In Chicago, the most important measure of progress in our work against domestic violence is not abstract. It is not a percentage or a headline. It is whether fewer people are dying at the hands of someone they once trusted.
The latest data tells us we are on the right trajectory: So far in 2026, Chicago has seen 52% fewer domestic violence homicides compared to this time in 2025.
These gains did not happen by accident but are a result of deliberate investment of resources joined with strong public policy and the tireless work of community-based organizations, survivor advocates and public agencies.
The city of Chicago, for example, increased funding for gender-based violence services to a record $23.2 million in 2026. Cook County also invested nearly $5 million in domestic violence services.
For survivors, these aren’t just numbers. They represent a safe place to sleep, a court advocate standing beside them, a counselor helping them rebuild after trauma. They are the difference between remaining in danger and finding a path to safety.
Another part of this shift is Illinois’ Karina’s Law, which changed what happens in that critical window of danger when a survivor gets an emergency order of protection and needs firearms removed by law enforcement. Since Karina’s Law took effect last year, Chicago police recovered 36 firearms, and the Cook County sheriff recovered 76 firearms.
At the same time, reforms to Illinois’ pretrial system have strengthened our ability to respond to high-risk cases. Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, courts can detain individuals who pose a real and present threat to domestic violence victims. Survivors are also guaranteed notification of hearings and access to protective orders, ensuring the legal process does not move forward without considering their safety.
This is what survivors tell us is necessary and what data has affirmed.
We are changing the trajectory in Chicago. That is not accidental but the result of aligned policy, investment and persistence. But we can’t see this progress as an endpoint, but as evidence to keep going. When we align survivor voice in our systems with risk-based firearm removal and increase funding for community-based services, we can save lives.
Amanda Pyron, president and CEO, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence
Obama needs to keep community organizing in his orbit
In tracing his journey to the presidency and decision to locate his inspiring new presidential center on the South Side, Barack Obama spoke frequently and eloquently about the pivotal role of community organizing in his life during his remarks at the opening ceremony.
For it was community organizing that drew him to Chicago, inspired his love for the city and its residents, developed his gifts as a speaker and eventually facilitated his entrée into politics.
Working effectively in several of Chicago’s most neglected communities, Obama took on the challenges that all community organizers face: meeting residents, listening to their stories of hardship and resilience, learning about the issues they care about and their communities, and helping them forge responses to pressure the political establishment to address them.
He learned many lessons from his work, foremost among them “that leadership has less to do with titles or rank or chasing attention than with helping others find their voice, reaching their potential.”
As a community organizer in Chicago for over 40 years, I was disappointed Obama dropped all reference to community organizing as part of his vision for the center’s future in his speech.
In my view, it would have been a chance for him to highlight community organizing’s unique role in the country dating back to Saul Alinsky, who launched this method of building grassroots power in the Back of the Yards in 1939.
Since Alinsky, community organizing has expanded across the country, inspiring thousands of citizens to take action and create change they believe in.
Today, community organizing efforts in all 50 states produce results on seemingly intractable issues. The key to their success? Community organizers listen to everyday citizens, help them find their voices and inspire them to realize their hopes and dreams.
The Obama Foundation should recognize such engagement by citizens as a unique asset in Obama’s repertoire and do its best to broaden and then broadcast community organizing’s importance and impact.
Robert T. Gannett Jr., executive director, Institute for Community Empowerment
Salty at suburbanites who call themselves “Chicagoans”
Spending time in Chicago doesn’t make someone a Chicagoan, as University of Maryland professor Jeff Lucas recently argued in his letter.
People who grew up in the suburbs love to tell others they’re “from Chicago.” I understand the want and the allure. But I don’t understand why suburbanites believe they can lay claim to something that isn’t theirs and they didn’t earn.
They don’t know what it’s like waiting for the CTA in the dead of winter. They’ve never had to move their car at 5:30 a.m. because of street cleaning. They’ve never circled their own block for an hour looking for parking. They hung out at the mall growing up. We hung out in garages, on porches, in alleys and parks.
As teenagers, I’m sure many suburbanites would free themselves from their parents for the evening, so they could secretly drive “into the city” for some thrills. We were there before they got there, and we were still there when they drove back to their leafy cul-de-sacs. Simply visiting a place, no matter how often, doesn’t give you the right to claim you’re from there.
How many gangs are in Naperville? How many are homeless in Evanston? How many elote vendors walk around with their carts in Schaumburg?
Lastly, I want to point out there’s simple wording that could clear things up for many of you suburbanites. Just say you’re “from right outside Chicago.” But that doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?
Andrew Wynne, Logan Square