CONVENTION 2005

The Affordable Health Care Task Force first spoke about accomplishments in the last year and a half. Access to “charity care” is an important part of the work. “Charity care” is free or reduced price care that is available for low income patients, and is the responsibility of tax exempt hospitals in return for the millions of dollars they save each year through tax breaks. Sylvia Sepulveda from the Belray spoke about an incident where she had difficulty accessing this care. She said, “I have decided to speak up because I am tired of feeling bad because I don’t have proper insurance and I’m low income. I just want to make sure I can go to my local hospital when I have emergencies and get proper care.”

Neil Mueller and Sylvia Sepulveda

The CEO of Illinois Masonic (IMMC) was invited to attend the meeting, but declined. The Task Force had 2 questions for IMMC: that they offer people assistance in accessing Charity Care when they request help, and that they work with LAC on their new development on the CPS lot on Barry, pending their closure on this lot. Pastor Liala Beukema from Lakeview Lutheran said, “We find these questions to be very reasonable, even easy. Clearly we'll all have to let the Leader of Illinois Masonic know that we wish she had joined us on stage and stated her resolve to continue working with us.”

Carol Small from the Belray updated people on the legislative work LAC leaders had done in Springfield on Charity Care and fair billing. One piece of legislation, calling for a fair and transparent billing process at all hospitals in Illinois, passed. The proposal that would improve access to charity care was buried in committee. Julie Nelson from Deborah’s Place asked State Representative Feigenholtz and State Senator Cullerton to work on fixing and passing that bill. They agreed.

Neal Mueller from Northside Housing and Supportive Services talked about how the work of LAC and other organizations brought Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the table, and she has been a strong advocate on healthcare. Neal reported, “We have been working with her (Lisa Madigan), and she has committed to continue her leadership role in finding creative solutions to these health care issues.”

Acting Together for Housing Justice:

Nate Hutcheson from Second Unitarian Church began by laying out our housing priorities. He said, “A diverse community is too important to leave to the free market, so here’s what we’re working on to keep our neighborhood diverse: shelter for the homeless, renewed subsidies for affordable apartments, and homes and condos for people of modest means.”

Representatives from the Lincoln Park Community Shelter (LPCS) spoke about the important work of the shelter and gave their thanks for LAC’s work in fighting to keep the shelter in the community. Jim Javorcic, a St. Clement parishioner and LPCS board member, said, “Before we started volunteering at the shelter, I thought homelessness was a problem without a solution. I thought there were too many homeless and too few people who cared. Now I see that it’s people like you who are helping find those solutions every day.” Caesar Hill, a shelter guest, said, “at the exact moment that I was accepted into LPCS, my life began to change.”

Lincoln Park Plaza Tenants Association members reported on the commitment of their owner to renew their Federally Subsidized Housing Contract for 5 more years. They also reported on their work to engage Representative Rahm Emanuel to support the tenants in ensuring that the renewal process is completed properly. Emanuel has written letters to Housing and Urban Development and Owner Jamie Purcell in support of the renewal, but has refused to meet with the tenants to discuss the renewal. Barbara Campbell, a leader in the Tenants Association, said, “Working together for justice means being in relationship,” and added that if tenants don’t receive satisfaction from their representative soon they would be calling on LAC for support.

Barbara Campbell, Norm Groetzinger, Alderman Tunney and Allen Wesolowski

Work on the Set Aside Campaign progressed because of the convention. LAC has been working to pass a citywide law that would require residential developers to include affordable units in all new developments over 10 units. Alderman Shiller was recognized for her leadership on this issue. Norm Groetzinger from the Counseling Center of Lakeview asked Alderman Tunney, also supportive of the set aside, to lead a delegation of aldermen to push the Mayor to support this proposal. He agreed to do that. Allen Wesolowski from St. Clement Church let everyone know that we were tired of waiting for Alderman Vi Daley to continue to think about the set aside, and needed her to take leadership in support of affordable housing in her ward. Sue Gries from Deborah’s Place then challenged everyone to “Vote for Affordable Housing” in the upcoming state and city elections.

Acting Together for Justice for Homeless Youth :

LAC Members Teresa Blomquist of Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach and Heather Bradley of The Night Ministry reported on the documented pattern of harassment and abuse by police officers towards homeless and gay youth that community members have been working together to address.

Teresa Blomquist and Heather Bradley

Larissa Tyler

Larissa Tyler of Central Lakeview Merchants Association said “our members will not tolerate injustice in the neighborhood where we conduct business.” Ramon, a youth, said “I’ve been stopped unjustly by the police five times in the last six months” which makes him feel unsafe in this area. He also reported on an incident in which a disrespectful officer ripped his friend’s ID in half when they asked for his badge number. “I know my rights but I’m afraid to use them,” Ramon said, for fear of further harassment.

We invited Superintendent Cline to attend the convention to demonstrate his respect for our concerns. He chose not to attend. However, his representative made two commitments on his behalf:

To direct the commanders of the 19^th and 23^rd police districts to convene meetings of their sergeants and other supervisors. At these meetings, LAC representatives will provide information about homeless and LGBT youth and patterns of police misconduct we have documented in Lakeview. The commanders will reinforce the supervisors' responsibility to ensure that correct procedures for street stops are followed and documented.
To work with LAC to develop a series of community forums attended by sergeants from the 19th and 23rd districts, focusing on police accountability and homeless and LGBT youth. The first forum will be in early July, with a minimum of 20 sergeants in attendance.

LAC asked the CPD to also commit to a joint press conference at the end of the summer to report on our progress and asked that Superintendent Cline attend to speak on the CPD’s commitment to address misconduct. CPD refused.

For more information or to find out how you can get involved with making an impact on any of these issues, contact LAC at (773) 549-1947 or see our website, www. lakeviewaction.org

Raising Our Voices for Justice – Together!

¨ Anshe Emet Synagogue ¨ Alexian Brothers Bonaventure House ¨ Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Synagogue ¨ Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach ¨ Belmont Tower Tenant Association ¨ Bethlehem United Church of Christ ¨ Broadway United Methodist Church ¨ Central Lake View Merchants Association ¨ Counseling Center of Lake View ¨ Deborah’s Place ¨ Genesis House ¨ Heartland Housing ¨ Holy Covenant United Methodist Church ¨ Holy Trinity Lutheran Church ¨ Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center ¨ Inter-American Magnet School ¨ Jane Addams Senior Caucus ¨ Lake View Lutheran Church ¨ Lakefront Supportive Housing ¨ Lakeview Pantry ¨ Lakeview Presbyterian Church ¨ La Salle National Bank ¨ Lutheran Church of St. Luke ¨ North Community Bank ¨ North Side Community Federal Credit Union ¨ North Side Housing and Supportive Services ¨ Presbyterian Homes ¨ Resurrection Lutheran Church ¨ St. Clement Catholic Church ¨ St. Joseph’s Hospital (Resurrection Health Care) ¨ St. Josaphat Catholic Church ¨ St. Peter’s Episcopal Church ¨ Second Unitarian Church ¨ Temple Sholom ¨ The Night Ministry ¨ Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ ¨ Youth Pride Center ¨ Allies, friends and supporters! ¨

Convention Pictures courtesy of Daniel Paul McGary