September 09 Gca Meeting Flyer

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 that are vacant will be required to be secured with steel panels, plywood, or have all windows & doors installed and a working theft- prevention alarm system with an active account with a third-party security company. Also, all property vacant for at least 6 months are required to have lighting 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 properties every 6 months. Alarms on vacant property best!

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St. James Lutheran Church 8 0 0 0 S. M i c h i g a n S t i l l a c c e p t i n g GCA $ 3 0 y e a r l y member dues per fami l y.

REPORT VACANT HOMES TO PREVENT CRIME SITES

Carl Lewis, President 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 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

City of Chicago Departments & Programs to call for Vacant/Neglected Property or GCA can do it for you. Contact 311 Call Center - They receive and route complaints regarding vacant buildings. Contact Department of Housing Receivership program, Home ownership Preservation Campaign (HOPI).

7 7 3 . 9 9 4 . 5 3 0 8 for more info REQ UE ST O UR E - NE W S L ET T ER V I A e m a i l: g c ah ono r @ s b cglob al.n e t

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Contact Department of Buildings - Perform inspections, & enforce building code.

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• Meeting Open & Minutes Read. • Treasury Report • President’s Opening Remarks • Any Standing Committee Chair Reports or Updates on: Education, Finance & Fundraising, Membership, Safety & Security (incls. CAPS report.) • Report Update from Wal-Mart Town Hall Committee by new Committee Chair Toni Costonie.

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• Request for new Committee Members to Update GCA Constitution with new by-law submissions for November meeting.

MEETING TOPICS President’s Special Program: No Excuses! First Committee Report & GCA Discussion on gaining additional ideas on how to execute this program effectively. This program was created to instill in adults, teens and young adults that if we can elect an African-American president, there is simply no excuse available to justify the deterioration and lack of aspirational goals in the African-American family, community and 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 community has ––No Excuse–– to lower its standards.” A complete version of these awardwinning 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.

Carl Lewis GCA President 773.994.5308

GCA 2009 Scholarship Winners: From left to right: Christina Jackson and Geoffrey Shiloh.

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!