A Project of YAOTL

LVEJO April 22, 2008

The mission of Little Village Envronmental Justice Organization is to work with our families, coworkers, and neighbors to improve our environment and lives in Little Village and Chicago through democracy in action. We work for a real voice in building democracy, including if, how, when and where any development of our communities takes place, as the basis for environmental, economic and social justice. Our environment is where we live, work, study, play and pray. We work with, not against, our Mother Earth and Nature to once again make our air healthy to breath, our water safe to drink and to free our earth from poisons to grow healthy foods.

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One block from the proposed factory site is a Pre-K through 2nd Grade Elementary school of 800 students. Next door is another school with 1,500 students.
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Little Village’s zip code has the 3rd worse air pollution in the 8 county Chicago Metropolitan area.
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The Little Village Community NEEDS 101 acres to meet the MINIMUM standard of 2 acres per 1,000 population!
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Little Village: Population 91,000
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Youngest Median age of Chicago’s 77 communities: 20.9 years old The city agrees 5 new schools are needed: 3 elementary and 2 high schools!
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2 New Neighborhood Libraries or a Regional one are critical to our learning!
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16 acres in the neighborhood are designated for 2 new schools.
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The rest of the open land on Chicago’s southwest is designated for commercial or industrial use.

Little Village is the most densely populated neighborhood in Chicago and has the 2nd largest population, 95,000 (2005 census estimate) of the city’s 77 community areas. Our median age is the city’s youngest, 21.5 years old. According to the 2000 U.S. Census we have 4.6 persons per household, the highest number in the city, with a median household income of $32,320 (making it the 23 rd poorest of 77 community areas). 22% of families are below the U.S. 2003 poverty level of $18,400 (U.S. DHHS poverty guidelines) for a family of four, 45% below 200% the poverty level (Illinois Department of Public Aid). When the number of persons (4.6) per household income is factored in the poverty level rises to $21,540, making Little Village among the ten poorest community areas in Chicago. The 2002 unemployment rate was 11.1% according to the Illinois Department of Labor. Our schools are the most overcrowded in Chicago with a high school drop-out rate of 61% (Chicago Public Schools 2002 data). The % of registered voters among our citizens is the lowest in the city. Our bus and train services were severely cut in 1997-1998 resulting in the loss of bus lines and the only train line without night service. As a result we lost jobs, had to add hours each week onto our commutes to work, school, health care appointments and visits to our families. Our only middle school is home to the country’s first military/ROTC program for children under 14 years old and one of our two high schools has the 2 nd largest military/ROTC program in the city.