Johanna Castro

Johanna Castro is a person that seems peaceful and calm. Her voice is soft and gentle. She has dark skin and she has brown eyes. She dresses appropriately for work. Johanna is a person that you can talk to, and also trust. She is a talkative person, and she makes you laugh.


Johanna works as a coordinator in an after-school center. She tutors and mentors children in grades K through 8. In the center, Johanna and others help kids with things that they don’t know. Johanna's been at in the center for two years, and now she’s trying to recruit more children that need help in the community. This center has been around for around 20 years; this center is for kids that are on the streets and who want some education or other help. Johanna is trying to make the center bigger by recruiting more students because the center would help them with the choice of which high school to attend. She wants to help students that need help because when she was little she didn’t speak any English, and nobody would help her with her problems. Well,  only her tutor. When Johanna is not at work she is with her family or playing with the little kids in the center. She told us the she loves the little kids because they say things that are crazy sometimes. She else told us that she loves her family--that they’re her best friends. Johanna's heroes are her mom and her tutor.

Johanna is a hero because she helps people in many different ways, and of all ages. For the kids that are in high school, she helps them pick a college or high school that is better for them. She thinks she’s a hero because she’s young and she has helped a lot of people. Johanna is helping in Logan Square.

Lissette Castaneda

The hero I interviewed is Lisette Castaneda. She’s a Latina and has short black hair. On the day I interviewed her, Lisette was wearing a black blouse with navy blue jeans. I can’t really tell you about her personality, but by the way she was acting she seemed to be a decent lady. Lisette is really mature for her age. She knows how to act in important events.
Lisette’s work was really interesting to me. The work Lisette does is helping out the community with what she can. She works with a lot of social stuff, and she also believes in Christian values; she basically helps out where she can, using the values she believes in.
 I believe Lisette was born in Chicago, but I know for a fact, she was raised here. Lisette went to Lane Technical High School. She began to act for social justice when she was 16 years old. Also, Lisette is the president of LSNA. In my point of view; Lisette was raised by good parents. She defines heroes as someone who goes beyond themselves. Her heroes were people like Martin Luther King, President Abraham Lincoln, and ,I believe, her own mom. Lisette believes a lot in Christianity, so I am guess she goes to church a lot, and helps out there. Lisette has done amazing things, even though many people don’t notice them. By the things she told me, I can really tell that she’s a great person.
She’s a really out-going lady. I believe that in our community she is a hero. She’s a hero because she has helped to make the community a much better place. She tries so hard to make changes in our community, but sometimes she isn't successful because we teenagers don’t worry as much as we should about those things; things like what Lisette does are not noticeable for us because we don’t give it much importance. But, to Lisette, they are  the most important thing. 

By: Nayely Morales Social Justice Academy

LISETTE CASTANEDA

I interviewed Lisette Castaneda on October 22, 2008. On that day, I really got to know her. She is Mexican, has medium wavy hair; she is also very down to earth and friendly. Lisette is caring and has a big heart for people who are less fortunate. She is very energetic, and she loves to meet new people. Her favorite interests are reading and writing, and also worshiping the Lord Above. She graduated from Lane Technical High School. Now, she is the president of LSNA.

Lisette started working with social justice issues when she was 16 years of age. She first bceame involved with LSNA while on a council, and as I mentioned before, she is now president of LSNA. Lisette loves her work. She believes that the community views her and her work as very positive. She stated “right now we are making a big push to have supportive housing.” Lisette feels that it is her calling to help out her fellow Hispanic brothers and sisters because not everyone can fight for themselves. She also says “it can be hard when you’re fighting for what’s right because people can view you negatively.” She believes that social justice will benefit us as citizens, to improve society so people can have equal rights. She says it’s a basic right that everyone deserves.

