A ward that spans parts of Chicago’s West and Northwest sides went five months without a single murder earlier this year, and some parts of the city may hope to copy that success story.
The 26th Ward includes most of the Humboldt Park neighborhood and parts of the West Town, Logan Square, Hermosa, and Belmont Cragin neighborhoods. What is different in the ward, said Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th), is the involvement some who might not otherwise be invited to the conversation about violence prevention — like members of gangs that would otherwise would not be collaboration with one another to keep the neighborhood safe.
Humboldt Park is Fuentes’ front yard, and she has quite literally spent her whole life in the neighborhood. She grew up in a graystone three-flat building right across the street from the park with four other siblings.
“While we were low-income, we had a lot of love,” said Fuentes.
Fuentes said she learned a lot from the corner of Chicago where she grew up — some good, some bad.
“I can’t tell you how many shootings and car accidents happened right here on this street across from this park,” she said.
Fuentes said when she became an alderperson, safety was her number-one priority. Thus, she brought together a host of groups to talk and figure out which areas of the ward needed an extra hand.
A data-driven committee was born.
“Sometimes that means having a block party,” said Fuentes. “Sometimes that means we’re knocking on doors, and we’re talking to residents about the resources that they need.”
Conversations between community groups, and even members of rival gangs, come to a common goal.
“You’re able to bridge these gaps between folks that are not normally at the table,” said Fuentes. “I’ve never come across one individual that doesn’t want to keep their family safe — and that includes individuals that may be members of gangs in the community. That means everybody.”
Fuentes has been public about her past. As a teenager, she was involved in gang activity and was even arrested.
She said that perspective has helped make the idea of a community-driven approach to violence reduction that includes gang members even stronger.
In May, the ward noticed a sign of success. There had not been a homicide there in five months — the first one all year was on May 24.
“It’s not to say that crime’s not happening in our community. We have incidents of robberies, of carjackings, right?” Fuentes said. “But I hadn’t heard the word ‘homicide’ in a while.”
Fuentes was asked how her teenage self would have reacted to such a success story in a long-troubled community.
“I lost a lot of friends in this community to gun violence and to the justice system or to addiction. I’ve lost family members to addiction, the justice system, and gun violence,” she said. “That 16-year-old, I don’t know if that 16-year-old on that stoop had a lot of hope. But if that 16-year-old could see what we’ve done today, they would be extremely proud.”