches in history. Each is looking for her first win of the season. To read more, click on this link: Historic game pits 2 Black women as head football coaches (chicagotribune.com)
Waging Peace Through Brotherhood
Pardeep: When I first met Arno, a little over two months had passed since August 5, 2012, the day my father and five other Sikhs were executed in our peaceful Wisconsin temple by a self-avowed white supremacist.
Pardeep and Arno sharing some refreshment
Pardeep: Two of the victims were brothers, both had families and young children. A woman who was killed left behind two teenage boys. Others had suffered grave injuries. Lt. Brian Murphy, a heroic police officer, was corned by the killer and shot fifteen times at close range. He survived by the grace of God.
From the start I’d been haunted by the question of, “Why?” I wondered about it day and night. I couldn’t ask the killer because he was dead. So, I started to search for answers on my own. Who could tell me why he had chosen our place of worship? Why he’d gone after such peaceful people—men, women, and children whose religion, Sikhism, is based on the practice of harmony and equality for all people?
Was I angry? Hell yes. My anger was eating me alive. My father had been violently taken from my family and we were all struggling to find our places in this new and terrible reality. But I knew I couldn’t continue to wallow in cynicism and gloom. That would be a stain on my father’s legacy. It went against everything he stood for, all that he was.
My father was an American patriot, a proud immigrant who moved his young wife and two small boys from their farming town in India and assimilated into Midwestern culture through hard work and community service.
He was murdered because his skin was brown and he wore a turban. How could I not seek answers for that?
Arno: When I met Pardeep, all I knew about him was that his life had been tragically altered by someone with the belief system I once held. I had immersed myself in racist dogma beginning at the age of 16, and by the time I was 18 I had bragging rights as a founding member of the largest white power skinhead organization in the world.
I was still plagued by nightmares about steel-toed boots and smashed skulls, and trapped in shame and guilt for the damage I did. Damage, I was sorry to say, that wouldn’t die with me but would endure as long as there were people willing to embrace the hateful rhetoric I once preached at rallies or bellowed in the white power songs I wrote and performed. People like Wade Michael Page, the man who murdered Pardeep’s father. To read more click on this link to Love Wisconsin: https://www.lovewi.com/pardeeparno/
Operation Warm to donate both coats and shoes for school-age children
By Tatyana Turner, Chicago Tribune, Aug 24, 2022, at 12:21 pm
Glenn Garlick adjusts the foot of Ayden, 8, as he measures his shoe size to receive free athletic shoes during the Summer Kicks shoe gifting event at Fosco Park Fieldhouse on the Near West Side on July 9, 2021. This is a partnership between the Chicago Housing Authority and Operation Warm, sponsored by The MolinaCares Accord. (Vashon Jordan Jr. / Chicago Tribune)
Ambitions for a successful school year may be high, but so are the costs for back-to-school supplies. In its 15th annual back-to-school survey, Deloitte, an international tax consulting firm, found that parents and guardians are spending approximately 27% more on school supplies than in 2019. But Operation Warm, a nationwide nonprofit organization that has provided coats to children in need for 23 years, will be working to provide students with shoes.
Grace Sica, executive director of Operation Warm, said the goal for the nonprofit is to donate 600,000 coats to children in need and 100,000 pairs of athletic shoes.
Operation Warm does not provide coats directly to families but will be taking donations online until Sept. 15.
Shoes and coats are given directly to service organizations that can identify the children in need, according to Sica.
The essentials are then distributed through partners including Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago Park District. To read more, click on this link: Operation Warm provides shoes to Chicago youth for their school ready campaign (chicagotribune.com)
A Brief Thought for a Friday Night
Finding hope
By Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner, Sep 23, 2022
A brief thought for a Friday night — a Friday I fear is fearful for many.
There is a lot about this world that is unsettling, disorienting, and depressing. There is a lot of news that adds up to a stark realization that this is a moment of great peril. We see forces of destruction in ascendance — economic, environmental, cultural, authoritarian, martial.
Historical parallels spur further alarm. Moments of instability can propel and inflame the worst of human instincts and behavior. Stoking fear is a potent tool for despots. When people worry about their own health, safety, and well-being, empathy for others can be framed as a luxury no longer affordable. Divisions harden. Hate takes root. Unity is undercut.
