AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/west-side/)
Residents from Austin, Garfield Park, West Humboldt Park and North Lawndale are invited to take part in the July 17th peace walk, which starts at 10 a.m. The walk will end at Garfield Park Music Court at Madison and Hamlin with a celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Stop by La Follette Park, 1333 N. Laramie, from 5 to 8 p.m. every Thursday through Aug. 26. There will be music, resources, snacks, prayer and family games. Sponsors include the 25th District Office of Community Policing, Chicago CRED and 100 Blocks/100 Churches.
The Austin United Alliance will hold a wealth-building webinar – “A Blueprint for Accessing the Capital We’ve Been Waiting For” – at 10 a.m. June 16. The focus will be on how to narrow the racial wealth gap that impacts Austin and other West Side communities.
ComEd’s CONSTRUCT Infrastructure Academy recently graduated 92 West Side residents, including 10 from Austin. Applications are now being accepted for the next round.
The Leaders Network hopes to raise $300,000 to open a credit union on the West Side, with the goal of giving residents more economic stability and opportunity.
Mirroring a trend across Chicago, Austin reported 10 fewer homicides in 2019. Forty-seven people were killed, down from 57 in 2018, according to the Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker.
Ernest Cato III will serve as deputy chief of patrol (North) overseeing nine districts on the North and West sides. Replacing Cato in the 15th District will be Yolanda Talley, who served as a watch operations lieutenant in the 15th District for two years and has 25 years of experience with the Chicago Police Department.
De’Andre Wilborn, Austin resident and George Westinghouse College Prep senior, was one of eight Chicago high school students to receive the $20,000 scholarship award as part of the Cubs Charities Cubs Scholars Program. He was honored at a Cubs home game last month.
West Side residents now can apply to take a 32-week college-credit program at Austin Town Hall starting this fall. Students in the Odyssey Project study with professors from local universities and can earn up to six transferable college credits from Bard College. The application deadline to apply for the free program is Aug. 15.
The #100blocks100churches campaign continues this summer throughout the West Side. Every Wednesday night at 6 p.m., the faith-based community takes a stand to end violence in Chicago’s neighborhoods by joining together and wearing red.