On the eve of Thanksgiving, Mayor Brandon Johnson joined youth-led nonprofit GoodKids MadCity (GKMC) in West Englewood for its “Feed the Block” food distribution event. The organization’s headquarters are located inside of Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church.
“We put on Feed the Block events because we’ve noticed, especially when COVID-19 was happening, or when violence and trauma happen, we want to be able to create spaces where young people and families come together, build community, heal and have an opportunity to talk to each other,” GKMC Executive Director Carlil Pittman said.
Johnson is spending today participating in food distribution efforts and community events across the West and South sides of Chicago, with Evening Star being the second stop on the list. Today’s events follow a series of recent visits to food banks, nonprofits and faith institutions that are addressing food insecurity amid the weeks-long interruption of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits caused by the federal government shutdown.
“It’s incumbent upon local government to find ways in which we can support families who are in need of what is a basic human right, which is food,” Johnson said.
Earlier this month, Johnson signed an executive order directing city resources to community-based organizations ahead of the SNAP “benefits cliff.”
Before distributing hot meals to community members, Pittman, along with other members of GKMC, took Johnson and his staffers on a 10-minute tour of the church and its in-house food pantry, which operates on Thursdays. They also shared the hurdles they’ve encountered while trying to open a community center they want to build on a 60,000-square-foot vacant lot behind Evening Star Baptist Church.
“We’d like to request another meeting, specifically with your team, where we can talk about the problems that we’ve been incurring,” Pittman told Johnson. “We know that you’re in support, but we don’t think that the message is communicated to different departments that we’re talking to, and there’s still movement happening, trying to take this land away from us.”
Pittman is referring to a letter that Evening Star received in September from Ciere Boatright, the city’s Department of Planning and Development commissioner.
“The quit claim deed, dated December 31, 2002, by which the City of Chicago conveyed the Property to the Church includes a covenant to improve the Property with a social service center within twenty-four months from the date of the Deed,” Boatright wrote.
The city, Boatright continued, “inspected the property and confirmed that a social service center has not been constructed on it. Therefore, the City has elected to exercise its right of reverter and re-entry as set forth in the deed.”
In the final paragraph, Boatright requests the name of the church’s attorney and the amount of property taxes owed by the church, including any back taxes and when the church will pay those taxes.
In a brief follow-up interview with The TRiiBE, Johnson said the work that GKMC is doing is necessary and vital. He will have follow-up discussions with them about their plans to expand.
“They have sort of outgrown the initial phase of their mission and they’re looking for more space. So my administration has been in communication with their leadership to think through what their ultimate desires are, and to see how that aligns with my mission to build safe and affordable communities,” Johnson said about GKMC. “So we’re in constant communication and we’re looking forward to a follow-up to further discuss their vision for this area, and again, how it aligns with my vision to repopulate the West and South sides of the city.”
Back in 2003, the church bought the vacant lot from the city with the intention of turning it into a community space. When entering into that agreement with the city, the church was required to build a community center within two years, but that didn’t happen because church leadership wasn’t aware of the timeframe, according to Pittman.
Over the last few years, Evening Star has tried to raise money to build the community center. They’re hoping, with Johnson’s support, that the community center, now decades in the making, can become a reality.
“So we have this big space, this church that’s more than a church to the community. This is a pillar of hope in the West Englewood community,” Pittman told The TRiiBE. “So for us, there’s so much programming that happens here already, so much foot traffic that comes through here, and it’s a part of the community that needs the service.”
The location of the community center could also serve as a connector to the Englewood Agro-Eco District Land Use Plan, which will repurpose land surrounding the proposed Englewood Nature Trail, Pittman said. The Chicago Plan Commission voted unanimously to approve the plan in 2024.
After transitioning back inside the church, Johnson spoke to the two dozen or so people in the room and helped GKMC members distribute hot meals, dessert and water.
“It really just warms my heart to see these young people actively engage with their community, showing up for the families who, unfortunately, are dealing with the challenges of lack and for families who are going through this difficult time during this holiday season, just know that you have the faith community and GoodKids MadCity that’s available for you,” Johnson told the room.
