W E D N E S D A Y
March 6, 2024 Vol. 44, No. 36
$2.00 @wednesdayjournalinc
@wednesdayjournal
JOURNAL @oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Distributed by
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2024 QUARTER 1
March 6, 2024
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.
AUSTIN’S GOT
NEXT
The evolution of the community’s plan
Austin Coming Together Special section inside
HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS IN OAK PARK
‘Unseen and overlooked’: How Oak Park houses people without homes
The first in an occasional Wednesday Journal series examining people who are unhoused and housing in Oak Park
From many bites, one buffet
By LUZANE DRAUGHON Staff Reporter
Jasmine Handley raises six children on her own in a shelter. But it’s not the hardest thing she’s done. Handley, 30, was sexually abused as a child and taken away from her mother who was addicted to heroin. She was just two years old. She’s been through foster care, sexual assault, domestic violence, cancer and epilepsy. She’s fought them all. She’s not done fighting. “I want to work,” she said. “I’m a workaholic to be honest. I want to achieve the goals that I have … I want
The Daly Bagel table during Bite Nite on March 1 at the 19th Century Club STORY BY JESSICA MORDACQ, PAGE 11
TODD BANNOR
See HOMELESSNESS on page 18
Local news, straight to your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletters at OakPark.com