Montrose Ave. to Irving Park Road - Monticello Ave. to Sacremento Ave.
United Neighbors in Team Effort was founded in May of 1976 by a group of neighbors that felt a need to become organized and form a voice for the community they lived in. Founders Harold and Patricia Fagan, owners of the long gone Fagan Paint, provided the avenue to success for the civic. Today, the U.N.I.T.E Board of Directors is made up of communinty residents that share the same concern for the community as a whole.
Through the years U.N.I.T.E. has kept the goals and mission alive by an array of projects and involement in the community:
-We deliver a community newsletter, UNITE Neighbhood News to every community household with our boundaries, five times a year. It provides an opportunity to read about various issues and events in the community with problem solving ideas and concerns.
-We provide a forum for the communty by holding general community meetings five times a year. Guest speakers have ranged from our local librarian, Alderman, Police District Commander, Police District CAPS representatives, State Representatives, area business and housing developers, City of Chicago officials and department heads.
-We work directly with local police, being open, communicative and supportive in our efforts to solve crime issues in our community. We work with CAPS by attending local beat meetings. We take to the street for crime walks, whether with CAPS, the National Night Out, or with a small block club that wants the gangs to know the community is aware of their activities.
-We focus on and involve ourselves in the commercial and residential development that is taking place in our local community.
-We are part of Alderman Mell's Vision committee that is involved in the revitalization of the Kedzie and Irving Park area.
-We beautify the neighborhood through the UNITE Garden Club, as it brings neighbors out in unity, talking and getting to know each other while showing off their green thumbs.
-We helped identify our neighborhood with street banners, welcoming passers bye to the Irving Park Neighborhood.
-We have held "Smoke-Outs", a positive loitering activity for the community, whereby concerned citizens make a visible presence against gang infilitration of our neighborhood streets. A couple of grills, some hot dogs and what ever folks bring turns out to be a great way to meet neighbors-- and we can lower crime because more people are out on their block, involved!
- We organized a nieghborhood Garage Sale, an annual event, which makes for a neighborhood feeling for participants and shoppers alike, gives people a chance to get out and visist with neighbors and friends while helping the sellers earn a little cash in the process. This also is advertised citywide which is helps put the Irving Park neighborhood name on the map as a place where fests happen!
-We have supported our local schools through book donations and reading contests.
-We have given gifts of home made cookies to our senior citizens at the holidays.
-We helped homeowners through a facade rebate program. Over a dozen houses in the community got a new paint job, porch, windows or front doors.
-We suport our local storefront library with donations, while we work with our Alderman to help build a new facility.
President: Stephanie Fishel
Vice President: Anna Arendt
Treasurer: Barb Dabrowski
Recording Secretary: Anna Arendt
Board of Directors
Harold Brankey, Jr.
Adam Cohen
Gisela Gutierrez
Cheir Tatar
Fax: 773/294-3502
email: unitecivic@yahoo.com 12