Yessss! Neat indeed!

Read the full story and download our “Grow Your Own” zine here:

www.15west.org/featured/fro...

✍🏽 Liana Ordoñez
🎨 Alex Kraus

From sliding‑scale farm stands and permaculture food forests to youth apprenticeships, Chicago’s urban gardens are rewriting WHO gets to access green space.

Across the West Side, and state lines, everyday people are turning abandoned lots into gardens, cultivating a future rooted in shared care.

Co‑director Paula Acevedo and her neighbors have built more than a garden; they’ve created a living commons where monarchs migrate, elders teach, kids harvest, and community members reclaim their relationship to the land.

“Someday, we’ll be together, and we will win,” said McCarty as the program ended, Diana Ross playing and candles swaying.

Read the full story: www.15west.org/candlelight-...

✍🏼/📸: @nabeelawashington.com

Survivors Nwaji Nefahito, Blair “Brother BJ” Anderson, and Joan Foster McCarty stood alongside former Black Panthers, community organizers, and inheritors of a revolution that refuses to die.

www.15west.org/candlelight-...

Learn more about Chicago Winds at thechicagowinds.com

And Got Her Back girls football camp: www.igotherback.com

The team is also building community.

Before tryouts, 50 girls ages 6-18 joined the free “Got Her Back” football camp, learning from Chicago Winds players.

Women's tackle football has found its home in Chicago. 🏈

Full story by Zoë Takaki:

www.15west.org/after-playof...

📢 Where to find future trainings:

• PUñO (pilsenunidos.org)
• Belmont Cragin (instagram.com/belmontcraginunited)
• The Vietnamese Association of Illinois (hnvi.org)
• Advancing Justice Chicago (instagram.com/advancingjusticechicago)

By documenting abuses, protecting families, and coordinating support, they’re proving that community defense can overcome federal enforcement, and offer a model for cities nationwide.

Visit 15west.org to read the full story. #STOPIce

Chicago organizers are responding with a rapid-response model that mobilizes neighbors, legal aid, and advocacy groups within hours of a raid or detention.

In the second of three parts, her photo essay #WeWereHere explores how Chicago’s West Side communities insist on presence and dignity in the face of displacement, revealing the persistence of life where others see only absence.

www.15west.org/we-are-here-...

From community pop-ups, games, scratch-made waffles to Seattle-roasted espresso, Addis is a space where connection is the main ingredient.

Visit 15west.org to read the full story.

Owner Kalkidan “Kalki” Tesfaye has created more than a coffee shop; she’s built a living room for the neighborhood, where world music drifts through conversation and coffee is brewed with intention.

#15WestNews #CTA #Accessibility #ChicagoTransit #GreenLine

Full story:
www.15west.org/austin-stati...

✍🏼/📸 Arturo Fernandez

“Is there no possible way to finish this work faster?” said Amari M., a commuter who frequents the Austin Station.

Once construction concludes, the station would benefit all residents, regardless of mobility.