Author Archives: Amalia

Safe Zone

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The Alliance of the SouthEast and partners are establishing a safe zone, or neutral zone, on 91st St between Houston and Burley, and on Burley between 89th and 92nd Streets.

The goal is to provide a safe place for children to attend school and for families to use the services on 91st Street, including the library, the YMCA, Metropolitan Family Services, and attend church. The safe zone, or neutral zone, is a zone that is free from violence from 9am-9pm.

There are nine community partners that have agreed to be Safe Havens, places where people can go if they feel threatened. The organization is committed to providing reasonable assistance to persons in distress (which may include calling police or emergency services). Safe Havens are designated with a sign in the window designating them as a safe haven, and has a picture of a street light (shown below).

Safe Haven signsafe passage sign

Ways that you can get involved:

  • Place a Safe Haven (businesses) or a Safe Passage (residents) flier in your window and call police if a child takes shelter or requests assistance.
  • Report any violence to the police. If possible, please give your information. You can make a report ANONYMOUSLY by:
    1. Calling 911 (You can request to be anonymous)
    2. Texting the word “CPD” followed by a video or your description of the crime and person committing the crime to CRIMES (274637), OR
    3. Reporting a crime online to: Community Policing E-tip:
      1. Drug activity
      2. Gang-related activity
      3. Other major crimes
  • Create a phone list/email list with your neighbors to receive neighborhood alerts and to let neighbors know about recent activity.
  • Attend meetings regarding neighborhood safety.

Community Cookout
ASE held our first Community Cookout in July 2013, celebrating the creation of a safe zone along 91st Street and along Burley St. Over 300 people attended the event, including neighborhood residents and their families and local organizations. We had games for both kids and adults, a fire engine tour for kids, and served hamburgers and hot dogs. It was one of the few times neighbors have sat on their porches.

We held our 2nd Community Block Party in 2014 on 91st and Houston, with 400+ people attending.

Kids in line for sack races

Kids waiting in line to get faces painted at the community cookout, celebrating the safe zone.

Sack races

Sack races at the community cookout.

Community Mapping Project with the University of Chicago

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In 2012, the Alliance of the SouthEast employed 20 talented young leaders from the Southeast Side to organize across the neighborhoods, who worked throughout the summer to map and record the community’s resources in partnership with the University of Chicago and After School Matters.

The vision for the Community Mapping Project is simple – if we know where our businesses, faith institutions, nonprofit resources, medical centers, governmental services, schools and homes are, and if there’s a central hub where we can search for them, more Southeast Chicago residents will be able to access the services we need and support our local institutions.

For the 20 youth leaders who built this tool, the Map was not only a cool summer job, it was creating an invaluable resources for their neighbors, while gaining key skills in interviewing, the sociology of mapping, survey methodologies and outreach.

Check out the map here, hosted by our partners at the University of Chicago and SouthSide Health!