Two stories in the same week about Uptown. The Tribune has done lost its mind and is expanding its boundaries north of Wrigleyville!
By Samantha Cleaver
Special to the Tribune,
April 24, 2009
At 5 p.m. the doors to the basement of Uptown Baptist Church open, and people stream in and settle into folding chairs. Volunteers wearing bright blue aprons pass out plates of food: bread, noodles with beef, salad, a portion of pastry on a napkin, an orange and a cup of lemonade. It's the only full meal Russell and his wife, Claire, get all week, he said. They have been homeless since 2006, when Russell quit working to care for his mother, who had Alzheimer's disease, and medical bills "wiped them out." Now he cares for his wife - who has numerous ailments - while they live in a van in Uptown.
The meal has become one of the church's best-known ministries, even as the changing demographics of the community demand that the church serve young professionals in nearby condos as well as the poor and homeless. Click here for the entire story.
On an average Sunday, "I can sit between someone who makes six figures and someone who's on welfare," said church elder Ed Hitchcock.
ReplyDeleteThat mix has not been without problems, Allen said, adding that some condo owners "occasionally complain about the work we do with the poor because in their mind we're harboring a criminal element." I'm all for helping the poor. I wonder if this is one of the blocks with an exceptionally high crime rate? Perhaps if Uptown Baptist did a better job of monitoring their own block there wouldn't be so many complaints. Maybe then condo owners wouldn't have to be blamed again for being concerned about crime.