So so so proud of my neighbors!

We did that y’all 🥹. #BerwynProud

And we’re not done. Why?

Because sometimes you have to be willing to show up when others don’t.

Stay tuned for our next clean up later this summer! And a HUGE shout out to everyone who came out today!

#EarthDay #CommunityCleanup #BerwynProud #15West #LocalNews #HowWeShowUp

A group of Berwyn residents pose in front of Berwyn Rec ahead of a community cleanup. Some kneel, others stand and smile

A resident in a lavender jacket, black track pants, and orange nitrile gloves wheels back more trash collected on her route in a black cart.

8 white bags of trash on the ground

A mom and daughter clean vehicular debris from the sides of train tracks. The mother kneels as a train goes by behind her. Her daughter watches.

101 lbs. 13 volunteers. 2 hours. 😮‍💨

Earlier today, neighbors across #Berwyn came together for our FIRST block cleanup — and they weren’t playing around.

3 routes. 13 bags. Over 100 lbs of trash off our streets, alleys, and litter hot spots near train tracks.

We’re also bringing residents together through a community cleanup in Berwyn’s 2nd Ward.

Learn more here: 15west.org/organizing

Orange Local News Day (April 9) celebratory graphic

👀 Have you heard?

Today is #LocalNewsDay, a day to celebrate the local news you trust and info that keeps our
communities informed.

At 15 West, we’re honored to serve the West Side of Chicago and suburbs every day.

Support local by reading our latest stories on 15west.org and/or subscribing.

Every time I'm in Pittsburgh, @alternatehistories.bsky.social is on my list for a visit. Their art is delightful, and their latest shirt design is raising funds for a group that does rapid response training for safely witnessing and documenting immigration enforcement activity

We hope to bring this to more wards in the near future!

Learn more: 15west.org/organizing

Humans vs trash, 2-0 😤.

Join us this #earthday & #localnewsday for a #Berwyn community cleanup in Ward 2.

Use this form to request cleanup on your block: bit.ly/BerwynWard2C...

DM or Email programs@luckyjefferson.com to volunteer!

One of our own @nabeelawashington.com 🥹

Oak Park residents question wording of indoor pool referendum Ballot measure asks voters to approve $40 million in bonds, but does not mention that the Ridgeland Common outdoor pool would be replaced.

Oak Park voters will decide on the referendum in the March 17 election.

Read the full story: www.15west.org/featured/oak...

✍🏻: Georgia Rau

🎨: Rae Rae Villarreal a senior graduating this spring with a BFA in Illustration.

Oak Park residents question wording of indoor pool referendum Ballot measure asks voters to approve $40 million in bonds, but does not mention that the Ridgeland Common outdoor pool would be replaced.

“We are trying to make sure that we are answering everyone’s questions, so that they know what they’re, in essence, voting for,” said Park District Executive Director Jan Arnold. 

www.15west.org/featured/oak...

“My biggest concern is the language & the referendum, because it leaves out that they’re going to close Ridgeland outdoor pool to build this indoor pool,” said resident Dawn Brightfield.

The new facility would include updated amenities. Some worry voters aren’t aware of what they’re approving.

An illustration of a red ballot box labeled "BALLOTS" in the foreground of an outdoor pool deck, surrounded by yes/no ballot papers flying through the air.

For #OakPark residents, the upcoming March 17 referendum on a $40 million indoor aquatic center is raising questions, mainly because the ballot doesn’t mention that the Ridgeland Common outdoor pool would be replaced.

✍🏽 & 📸: NaBeela Washington @nabeelawashington.com

Anita Piotrowski Finally Gets to Be Seen In retirement, she's become the artist she always was.

Her sold-out workshop, How to Make an Art Quilt, takes place March 21st at the Humboldt Park Branch. A second date may be added.

Read the full story:

www.15west.org/featured/ani...

Anita Piotrowski Finally Gets to Be Seen In retirement, she's become the artist she always was.

Her son Paul, who grew up watching her fill sketchbooks, put it simply: "I've always known my mom is talented. That's just been common knowledge."

"You jump in, and you swim," Piotrowski said. "And you just keep going."

www.15west.org/featured/ani...

