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FREE Vol. 40 No. 19
May 13, 2026 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Food Depository ends partnership Can West Suburban with Fraternite Notre Dame reopen?
Alleges discrimination and food-safety issues
Doubts about whether all services can be re-established
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
The Greater Chicago Food Depository notified Fraternite Notre Dame on April 20 that, in 60 days, it would no longer partner with the religious order, citing issues with alleged discrimination and food safety. Now, the food depository is hosting its own food pantry across the street from Fraternite Notre Dame at Austin Town Hall. May 6 was the second Wednesday the food depository did so, distributing food from 1-5 p.m., while Fraternite Notre Dame pantry hours remain Wednesday from 2 to 5 p.m. Though the food depository has already stopped supplying food to Fraternite Notre Dame’s pantry and soup kitchen, it has told the religious order that it will provide guidance and support in the transition. “They might continue their distributions with a supply of food they already had in inventory plus food they’re sourcing through other means,” Jim Conwell, vice president of marketing and communications at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, told Austin Weekly News in a May 5 email. “Our distributions at Austin Town Hall are to ensure food is available for the community until we can get
By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
tory for about 28 years. She said the religious order rejects the food depository’s claims and is looking for another donor to help feed up to 500 families every week.
After West Suburban Medical Center abruptly closed its doors on March 27, local activists started making plans to reopen the hospital. Though Resilience Healthcare CEO Manoj Prasad, who owns West Suburban, said he aims to reopen the hospital by July, that’s contingent on receiving hundreds of millions of dollarsworth of charges from 120,000 claims that the hospital’s Electronic Medical Record system failed to bill for over the last year. And last month, Rathnaker Reddy Patlola — the landlord of West Suburban through Ramco Holdings and a minority owner of Resilience Healthcare — filed a lawsuit against Resilience Healthcare for breach of contract, over $24 million in unpaid rent, and alleged misappropriation of a $10 million state loan. Also in April, Prasad filed a motion disputing these claims. As ownership engages in a legal battle, a group of hospital staff, local activists and residents are making their own plan to reopen the hospital this summer after meeting April 6 to establish working groups. And legislators are trying to approve legislation to prevent sudden
See FOOD DEPOSITORY on page 4
See WEST SUB on page 6
PHOTO BY ERIC ALLIX ROGERS
Greater Chicago Food Depository is giving out food at Austin Town Hall on Wednesdays from 1-5 p.m. a new partnership up and running in the immediate area.” A sister at the Fraternite Notre Dame previously told Austin Weekly News that the religious order has been working with the Greater Chicago Food Deposi-
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