I have lived long enough and through enough momentous events hopefully to bring some context to the present. I offer no particular wisdom other than that born from longevity. But over time, we can hopefully put the concerns of the present into a broader perspective. Upon this foundation we can build a notion of steady.
We should not bury our heads in the sand about the very real dangers we face. It is a prescription only for delaying an inevitable reckoning. The world is on edge, people are suffering, our own democracy is under threat — primarily from within our own ranks.
And yet, I want to say over and over again this evening, “and yet, and yet, and yet,” I am not pessimistic. I would even go so far as to say I am optimistic. I know we run the risk of being pollyannaish, but I have lived through times when hope seemed far dimmer than I feel it is today. To read more, click on this link: https://steady.substack.com/p/a-brief-thought-for-a-friday-night?utm_medium=web
Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab
boosts small local businesses with grants, mentors:
‘Entrepreneurialism is the soul of American business’
By Darcel Rockette, Chicago Tribune, June 08, 2022
From interior design to sociology to three jobs at education nonprofits, Danielle Tubbs’ journey to baking took a bit of a circuitous path. The Miami transplant, now an East Garfield Park resident, is trying to make her passion for baking boldly flavored, Jamaican-inspired vegan, nut and soy-free cookies into a household name. Tubbs filed for an LLC and bought a domain name eight years ago for Tubby’s Taste Vegan Cookies.
Danielle Tubbs of Tubby's Taste Vegan Cookies, at the Allies for Community Business' Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab celebration at The Hatchery in Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood on May 26, 2022. Tubbs was one of the award recipients at the event, receiving a grant worth $20,000 to grow her business. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“I believe in capitalism so strongly ... the way it’s been a cornerstone of the American experience, the small farmer, everything,” he said about why he created the endeavor with the Chicago Community Trust. “I felt very strongly that where we’ve missed as a country is we haven’t encouraged enough people that hadn’t come from more affluent backgrounds, particularly people who are Black, brown, Native Americans. I just felt that would strengthen the community so strongly.” To read more of this article, click on this link: Entrepreneurship lab seeks to increase small business owners of color (chicagotribune.com) To watch a 2 minute video of Danielle on Good Morning America, click on this link: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/video/woman-quits-job-start-business-delicious-treats-84106022
Elon Musk's brother celebrates opening of 10,000-square-foot 'smart' farm in Kenosha
TERRY FLORES Lee Newspapers, Aug 17, 2022
KENOSHA — Freshly grown basil in February. You read that right. Dill, parsley and cilantro, too. Don’t forget the mixed greens.
These and more were part of the celebration Tuesday at Square Roots’ largest and newest indoor urban “smart” farm located on the Gordon Foods Service campus at 10915 38th St., Kenosha.
Kimbal Musk, founder of Square Roots, second from left, Hans Hansen, regional general manager of Gordon Food Service, third from left, and Tobias Peggs, CEO of Square Roots, fourth from left, cut the ribbon as Squared Roots employees Nick Rodriguez, left, and Shelby Sanderson, right, hold the ribbon during a grand opening celebration at the new Square Roots facility on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022.
Photo SEAN KRAJACIC Kenosha News
While the 10,000-square-foot farm site where production takes place inside a two-story structure built with 20 repurposed shipping containers initiated operations in late January, officials had yet to formally introduce Square Roots. They did so with invitation-only festivities Tuesday amid sunny skies, an occasional cloud cover on an otherwise perfect 78-degree day. Dozens of guests mingled beneath a tent to enjoy refreshments and appetizers made with the harvested bounty “just a few feet away,” as the menu with the specials du jour proclaimed. To read more and see a 2 minute video about this step forward in local, healthy food production, click on this link: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/watch-now-elon-musks-brother-celebrates-opening-of-10-000-square-foot-smart-farm-in/article_1b1918d8-1e55-11ed-bb46-9b6cf42930a8.html?utm_source=journaltimes.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fnews-alert&utm_medium=PostUp&utm_content=01bd8f4bbd87b1b8e02791bc07ac6336d5dd61a8
