{"id":64670,"date":"2017-10-31T12:53:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T17:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=64670"},"modified":"2017-11-28T09:41:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:41:34","slug":"community-efforts-bring-about-theme-of-englewood-rising-in-the-south-side-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/community-efforts-bring-about-theme-of-englewood-rising-in-the-south-side-neighborhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Community efforts bring about theme of ‘Englewood Rising’ in the South Side neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Hannah Wiley and Joey Mendolia<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Tina Hammond has brought a splash of color and a message of hope to her Englewood neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a believer. Change is possible,\u201d Hammond said.<\/p>\n