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Bridging Generations : Vivian Carter Apartments True Star Foundation, Chicago Cares and Vivian Carter Apartments teamed up to bring together Teens and Seniors. This is a publication that documents their experiences and some Resident Interviews.

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Page 1: Bridging Generations

PRESENTED BY

Page 2: Bridging Generations

VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS2

BY MINA WAIghT

True Star’s Freelance Editorial and Graphic Design teams partnered with Chicago Cares, an organization that specializes in building volunteer experiences, to close the widening gap between the old and the young.

The project consisted of True Star members going to Vivian Carter Apartments, lo-cated at 6401 S. Yale Ave., making the seniors breakfast, playing Bingo with them and conducting interviews with the residents. The end result is the presentation of this book filled with pictures from the day’s events and personal stories told to us by of the seniors in the building.

Each of us had fun and enjoyed working with the seniors, so if the opportunity presented itself again, we would all take it. The seniors were very friendly, warm, interesting and did not mind telling us their personal stories. They didn’t mind speaking about the disconnection between the old and the young and speaking about what they wanted to see change.

All in all, it was a great experience, and we’d like to thank you all for telling us your stories and for being a part of the project. We hope to work with each of you again in the future.

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Page 4: Bridging Generations

VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS4

NYzERRIA WAlkER

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VOlUNTEERJUNIOR, hARPER hIgh SChOOl

BREANNA SWIFT

VOlUNTEERSENIOR, hARPER hIgh SChOOl

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VOlUNTEERFRESHMAN, hARPER hIgh SChOOl

SAkURA REYES CRYSTAl gARCIA

VOlUNTEERJUNIOR, hARPER hIgh SChOOl

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JOURNAlISTAND VOlUNTEERJUNIOR, kENWOOD hIgh SChOOl

JOURNAlISTAND VOlUNTEERJUNIOR, COlUMBIA COllEgE ChICAgO

JOURNAlISTJUNIOR, COlUMBIA COllEgE ChICAgO

JOURNAlISTSOPHOMORE, TRUMAN COllEgE

NA-TAE’ THOMPSON

TRUESTAR CO-FOUNDER

MIChAEl WAlTON II

DEANNA ShERMAN

TRUESTAR CO-FOUNDER

VINESSA RUSSEll

AlExANDER STOCkSTEllkRISTEN BROWNMINA WRIghT

JOURNAlISTJUNIOR, COlUMBIA COllEgE ChICAgO

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS6

This book is a wonderful example of students learning through service with Chica-go Cares. We hope you enjoy the interviews and images captured by the talented youth of True Star Foundation. This project, which included three breakfast events at Vivian Carter Senior Apart-ments, exemplifies Chicago Cares’ work. We unite and ignite people through action. We amplify and expand perspectives. We expose our volunteers to issues and plac-es they might not otherwise come across. We elevate stories and weave narratives. I hope that this student project inspires you. And I hope that you share these stories to make our impact go even farther. Thank you. In Service,

ExEcutivE DirEctor, chicago carEs FounDED in 1991 by LEsLiE bLuhm anD mary PrchaL, chicago carEs is a nonProFit orga-nization that has mobilized 500,000 volunteers to meet ChiCago’s most Challenging needs. as the leading serviCe organiza-tion in thE city, chicago carEs crEatEs Programs that FostEr civic EngagEmEnt by EDucating anD EmPowEring voLuntEErs to bE agents of Change. With 250 monthly group serviCe projeCts, Corporate programs and annual events, our model ConneCts needs With aCtion. for more information, visit WWW.ChiCagoCares.org.

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Spending time at Vivian Carter, making and serving a healthy breakfast for the Seniors with the Volunteers from True Star Foundation, was an awesome experience that has left an impression on myself, the teens and I hope the residents.

Communities find strength in numbers and partnership. We brought some of our best and brightest youth to Vivian Carter to meet with some incredible folks that live in the apartment complex. The teens talked to the residents and heard some of their very interesting stories. It was a good time.

We enjoyed the company of the lovely people we met at Vivian Carter Apartments. These shared breakfasts were a really fun way to bring everyone together. As an instructor for True Star Magazine’s Graphic Design Program at Harper High School, it made me proud to see the students genuinely excited to volunteer.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity!

