waukegan, illinois

this city is despicable. people wait for buses on the muddy icy banks next to the road.

kids, kids, walk in the along busy four lane roads because what sidewalks there are do not get shoveled or plowed. the trailer park has a thin muddy walking trail runny alongside the road.

it's sad, sad. when i come to work every day here at Catholic Charities there is a line. people wait for food, shelter, rental assistance, job coaching, bus tickets, or some sort of help. we call that "help" case management. a year ago the county (without telling anyone) plowed a homeless camp down where they had set up tents. that was only a few blocks from here.

it's pretty dangerous for me to really walk around alone in this neighborhood especially carrying a camera and a purse.

sometimes people dump garbage bags full of old clothes and a lot of stuffed animals and dirty toys for the poor where the staff goes in to work. we have no where to store it and most of the time no one who wants it. good try though.

so this is where i pull up to every morning in my shiny blazer that i can barely make the payments much less my own rent. i buy new socks and underware and really think it's something. rent in this city is so high i can't believe anyone can live here. that's why i don't. i think they are stuck. the waiting list to get on Section 8 is 10,000 people long. (Section 8 is where the government gives you a percentage of your rent). most people i hear from the other agencies around tell me residents don't bother to sign up.

waukegan, though, is building up their lake front. condominiums that will face the lake will go up and sell for $800,000. although the condos facing the jail will be discounted to $600,000. i'm waiting for the blog machine to pick up the word 'condo' and decide to sell a bit of space here. hey, i'm all for progress. how will this help the other again?