It's Monday. Let's start the week with these stories from WTTW News.
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(Courtesy of Mothers Opposed to Violence Everywhere)
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With violent crime and homicides down in Chicago, anti-violence advocates said continuing their work is more important than ever. However, recent federal funding cuts have created a domino effect on state and local budgets. We talked to two local groups, who say the decrease in funding is already starting to have an impact on what they’re able to do.
Chicago Survivors:
The nonprofit Chicago Survivors got its start in 2009 after a mother lost her son to gun violence and realized there weren’t any services available tailored to the needs of homicide survivors. In 2015, the organization received its first grant, arming it with the ability to provide wraparound services including clinical services, trauma healing, criminal justice advocacy and youth programming.
The NGO recently expected to receive $2 million in state funding, but the amount was cut to $1 million due to federal funding cuts affecting Illinois’ budget.
“We need our government officials,” said JaShawn Hill, Chicago Survivors’ executive director. “We need philanthropic communities and people who believe in our mission to step in and to help leverage us, because if they don’t, we will not be able to provide the quality of care that we have been able to do.”
M.O.V.E.:
Mothers Opposed to Violence Everywhere, or M.O.V.E., works out of the North Lawndale and Garfield Park communities, organizing around housing, education, violence prevention and youth employment. However, this year the group was not able to provide jobs because of financial hardships.
“This is the first year in 15 years that we didn’t have jobs for youth, and we could see now how important it is,” said the Rev. Robin Hood, founder of M.O.V.E. He recalled a recent mass shooting that injured four teens on a block that hasn’t seen a shooting in the past four or five years.
While the next steps still remain unclear, advocates said they’re determined to continue their efforts.
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“I felt like maybe if I get it on paper and I’m able to actually put it away, maybe that will help," decorated chef Curtis Duffy says of exploring his traumatic past in a memoir. (Provided)
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Curtis Duffy prizes silence. The decorated chef may enjoy the rumble of a motorcycle engine and the roar of heavy metal, but he has banished all extraneous sound from his Chicago restaurant Ever. Custom soundproofing on the dining room ceiling keeps conversations hushed and private, while loud machines such as blenders are sequestered behind a door in the pristine kitchen. Silicone mats cover the quartz kitchen countertops during dinner service, both to mute the clatter of dishes and prevent
them from losing heat. The only talking amongst the cooks and servers is the giving and receiving of orders and updates.
“For me, it’s a total discipline to be able to go through a night of service and just have 100% focus on what we’re doing and 100% focus on the guests’ needs. Everything is a distraction,” Duffy says. “And when we’re distracted, we make mistakes.”
Duffy’s cultivation of the kitchen as a sanctum and devotion to silence as discipline stems, in his estimation, from a chaotic upbringing, which he narrates in his new memoir “Fireproof,” written with Jeremy Wagner. Unlike his controlled kitchen, his childhood was anything but calm.
“Fireproof” is available Aug. 5.
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Preston Bradley Hall Tiffany Dome at the Chicago Cultural Center. (Courtesy of Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events)
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Applications are open for a city grant program aimed at Chicago arts organizations affected by federal funding cuts.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events will give one-time emergency grants between $10,000 to $25,000 to eligible nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Chicago impacted by recent federal funding cuts.
Priority will be given to organizations previously awarded funding by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services or other affected federal agencies, according to a DCASE news release.
“Chicago’s arts and culture organizations are integral to the fabric of our neighborhoods, and they deserve our full support in times of crisis,” DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth said in a statement. “This fund is not just about financial recovery — it’s about protecting cultural equity, safeguarding creative jobs, and keeping the arts alive in every corner of our city.”
Applications close on Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. Arts organizations will be notified in October, and grants are expected to be disbursed in December. More information can be found on DCASE’s website.
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Chicago police and federal authorities announced this weekend they’ve safely recovered a child who had been missing for more than seven years. The CPD, along with the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, announced the child was found with their mother after
they had gone missing in 2018.
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August 4, 1830 - Chicago Surveyed and Platted For the First Time
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James Thompson's 1830 plat of Chicago (Wikipedia)
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In 1830, Chicago had yet to be incorporated, but it was a town of just a few thousand people. That year, it commissioned a surveyor named James Thompson to map out and create the first plat of Chicago. As the University of Chicago points out, what he came up with was “an area about 0.375 square miles with streets 80 feet wide and alleys 18 feet wide.” While Chicago has obviously expanded its city limits several times since then, Thompson’s plat marks the origins of the grid system as well
as the framework for dividing Chicago into a North Side, a South Side and a West Side.
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This Week’s Civic Events and Meetings
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Every Monday, WTTW News highlights the best ways to get involved with local government.
Civic Federation
As part of the Civic Federation’s Summer Speaker Series, Urban League President and CEO Karen Freeman-Wilson will host a fireside chat on Chicago’s fiscal and economic landscape through the lens of equity, leadership and opportunity. Register for the Tuesday morning event here.
City Club of Chicago
Join City Club CEO Dan Gibbons as he holds a one-on-one conversation Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois' 8th District. Tickets and details can be found here.
Illinois Pollution Control Board
On Thursday, the Illinois Pollution Control Board will hold a regular meeting at 11 a.m. With locations in Springfield and Chicago at the Michael A. Bilandic Building at 160 N. LaSalle, Room C500, check the website for details.
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It’s been hot, mild, smoky, rainy and stormy this summer. What’s your ideal weather in
Chicago? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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