Community Focus
WOMANISH EXHIBIT SET TO OPEN SEPT. 3
The Womanish Exhibit is set to open on Thursday, Sept. 3. The immersive, pop-up exhibit, which is located at 114 S. State St., had its opening delayed due to COVID-19.
CEO EMPOWERS MOTHERS TO BE HUSTLE MOMMIES
Ariel DeNey Rainey is the founder and CEO of Hustle Mommies, an organization that is focused on empowering single mothers and helping them to become leaders in their homes and in their communities.
EXHIBIT EXPLORES HOW YOUNG BLACK PEOPLE NAVIGATE CITY
Tonika Lewis Johnson is the creator of the Folded Map Project, a visual investigation of the inequity and disparity of the North and South Sides. In that project, Johnson has the residents, who lived on the same streets with similar addresses on different sides of the city, meet each other and talk about race, the city and segregation.
ARTIST DRAWS ON COLLEGE EXPERIENCE FOR EXHIBIT
In Sage Smith’s first solo art exhibit, “The Barriers That Create Us,” she explores the act of mindfulness that comes from the repetitive motions and line work in pattern making.
IGrow Chicago hosts in-person camp
While summer usually means children attend camp or some outdoor activity, COVID-19 has either forced organizations to cancel summer activities or host virtual camps. But IGrow Chicago decided to host its Summer of Hope Program in-person, with safety protocols in place.
Local small business owners look to digital resource
ChiBizHub, a digital portal that provides resources for small businesses, had to pivot in the midst of COVID-19. The portal launched a year ago and has connected 900 entrepreneurs to resources necessary for them to build their businesses.
Top Ranked High School Baseball Player Does More Than Swing A Bat
Brother Rice High School baseball star Zion Rose is one of the top ranked players in the country as a 15-year-old sophomore, but Rose said he can do more than swing a bat and catch a ball. When the Beverly resident is not playing recreational sports, he is at home making a few dollars here and there dabbling in online trading.
Entrepreneur creates COVID-19 Vending Machine
Lolita Brown is an entrepreneur with a successful beauty business, Mental Beauty Supply. She is also an author and life coach. She found a way to offer products using a beauty supply vending machine that she repurposed.
Clean Up Continues After Looting Spree Crippled Chicago Communities
Community leaders and residents have banned together to help clean up their communities after a looting spree devastated many neighborhoods especially on the South and West Sides.
Artists create images of hope and unity to replace boarded up store fronts
“Paint the City” is our way of helping our city heal,” said Keithley, a self-taught artists who grew up on Chicago’s South Side. “We want to help restore our community, and transforming boarded up buildings into an art gallery of sorts is one way to do that.”
FOUNDER WANTS TO INSPIRE NEXT GENERATION WITH BOOK
Kelly Fair, executive director and founder of Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program, began her program in 2009 with the aim to impact the lives of girls by helping them to become great communicators. After 11 years, Fair and the organization have helped more than 3,000 girls.
GRANT TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES IN SOUTH SHORE
The South Shore Chamber of Commerce wanted to provide grants to small business owners located within Special Service Area #42 during COVID-19, so they created the Transparent Interim Direct Economic Solutions, or TIDES grant.
Entrepreneurs Create Unique Face Masks For Small Businesses During COVID-19 Pandemic
Derryl Caldwell and Delvin McCray, both have offices in the Bridgeport Art Center, 1200 W. 35th St., both are members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., and both have a unique skillset that now allows them to expand their services to include facemasks production for black-owned businesses.
Barber offers tips to keep safe and healthy during COVID-19
Larry Robert, Jr., is the owner of Larry’s Barber College. He has been cutting hair for 33 years and owns six locations of barber colleges in Illinois and in Dallas, Texas. While Robert’s students can’t service clients or come into the building, they are doing distance learning.
