Gage Park parents concerned after special recreation program moved out as migrants move in
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Neighbors in the Southwest Side's Gage Park community expressed concern Tuesday amid plans to turn a park fieldhouse into a migrant center.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported, many in the neighborhood say they depend on the Gage Park Fieldhouse, at 2412 W. 55th St. in the park of Gage Park, for summer programs.
The programs, which have been held at Gage Park for years, are set to be moved a few miles north to McKinley Park.
A community meeting was held Tuesday evening for residents to voice their concerns.
The city is soon to transform the Gage Park Fieldhouse into the latest center for migrants because it has room for 300. The conversion was Ald. Ray Lopez's (15th) idea.
"We are stepping up to do what we can," Lopez said.
Lopez said the urgency is great – as four more buses of migrants have arrived in Chicago since Tuesday morning. But the plan is not sitting well with everyone.
"Why are you dropping the ball now?" one mother said.
The woman was one of several parents upset that a longstanding recreation program for people with disabilities at Gage Park will now have to move.
"I don't know the fate of the program, in general, I don't know how long we're going to be moved there," said Tiffoni Stepney-Davis, a mother and founder of the Every Step of the Way Resource Center.
Many are concerned that moving programming for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities could be harmful to their instruction, and their progress and even more inaccessible for those traveling long distances to get it.
And the move is coming at the last minute.
"Why weren't we involved with this?" area resident Sandra Ward said at the meeting. "Why didn't anyone talk to us?"
Ward - whose grandson, Julien, attends the program – says the lack of communication bothers her most.
"It's a lack of communication; transportation," Ward said. "You're moving me at least 20 blocks farther down the road."
As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported, there are so many unanswered questions about a program that's been in the same place for so long.
"They provide social skills, cooking, I mean, things that are – basically, after they graduate from the special education system, that's pretty much the only program that they have," Stepney-Davis said.
Stepney-Davis's daughter, Breche Hardy, has autism. She has been going to the same program in Gage Park for over 10 years, and her mother does not want to disrupt a routine a decade in the making.
"They're just like a second home, Gage is. She loves Gage Park," said Stepney-Davis. "I mean, if it wasn't for Gage, she wouldn't have anything."
But now, the program is going to McKinley Park at Pershing Road and Western Boulevard to make room for the migrant housing.
"So now, I probably have to add an extra 15 minutes to commute. To wake up earlier, the whole schedule's going to be off," Stepney-Davis said, "and if you know anything about autism, they thrive off of schedules and structure. So now, there's no structure. Structure is going to be compromised."
The Chicago Park District offers special programming in 22 locations out of 240 fieldhouses throughout the city.
"There are other field houses," Stepney-Davis said. "They can find (one) that doesn't have a special education program."
Parents don't understand why the city chose why Gage Park, where their children have relied on programming for so long.
"The actual changing environment could cause a rash of behavior issues. I don't know what to expect, and we were totally blindsided, said Stepney-Davis.
Ald. Lopez said McKinley Park was better suited for such programs.
"The summer programming, at this point, has all been diverted to other locations. So many of our participants are going to the brand new (Chicago) Park District headquarters, just four blocks north – and many individuals are very excited about that. There are a lot more amenities there than there are here," Lopez said. "And hopefully by the time we are addressing this issue, the summer of next year, this will just be a memory for all of us."
But the rec program is just one part of the bigger issue.
"Are we ever going to get our park back?" a man asked. "What's the log-term solution?"
Finding a long-term solution to the migrant crisis and funding it are things the city, collectively, still has not done. Ald. Lopez and others blame the federal government for its lack of help.
Meanwhile, weeks after approving $51 million to help with the migrant situation, Lopez fears the City Council will soon need to approve more.
"I don't think we're going to see a need for $51 million – I think we're going to see a need for $100 million to get us through the end of the year," Lopez said.
There are also many who are still upset that city resources and dollars have been quickly available for asylum seekers when, they feel, such resources have not been available for other struggling communities in the past.
"None of the funding for this mission is diverted from funding that has been allocated for Chicago homeless," said Matthew Doughty of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Initially, Ald. Lopez told residents that asylum seekers would be moving into the Gage Park Fieldhouse on Saturday, July 1. City officials now say they could be moving in within just a few days.
