UPTOWN CHICAGO COMMISSION

Uptown Chicago Commission Press Release

Uptown Chicago Commission Announces Good Neighbor Award
Good Neighbor Award Given To Salvation Army
Evangeline Booth Lodge located at 800 W. Lawrence Avenue

CHICAGO – In early May, the Uptown Chicago Commission (UCC) and about 200 Uptown community group representatives and residents recognized the Salvation Army Evangeline Booth Lodge for making a difference in Uptown in the past year. The family shelter, located at 800 W. Lawrence, helped make Uptown a safer place to work, live, and own a business.

Teresa Cortas (center), executive director of the Salvation Army Evangeline Booth Lodge, accepts Uptown Chicago Commission's Good Neighbor Award from UCC Executive Director, David Rowe (left) and UCC Crime and Safety Committee Chairperson, James Cappleman.

Teresa Cortas, the executive director of the family shelter, received UCC's Good Neighbor Award. This family shelter was picked for a number of reasons, but mostly because area residents were pleased with Salvation Army's willingness to be a good neighbor to the rest of the community. UCC believes that when a homeless shelter is run well, the misperception that homeless people make an area unsafe is addressed, and this ultimately encourages residents to help the shelter's efforts, rather than oppose them.

"Families have 120 days to get their lives stabilized, and the residents don't have time to waste because they are actively working on employment and doing whatever is necessary to get out of what made them homeless in the first place," commented Cortas.

James Cappleman, UCC Crime and Safety Committee Chairperson, stated one of the many reasons the committee chose the Salvation Army was because "each family is provided with a private room. It is key that parents be given the opportunity to be both a protector and provider for their children, and this living arrangement reinforces that, which ultimately strengthens the family unit."

The well-qualified staff includes licensed clinical social workers. They understand the concept of concentrated poverty, and try their best to find new locations for the families that have low rates of poverty. They do this by establishing a good reputation with other smaller city's agencies known for their ability to provide on sight case management services to families placed in smaller towns and cities.

Founded in 1955, The UCC's mission is to improve the quality of life for all residents living in Uptown.