Community Renewal Society Annual Report 2007: The Chicago Reporter

The Chicago Reporter: Advancing the Issues

Investigations of wrongdoing in City of Chicago hiring practices. Longtime employee Frank Coconate, who was fired from his job with the water department, used a Reporter article as the cornerstone of his case after filing a lawsuit. In his testimony he read an excerpt, where he said there was a master sheet of which workers were “in” or “out.” He said he will continue to use the article if the case moves to federal court.
Barriers for legal immigrants. Unsuspecting Argentinian Ricardo Viesaga never expected to earn just 51 cents and hour when he applied for a restaurant’s help-wanted ad. After leaving what he called slave-like conditions, Viesaga waited in vain to receive a visa allowing him to work legally. Six years later, our story on the growth of human trafficking within our borders prompted new attention for his case, and his visa was approved. As he put it, “I think they acted on fear of bad press: Why else would they have offered to have three lawyers give their services to me?”
Access to public housing. Staff members at Access Living, which advocates on behalf of individuals with disabilities, used our stories on public housing to help inform and train public housing residents with disabilities who were facing relocation.