Despite an overall drop this spring in felony charges like assault and narcotics possession, Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said his jurisdiction saw a 139% increase in the number of child abuse and neglect cases.

A recent poll found that 17% of households in Chicago can’t afford to pay for both their food and bills. How COVID-19 has impacted food security in Chicago six months into the pandemic.

A task force released recommendations this week to help Chicago increase its affordable housing stock. We ask two housing activists to share their thoughts on that guidance.

Young, Black & Lit provides free books that feature Black main characters to children. The organization has distributed more than 5,000 books in the Chicagoland area through book fairs, community groups and schools.

For more than 50 years, a family business in West Garfield Park has persevered in good times and bad. They run a record shop that sells music in many formats – and pretty much anything else that will sell.

​Mexican Independence Day celebrations are a community staple across many communities in Chicago and beyond. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, those celebrations are looking very different this year.

Painted fridges stocked with free, fresh food and drinks have been popping up across Chicago for the past two months. Find out how the Love Fridge project is helping those in need during the pandemic.

Civil rights activist Ruby Bridges has written a children’s book with a candid telling of the past and positive message for the future, inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests.

According to census data, women in the workplace, especially Black women, make far less than white men on average. Cherita Ellens, president and CEO of Women Employed, talks about how to close the pay gap.

Chicago artist Matt Bergstrom wants kids across the city to get to know the homes that make up their neighborhood blocks by building them with their own hands, one free printable model at a time. 

Married musicians and educators Yakini Ajanaku and Jean-Paul Coffy kicked off the daily concert series in March as a way to help their block stay connected through the long days of quarantine due to COVID-19. 

When Diane McCoy Lee was named “Top Teen in Public Housing” in a 1962 Chicago Housing Authority contest, she was a straight-A student. But just a few years later, she was a college dropout in an abusive marriage.

Summer education enrichment programs have taken to Zoom. Are they working?

A community art center is making sure kids have an outlet to express themselves as the pandemic not only limits their activities, but also their resources. We visit the nonprofit SkyArt.

After a long spring indoors, many kids are ready to get back outside. But the pandemic means this year, the boys and girls of summer are practicing social distancing along with catching and hitting.

There is renewed interest in a children’s book written and illustrated by a couple of Chicagoans. We speak with author Michael Tyler and illustrator David Lee Csicsko.