South Side Sanctuary Offers Safe Space For The Community

Mayor Brandon Johnson, with Polished Pebbles Founder Kelly Fair and Local Author and Historian Pemon Rami during the launch of South Side Sanctuary. PHOTO BY KORY POWELL.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, with Polished Pebbles Founder Kelly Fair and Local Author and Historian Pemon Rami during the launch of South Side Sanctuary. PHOTO BY KORY POWELL.

South Side Sanctuary Offers Safe Space For The Community

By Tia Carol Jones

A safe space recently opened at 4702 S. Martin Luther King Drive in Bronzeville, with the intention of fostering a connection to the community. South Side Sanctuary is part of the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development Public Outdoor Plaza (POP!) program, which is an initiative to revitalize spaces and turn them into gathering places.

As a resident and business owner in Bronzeville, Cecilia Cuff wanted to be able to continue to build in the community where she lives and works. She also wanted to contribute to creating a third space for people in the community, where they could go after work and connect with others in the neighborhood. Having a place to like, that is something that is really important to her. As the co-owner of Bronzeville Winery, Cuff understands the need and value of having more spaces where community members can come together.

Cuff co-founded the project with Jasmine Anwuli Michaels, an integrative wellness practitioner. Cuff said that the South Side Sanctuary is the kind of amenity other communities around Chicago and around the country have that contribute to them being beautiful places and walkable communities.

“It felt right for me to design a space that I would want to see in my own community,” she said.

Cuff said there is a power of a sense of place in a community when people know their neighbors, which can grow into relationships that make people feel more rooted in their community.  The South Side Sanctuary is an answer to a lack of amenities in the community, which causes people to leave where they live to find spaces to go to such as a farmer’s market, play with their children, catch up with their friends or see green space.

The 13,000 square foot green space has a performance stage, outdoor classrooms, market space and a place for picnics and parties. Communities programming planned for the space include yoga, sharing circles, pop-ups, farmers markets, workforce development training, public art displays, music education, dance performances, skateboarding, rollerblading and running clubs.

“The South Side Sanctuary invites all who enter to embrace harmony, purpose, and prosperity in every facet of their lives,” Anwuli Michaels said in a release. “In this Sanctuary, we believe that with a nurturing environment, a dedication to well-being, and genuine faith in each person's potential, the blossoming of human greatness isn't just promised – it's guaranteed. The South Side Sanctuary is committed to fostering this greatness, because life's beauty lies not only in possessions and achievements, but in who we become when we connect from the heart, and create with integrity and vision.”

Now that the space is open and people can take advantage of the amenities, Cuff said it feels really good and it has been really nice for her to see people walk through the space. She has seen seniors come into the space and seen their reaction to having a space that was built for them, without requiring them to do anything in return but to enjoy the space.

“I think it’s been really nice to see parents come and bring their kids, with their scooters and having their kids be able to play in a space that feels safe and a little bit enclosed. That has felt really really rewarding,” she said.

Cuff said seeing the people enjoying the space in ways she and the team intended, and in ways they hadn’t anticipated, feels good and motivates them as they continue to program the space. On a Sunday during the farmers market, Cuff said it made her hopeful and want to build on it with the hope it could be the best farmers market in the city. Her intention is to lean into all the talented members of the Bronzeville community and to celebrate their voices and build a stage for them.

Cuff said the team also wanted to build on the vision that 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell has for Bronzeville, and historians and business owners, with the hope to support them. The hope is that businesses near the South Side Sanctuary will see an increase in foot traffic, which will drive economic impact in the community.

The Polished Pebbles was also involved in the development process for the South Side Sanctuary. Cuff said that representation is really important, and she has been privileged to have incredible role models. She wanted to carry on that tradition and involve the young women in the organization, which was founded by Kelly Fair in 2009, to motivate the next generation of city planners, developers and construction workers by having them meet people in office who look like them and who they can relate to.

“My wish is that everybody on my team who we work with through the process, as well as all of the Polished Pebbles, if they see something in their community that they want to change, this process will help inspire them to at least know that’s it’s within their power to create spaces in their community they want to see and they want to experience,” Cuff said.

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

Laticia Holbert of ComEd