Lisette is very caring and dedicated. She is also a regular person--she has obstacles to face and she has goals. She also has a big imagination. Lisette believes that if she could change anything about society, she would change the way youth are viewed. She says for a long time there was no such thing as a teenager, it was just children or adults, and people didn't  know how to deal with teens. Also, she has goals to what we should do now. One of her goals is to be successful in life. She always wanted to do good for other people, and not just for herself. Life was not that good for Lisette at times either; she had obstacles to overcome in life as well. One of her obstacles was that her parents separated when she was just 11 years of age. Also, her neighborhood wasn’t the prettiest, and her home life was difficult. Lisette believes she is a better person for that.

Lisette has heroes in her life. She defines a hero as someone who goes well beyond themselves. She looks at people like Martin Luther King Jr., and Cesar Chavez as heroes because they fought for rights for everybody.Lisette says that her mom was a hero to her as well because she was always there for her and she was always selfless. What makes Lisette a hero in my eyes is that she goes after what she feels is right, and she doesn’t care what people think of her. Also because she looks up to people who were very powerful, it helped her to overcome big problems and keep moving on with her life. I think a lot of people should look up to her and give her a lot of respect because she is doing things some people are afraid to do.


Written By:Carlita Wyatt

Martha Juarez

Martha Juarez is a person who loves her job. She has a light skin color with brown eyes. She dresses in dark colors. She was shy at first, but then she got used to us. Martha is the kind of person that gets what she wants. If you get to meet her or talk to her, you will trust her and you will make a new friend.

Martha has been working for Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) for ten years as an organizer in the parent--mentor program. She is the coordinator of the program. Her job is to give the right/correct information, and help people do things correctly. She is enjoying her work at LSNA because when she needed help, there was nobody that could help her. So, now she has the right information to give to people, so they can help each other. Martha enjoys everything about her job.

Martha was inspired to help the community because she didn’t have anybody to help her when she needed help. Martha Juarez defines social justice as equal rights--everybody needs to get treated equally, do the right things for your future.

When Martha was younger, Benito Juarez was her hero. He is still her hero. She says that Benito Juarez was a person from San Pablo who studied to be president of Mexico.

Martha is a hero because she is one lady I know who loves her job. She loves what she is doing, she even told me to keep studying now that we the opportunity, because once we have it and we aren’t enjoying it, one day it is going to be too late to go back.

Written by: Marisol Licea

Martha Juarez

Martha Juarez is a person who likes to help the community. She is in her late 40s. She is light- brown skinned and has light brown wavy hair. She is Mexican. She has two kids. She works for the LSNA in the program for parent mentors. She likes to give the correct information to help people. She really enjoys her job because when she needed help there was no one to help her. When she was a teenager her favorite hero was Benito Juarez. He was her hero because he was a person from the pueblo who studied to be a Mexican president and she admired that. He is still her hero today. She decided to work for social justice because she went to school where her daughters went to. In her free time she likes to take English and computer classes. When she was younger she went to Guadalupe Victoria in Mexico. She is inspired by her job today because she could keep working at her job and help people keep studying. She is working on economic issues, and by being a good leader for our community. Her advice is keep studying. To me Martha is a hero because she loves to help and give good advice to people.

Written by: Julio Borges

Sandra Hernandez

Sandra Hernandez is an 18 year old student attending Columbia college. Also, Sandra has plenty of things to do in her life that interfere with her free time. In appearance, Sandra is a short girl with long hair, and she uses glasses to see with. Sandra told us that she barely has time to get anything done, that includes her hair and her nails; she is always in a hurry to be on time. Sandra's busy schedule includes baby sitting, and working in a bank so she could pay her school fees for Columbia College, where she studies film making . Sandra mentioned that If she is lucky she would have four hours of sleep; to me, that is really hard- working, and she is a really good role model for people who can only deal with one thing at the time, and feel that it is the end of the world because they cant seem to handle the pressure.
Sandra Hernandez's views of social justice began when she became a freshman at Kelvyn Park High School and got involved in plenty of field trips. I read a story that she wrote herself.  She is a shy person: maybe you could say that other students would not notice her or hear her opinion because she has a really soft voice. While Sandra's nationality is Mexican, she came to the United States when she was 3 year old. She considers her parents to be her heroes because they helped her get to where she is in life right now. To me, Sandra is a really good role model because she helps us see for ourself that everything is possible too.
written by: Mayra Barbosa

