By: Hannah Wiley and Joey Mendolia
Medill Reports

Tina Hammond has brought a splash of color and a message of hope to her Englewood neighborhood.

Buying a vacant lot next to her home for $1 through a city program, Hammond and her husband transformed the once bleak empty space into a garden of positivity.

Hammond is among dozens of community activists and Englewood residents who are working to end gang violence and drug addiction in their community to help provide a more fostering environment for the youth of the South Side neighborhood.

Along with organizations like Imagine Englewood If and Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), Hammond hopes initiatives like the Large Lots program can help Englewood reclaim its identity as a family-friendly and tight-knit neighborhood.

Although Hammond acknowledges that Englewood has room to grow in the quest to end gang activity and drug abuse, she said she chooses to remain optimistic about the future.

“I’m a believer. Change is possible,” Hammond said.