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true star foundation is proud to partner With ChiCago Cares on this serviCe projeCt at vivian Carter apartments. true star FounDation (tsF) is a nonProFit organization that ProviDEs a crEativE outLEt in thE Form oF LitErary anD ProFEssionaL DEvEL-opment programs for ChiCago youth. tsf promotes literaCy and entrepreneurialism, reduCe youth delinquenCy rates, provide training and resourCes so that there is a healthy transition for youth entering early adulthood. by ExPosing tEEns to rEaL-worLD ExPEriEncEs in thE workForcE anD through thE arts, ParticuLarLy in broaDcast anD Print CommuniCations and marketing, tsf has taken an innovative approaCh to mentoring With on-the-job training programs that aCtually let students Create, produCe and Work for a youth operated media Company.

through after sChool programs, teams of urban youth ColleCtively Create true star magazine, true star jr. magazine, true star radio, and truestaris.Com, true star has provided over 2,500 paid apprentiCeships to ChiCago youth sinCe its inCeption.

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

With Mississippi blood running through his veins, but St. Louis ways still on hand, Jim-mie Stevens came to Chicago to see it all. Although he was born in Mississippi, and raised in St. Louis, he wanted a change of scenery. “It was nothing to do in St. Louis,” said Stevens, who went to high school in the south but didn’t finish. “There were no gangs or things like that down there though.”

Having been through a lot and seen almost everything, Stevens said he could have written a book about his experiences in his youth. He is, however, not please with the way some things are today. “So much has changed now. [There is] so much killing and disrespect for the elderly.” He goes on to say, “Nothing too much has stayed the same, every day look alike.”

On a lighter note, when asked had he been in love before he responded, “A lot of times.” He offers this advice to young females: “Stay single. Live life as it is. Buy you a house, buy you a car, travel, take care of your family, and live life. And never let a guy make no fool out of you.”

Stevens tries to pass down the message to his children and grandkids just as much as any other youth. They just have to be willing to listen.

BY VINESSA RUSSEll

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“I’m from Rosedale, Mississippi. Things weren’t as violent when I was growing up, but in some respects they are better. Housing is better. The food supply is better. A lot of people seem to forget that.

The projects were a Godsend when I was a child. There were 15 people in my fam-ily, so it was always hard to find somewhere to live. When we moved into the proj-ects it was like getting our own home. I lived in the projects from 15 until I was in my late 30’s.

This is a whole different world from the one I came up in. We weren’t afraid to be out late at night. The kids had to be in front of the house when the streetlights came on. Your parents always knew where you were at and your neighbors had the right to run you home or tell on you if you weren’t at school. There wasn’t such a thing as ditching school in your neighborhood. Even in another neighborhood, they would call the police if they knew there were children out. We also had truant officers. There was always somebody out searching the streets.”

BY kRISTEN BROWN

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I was raised by my father. My mother passed when I was 5 months old. My father was a religious man and he raised me and my siblings in a strict household. At the time I thought he was being too hard on us, but I still have those values in me today, so I most definitely appreciate it now.

I grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and got to Chicago at the age of 28. Despite growing up in the south I felt that Chicago racially was worse. Chicago is racially broken up into different neighborhoods, and if you came into a white neighborhood you could feel the hate bearing down on you more than in the south were both races lived on top of each other.

Seeing the amount of prejudice in my life, I guess my words to my grandchildren are the same to all children: Take advantage of your free speech. We have come some of a way since Dr. King, but keep the voice he and others gave you going. Get on the right path. Don’t be a dreamer, be someone who does it. Don’t just make your friends or family proud, make the world proud.”

BY AlExANDER STOCkSTEll

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Another Mississippi native, James Brookings, moved here to Chicago around age 12 with his aunt and her two children. He had an occupation as a fireman, one of the many jobs he did in his youth. Brookings, who admits that he mainly keeps to himself, doesn’t really have any hobbies. When was younger he went to a lot of concerts at the legendary Regal Theater, and other places like the 31st St. beach.

Brookings has been in Chicago long enough to see some major transformations in the city, including changes in the way people get around. “Quite a bit has changed. Like I was here before they built the Dan Ryan Expressway. I used to ride my bike up and down the street.”

BY VINESSA RUSSEll

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I’ve been in a gang. I was even a leader. I’ve been shot three times. I’m one of the original Vice Lords from back in the 60s. It’s hard for me to say anything about the violence in Chicago because I have been a part of it. But I feel as if it can easily be eliminated.

