Doug Baschiere, Lawrence House resident and member of the tenant organization, says he has faith things can change for Lawrence House if they can persuade owners Sam and Don Menetti to keep the building up.
Lawrence House residents “take the Moses approach” with vigil
By MEGAN COTTRELL
Original story can be found at http://trueslant.com/megancottrell/2010/06/09/lawrence-house-residents-t...
Doug Baschiere, Lawrence House resident and member of the tenant organization, says he has faith things can change for Lawrence House if they can persuade owners Sam and Don Menetti to keep the building up.
It was more of a collective, spiritual groan than anything. Hundreds of people gathered on the street Monday evening – singing, praying, raising their hands – all petitioning for the same thing: that the residents of Lawrence House be kept safe from harm.
It wasn’t just hypothetical. This Sunday, there was yet another fire in the 12-story Uptown building when a 5th floor unit caught on fire while its occupant was at church. Five people were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation, although there were no futher injuries and the cause of the fire is still unknown.
To many residents, the struggle to fix serious building code violations, problems with pests, vermin and the like has become a religious one. Doug Baschiere compares the tenant organization to Moses, continually asking Pharoah to free his people.
“We pray that you can change the hearts of those who can make decisions,” prayed one local pastor, while another asked for, “freedom from dirt and freedom from vermin.”
Baschiere, who’s lived in Lawrence House for almost 3 years, says he wants to try and be more diplomatic with the building’s owners, Don and Sam Menetti, who’ve been blamed for the building’s problems.
He’s had his own problem with roaches and mice and seen quite a few of his neighbors struggle to get work orders done or deal with the building staff.
“We know it’s never going to become a triple-A hotel, but we do want to try to keep things comfortable and appealing,” says Baschiere.
He acknowledges that the Menettis have fixed some code violations, and he wonders what the real costs are for operating the building, or if the family keeps the building for tax write-off purposes. Baschiere says they might never really know, but in the mean time, he’ll keep petitioning for things to change.
“Moses just kept coming back to Pharoah,” he says. “You can wear a person out that way. Hopefully, something will change.”
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Activists interrupt yuppie dinner plans to talk about rats, mice and bedbugs in low-income housing
Demonstration outside Wicker Park Tavern from Megan Cottrell on Vimeo.
By Megan Cottrell
Original story can be found at http://trueslant.com/megancottrell/2010/06/01/activists-interrupt-yuppie...
I felt like a secret agent, standing at the intersection of North, Milwaukee and Damen at nightfall Wednesday, waiting for something to happen. I glanced from side to side, wondering where the action might come from and when it would start.
A few seconds later, they arrived. A load of protesters on a bus, who started chanting as soon as they filed out of their seats.
“Slum landlords have got to go!” they shouted, taking over the sidewalk that surrounds the Wicker Park Tavern, a swanky bar in the Northside neighborhood owned by brothers Sam and Don Menetti.
Why were activists taking to the streets in this upscale neighborhood, outside a club? Well, the Menettis don’t just own a bunch of city bars – they also own the Lawrence House, a low-income apartment building in Uptown. The activists, from Organization for the North East and other housing organizations in Chicago, were there to deliver a message to the Menettis: they say conditions there have been deteriorating for years and something needs to be done about it.
Tenants complain of vermin, pests, security problems and fire code violations. They’ve petitioned for repairs, but say they’ve gotten no answers.
They delivered a letter to the Menettis, but as you can see in the video (around 1:10), it was not well received. Sam Menetti threw the letter back in lead activist, Cory Muldoon’s face, and reportedly shouted, “I’m going to f*@& you up.” Later, Cory told me that a student reporter asked the Menetti brothers for comment, and they told them to tell Cory that if he was looking to get hurt, he was on the right track. ONE has since filed a police report.
It was one of the best protests I’ve ever been to for three reasons: it was fun, it was short, and it got to people who usually don’t give a damn about subsidized housing conditions.
It’s not that people who are well-off are heartless jerks who don’t care that others are suffering. Big hearts and grinches come in all colors, shapes, sizes and socioeconomic statuses. It’s just that when you’ve got a lovely condo and can afford to go out for dinner on a warm summer night, you forget about suffering because you’re not suffering.
And so protesters reminded them of it, in a space where they couldn’t escape. Surprisingly, people on the street and in the restaurant seemed genuinely interested in what was going on and didn’t react with anger.
Activists, yuppies, low-income communities – they all need each other. We need to share and hear the concerns of our neighbors and collaborate on solutions. People who have means and the ears of their elected officials need to know about the suffering that their neighbors are facing.
I’ll have more about what’s going on at Lawrence House and with other Menetti properties soon. Keep your eyes peeled for action.
