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The President announced a State of National emergency the night before and four inches of rain fell that morning. But not even those hitches stopped the Northwest Neighborhood Federation Convention.

On Oct.13, 750 people from an 800-block area on the Northwest Side of Chicago came together with 14 public officials to address a series of important community issues.

Folklore dancers, a high school choir, a drum and bugle corp, a standing room only crowd, and a stage full of public officials filled the room with a feeling of celebration and power.

Representative Luis Gutierrez speaks
passionately about the need for amnesty
for undocumented immigrants at the
Northwest Neighborhood Federation's
annual convention.

Community members shared stories of predatory lenders conning them out of their property, class rooms with no or under trained teachers, immigrants unable to get a drivers license or insurance, undocumented immigrants with 15 years of teaching experience working as day laborers, senior citizens unable to stay in their homes, and neighborhoods suffocating from an epidemic growth of violence caused by gangs and dealers.

The public officials responded beyond a simple "yes we can work together." Swept up by the issues and the crowd, they enthusiastically supported combating these issues plaguing the community and made solid commitments to address each issue, including:

l The Department of Housing will extend the HRAIL program to help senior citizens with home repairs.
l Harris Bank, Fannie Mae and the Department of Housing will continue to develop products and counseling to prevent people from getting into predatory loans.
l Chicago Public Schools and Northeastern University agreed to start mini-universities in NNF schools to provide continuing education to the teachers.
l The Chicago City Council and state representatives will push legislation allowing immigrants without social security numbers to apply for drivers licenses.
l The Chicago Police Department will find new and creative ways to stay ahead of the gang members and drug dealers in the NNF neighborhoods, including the purchase of a mobile police sub-station.
l Chicago Public Schools and US Congressman Luis Gutierrez will push to extend the 245(i) amnesty legislation and other laws to allow undocumented teachers with experience to apply for teaching positions in public schools. Northeastern Illinois University committed to providing the training and guidance. NNF currently has a record of 350 undocumented teachers with an average of 15 years teaching experience without work.

The 32,000 families of the Northwest Neighborhood Federation will spend the next year making sure each and every one of these commitments are fulfilled.