Ted O'Keefe, Art Velasquez Honored @ Peace & Education Fundraiser

Ted O'Keefe of the Chicago Police Department received the 2009 Arturo Velasquez Community Leadership Award tonight at U.S. Cellular Field during the 12th annual Peace and Education Coalition of Back of the Yards scholarship fundraiser. O'Keefe is known as the founder of CAPS (Community Alternative Policing Strategy). Mayor Richard M. Daley and Fr. Bruce Wellems of Holy Cross/IHM Parish are with him in this photo.




CAPS Coordinator Marina Alonso hugs 9th District Commander Eugene Roy. Alonso was instrumental in building the community-police relationships necessary to solve the 2007 murder of Leticia Barrera on the 4800 block of South Seeley.

Arturo Velasquez, Sr., who died recently, was an important figure in Back of the Yards and a mainstay of education and scholarship efforts in the neighborhood. He was honored with a video tribute. His family turned out in great numbers for the event, including his daughter Carmen, who founded Alivio Medical Center.

Year after year, Mayor Daley has consistently attended the event, although he did miss last year, if memory serves. The year before, there was a lot of media attention and he had to dash out pretty quickly. This year there was no mainstream media present that I'm aware of and he was able to relax and stick around a bit longer. I'm guessing he may have wanted it this way to spend a bit more time with the Velasquez family.

His remarks also seemed more relaxed than I've seen in some of his public appearances. Right off the bat he teased Fr. Bruce, who has been exercising and losing weight to control diabetes. "I thought he was getting ready for 2016," the mayor joked.

Daley went on to express his appreciation for all the people in Back of the Yards who offer a helping hand to young people, especially those who are most in need of help. "There are many great stories in Back of the Yards that I wish the media would tell. When a kid falls down, there's a helping hand to get him up. You all are the helping hands, and I want to thank you for your passion," he told the crowd.

This year, 61 college and graduate students who have served the Back of the Yards community are applying for Peace and Education scholarships. Another nine students in private high schools have also applied. One of the college applicants is Melissa Rodriguez, who is planning to return to the University of Illinois and study biochemistry after having to shift her studies to community college in order to save money. In her application essay, she writes, "I had the choice of quitting school and finding a job or continuing my education but in a community college where the tuition would be more bearable. I chose to continue my education. I refused to surrender in defeat."

Arturo Velasquez Dies

Arturo Velasquez, whose jukebox business in on Ashland Avenue here in Back of the Yards, died Friday at home. He was 93 years old. The Tribune obituary on him recounts his work with the Peace and Education Coalition of Back of the Yards, as well as his service on the board of the City Colleges of Chicago. The West Side Technical Institute was formally renamed the Arturo Velasquez West Side Technical Institute in his honor in 2007.

Velasquez was born in the Mexican state of Jalisco and grew up in Chinatown, where he first put a jukebox in a taco shop. Thus was born the business that made him a wealthy and well-known member of the Latino community for many decades. He was still going to his office this year, according to the obituary.

I was unable to attend his funeral, but others I know who went told me it was quite a send-off. Seventeen priests concelebrated the funeral Mass at St. Rita of Cascia, led by Fr. Bruce Wellems of Holy Cross/IHM. Mayor Daley attended, along with a full house in a very large church.

One of his children, Carmen Velasquez, is also an especially well-known force in the community. She founded the Alivio Medical Center, which provides culturally sensitive health services to the Latino community.

Peace and Education Coalition Launches New Web Site

The new Peace and Education Coalition of Back of the Yards web site features many more photos, a signup for email alerts and links to schools, parishes and social service agencies here in the neighborhoods.

The new site was announced at today's Peace and Education Coalition meeting, the first of the new school year. About 50 people attended, including many new faces. 9th District Commander Eugene Roy noted it was the best turnout he had yet seen.

Some key news about neighborhood services:

The University of Illinois Mile Square health center at 47th and Loomis is now offering shots and physicals for back to school to all families whether or not they have insurance. The clinic is open until 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and hopes to start Saturday hours soon.

Neighborhood Housing Services has relocated to the new Park Federal Bank building at 47th and Honore. The building has a large community room where NHS will hold homebuyer education classes in Spanish. Foreclosure prevention counseling is also available.

All three Peace and Education Alternative High School campuses have space for new students. Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council is providing free shuttle service for students who have to cross gang lines to get to the campus of their choice. The Irene Dugan campus is now dedicated to service 15 and 16 year olds who are at risk of dropping out or have stopped attending their assigned high school. Dugan now has about 16 students on the books and has space for up to 30. Application forms are available from the Dugan website.

At Second Chance, 46 students are currently enrolled and there is space for 80. Second Chance continue to serve students ages 17 or older who have dropped out and want to finish high school. Call 773-535-1450 for more information and to obtain an application.

This fall, the Peace and Education Alternative High School is opening its third campus at 4946 S. Paulina. (They will be sharing space with Big Picture High School.) Right now 38 students are enrolled and they can take up to 50.

Last year, 36 students graduated from the alternative high school campuses. The school counselor contacted 32 of those graduates over the summer. One is attending Eastern Illinois University. A dozen are attending two-year schools, mostly City Colleges: Daley, Kennedy-King, Harold Washington and Wright. Two of those 12 students already have plans to transfer to four-year schools: one to the UIC College of Nursing and another to Chicago State. Three are in job training programs and one is working full-time, so just over half of the recent graduates are living out concrete postsecondary plans, most of them in some kind of college.