Former Robert Taylor Homes resident Lobeta Holt became another homeless statistic this fall despite promises from the Chicago Housing Authority that residents would have a roof over their heads during the Plan for Transformation Holt is a 30-year-old, disabled mother of six who has paperwork to prove she is lease-compliant. But on Oct. 18, CHA officials moved Holt out of Robert Taylor Homes, placed her belongings in storage and told her to check back with them periodically for a replacement unit. She and her children are sleeping in a relative’s home currently. Read more »

Robert Taylor Homes residents aren’t the only ones getting charged about their high electric bills. As RJ has reported over recent months, many of the residents in Robert Taylor Homes have electric bills in the amounts of $500 to $22,000, and in some cases more. These unpaid bills are a problem for those residents who are being relocated under the Chicago Housing Authority’s Plan for Transformation.

Friday, Oct. 4, was the last day for the residents of 4525 S. Federal St. in the Robert Taylor Homes to be neighbors. The building was being closed in preparation for demolition. The Chicago Housing Authority closed a number of buildings in Robert Taylor this fall to make way for a new mixed-income community they have promised to build in its place.

In the March/April issue, I wrote about extremely high electric bills that many of the residents in Robert Taylor Homes are faced with.

Many Robert Taylor residents are suddenly finding themselves facing extremely high electric bills, bills in the $10,000 range and higher that can make them non-lease compliant and ineligible for replacement housing.

On Sept. 31, former residents of Robert Taylor Homes came out to remember the late Leroy Watkins, who also happened to be my uncle.

One young man, Eric Guy, described Leroy as a valuable member of the community. He was always thinking of others, especially the young people. Leroy moved his family into the Robert Taylor Homes building at 4555 S. Federal St. in April 1962.

Residents remember Leroy as someone who was always willing to lend a helping hand and opening his door to others. He organized a little league team called the Twins for the young men of the development. Later, he formed softball teams called the Invaders and Invaderettes to keep the teenage boys and girls of the development out of trouble. Read more »

When I was a kid growing up in the Robert Taylor Housing Projects, my dream was that one day my family would get a Section 8 and we would be able to move into a nice apartment in a much better neighborhood. It was my mom’s dream too, that someday she would be able to move her family out of the projects.

Long after I grew up and moved out on my own, my mother was finally given the chance to realize at least part of this dream.

The demolition of Robert Taylor meant that after 25 years of living in the projects and raising five kids, she would be given a Section 8 voucher to find a better place to live. Read more »

Robert Taylor Homes resident leaders went on a trip in April to Springfield and Peoria where they saw beautiful new homes that were built by the same developers that will re-build Robert Taylor. But the homes that they saw weren’t for all but a few of the former residents that used to reside in the John Hay Homes and Warren Homes.

Before the redevelopment of Robert Taylor started, many of the residents thought the development teams would be no more than scheme teams, only out to get their land.
Read more »

For the last 4 years, a former resident of Robert Taylor Homes, Mary Sistruck, a young single mother of six, has been moved around from slum to slum after receiving a Housing Choice Voucher  formerly known as a Section 8.

I wrote about her in Residents’ Journal’s February 2001 edition. Sistruck once lived in the “Hole,” a notorious cluster of buildings that once towered over the State Street Corridor at 53rd Street. Sistruck described herself as “moving around like cattle” since she received the Housing Choice Voucher. Her children have attended six different schools since her first move. Read more »

There are a number of cases currently in the courts that involve Chicago police officers who are being accused of corrupt involvement with street gang members.