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■ ACT awards honor Austin leaders PAGE 3
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AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2025 QUARTER 4
November 26, 20
THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY PUBLISHED ITS FIRST QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN CALLED AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. (AFT) IN 2018. THIS QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DESCRIBES HOW AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER (ACT) IS SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY TO IMPLEMENT AFT AND OTHER EFFORTS.
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Aspire Center sparks early wins for Austin
Vol. 39 No. 47
November 26, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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ACT section, section INSIDE
Hope Center completes frame, Entertainment celebrates with ‘topping-off ’ ceremony apprentices train for film and TV careers
Final beam placed on new children’s health facility, a first for the West Side By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter
A crane lifted the final beam of the Austin HOPE Center onto the frame of the building on Nov. 17, completing the internal structure of the West Side’s first standalone pediatric specialty and behavioral health facility. The 25,000-square-foot building at 5036 W. Chicago Ave is expected to be completed in late summer next year. Then, Lurie Children’s Hospital will rent space in the building from Stone Community Development Corporation and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives to provide youth in and around Austin with affordable, high-quality primary care, behavioral health resources, and services for children with chronic diseases. “Let this beam be a banner of hope, a symbol of unity and a reminder that, when community comes together, transformation follows,” said Pastor Contrell Jenkins, See HOPE CENTER on page 8
Writers’ rooms, acting workshops and professional-level training for industry hopefuls By HECTOR CERVANTES Contributing Reporter
TODD BANNOR
Constuction workers guide the final beam into place at the topping-off ceremony for the new Austin HOPE Center on Nov. 17.
Chicago teens and young adults are getting a direct path into film and television careers thanks to the new Entertainment Industry Apprenticeship Program, a hands-on training initiative launched this year by Hollywood producer and South Side native Denita Patterson. Through Destiny Outreach’s Dreams and Destiny curriculum, apprentices receive industrylevel workshops, professional development and paid placements designed to open doors that See ENTERTAINMENT on page 9