Altgeld Gardens

After a long day of traveling through Chicago our class ventured out to Altgeld Gardens, which was an experience I will never forget. The day was filled with travel, schools and food. When we arrived it was hot and we were tired from all of our visits to the other places. We sat down in the front office and Marguerite Jacobs began to tell us her story. The stories she told us almost made me, and some of my classmates, cry. She spoke to us about the injustices of the neighborhood. She told us that there were more than 4000 residents at Altgeld Gardens. She described the community as very close knit. She described the schools to us and what the children are dealing with. Her home and life work revolves around this community. Not only does her community view her as the mother hen of the neighborhood but they look to her for change.

Marguerite Jacobs is a representation of everything that is needed in this world. She told us about the conditions of the schools that the children attend. There is asbestos in the walls of one of the schools that the district wants to remodel. A remodel would mean tearing down the walls with the asbestos in them, but Marguerite Jacobs is trying to stop that. Children are already getting sick at the school and exposing them to more harmful chemicals would be murder.

I do not remember who asked her, but someone asked her a question similar to “how do you find the strength to do what you do?” She responded with that she cares. She said that if someone else didn’t do what she was doing, no one would! Marguerite Jacobs is a woman who makes things happen. She doesn’t let a limited education, money, or lack of faith get in her way. She is the type of woman that works harder when someone tells her it can’t be done. She is a voice for those who cannot, or will not speak. She is an inspiration to society and I wish her all the best in her endeavors.

What I learned about Altgeld Gardens is that it is not one of the projects of Chicago that is poverty stricken. It is a community with great leaders that fight for change and human rights, who just happen to be living in poverty.