Thousands of volunteers arrived early Saturday morning to begin a day of repainting and repairing 49 homes in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood and 23 in south suburban Markham.
The skilled-trade labor unions — plumbers, electricians, carpenters — made a strong showing among the volunteers, bringing with them the skills and tools the amateur volunteers lacked.
Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago coordinated the effort, which is part of a national program. The goal: to enable low-iincome elderly, disabled and families to stay “warm, safe and dry” in homes they own but can’t afford to maintain.
There’s not much doubt that media coverage would draw more volunteers and more corporate and organizational support to this much-needed program. With the exception of CBS 2, however, the mainstream media had no coverage: no homes, after all, were being “stolen” from residents in Englewood, and no residents were being “forced out” of their homes by gentrification.
This is amazing… how could I not hear about this? Thousands show up somewhere and no news? 12 people go to protest anything at Daley Plaza and the news makes it a cause.
I know another “gathering” Tuesday that has received a ton of reporting and impossible-to- get- free publicity by our dandy local news… Oh well, why care about our elderly?
In all fairness to the TV news folks…they may have sent out a reporter or mobile camera crew to take some notes, but the weekend news shows, never really big on “hard news,” seemed pretty fixated on the death of the Cardinals’ pitcher (which meant postponement of a Cubs game), the Bears’ draft picks, and the Bulls’ playoff victory. As you know, Chicago is a sports-fixated culture and with such a story-heavy weekend everything else pretty much got shunted aside.
OK we get it. Can you please stop harping on your anti anti-gentrification soap box. It is becoming as anoying as the anti-gentrification stories themselves..
tomi,
I assume you’re also asking the other media to provide more balance in their reporting?
I’m not sure anyone gets Tomi’s angle up there. Is he talking about me, Yo Chicago, the local news? I’m certainly not anti-any neighborhood improvement or gentrification..nay Yo Chicago has an agenda in my opinion… nor the local news has an agenda.
Anon has the reality check correct as far as the news cycle for the weekend. However, it’s the build up factor prior to the weekend. The event was planned to get people out to help citizens of the city, in the city. Just think of what a news story does for it. Without pub, they turn out all these tradesmen and volunteers anyway.
I mean, what an extraodinary thing. It’s like a giant Amish community coming out to raise a barn.
I can see why this is passed on as a local news story (in error, but I can see it). However, my friend and I joked earlier on Saturday about what we could protest (me kidding his leftest leaning vs. my somewhat other leanings). We decided we can protest anything and get on the local news as long as we got 12 people and Doc Walls to Daley Plaza.
So, my comment was a little “soap box”, but the post on the lack of coverage of this Rebuilding event spoke to my disdain of the local news and what they decide to report. So, maybe not an agenda here by the news, but any protest that gernerates ratings trumps real Chicago news that may help and inform some people in their every day lives.
Eric,
I think Tomi’s comment was directed at me – after all, two posts certainly qualifies as a soapbox!