Celebrating 20 Years of Community

On Friday, Nov. 16th, BPNC celebrated our 20th anniversary, surrounded by more than 500 hundred people who have made our organization what it is today.

We can think of no better way to have celebrated and thanked everyone for their support over the years.

We have worked hard to realize our vision of a more just and compassionate city. We've put our hopes into action, building a robust network of support and initiatives to serve our community and winning significant investment and policy changes. This would not have been possible without our organizational partners and the thousands of community leaders and allies whose courage and dedication are inspiring.

We are proud of our accomplishments, from winning investments in neighborhoods and public schools to sanctuary protections for immigrants. However, I value that we are an organization where people can grow and develop new understandings of themselves and others. BPNC is an organization where people come in because they can't afford to pay their electric bill but leave as leaders for economic justice, fighting for higher wages for everyone. We are a place where students come because they need tutoring or mentoring. Still, they leave as fighters for education equity to ensure that all students have more significant opportunities to succeed.

That's what BPNC is all about.

• This year, BPNC provided thousands of community members with various services and supports, from public benefits enrollment to financial coaching and adult GED and ESL classes.
• We also worked with thousands of students, offering mental health counseling, academic support, and extracurricular opportunities at our local schools. We expanded our parent mentor program to 8 elementary and middle schools this year.
• We also won significant reforms to protect affordable housing in Chicago through litigation that addressed the discriminatory property tax assessments in Cook County and with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rightsoverrodee the Governor's veto to pass the VOICES Act.

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