WATCH: Pilsen activist uses fitness, political education to combat life expectancy gap
By Chantel Ropp Medill Reports According to an analysis of the largest 500 U.S. cities by NYU School of Medicine, Chicago is the city with the largest life expectancy gap amongst low income and affluent communities in the country. One nonprofit organization in the Pilsen neighborhood is tackling these inequities through fitness, political education and […]
Q&A: Roseland schoolteacher aims to revitalize her neighborhood one book at a time
By Elisa Xu Medill Reports Iesha Malone, a teacher at Chicane Collegiate Middle School in Roseland, decided to open her bookstore Rose Café to help fill the book desert in Roseland — the Far South Side neighborhood where she was born and raised. She operates as an online bookseller, also hosting pop-up events in the […]
Filipina-owned clothing brand invests in Chicago communities
By Elisa Xu Medill Reports Megan Banias, a 30-year-old from Chicago’s Brickyard/Belmont Cragin neighborhood, started her online clothing company, Chicago for Keeps, during the summer of 2020. The racial reckoning that began that summer — sparked by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others in encounters with police — made her […]
LISTEN: Reliving the historic moment the Philippine women’s national team qualified for 2023 World Cup
By Colin Salao Medill Reports The Philippine women’s national football team has achieved something no other Philippine football team has ever done: qualify for the FIFA World Cup. To do this, they won one of the most momentous contests over Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup last January. The Malditas, […]
Train modelers search for new track after COVID-19 derails Uptown club
By Sean Rhomberg Medill Reports As freight trains pass through a bustling small town, passengers eagerly watch and wave. The towns, buildings and people from a former era come alive again when many different locomotives make their way around Garfield Central, an elaborate model train layout in Uptown. The Garfield-Clarendon Model Railroad Club brings together […]
Indiana’s Everglades: Why water is flowing again in the Midwest’s dried-out swamps
By Fiona Skeggs Medill Reports Wetlands go hand-in-hand with the Florida Everglades. More than 2,000 square miles of mangrove forests and marshland make this UNESCO World Heritage Site a refuge for wildlife. From white ibis and endangered Miami blue butterflies to alligators and manatees, the Everglades are teeming with life. The National Park Service has […]
WATCH: Ravenswood artist sculpts memories with clay
By Menghan Xiao Medill Reports Ravenswood artist Katie Lauffenburger sculpts memories for Chicagoans with her unique, 10-inch Chicago-style homes. Video Transcript: MY NAME IS KATIE, AND I MAKE CERAMIC FOR THE ART BUSINESS THAT MY HUSBAND AND I SHARE CALLED WONDER CITY STUDIO. WE FOCUS ART ON CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE, SPECIFICALLY RESIDENTIAL HOMES. PEOPLE WHO LIVE […]
Q&A: Chicago novelist Mia P. Manansala on ‘Homicide and Halo-Halo,’ her latest ‘cozy’ mystery
By Cheryn Shin Medill Reports Chicago-based novelist Mia P. Manansala brainstorms story ideas in Google Docs and jots notes on her iPhone. When she drafts, she uses an Alphasmart Neo 2 Word Processor – basically, a digital typewriter that connects to a computer. It’s old-fashioned, but it works. Last month the 35-year-old Filipino American author […]
WATCH: Artist unfolds pandemic isolation of elderly people in her works
By Menghan Xiao Medill Reports Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, senior citizens have experienced increasing isolation due to the social distancing policy. Local artist Ellen Holtzblatt has also witnessed the isolation and loneliness on her 98-year-old mother. Holtzblatt recent artwork series “Song of Songs: Portraits of the Artist’s Mother” speak to this social issue […]
Amid cold weather and limitations at shelters, homeless people and outreach groups turn to CTA trains
By Raphael Hipos Medill Reports Geraldine Conrad, 75, has been noticing an increase in homeless people sleeping on CTA trains during her daily commute. Conrad, who lives in Edgewater, rides the Red Line down to the West Loop every day to swim and exercise. She says she regularly sees people asleep early in the morning […]