Local

Rogers Park Residents Call on Bank to Donate ‘Community House’ to Nonprofit Land Trust


ROGERS PARK—(ENEWSPF)—September 16, 2014. Community members in Rogers Park are rallying to stop the eviction of the Calvillo-Ortiz family and preserve what has become known as the neighborhood’s “community house.” On Thursday, September 18 at 9 a.m., members of several neighborhood and housing-rights organizations will hold a press conference in front of the Daley Center, 50 Washington Street, Chicago, where the family is scheduled to attend eviction court.

The Calvillo-Ortiz family is fighting eviction from their home at 7245 North Ridge, where they’ve resided for two years. During that time, Maria Dolores-Calvillo and her brother Gerardo Calvillo, who run a neighborhood daycare, have also turned the home into a focal point of community life, hosting a community garden, Spanish and English-language film screenings, clothing donation-drives, and health fairs. The family is asking CitiBank, which owns the home, to donate it to a 501(c)3 community land trust in Chicago, which advocates say is a promising strategy for neighborhood revitalization.  

Source: Communities United Against Foreclosure and Eviction


ARCHIVES