In the wake of the horrific violence in Atlanta this week, it's critical that we stand with our Asian-American and Pacific Islander neighbors. We are so lucky to have here in the 33rd ward the HANA Center, which organizes with Korean American and multiethnic immigrant communities. Today, I want to share some resources from them and other organizations doing this important work.  I encourage everyone to read the HANA Center's powerful statement on the murders of Asian American women in Atlanta, and how anti-Asian violence is inextricably linked to broader white supremacy and U.S. militarism.   Asian Americans Advancing Justice will also be holdingContinue

This week marked the one-year anniversary of Covid-19 being declared a global pandemic. I want to take a moment to acknowledge everyone who has struggled through illness, the loss of family or friends, and so many other hardships the past year has brought. We have a long road ahead to start to repair the harms inflicted on individuals, families, and communities.   At the same time, this has been a hopeful week. Some fabulous volunteers are now dedicating their time to helping our office find vaccine appointments for our seniors and frontline workers. As more doses become available in Chicago, we willContinue

This week, the city opened registration for a new mass vaccination site at the United Center. The site will begin administering Covid-19 vaccines next Tuesday, with capacity to administer 6,000 doses per day.   Vaccine supply from the federal government is still limited. The initial round of 110,000 appointments are limited to seniors aged 65+. If appointments still remain at 4PM Sunday, and if there are still appointments open and we have heard that many are still struggling to navigate the city's appointment system. As of Friday, appointments still remain, and you can sign up through zocdoc.com/vaccine or by calling 312.746.4835. CallContinue

We have just wrapped a special Friday afternoon City Council meeting where we passed an ordinance appropriating $377 million in federal dollars for Covid-19 relief. I voted in favor of this ordinance, which includes approximately $79 million for emergency rental assistance, $23 million for vaccination, and $155 million for the Chicago Department of Public Health. However, I remain extremely concerned that the city’s administration opted to spend more than $280 million of Chicago's CARES Act dollars on the police department–that’s more than 60% of the discretionary funds that Chicago got from the federal government for our Covid-19 response in 2020.Continue