Sandra Hernadez

Sandra Hernandez is a person that always looks for the best in everyone. Sandra has long black hair and she wears glasses. Sandra has a busy life, but yet she keeps going even though she doesn’t get enough sleep.When she was a high school student at Kelvyn Park, Sandra re-enacted the rumors about KP in a video. The videos addressed these rumors because she wanted to help the new freshmen not to be scared. She also made a video project about gentrification in Logan Square That was an important issue that was happening in the community, and she went door to door to encourage them to vote make the right choice on a referendum about affordable housing. Sandra was born in Mexico. She was brought to America when she was three years old. She is now in college at Columbia College in Chicago, and works two jobs so she can pay her tuition. She is a hard worker. She wants to be a film maker. From the time Sandra was young, and even now, her family is her inspiration. In my opinion, Sandra is a hero because she puts everyone before herself. She is a great person and I know she dearly cares about social justice because she believes everyone's rights should be the same, and everyone’s voice should be heard. I know that anything Sandra does she will accomplish.

Written By: Nancy Guillen

portrait of Ana Molina

Ana Molina is a woman that works hard. Ana’s a Christian. She’s Puerto Rican, is short, has white hair, and wears glasses. She's an older woman.
She works at a church helping poor people. She goes to hospitals to let them know how poor people could get help in the community, and get financial help, also. Ana likes to help young kids, and she likes to give people stuff like clothes, shoes, and food. She would like for the police to give more security to her community because sometimes there is a lot of gangbanging on the streets. She would like to help others put some parks in the community so the kids won’t have to play on the streets or be in danger. She thinks that her only hero is God. She says “Without God we are nothing." Ana has been working all her life, and she loves to do good work. In her free time, she likes to be at home with her dog. When somebody needs help to get to the hospital or clinic, she always takes them, no matter what, and she stays until the person is alright.
Ana thinks that a hero is a person who helps others, she says that social justice means that everybody has the same rights, and should be treated in the same way. Ana has been through a lot of stuff in her life. In her personal life, her husband died in her arms, and she said she felt happy because he’s in a better place. She was there in every moment because she was the only one who helped him until he died. For us, this woman means a lot--because she’s an example for us and because she does so many things for the community. Ana helps so many people…she’s a hero!!!
by Karina and Brenda

Leticia Barrera

Leticia Barera is a mom. She has three children that live with her, two sons and one daughter. She is an immigrant from Mexico and came to the USA when she was a young girl. She has lived in Chicago, Illinois for a long time.

Leticia is happily married, with a wonderful husband who inspires the work that she does. The person that inspired her when she was a little girl was her mom because she told her to do her best in school, and Leticia always looked up to her.
Leticia has been working for LSNA for 6 years. She has been working with the community for about 8-9 years. She likes working with people in different organizations, and she likes working especially with parents and students. She enjoys working outside the community. The work that she does is to learn more about her community and work with students and parents in schools. Leticia is a very nice person to know. She is also very helpful around the community. To me, she is a hero because she spends her time helping out the community.

Written By: Giovanni Mendoza

Ofelia Sanchez

Ofelia is a hero. Ofelia is a person that looks quiet & shy, but when she gets comfortable she breaks out of her shell (so to speak). Ofelia works with school parents, giving tours. She started working when her oldest child was in P-K, and she would also help out with community. Ofelia is a parent-teacher for younger students in the 3rd grade. she tutors them. For 5-6 years, Ofelia  volunteers in classrooms. She a Latina. Ofelia grew up in Chicago, dropping out of high school because of her needs. She has 3 kids with another coming soon. Ofelia always has helped because she knows how it feels to be left behind; she helps students that are falling back, or kids that don’t know English, or don’t know English well. She wants to be a bilingual teacher. She tells others to “keep your head up, be strong. It’s hard work in the real world.” Even though she might not think she’s a hero, she is. Ofelia helps children that need help in their work, or in anything else. Her kids should be proud of her. She won’t back down on helping the children, I know that for a fact.

