Form e rly th e W.I. M.

Block Association

City Law for Reporting

Vacant Property.
With more homes for sale that are
vacant ––protect your block!
The Chicago City Council approved an ordinance in April
‘08 that strengthens the maintenance requirements of vacant
properties and increases the responsibilities of owners.

S E P T . ‘09 Meet ing Vacant properties with all windows and doors in place do
not need the extra protection of plywood. Properties that
have been broken into or damaged during the first 6 months
S
Saattuurrddaayy,, S
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mbbeerr 1199 that are vacant will be required to be secured with steel pa-
nels, plywood, or have all windows & doors installed and a
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m.. –– 1122::3300 pp..m
m.. working theft- prevention alarm system with an active ac-
count with a third-party security company. Also, all prop-
St. James Lutheran Church erty vacant for at least 6 months are required to have light-
8 0 0 0 S. M i c h i g a n ing at entrances and exits from dusk until dawn. To enforce
the ordinance, Building Inspectors will also be allowed to
complete an interior and exterior inspection of vacant
S t i l l a c c e p t i n g GCA $ 3 0 y e a r l y properties every 6 months. Alarms on vacant property best!
member dues per fami l y.
REPORT VACANT HOMES TO PREVENT CRIME SITES
Carl Lewis, President
City of Chicago Departments & Programs to call for
D a v i d An d e r s o n , V i c e - P r e s i d e n t
Vacant/Neglected Property or GCA can do it for you.
Yo l a n d a F a b r e - Shiloh, R e c o r d i n g S e c .
Sandra Hea rn, Tre a sur e r Contact 311 Call Center - They receive and route complaints
regarding vacant buildings. Contact Department of Housing -
Receivership program, Home ownership Preservation
7 7 3 . 9 9 4 . 5 3 0 8 for more info Campaign (HOPI).
REQ UE ST O UR E - NE W S L ET T ER V I A Contact Department of Buildings - Perform inspections, &
e m a i l: g c ah ono r @ s b cglob al.n e t enforce building code.

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• Meeting Open & Minutes Read. • Request for new Committee Members
to Update GCA Constitution with new
• Treasury Report by-law submissions for November
meeting.
• President’s Opening Remarks MEETING TOPICS
President’s Special Program: No
• Any Standing Committee Chair Excuses! First Committee Report & GCA
Reports or Updates on: Discussion on gaining additional ideas on
Education, Finance & Fundraising, how to execute this program effectively.
Membership, Safety & Security (incls. This program was created to instill in adults,
teens and young adults that if we can elect
CAPS report.)
an African-American president, there is sim-
ply no excuse available to justify the deteri-
• Report Update from Wal-Mart Town oration and lack of aspirational goals in the
Hall Committee by new Committee African-American family, community and
Chair Toni Costonie. growing middle-class.
 Dear Neighbors

On behalf of GCA, I would like to announce the recipients of the first annual GCA Scholarship
Awards. Congratulations to Christina Jackson, 18 and Geoffrey Shiloh, 20. Both students are
Chatham residents and each submitted the winning essays on the topic: “How our com-
munity has ––No Excuse–– to lower its standards.” A complete version of these award-
winning essays will be available in our September GCA e-mail newsletter.

Ms. Jackson is starting her freshmen year at St. Xavier University in Illinois with a major in
Nursing. While Mr. Shiloh is attending Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas––
with a major in Business Administration. As many of you know, before we became the
Greater Chatham Alliance, we were the W.I.M. Block Association. W.I.M. awarded over 8,
$500 scholarships in the last 5 years. We are extremely proud to continue this legacy. It is
our hope to increase this monetary award in 2010. GCA salutes these two young adults and
wishes them the very best in all of their scholastic and career pursuits.

GCA 2009 Scholarship Winners: From left to right:

Christina Jackson and Geoffrey Shiloh.
Carl Lewis
GCA President
773.994.5308

GCA Crime Alerts – Be p ro ac ti v e: get your home analyzed and

burglary-proofed by the Chicago Police Department. This is a FREE SERVICE!
Call Officer Duck at 312.745.5832 to schedule your counter-home
burglary invasion appointment.
84th & Prairie block is hit with another break-in! This makes at least 4-5 crime incidents on one
block across the street from St. Clothilde! Burglars gained access into the home through the
bathroom window! They stole several flat screen televisions and personal merchandise.

8049 S. Michigan: Break-in 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 13. The mother of this family left
for work and her husband then left to go to Jewel's. Their three (3) children were at home
alone. Someone came to the door and rang the bell several times. When no one answered the
door burglars proceeded to go to the basement door and kicked the door in. The children called
their mother and jumped out of the front window. The mother called her husband and told him
to get back to the house. The children were not hurt. This family's garage had been broken into
the week before. Their neighbors are constantly seeing strange people walking the alleys and
cars parked in the alleys behind their homes. Folks we have to get more people to start
observing what's going on in our community and reporting it ASAP to the police!