ROGERS PARK ORGANIZATION GETS SUPPORT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY, HEALTH CARE, AND LOCAL JOBS INITIATIVES
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Special to suffredin.org
Message from Commissioner Suffredin - “I was pleased to be able to attend the November 6, 2005 Neighborhood Safety, Health Care, and Local Jobs Initiative meeting organized by Northside P.O.W.E.R. I look forward to working with Northside P.O.W.E.R to improve access to health care for constituents in the 13th District.”
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Northside P.O.W.E.R.
People Organized to Work, Educate, and Restore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Reverend Marilyn Pagán-Banks
(773) 575-9050
Michelle Love (847) 770-9981
ROGERS PARK ORGANIZATION GETS SUPPORT FROM CONGRESSWOMAN JAN SCHAKOWSKY,
COUNTY COMMISSIONER LARRY SUFFREDIN,
ALDERMAN JOE MOORE, POLICE COMMANDER BRUCE ROTTNER FOR
NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY, HEALTH CARE, AND LOCAL JOBS INITIATIVES
On Sunday, November 6, 2005, beginning at 3:00PM, Rogers Park residents will gather at a large public meeting at Gale School, 1631 W. Jonquil, to unveil community led plans for improving neighborhood safety and health care and for getting more access to local construction trades jobs. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, Alderman Joe Moore and Police Commander Bruce Rottner are all confirmed attendees.
“We have done a great deal of work to get to this point but this is just the beginning,” says Michelle Love, chairperson of Northside P.O.W.E.R., the community group responsible for the public meeting. “This shows what can be accomplished when people come together for a positive, common purpose. People get safer neighborhoods, better quality health care, and we get more access to jobs. It is going to take some time to get where we need to be but we are committed to working issue by issue on systemic solutions to poverty,” says Love.
“This is an exciting time for Rogers Park and especially for North of Howard residents. The neighborhood needs so much and finally there is an organization, Northside P.O.W.E.R., whose sole purpose is to organize around issues that disproportionately affect the poor,” says Reverend Marilyn Pagán-Banks, Pastor at Good News Community Church. Though only in existence for a little more than a year, Northside P.O.W.E.R.’s efforts are already bearing fruit. “There are 10 more police officers of color that are working in the 24th police district than there were 6 months ago. Commissioner Suffredin has agreed to help us establish a Cook County medical clinic in Rogers Park where there are higher than average rates of HIV, childhood asthma, diabetes and other infectious diseases. And, Congresswoman Schakowsky and Alderman Moore are working on federal local hiring regulations and a city wide ordinance that makes local hiring on transportation projects much easier”, says Pagán-Banks. With the Howard station set to undergo a three-year, $55 million dollar facelift beginning in early 2006, P.O.W.E.R.’s initiatives clearly seem timely.
Northside P.O.W.E.R. is a Rogers Park grassroots community organization which began in the summer of 2004 and is dedicated to positively impacting issues of social justice on Chicago’s north side. The group is organized by the Good News Community Kitchen and they are an affiliate member of the Metropolitan Alliance of Congregations.
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