St. Michael’s Church
Join volunteers with Health Leads Chicago for a unique Jane’s Walk as we meet with two leaders in the neighborhood. We’ll begin at St. Michael’s Church on 83rd Street at 1PM this Saturday, May 2nd.
After showing us around its facilities, Father Andrew Torma will discuss St. Michael’s place in the community. While maintaining a diverse mix of long-time residents and recent immigrants, the parish’s changing demographics over the last 115 years give us a view into larger trends on Chicago’s Southeast Side.
These changes have coincided with de-industrialization in the region, which we’ll discuss and then see first-hand.
Our second stop will be at Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, the Immigrants Workers Project, on 91st Street. Founded in 2008, the CTU can already point to numerous successes in organizing Hispanic workers across the South Side. We’ll chat with Raymundo Valdez, a founding organizer, about the group’s fight for economic justice — recent battles relate the raising the minimum wage and countering wage theft. This will include a look at April’s elections for mayor and alderman.
We’ll have a 20 minute stroll between the two sites, along the appropriately named Commercial Avenue. During this time, Health Leads volunteers will be happy to talk about their work addressing the social determinants of health in South Chicago — but we hope you’ll share your own perspectives!
Martha Frish 