I don’t really think there are gangs. They’re coming up and they’re doing things that are meaningless. What’s the purpose?

Nowadays, people are growing up to where nothing is important to them. They just don’t care. When we (the Vice Lords) were coming up, it wasn’t so much about club (party) money. It was more so the ‘club member’s’ money. We really didn’t come with guns either. It wasn’t about territory. You would just fight there until you fell out. And after that it was over. Nowadays, no, it’s not like that. It’s like you fight here, you fight so long until you lose. And when you lose you might go home and get something with a chain, a lock on it, or a pistol and you take it further.

We never patterned ourselves for kids to follow us. They did it out of instinct al-most. We protected them. Nowadays, I can go and buy a gun from someone younger than my grandchildren.”

BY kRISTEN BROWN

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Mrs. Echefu is a native of Bende, Abia, Nigeria, but she simply fell in love with Chi-cago. She has been in her current residence in Chicago since 1997. She has a strong sense of family, making sure to stay in touch with her seven children, who live in lo-cales such as Dallas, Texas; Providence, Rhode Island; and of course Chicago. Of her seven children there are six sons and a daughter. She says of her dedication to her kids: “I could not leave my boys… If you leave them for too long, you lose them.”

Mrs. Echefu’s love for her family was apparent, as she was radiant and smiling ear-to-ear whenever her children were the topic. Her message to the youth was to “be a good person.”

Though her husband recently passed, she felt good from the closure she got after attending a beautiful service for him in Nigeria. She uses her life story as an inspi-ration for the youth. She behaved as a good person with sound morals and she has lived a long and unique life. She has been a school teacher, a highly sought after dress-maker, and has children who are engineers, city-workers, students, and overall great people.

When concluding the interview, Ms. Echefu made sure to pass on perhaps the most im-portant message of all, and one definitely needed in today’s society: “Wish ill on no one. Be a positive person.”

BY MIChAEl WAlTON II

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I’m from Memphis, Tennessee. I think I was about 7 years old when I moved here to Chicago. [Growing up here] was nice. I lived on Forestville and it was really nice over there at that time. You’d know everybody on your block. There was no fighting and people got along. In the summertime you could sit outside on your porch, you could stay out until 9 o’clock at night and it was just a lot of fun. Every-body got along, the parents got along with the other parents, and if a neighbor said something to one of the children, they did what they told them to do. So, it was fun. We used to go to Riverview Park up in Belmont, and they had the Ferris wheel and all kinds of rides and games. It was just a place for people to get to-gether and enjoy themselves.

[Since then], I’ve seen such a big change in how people live [and] how the city has gone down. They have so many homes that are boarded up, torn down, and we have empty lots. Back when I was coming up, like back in the late 60’s and 70’s, people had jobs. [The kids] didn’t fight and there was no killing; compared to what’s happening now, this is a whole new world to me. It’s just different, I’m not used to it [and] I’ll never get used to people killing children like they do now. This is just some-thing that’s hard for me to even understand.”

BY MINA WAIghT

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“I grew up in Chicago on the West Side. It had its good times and bad times, but the best times were during Christmas and the holidays. [However], my mother was very strict and I could not go out like a lot of the other teens, so I would be at home doing housework and homework. [Things] have changed a whole lot. You cannot do things that you used to do. You cannot go to the movies; like some days when I wanted to be by myself, I went to the movies or [me and my friends and family] would go to the Riverview Amusement Park. But things just changed a lot.

The kids nowadays are very unruly, well, some of them are. I will not say most, be-cause only some are unruly and have no respect for the adults. But other than that, I go to church and I’m a member of the board. I’m the secretary to certain schools, so I have my best moments when I’m going to church.”

BY MINA WAIghT

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

Born November 24th in 1942, Charles Gardner, at the age of 71, seems to be doing quite well for himself. He was born and raised around Bronzeville – 32nd and Wabash to be specific. His occupation included running a computer shop, which is now in the good hands of his daughter, one out of four of his children. “I like to fix things,” Gardner says.

He mentions how he loves to see young kids doing positive things with their lives. As an athlete in high school he ran track, played basketball, football and baseball. He attended Wendell Phillips High School and remembers his group of friends and tells how they still hang out once a month each year. Some friends he has known since kindergarten. “So much has changed since I was a teenager. It would be easier to me to say what has stayed the same. The trust we have amongst one another; we have no trust. If I have a job, I would try to get my friend a job.”

