Neighborhoods like Woodlawn, where the Barack Obama Presidential Center is being built, have seen rapid development recently, and activists on the South Side say reform is needed to protect residents before they lose their homes.
“We know they want South Shore, just like they wanted Woodlawn and Kenwood,” said Christiana Powell, who was recently evicted from her family home in Woodlawn. “People need to wake up before we find ourselves among the unhoused.”
Powell was among several South Side residents who spoke at a news conference Thursday outside Jackson Park Terrace Apartments. They, along with others, are joining forces to push for housing reform and protections from rapid gentrification.
“We know [developers] want South Shore, just like they wanted Woodlawn and Kenwood,” Powell said. “People need to wake up before we find ourselves among the unhoused.”
Last week, Powell was evicted from the home her family has owned since 1950. She said the mortgage was converted from an FHA loan to a conventional one without her permission in 2016 after her mother, the original mortgage holder, died. She stopped making payments and appealed the bill, which had more than quadrupled to $3,500 a month, and was foreclosed on in January 2020.
Powell continues to represent herself in court, saying her home was sold illegally.
About two months after a fire destroyed Stephanie Curry’s Woodlawn apartment of six years, she said she was moved to a refurbished unit in the building, which had its own issues: rampant mold and mice added to the smoke and fire damage, including a hole in the ceiling that sometimes leaks discolored water, she said. She had previously fallen behind on rent but secured $10,000 in rental assistance along with saving up her own money to pay back what she owed, though she said it was refused by management.
She then said she withheld payment while waiting for repairs and management took her to court. Multiple calls to 311 to report the state of the apartment went unanswered, she said.
Now, with an eviction on her record and eight days to find a new place, she’s scrambling.
“They’re putting me and my sons out,” Curry said through tears. “What am I supposed to do?”
Hattie Knazze, a retired 77-year-old Hyde Park resident and breast cancer survivor, saw her property taxes go up by more than $4,000 after county records show her three-flat building was assessed at $301,000 compared to last year’s $140,000.
Gentrification was behind the biggest tax increases that hit mainly minority or Latino neighborhoods, the Sun-Times reported earlier this year.
Last year on the Lower West Side, property owners saw their median tax bill increase more than 45%, from $4,964 to $7,239, according to a 2023 analysis of city tax bills. In Avondale, a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, the median tax bill went up 27%.
Knazze is now searching for jobs and her sister, who also lives in the building with her and her nephew, is putting off her retirement while they appeal the assessment.
“Why at this point in my life am I forced to get another job?” Knazze said. “I love this city. I’ve been in this city my entire life. Where am I to go? … There ought to be something else we can do.”
Hattie Knazze (left) and Christiana Powell (center) comfort Stephanie Curry (right) following a news conference Thursday. All three have, or could soon, lose their homes.
Violet Miller/Sun-Times
The South Shore bill has yet to see a full council vote since it was introduced to committee last September by Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th), whose office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite saying the group hasn’t heard much from politicians, even those initially working with them, Powell said she hopes to see it pass before the next budget season.
The Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance was introduced last month to expand on two temporary measures approved by City Council trying to — and succeeding — to stunt the number of demolitions in Pilsen and around The 606 trail on the Northwest Side, and thus skyrocketing values. The pilot program created a $5,000-per-unit and $15,000-per-building surcharge for tearing down single-family homes and multi-unit buildings in portions of Humboldt Park, Pilsen and Logan Square.
That pilot law is set to expire in December but has been renewed twice previously.
Those measures are a start, according to Powell, who said a “citywide CBA (Community Benefits Agreement)” is needed. But more importantly, she said small property owners and tenants need to come together to push for change.
“There’s a system in place running like a well-oiled machine, they’re not ignorant to it,” Powell said. “They don’t want we the people to come alive, because when we the people come together, we become a force you can’t reckon with. … This is our city.”