Isi Frank Ativie

Many youngsters in Chicago need a helping hand, especially if they’re in a desperate time of need. For 135 years, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls has provided more than a helping hand by offering a haven and place for kids who seek opportunities for a better future. Mercy Home has built a reputation for providing a safe and structured home for kids who have experienced adversities and severe trauma. Staff members care for these youngsters 24 hours every day. “While they’re here it’s not just a p

Since 1917, Morning Star Baptist Church has been a welcoming haven for Bronzeville, with a rich history that has embedded itself into the heart of the community. Church leaders and the congregation are excited to commemoration their 105th year on Sunday, July 17. Morning Star Baptist is a rare church on the South Side that has gone beyond its centennial anniversary, part of a group that includes the Monumental Baptist, Ebenezer Baptist, and Liberty Baptist churches. “Personally, it shows me th

Recently, I spoke with Dr. Sonya Watts-Davis, the executive director of Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures, about her life as a West Side native and current Austin resident. I moved to the West side of Chicago in 1992, from Fort Mill, South Carolina, but I lived in the North Lawndale area first. I lived in East Garfield Park, then I moved to the Austin area in 2002. One of my sisters’ husbands is from Chicago. They lived in Charlotte and his grandmother died. She left them with some proper

The City’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) team, and its Chicago Plan Commission and Community Development Commission, have paved the way for the Bronzeville Lakefront development. Once completed, the development will have approximately 7,000 housing units; eight million square feet of office, retail, and research facility space; and ten acres of parks and open space. The project will occupy a 48.6-acre site bounded by 31st and 26th Streets, the Metra tracks, and King Drive, which

The Barrington Area Library first closed its doors last March to having patrons physically inside the building, due to emergence of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The library offered online services shortly after, and eventually coordinated a curbside system several months later. McBride said library officials came up with borrow-by-mail in October.

The Black community has shown resiliency through epic socioeconomic catastrophes in this nation for over four centuries. But in the last two months, local businesses in Black America have been impacted more than ever before with the emergence of the COVID-19 virus. The restaurant industry has been especially hard hit. However, Lenice Levy found a way for her restaurant, Good to Go Jamaican Cuisine in Evanston to survive. The franchise was ordered to officially shut down the dining room section