Behaviors amongst his grandchildren, who are teens, are definitely different than his behaviors when he was a teen. “Technology, technology,” Gardener says when referring to the younger generation. When asked about teen violence back when he was young, he describes how it was so much different than now. There were gangs he says, but “There were no guns. We weren’t shooting anyone. When I look backat it, it was pretty fun. We would fight each other and then that Monday at school we would be cool.”

Gardner is well aware that times are different now, but he just wants the youth to learn how to respect one another.

BY VINESSA RUSSEll

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“I had a very unique life as a teenager. I am what you call a man-child. I went to work at 14. It was during the 50’s and I lived on 68th and Yale. During that time the neighborhood looked like something out of the Dick and Jane books. My brother and I became very industrial men from working so young. Throughout my life I have worked many different types of jobs and became very skilled with my hands in many ways. As a senior in high school, I worked for the postal service as a career employee until after I graduated and used the money to get a college education. Looking back at my youth, I noticed that I never used the normal excuses of the day to hold me back.

I want to let the young people of today know that your possibilities are limitless and you have more opportunities than you think. However, young people, now more than ever, need to pay attention to what is going on in Washington in con-cerns of legislation with corporations and market regulations.

This country is great because competitive markets create innovation and more jobs. There is no use for all of this expensive education if none of you find jobs, right? So, to the youth, educate yourself on these topics so you can vote, protest and stand up with your mind instead of your heart.”

BY AlExANDER STOCkSTEll

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I attended the all-girl Richards Vocational High School in Bridgeport. At the time I was one of three black girls in the school. It was tough going to school in that neighborhood in that era, but I don’t regret it. The experience shaped me into the woman I have become.

I graduated in 1965, got married a year later and had my first child a year after that. I attended Kennedy King and Roosevelt University for college and started as a teacher for CPS in 1981, which I taught for 25 years. My concern for the children to-day is in the health of our education system. I took an early retirement in 2005 at the age of 55 because I was dissatisfied with teaching. I was burnt out and disillusioned. It was too much paperwork, too much bureaucracy and most of all, the children were not learning. I think the children are aware that school is not a place where they get the life values needed to navigate the world. Take that and the fact they are going home to broken families who can’t give them those values either; their hungry minds are becoming afraid of the world around them.

This links to the violence issue as well. When I was younger and somebody was shot in the community we would all come together in shock and find a way to prevent another one. Now, the children are not getting answers to their questions from any-where. Their minds are afraid, but they themselves don’t care, which is the reason why the streets have no compassion.”

BY AlExANDER STOCkSTEll

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“I’m from Arkansas in a little city near Mississippi, and that is where I spent most of my childhood. So, then in the late 60’s I moved to St. Louis, Missouri, stayed there until 1969 and then I moved here. I stayed here off and on for about 13 years and then I’d always go back home. There’s nothing like home; the city is fine, but home is better.

Back then we had [a] little racism, but we’re getting away from all of that, so this is what I have been telling people. It is time for a change. We all came from the same dirt and we are all going back to the same dirt so, why can’t we all get along? Cause we are all sisters and brothers one way or another.

Growing up in Arkansas was a blessing, because I got my education there. I learned how to become a carpenter, a mechanic and I also learned how to really enjoy peo-ple because I am a people person. So, to me it was very nice. Then I went to Missouri; I was about 15 years old, then I came to Chicago in 1969. Then I went to Richmond, Indiana, in 1975 to do construction work. In 1976 I came back to Chicago and I have been here ever since. In 1990 I became disabled and retired. I’m the type of person that does not like to sit in one place, so I’m always on the go. Even now, I’m on the go. But I still try to give something positive because I’m a very positive man, and to be positive means you have to be very active and help people. People need to be encour-aged and that’s what is wrong [with society.]”

BY MINA WAIghT

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I’m from Birmingham, Alabama. When I was a kid, safety was a big issue. The neighborhood was like a neighborhood watch over all the kids.

Once upon a time, Chicago was an industrial city. You can lose a job today and go get one tomorrow. That’s how plentiful jobs were. Most of the jobs now are union, so they can pay you what they want to pay, so it’s hard for the economy to come up. If I don’t have money to buy things from your store you’ll go out of business. So, that’s why we have so many empty lots where buildings and businesses used to be.

