Change Agents The Podcast

Justice That Heals

Chicago can be cruel to its youth, especially to youth of color living in marginalized communities. Restorative justice practices have begun to emerge in the city aiming to remedy the root causes of harm that is plaguing the streets with crime and violence. BUILD has become a fierce proponent of the restorative justice framework and has added it to its tool kit as it expands its reach in the Austin community. Alongside BUILD, are recently founded restorative justice courts extending a life altering hand. In a city rooted in retributive courts, a drug case can be a life defining moment and it was for Michelle Dennis. 

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Produced by Leslie Hurtado | History shows that Chicago’s building trades have excluded construction workers of color. But the attention on George Floyd’s death three years ago inspired a movement toward racial justice everywhere, from schools to jobs. While some construction companies have made commitments to stopping racism and discrimination in the workplace, industry experts say more work needs to be done to build equity in construction. A nonprofit called Revolution Workshop is training emerging carpenters of color to repair the division and harm caused by the industry, but it will take more than training individuals to enter the workforce: it requires a continued fight with Chicago leaders to pass a construction ordinance focused on equity and inclusion. In this episode, we hear from Revolution Workshop alum Brittany Taylor and Parish Sloan share their experiences on facing racial discrimination and unjust working conditions in the industry.

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On the Way Home

Youth who are experiencing homelessness in Chicago are undercounted and frequently clumsily represented. This story’s intent is to counteract public bias around what someone experiencing homelessness looks like. The story of Shawne Hinkle winds us through a personal account of housing difficulties. Her story is one that is incredibly specific to her situation, but also speaks to broader experiences of homeless youth. Shawne is now an employee at the drop-in center for the Lyte Collective in South Side Chicago.

This story explores the Lyte Collective to gain a better grasp of alternative aid provided to homeless youth in Chicago. This organization implements unique solutions to some of the modern problems in the youth homeless service sector. This episode elaborates upon these problems and potential solutions.

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Restaurando La Maceta

Hay un refrán que dice que la aflicción es como una maceta rota. La maceta nunca se va ver igual o funcionar igual a lo que era antes que se rompió— igual a que una familia no se va ver igual o funcionar igual antes de la muerte de una persona querida.

El Centro Sanar pelea contra la cultura tradicional y medicinal para el cuidado de salud y trauma. 

Los clínicos de la organización acompañan a los miembros de la comunidad en su camino para recuperarse de sus traumas con servicios mentales consistentes y gratuitos, cuidado de trauma y el manejo de casos, y todo bajo prácticas colectivas y restaurativas.

En este episodio de Change Agents, productora Grace Del Vecchio examina el papel importante de la organización en el proceso de curación largo y complicado para una familia despues de la muerte de su hijo y hermano de homicidio en 2017. 

Producido por Grace Del Vecchio
Traducción al español por Richie Requena 
Las voces en off por Richie Requena, Emily Soto, Daniela Tovar-Miranda y Marilyn Carteno

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Restoring La Maceta

There’s a metaphor for grief that describes the healing process as gluing a broken flower pot or in Spanish – una maceta – back together after it breaks. The pot will never look or function the same as it did before it was broken – just as a family will never look or function the same as it did before the death of a loved one. 

Centro Sanar seeks to challenge the traditional medicalized culture of mental health and trauma care. The organization’s clinicians’ accompany community members in their journeys to heal and thrive by providing consistent and continual free mental health services, trauma care and case management, all rooted in restorative and collective practices of care. 

In this episode of Change Agents, producer Grace Del Vecchio unpacks the instrumental role the organization played in one family’s long and complicated healing journey after the death of their son and brother to homicide in 2017. 

Produced by Grace Del Vecchio
Voiceovers by Richie Requena and Gk Kay

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ChiFresh is a thriving food service contractor run by worker-owners who are all formally incarcerated.  On busy days ChiFresh can prepare and deliver upwards of 500 meals for clients ranging from nursing homes to schools.  Soon though, they will be able produce TEN TIMES that number, as they ready themselves for a move to a much larger space in the city's westside.  Join Change Agents producers Charles Tharpe and Justin Myers as they introduce us to  these entrepreneurs and share their stories of second chances and transformations, in Cooking Up Opportunity.   

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Where do you get food when the grocery stores aren't open, or when their shelves have gone bare?  Many Chicagoans asked themselves this question for the first time during the 2020 Covid pandemic, but for those living in the food deserts of the city's West and Southside's, the question wasn't a new one.  Join Change Agents producers Liz Murice Alexander, and Dylan Cohen as they take a look at the urban farming collective Grow Greater Englewood, who works in partnership with community stakeholders to develop local food economies and land sovereignty which empower residents to thrive.  

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As communities across the nation grapple with the racist symbols of their past in the form of statues and monuments, in University City, Missouri citizens have embarked on their own journey of racial reckoning, centering the debate on a less discussed, but more common form of  memorial.  As part of the Renaming Streets Task Force, seven citizens had 120 days to research over 200 street names and determine which ones should be targeted for change.  Join Change Agents hosts Victoria Benefield and Emily Soto for The Road to Reclaiming History.

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Description: Many crucial historical perspectives are missing from classrooms all over the nation.  Specifically, Asian-American students are not properly represented in the curriculum, and in many cases, not represented at all. When a Chicago-based organization spearheads the TEAACH Act, the prospect of mandating Asian-American curriculum in Illinois schools finally becomes a possibility.

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A parent and community-led coalition is fighting to keep three elementary schools in the North Lawndale neighborhood open after another community group proposes to close the schools in exchange for one STEAM school. Students, parents and teachers rally against the closures and come up with a proposal of their own. 

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