Dinah Torres

OFELIA SANCHEZ

Ofelia’s work in the community consists of helping elementary school students who are struggling in their classes. She also works with parents who don’t speak much English.
Ofelia is very nice and it seems to me that she has never given up on what she wants to achieve. For example, she dropped out of high school but went back because of her kids. She is currently attending college. Also, I think she is a good mom because she said, “My kids are the most important people in my life.”
I asked her is she had a hero and her response was, “I don’t have a hero, but I used to look up to my ELS teacher.” Ofelia doesn’t see herself as a hero, but I think she is a hero because she helps kids do better in school. Thanks to her they will learn more and progress in life. Another fact that makes her a hero is that she went back to school to do better and to give her kids a better future. Ofelia is a great person and she is very friendly also.

Brian Perea

Brian is a Junior at Kelvyn Park High School. Brian has short hair, and is short and stocky. Brian also has a great attitude because he helps the community get better.

Brian works in the community to make a difference. He works with LSNA in a program called VOYCE. In VOYCE, they research why students drop out of high school. When he was working on the issue why people drop out and other community issues, Brian got to meet a lot of people (like politicians) in the city. Brian started to work with LSNA last year on the issues of the community.

In general, Brian is a shy person. He is shy because he does not like speak in front of people. Brian is athletic and likes to play sports, including football.

Brian’s heroes are his parents. Also, one of his heroes is Juliet de Jesus Alejandre from LSNA. They helped him learn life lessons, and about life in the city.

Brian is a hero because when he works he is very focused on what he is doing. He is dedicated to helping others, even people he doesn’t know. Brian is a hero because he is working on a real-life issue on why students drop out. And he is only 16, so he is making a difference.

Luis Lopez SJA

Leticia Barrera

Leticia Barrera is an education organizer. She helps in the Logan Square community. She has a family: 2 boys and 1 girl. Leticia is happy to be married because her husband supports her a lot in her work. She has spent six years working with LSNA. Leticia works with different groups to improve and help the community. The person that inspires Leticia the most is her mom because she inspired her to never give up, and to go through with her work in life. While she was living in Mexico, she was a teacher. She went to college, and she’s studying to be a bilingual teacher. She was an immigrant from Mexico, but came to the USA at early age. In 1991, she came to Chicago with no job and didn’t know how to speak English. I believe Leticia is a hero because she helps the community out.

Written By: Mario Salgado

Maria Alviso

Maria Alviso works with LSNA in projects that involve parents and young teens. Her job helps many people, helping them make a difference in life. She loves to see people accomplish their goals and feel great at the same time. The fact that she is a Latina who is making some thing good out of her life is inspiring. One challenging part of her job is building new relationships with different people because they have different personalities. When I asked Maria what is her definition of a hero she replied “a hero is someone who helps people stay committed." If she could change one thing in society it would be racism. In Maria’s spare time she reads or watches a movie. One thing that she wants to accomplish is being a bilingual teacher, that’s what she always wanted to do. A word of advice from Maria is “keep your head up." To me Maria is a hero because she helps people stay committed.

maria alviso

Maria has been working with parents and teenagers for years. She has been working with LSNA with helping people in the Logan Square neighborhood. She works in a school and helps kids during after-school hours. She says she loves her work because she likes helping people. In all the years she has worked with people in the community, the most challenging part is when people don’t understand what she is trying to do.
Maria seems to be a funny and outgoing person. She loves to watch TV and spend time with her family . Even in her free time she helps her bilingual people.
Maria believes that a hero is someone who is committed to their work and who helps regardless of the situation. To me, Maria is truly an hero because she is committed to what she does and loves it. People will look up to her and say she is an hero because of how she commits herself to her work.