Now you can’t walk down the street without worrying about getting robbed. When I was coming up, I didn’t know anything about drugs. Wherever my parents went, they had their children with them. We didn’t raise ourselves. That’s what’s happen-ing nowadays. These kids are so out of control because they’re raising themselves. That’s the reason we’re having these kinds of problems today. They’re out here do-ing what they want to do.

The father figure used to be the most important thing in the family. These fathers today don’t take the time to teach their kids how to be responsible or how to be respectful.”

BY kRISTEN BROWN

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Maxine Johnson, from Batesville, Arkansas, has lived in Chicago for the past 50 years. Johnson raised a daughter in the city. When asked how Chicago has changed right before her eyes, she says, “It’s changed a whole lot. I used to feel much safer. I didn’t even used to have to lock my doors. When it gets dark I don’t want to be out there. Most of the time I just stay in my house unless I have to go visit my family.

“In a perfect world, I would like for everyone to get along. There would be no steal-ing, no robbing, no dope, no nothing. It’s like nowadays you’re scared to even make a move.” Having moved to Chicago when she was 16, Johnson recalls how slow paced the south was during her youth. “It was so slow in Arkansas. If you didn’t have a car you couldn’t go anywhere. Here, you don’t need a car to do anything. I got a taste of the fast life, and that’s just too slow for me. The only thing is I can’t go fishing like I want to. I still go down south every year just to fish.”

BY kRISTEN BROWN

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I was born here in Chicago at Cook County Hospital and grew up in the projects over on 29th and State. I have one sibling. My mom and my dad were divorced, but my dad was still in our lives. It was nice [growing up on the South Side]. Our parents were very much involved in our lives but, the only thing was that we could not go to Bridgeport, across the Dan Ryan. They would chase us away from over there saying, “Get from over here, you niggers.” Back then, when Martin Luther King came to Chicago, he said Chicago was more prejudice than Mississippi, and it was. We could not go to Gage Park. We could not go to Bridgeport. We could not go to Cicero. We were boxed in, but other than that, I had a pretty good childhood.

Now, I see more interracial couples, [meaning] people are more open to the differ-ent races now. You know, if you see a Chinese woman with a Black man or an Irish man it does not matter anymore. It didn’t matter to me anyway because I did not know the difference between Black and White. [So, my life was surrounded by segregation], but my life was also based around strength. No matter what, my mother always in-stilled strength in us. She always said, ‘Be all you can be. Be strong. Be proud of what you are.’ So, things have changed, the city has changed. People just don’t have that caring feeling anymore.”

BY MINA WAIghT

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“I’m here from Chicago. I’m from the South Side, Morgan Park area. I am a moth-er and a great-grandmother. I worked with the Board of Education for over 15 years. I really believe in education.

The city has changed a whole lot, I guess for the better. When I was coming up, we didn’t have free computers. We were doing work by hand. You had to use your brain and it was much harder. But the city is getting more violent now. When I was coming up, I grew up in a community where everybody watched everybody. It was like a village. Now we don’t have that. I would like to see a lot of togetherness. I would like to see a lot of everyone working with each other and improving, and just making the outside better.

For my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I would like for them to go farther than I have. I want them to be able to work with each other and not argue and fight with each other. When you do that that just brings you down. I don’t want that out of my grandkids. I feel like why would you leave where you were born to work togeth-er and prove yourself? You should be able to do that here.”

BY kRISTEN BROWN

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VIVIAN CARTER APARTMENTS

“I spent a brief amount of my youth in New York. My parents went through a divorce and the court left me and my sister with our mother. One night my mother left us with our grandparents and that night our father came and kidnapped us. Our father brought us to Chicago to raise us by himself from that point forward. I was 6 and my sister was 7 at the time.

My father did everything for us. As I got older though, I began to get upset at the fact that my mother was never around. It was several years before I saw my mother, and I lived life just mad. I have been through two marriages, having three [children] from the first one. I did my best to have the opposite of what my family was.

My words to the youth are if you have two parents in your life be thankful and don’t complain as much because things could be worse. Take advantage of the amount of love and support both of them can give you that just one could not do alone. As you get older and decide to have children, make sure your marital issues don’t overshadow the needs of the child. Just because the two of you don’t like each other does not mean the child should feel unloved.”

BY AlExANDER STOCkSTEll

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