community changemakers | Mi Barrio Me Respalda
Community. Collaboration. Change.
Nearly 100 people showed up in celebration of community changemakers with the launch of the Mi Barrio Me Respalda [My Neighborhood Has My Back] exhibition at Back of the Yards Coffeehouse in Chicago. Produced in collaboration with Borderless Magazine and the Institute for Nonprofit News, the gathering at the coffeehouse is CatchLight Local’s latest Chicago exhibition and community event. Back of the Yards was the perfect setting. Not only is it a Latino-owned business, but proceeds from its sales support neighborhood programs that promote peace and education that is held onsite.
Zines are ready to be distributed. The publication contains all six profiles of community changemakers by April Alonso and Brian Herrera in both English and Spanish. ©Michelle Kanaar/Borderless Magazine 
Illustrator Brian Herrera poses with Elizeth Arguelles, one of the subjects of a Community Changemakers profile. Arguelles, who is a DREAMer and street vendor of tamales, provided food for the event. ©Max Herman/CatchLight 
The crowd enjoys food and drink while listening to Elizeth Arguelles at Back of the Yards Coffeehouse, the Latinx owned business that hosted the community event. @Max Herman/CatchLight 
Brian Herrera chats with Eddie Dominguez, a member of the band, Quinto Imperio, which he featured in his community changemaker project. ©Max Herman/ CatchLight 
CatchLight Fellow, photographer April Alonso with Carolina Gallo who she featured as a community changemaker. ©Max Herman/CatchLight 
Photographer April Alonso dances to the music of Sonorama DJ. Alonso featured three community changemakers in her work: domestic violence advocates Femme Defensa, social worker Carolina Gallo and Grocery Run Club, a food and resources provider. ©Max Herman/CatchLight 
The women of Femme Defensa take a break from the festivities celebrating them was changemakers to take a photo. ©Max Herman/CatchLight 
The staff of Borderless Magazine, one of CatchLight’s partners in Chicago, pose for a picture in front of the poster for Grocery Run Club, from left to right: Nissa Rhee, Michelle Kanaar, Adriana Rezal, Camilla Forte, and Claire Voon. ©Borderless Magazine 
The CatchLight crew gathers for a photo. From left: featured Fellow April Alonso, editing fellow Max Herman, community changemaker Elizeth Arguelles, Director of Programs and Engagement Jenny Straton, CEO Elodie Malliet Storm, Shay Totten and featured Fellow Brian Herrera. Below: 2018 CatchLight Leadership Fellow Carlos Javier Ortiz and current Local Fellow Samantha Cabrera Friend. ©Michelle Kanaar/Borderless Magazine 
CatchLight’s Jenny Straton, Director of Programs and Engagement, was pivotal in making the Community Changemaker’s event at Back of the Yards Coffeehouse happen. Behind Straton you can see some of the Fellows work. ©Michelle Kanaar/Borderless Magazine
The month-long bilingual series reported by, for, and with Latinx Chicagoans, included work by CatchLight Local Fellows April Alonso and Brian Herrera who are a photographer and illustrator, respectively. The series features a collection of stories featuring local changemakers Elizeth Arguelles, Arturo Barbosa, Femme Defensa, Carolina Gallo, Grocery Run Club and Quinto Imperio.
Several of the community changemakers profiled by Alonso and Herrera—Arguelles, Gallo, members of Femme Defensa, and a member of the band Quinto Imperio—were in attendance and helped organize the event which included a pop-up artisan market, a tamales vendor and a free plants and veggies distribution. Sonorama DJs spun tunes all afternoon, bringing in passersby and enticing several attendees to take to the dance floor.
The work
From top left: photographs by April Alonso of Carolina Gallo, Femme Defensa members building housing, Grocery Run Club volunteer boxing food for distribution. Brian Herrera’s illustrated comic panels of Elizeth Arguelles, Quinto Imperio and chef Arturo Barbosa
Flip through the zine
Complete bilingual downloadable version coming soon.
Staff from the collaboration partners Borderless Magazine and the Institute for Nonprofit News, mingled with youth from Increase the Peace, a local organization connected to Arguelles, who were talking with neighborhood attendees about vaccines, rental assistance and food assistance.
Some of the banners on display at the exhibition will be placed throughout the neighborhood and include a QR code people can scan to access more resources. In addition, a free bilingual zine, which will continue to be distributed throughout the neighborhood, was handed out. The zine includes lists of organizations and resources that provide food and pantry goods as well as safety and support services.
A full recap of the event, including a video and a downloadable version of the zine, will be posted on CatchLight’s website in August.
Made possible with generous support from the McCormick Foundation and the Kresge Foundation