Erica and the kids join in the effort to canvas Rogers Park on Saturday
Back in July, I wrote about a family I met - the Bledsoe family. Three young children were living with their grandmother in a Section 8 subsidized apartment on the North Side. Their grandmother died suddenly, and the kids should have the right to stay in the apartment as remaining family members with their new guardian, their aunt Erica. But the company that owns the apartment - Northpoint - is trying to evict them. If Northpoint succeeds, the family will likely be homeless.
Luckily, a group of community organizers and activists have gathered around the family, trying to keep them off the streets. As the family's court date approaches, they're rallying community support to get the case dropped.
Saturday was the first official meeting of the Committee to Support the Bledsoe Family. We roamed the streets of Rogers Park, asking people to sign postcards to deliver HUD officials, who could lean on Northpoint to dismiss the case.
Ty'Juan and Ja'Kahla made signs to protest the eviction
One man we met stood out. His name was Val, and judging by his accent, he is an Eastern European immigrant. When we told him about the Bledsoe case, he was unmoved.
"I believe in work," Val said. "If you live, you should work. If you don't work, you should die."
We went on to explain how they are a working family - how Erica was in school and hoping to finish her degree so she could support the kids - but again, Val was unmoved.
"If you have trouble," he continued, "you help yourself. If they can't help themselves, they don't deserve to stay."
My eyes were probably the size of saucers. If you live, you should work. If you don't work, you should die. Wow. I repeated that to myself all afternoon.
I find that Val's ideas come up a lot. God helps those who help themselves. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Be a self-made man.
There's this raw idea of American independence. That people don't need each other. That we're allowed to stand by and watch other people sink because if they can't do better, that's what they deserve.
It's admirable in a way. Val said he moved here at age 20, learned the language as best he could, went to trade school and has worked ever since. And so have many of the people who comment on my stories, telling me they never had any help, so why should someone else?
I guess my one question is this: Is that the world we want to live in?
Do you actually want to live in a world where we stand by and watch people starve and get put on the street because we believe in independence and self-reliance?
I don't. I guess I've come to believe in interdependence. That we all have a responsibility to each other - not to save each other, perhaps, but not to stand by and watch either.
So, I'm inviting you to help too. Here's what you can do:
2. Canvas - We'll be canvassing again this Saturday, October 3rd at 10 a.m. at Triangle Park in Rogers Park. Just an hour or two of your time can help us collect more signatures and let people in the community know what's happening.
3. Email and call local officials - Northside Action for Justice has an email link on their page to send to a local HUD official. You can also call any of these local officials at the numbers below. Tell them you're against the Bledsoe eviction in Rogers Park, and you want them to do something about it:
Ed Hinsberger - HUD Illinois office
312-353-6236 x2132, Edward.Hinsberger@hud.gov
Mary Kenney - Illinois Housing Development Authority
312-836-5317, mkenney@ihda.org
Alderman Joe Moore, 49th Ward
773-338-5796, ward49@cityofchicago.org
Representative Jan Schakowsky - 9th district
202-708-0417,
4. Come to the rally - We'll hold a rally on October 5th at noon at Federal Plaza (Dearborn and Jackson) to deliver the petitions and postcards to HUD.
5. Come to the hearing - Erica's hearing is on October 8th at 10 a.m. at the Daley Center (Washington and Dearborn) We'd like to pack the courtroom with supporters.
A lot of people tell me that I'm lucky to be writing at this time in history. That the wars we're fighting, the recession, the new administration - that they're all harbingers of a new time coming, and maybe here already, where people are willing to listen to each other and have some sort of hope that we can all do better.
Sometimes, I don't know. There's still as much bickering and fighting as their ever was, not to mention continual preoccupation with fluff and nonsense. And certainly, we're all fighting our own battles daily, sometimes so hard that we don't have the strength to take a moment to help other people.
I guess I'm asking you to prove me wrong. I'm hoping you'll take a second to call or email, or take a few hours to show up to an event.
There's so little I'm sure about these days, but I'm sure about this: I believe in a world where we're free enough to help each other. I hope you do, too.
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