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CHICAGO--At their first public meeting on the issue, North River Commission won a commitment from the Chicago Housing Authority's boss for greater accountability on the status of scattered site housing in the Albany Park neighborhood. Their second, just eight weeks later, saw the CHA chief make good on his commitment.

"When we met with [CHA chief Phil] Jackson two months ago, he promised to address the gang and drug activity around a CHA building and he's living up to his commitment…" Elizabeth Correa of NRC told a local newspaper, the Northwest Side Press.

The group is still pushing for a greater police presence to thwart drug dealing in their community and is seeking better flood control of the North Branch of the Chicago River as well as better city services. One of the new group's key leaders, Zoraida June, wrote the following commentary for the group's community newsletter following their recent neighborhood safety victory.

WHAT IS ALL THIS ABOUT?

All this is about working together to improve our community. Our neighborhood is made of Latinos, Asian, Whites, Blacks, etc. with a common goal which is to have safer streets, better schools and recreation and a clean environment without floods. Although this "mixture" of people could be thought of as an obstacle to define and to solve problems, we see it as an advantage because we have different points of view to analyze and to approach the issues that concern us.

The way to look at our diversity is searching for our similarities. It does not matter where we came from. The important point is what we care for. As members of a community we have the same goals, needs and expectations for ourselves and our children, we care for safety, good schools and recreation for our children in a clean environment.

If we focus on our similarities instead of on our differences, we will realize how fortunate we are to be able to come up with diverse ideas and strategies to make the changes necessary to raise our standards of living, and those changes will be possible if we work together and if we support each other. It is the responsibility of each of us to participate in the process of improving our neighborhood. The key word here is PARTICPATING.

We participate by raising issues that are important to our community. We participate by developing strategies on how to make sure that the officials do the job they are supposed to do. By supporting those strategies we are participants of the victories we win for our neighborhood, which are ultimately the victory of each of us and our families.

By participating, by creating our block clubs, and by supporting each other, our community will be better and stronger each day. We deserve this, and our children do, too.

In a short period of time we have proven that by staying together we can make the officials from different institutions who have the power to make decisions and to make the changes that our community requires listen to our needs. But this is just the beginning of a long road and we will get to the winning line only if we stay TOGETHER, participating in planning and carrying out strategies. Let's work together and stay united. That is the only way our community can achieve its goals.