-Diana Godman-

ofelia

     Ofelia is a hero because she helps kids in the community. She tries to keep them in school and help them understand things they don't know. She is a very warm caring person. She also has three kids and lives in the Logan Square area. She works for LSNA, and she does it to help the community in need. Ofelia knows what they are going through because she went through it herself. She doesn’t want them to drop-out like she did. She helps parents to understand what their kids are doing, and also what’s going on in the community. She told us that she enjoys doing charity and community work because she wants her kids and other kids to grow up in a safe community. She doesn’t get paid and works for free, and she also works with other parents in the community.
    Ofelia is a neighborhood hero because she cares about Hispanic and Latino people. She told us that she’s making her goals and dreams come true. What she wants is for all the kids to graduate and to be someone in life. Her motivation is her kids, and what she did in her past. When Ofelia was growing up, she had trouble with her English, so she dropped out because of her personal needs and family work.
     To me, Ofelia's  a hero because she teaches me that even though she dropped out when she was in high school, she didn’t give up and didn’t take a wrong path. She got it together and became what she is now. She got her G.E.D and is now in college. She cares about her future and didn’t get lost in gangs and drugs. She’s a hero by not falling into temptation and by doing what’s best for her life. Also, now she helps her kids, her race, and also other races. She helps her community to progress, and not end up badly.

Tania Navarrete

Marvin Tate

Marvin Tate is an African American male writer and poet. He is tall, around 6”1, with a little afro. Also, he is thin. Marvin writes poems and songs. One of his books is called School Yard of Broken Dreams, which is an inner look about his community and how he feels about it. He also works with CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy). His job is to help out the community, and make the world a better place for youths and adults. Marvin believes that social justice is “enlightening someone to be whatever they want to be”. Marvin has a family of his own with a wife and teenage daughter. The reason he started writing is because students in his classroom started writing and he decided that they should get their voices heard. So, he took the students to a place where they could write how they felt and turn those feelings into a song. Marvin is a hero in many ways: He helps youths, he doesn’t judge people and Marvin won a 7,000 dollar award for leadership. Marvin is an outgoing, unstoppable man.

-Dawn Burton

Portrait of Leticia Barrera

Portrait of Leticia Barrera
By; Yoselin Arroyo

Leticia Barrera is a person of eternal happiness. She speaks sweetly, calmly, and passionately during the interview. Throughout the interview, Leticia told me often that she loves her job, and I was surprised, because that’s the first time I’ve heard that from a hard-working person. While Leticia’s working, she works with people from LSNA, (students and parents), and she likes working with them. She tries to involve parents into participating in their children’s education. Leticia teaches parents in the community about educational issues. Leticia sees that parents can contribute within their community. She’s been working with LSNA for 6 years, and she’s been working for the community 8-9 years. While she was living in Mexico, she was a teacher. She went back to college, and she’s studying to be a bilingual teacher. Her mom inspired her to never give up, and to go through with her work in life. Leticia’s husband supports her educational goals. She’s happy with her community. Leticia’s a parent of three children, and she loves them very much. She was an immigrant from Mexico, but came to the US at a young age. She has lived for a long time in Chicago, Illinois. She would like to change issues of inequality such as racism, etc.

What is the Community Heroes Project?

When we think of heroes, we think of men with long capes and supernatural powers, or women in high-heeled boots with amazing acrobatic skills.  These heroes fight evil on the pages of our comic books.  They always win, assuring us that good triumphs over evil.  But what about in our own community?  When we look closely we find that there are heroes living and working amongst us.  They may not be easy to recognize at first: no long capes, no high heeled boots, no famous face.  But with quiet dedication and courage, they work every day to make our community a better, more just place.

The purpose of this project is to honor and publicize the work of these community heroes through multi-media projects.