South Chicago History

Historically, the South Chicago neighborhood has been an important entry point for immigrants to Chicago. Swedish and German immigrants were the first to come, followed by Irish, English, Welsh, Italian, Polish, Slovene, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Serb and Croat arrivals. By 1890, half of South Chicago's 26,000 inhabitants were foreign born. From the 1930s to the 1950s, however, Spanish-speaking nationalities constituted the largest number of immigrants, and the number of African-Americans has risen throughout the last three decades. By 2000, African-Americans and Latinos comprised respectively 68 percent and 27 percent of South Chicago's 38,596 residents.

Concurrent with these immigrations was the flourishing and then the demise of South Chicago's steel industry. The area's connection with steel started in the 1870s and intensified with the erection of the South Works steel mills in 1881. By 1901, when the newly formed U.S. Steel Corporation acquired South Works, South Chicago had become one of the world's great sources of steel, with the work of its hands undergirding North America's Industrial Revolution. Throughout the decades, the diverse nationalities drawn to the steel industry brought a commitment to hard work and a commitment to build their lives and raise their families in this South Chicago community.

South Chicago's strong work ethic, however, could not make it immune to larger national and global economic forces. The years from 1960 to 1990 saw a drastic reduction in the output of steel. From a peak of 20,000 during World War II, jobs at South Works declined to 600 in 1990. Finally, on April 6, 1992, the operation stopped production completely. The dying of South Chicago's steel industry took 40 percent of the community's jobs with it; and families that contained generations of steel workers - workers who had supplied the skeletal steel for American industry - found themselves unsupported and ignored by a workplace to which they had contributed so much. As a result, in 1999 32% of all of South Chicago families had incomes below the national poverty level. Indeed, the "2003 School Report Card" reports that 97.8% and 89.8% of the current student population at Arnold Mireles Academy and Bowen High School, respectively, come from low-income families.

This devastating transformation of the social and economic landscape of South Chicago proved to be a breeding ground for alienation and racism. Rosa Perea, a life-long resident of South Chicago, vividly recalls her experience during this neighborhood upheaval. "White people began to sell their houses and to leave the neighborhood," Ms. Perea explains. "I think that they began to leave because there were no more jobs and because a lot of Latinos and African-Americans began to arrive." With the increase in joblessness, the levels of crime and gang violence rose; and, as South Chicago's tax base shrunk, social services, including public education, deteriorated "It's a place that the rest of the world tends to drive over rather than stop at to do business," stated the Chicago Tribune, referring to the beautiful drive over the I-90-Sky Way.

Centro Comunitario Juan Diego

It was against this background in the 1980s the idea of a community center began to take shape. Centro Comunitario Juan Diego (CCJD) is a grassroots organization located in Southeast Chicago and serving the people of the South Chicago neighborhood (83rd to 95th Street, South Chicago Avenue to Lake Michigan). It originated in the mid-1980s when a group of eight Latino women began meeting as a Christian Base Community (CBC). Emboldened by their faith and compelled by the myriad of societal problems they saw around them, they committed themselves to the work of social and economic change.

At first, they joined committees for school reform and for better health services, and they helped to institute block-clubs to increase neighborhood safety. "We started in the local high school," Maria Urrutia, one of the Center's founders and the volunteer coordinator of Juan Diego's "Mujer a Mujer" breast cancer initiative, remembers. "We began to take action as we noticed that our children in fourth grade could not read and write, that the teen-pregnancy level skyrocketed and that only 40 percent of teenagers graduated from high school. It was, and continues to be, a depressing situation." According to the "2003 School Report Card," the drop out rate at Bowen High School is 39.5%, indicating that the graduation rate is improving, but remains low.

By 1993, when Centro Comunitario Juan Diego set up shop on current Executive Director Olivia Hernandez's front porch, many of the Spanish-speaking residents of South Chicago were openly expressing their sense of outrage and despair at their cultural, linguistic and economic isolation, especially those most vulnerable to exploitation, the undocumented. Then as now, the underlying goal of all their efforts was a recognition of the need to develop self-empowerment and self-determination, especially among women, in the Latino community. In 1994, Centro Comunitario Juan Diego was incorporated in the state of Illinois, and in 1996 it obtained the 501(c) (3) not-for-profit status. In the years since, the number of its staff and volunteers has grown from eight to more than 70.

CCJD's mission is to promote leadership in the community in order to promote positive social change, while serving those in need. Our programs and services embrace four focus areas:

Healthcare - All of the poor in America have a difficult time obtaining adequate medical services, but these difficulties are multiplied by the language barrier and isolation in our community. Since 1994 we have implemented the health promoters, promotoras de salud, model of bringing health education to people in the community. We bring experts, such as the American Red Cross, the Chicago Department of Public Health, Mujeres Latinias en Accion, and many others to train local residents on healthcare and social issues. They are then encouraged to spread their knowledge through presentations and CCJD's home visit program, Una Visita Cuenta. This knowledge empowers community residents through helping others and has created many active and informed leaders.

Family Literacy - Recognizing that education is key to the success of both adults and young people, our family literacy program focuses on the needs of the whole family in lifelong learning. For adults we offer ESL and First Language Literacy for those without full literacy in their native language. For children we have an after school tutoring and mentoring program, Grupo Amigo, that supports the children's school work and offers extra help in ESL and extracurricular activities with a supportive mentor.

Community Organizing and Human Rights - Since Arnold Mireles became a part of CCJD, community organizing and human rights have been an important part of our agenda. After Arnold's murder in late 1997 by a slum landlord he had fought against, we have continued his work and his legacy through the Arnold Mireles Human Rights project. Please see this article about Arnold for more information.

Social Services - Our social service programs, such as the food pantry and free clothing help families in crisis, and are an important entry point into involvement in our center.

CCJD operates in coordination with many foundations, private enterprises, social agencies, and local government to bring much-needed services to our community.