Now, at 66, Piotrowski is finally getting to be seen.

Four of her quilts are on display at the Chicago Public Library's Humboldt Park Branch, pieces that move between Chicago's skyline and her father's island of Vieques in Puerto Rico, between her Mexican roots and the city that raised her.

Piotrowski holding up her Art Institute quilt. | NaBeela Washington/15 West

For more than 20 years, Anita Piotrowski kept a sketch tucked in a drawer.

Then she retired, and used fabric to bring it to life.

After Operation Midway Blitz, Little Village refuses to disappear Six months later, residents are still healing. But they're also organizing, shopping local, and refusing to be broken.

“Little Village is resilient, has resilient people, and we know that after the storm, the sun's going to come out.”

- Baltazar Enríquez, Little Village Community Council

Visit 15west.org to read the full story. Link in bio.

✍🏽: Alondra Carmona
📸: NaBeela Washington & Alondra Carmona

Families stopped coming outside. Businesses were quieter than normal. Children weren't focusing in school. Street vendors had lost so much.

Residents say the raids were targeted. But they never stopped organizing. Showing up for each other. Refusing to disappear.

The "Bienvenidos a Little Village" arch on 26th Street silhouetted against a colorful sunset sky.

For longtime #LittleVillage residents, September 2025 was unlike anything they had ever seen.

And even though the National Guard withdrew from their operation in December, fear stayed behind.

March 2026 Cook County Judicial Election Guide | Injustice Watch Injustice Watch's guide to the March 2026 Cook County judicial primary elections.

ALL MY CHICAGO PEOPLE. LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARIAN:

Don’t know which judicial candidates to vote for this primary election? @injusticewatch.org has researched all of the candidates for their 2026 Cook County judicial election guide. #CheckYourJudges 2026primary.injusticewatch.org

How Ojala Foundation Is Building What Chicago's Latino Muslim Community Never Had What happens when a Latino Muslim community decides to build its own home and leaves the door open for others in the process.

Now, Ojala is opening the first Latino-led mosque in Berwyn, already welcoming the community for daily prayers this #Ramadan.

Read the full story: www.15west.org/featured/how...

✍🏾: Sumaiyya Siddiqi
📸: Jordan Esparza-Kelley

Every week, volunteers show up to with food, care packages, and ICE safety updates for neighbors.

“I knew that I could be Mexican and I could be Muslim, and those things are never in conflict with each other,” said Jordan Esparza-Kelley, Ojala member and Communications Coordinator at CAIR-Chicago

Palestinian and Mexican flags at Ojala's Eid celebration. Provided by Jordan Esparza-Kelley

8% of Illinois Muslims identify as Hispanic.

For Chicago’s Latino Muslim community, finding a space that felt like home meant building one yourself.

For years, that’s exactly what Ojala Foundation has been doing in Berwyn: a home for Latino Muslims, and a neighbor to everyone else.

In the first live-streamed genocide, Chicago challenges media narratives on Gaza Local artists, educators, and journalists are using exhibitions, research, and storytelling to counter what they see as dehumanizing coverage of Palestinians.

“Ismail believed that transmitting feeling is more powerful than transmitting news,” said Ghada Hamwi of ByPalestine, the organization Abu Hatab founded.

Full story: www.15west.org/featured/in-...

Several photographs clipped to a clothesline with wooden clothespins, showing various scenes including ocean views and people at a beach. Additional photos are visible in the background on what appears to be a desk or table surface.

It featured photos by Gazan photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab, who was killed by an Israeli missile strike in June 2025 before the show opened at Walls Turned Sideways in East Garfield Park.

Photograph suspended on a clothesline capture moments of everyday life and a coastal scene in Gaza

How often have you seen Palestinian children smiling?

A Chicago exhibition called “Between Sky and Sea” aimed to change that.

a woman is crying and holding a tissue in her hand with the words thank you written on it . Alt: Oprah is crying and holding a tissue in her hand with the words thank you written at the bottom of the image .

🧡🧡🧡 you’re the best!

@laminda.bsky.social 🔥🧡 🔥

If there’s still room, could we be added?