Chicago’s oldest environmental justice organization, People for Community Recovery, is being threatened with eviction from its longtime home at Chicago Housing Authority’s Altgeld Gardens in Riverdale.
Cheryl Johnson, executive director of the organization founded by her mother, Hazel, said that for months she’s been trying to resolve the issue with the CHA and private Altgeld property manager Manage Chicago.
Last month, Manage Chicago sent an eviction notice to Johnson, threatening to oust her organization from the CHA property where it has been located since 2012.
The letter, reviewed by the Sun-Times, stated no reason for the action.
Johnson said she’s not been told why CHA or its property manager would want her out other than the office could be used for a family. On Thursday, representatives from the management company tried to enter Johnson’s office and told her they wanted to make sure the unit was vacated, she said.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I think I’d go through something like this,” Johnson said.
The CHA said it is “committed to working with [Johnson] to make sure the organization can remain in the space.” It said it would also investigate “concerns” over Manage Chicago’s interactions with her.
Manage Chicago President Chris Amatore declined to comment, deferring to CHA.
Johnson’s organization was one of three South Side groups that brought a federal civil rights complaint against the city that led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Last year, HUD concluded that the city had long been engaged in discriminatory planning and land-use practices and demanded that Chicago change its ways or lose millions of dollars in annual aid.
The findings angered former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and she initially vowed to fight the Biden administration. Just before she left office in May, Lightfoot signed a binding agreement with HUD to reform its practices.
Johnson recently advised Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration on environmental issues.
Her mother, Hazel Johnson, was a legendary activist known as the “mother of environmental justice.” She gained national attention for her work identifying the toxic dumps surrounding Altgeld Gardens, which was itself built on polluted land.
That area became known as the “toxic doughnut” and is still being cleaned up by environmental officials.
Her work led to an executive order by former President Bill Clinton in 1994 that sought to reduce the pollution burdens in low-income communities.
The organization was founded in Hazel’s family apartment at Altgeld in 1979. Then, for 30 years, it operated at a nearby building before it moved into a CHA unit, Johnson said.
Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.