As mayor touts lower crime, community orgs say lack of funding jeopardizes the trend
Mayor Brandon Johnson took a stroll through South Shore Tuesday morning that was meant to highlight the neighborhood’s dramatic drop in homicides, part of an encouraging citywide trend that saw killings fall to their lowest level in decades.
But Johnson’s jaunt through the 7200 block of South Phillips Avenue ultimately brought attention to the area’s long-standing troubles and what’s needed to keep things on the right track.
When Johnson sat down with social service workers and other neighborhood leaders Tuesday morning, their message was clear: We need more funding, and we need it fast.
LaVonte Stewart, executive director of the sports and mentorship program Lost Boyz Inc., said he had to lay off 60% of his staff after pandemic stimulus funds ran out last year. He’s now turning to the city to fill that gap.
“We need funding, proper funding, sir, so we can do what we need to do and keep the work going,” Stewart said during the meeting with Johnson Tuesday. “We're hurting over here, Mr. Mayor.”
While crime is down citywide, Johnson has used the Greater Grand Crossing police district as a shining example of how community organizations can help reduce violent crime.
The district, which includes portions of the South Shore, Hyde Park, Woodlawn and Englewood neighborhoods, saw a 53.9% decrease in homicides last year compared to 2024, according to Chicago police data.
Johnson began his morning walking with Grand Crossing District Cmdr. Melvin Branch, who pointed out one of the district’s “problem buildings” that he credited neighbors for helping get under control.
“The community is pretty much our biggest partner,” Branch said. “We can't do it without them. … Get on the phone and make that call, get us where we need to be, where the problems are, and guarantee numbers will continue to go down.”
To keep crime down, Johnson said the city must continue to expand youth employment programs, mental health services and small-business opportunities.
“The work is working, and now this is about ensuring that the investments that we make can go citywide,” Johnson said. “These investments in public education and other critical services that people rely upon really help reduce and drive violence down.”
The source of increased funding for such investments remains to be seen. Johnson previously called on Springfield and local philanthropists to step up.
Johnson and Branch ended their morning at The Brew coffee shop, 7101 S. Yates Blvd., where a group of South Shore leaders applauded the changes in the neighborhood but pressed the mayor to commit to greater support.
“We feel that change in violence. It's a fun place to walk around,” said Sean McGinnis, who helps lead the social services organization Lawrence Hall. “It's just we're very eager to keep it going. We know exactly what it is that made this happen, and we don't want it to be lost. We don't want it to change.”
McGinnis said he worries that much of the existing city funding isn't reaching South Shore. Lawrence Hall and Stewart’s Lost Boyz said the city recently rejected their grant application for mentorship programs.
“The concern for us with the mentoring is we've had it for a long time,” McGinnis said, “We've had incredible outcomes. We have meaningful relationships with kids from it, and mentors. And to lose that is just devastating.”
Johnson acknowledged there are issues with the ways funds are disseminated, and that an overall need for more funding exists, citing his recent, bruising battle over the city budget.
“I fought with everything in me to get a budget that would have been better situated in my estimation for the type of things that you're laying out,” Johnson told community leaders.