Photography by Eddie Quiñones.
Drive along the “Armitage Avenue Welcoming Corridor” between Pulaski Street and Kostner Avenue in Hermosa, a vibrant Latinx community on the city’s Northwest side, and you may catch a glimpse of some of the mosaic monarch butterflies displayed on a number of storefronts.
The butterflies—and the corridor itself—are part of a project sponsored by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) to foster connectivity, a sense of security for Hermosa residents. Two year-long grants ($10,000 each) from Nuestro Futuro, an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, were significant in making the corridor project a reality.
“Nuestro Futuro has been instrumental in supporting our efforts around the welcoming corridor,” said Marcelo Ferrer, director of immigration services.
The organization’s work also includes supporting businesses, celebrating culture and reinforcing a sense of stability. In the future, LSNA plans to build a welcoming plaza in an empty lot on the corridor for a gathering place. The grants from Nuestro Futuro have allowed LSNA to keep the corridor’s development percolating, no matter what else was going on, according to Ferrer.
Last year, LSNA sponsored Tamal, a hugely successful one-day festival in a stretch of the corridor; vendors sold tamale-style wraps from a number of Latinx cultures. The second annual Tamal was scheduled for this fall, until COVID-19 prevented it from moving forward. Organizers made a quick pivot to something very different: a smaller, solidarity-focused event called Carnival Cariño.