Garfield Park residents will now have a Good Neighbor Campaign development center in their neighborhood, offering mentorship, violence prevention strategies and employment opportunities.
On Jan. 24, over 100 public officials and locals gathered at Three Crosses of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church to celebrate the grand opening of the new Good Neighbor Campaign office next door. The campaign is an initiative by Westside Health Authority, an organization with a mission to better the health of West Siders.
The Good Neighbor Campaign’s main office is in the Westside Health Authority building on Chicago Avenue in Austin. There’s another location on Division Street in Austin.
Good Neighbor offers case management services and hosts weekly activities for seniors. It also organizes community outreach and regular meetings to inform locals on the likes of alternative conflict resolution methods, trauma and mental health, plus available programs and services in the area. And the Good Neighbor outreach team leads in-home wellness visits for residents and helps with daily tasks.
The new Good Neighbor Center on Madison Street will house the Justice Advisory Council Program, which provides support for violence prevention and employment.
The program started in 2022 after it received a grant from the Cook County Justice Advisory Council – which awarded $85 million to programs aiming to prevent and reduce gun violence in Chicago. Since, JAC has served about 650 people through training, counseling and mentoring.
Malik Ray, a 23-year-old living in Garfield Park, is a self-proclaimed success story out of the JAC program. At the grand opening, he told attendees how he was struggling to find work while on probation. But after his uncle told him about JAC, he completed training through the program to operate machinery. Westside Health Authority then hired him for its Good Neighbor outreach team, and Ray now serves as an intake specialist for JAC.
“The JAC program has been a major part of my life,” Ray said. “And I believe that the JAC program should not only be a part of the West Side, but [all of] Chicago.”
Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, said the county plans to continue funding violence prevention and capacity building efforts for community organizations.
“Today, we celebrate not just the opening of the community center, but a renewed commitment to building safe, thriving neighborhoods,” Preckwinkle said at the grand opening.
The idea for a Garfield Park site came about after Good Neighbor heard from residents in the community that they wanted the same resources that Austin residents were getting. The newest development center is next door to Three Crosses of Calvary M.B. Church, where Good Neighbor will use the sanctuary for larger events.
Ald. Jason Ervin of the 28th Ward said the conversation to open a development center in Garfield Park started about six years ago. Then, he said he asked Morris Reed, CEO of Westside Health Authority, for a special service area on Madison Street.
“We have additional resources, people and folks that are coming to West Garfield Park to bring about the necessary resources and the ability that we need to see in our community here,” Ervin said. “This is about changing the trajectory of Garfield Park.”
