Latest news with #OakForest-based
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Column: South suburban food pantries expect influx of need after Trump's SNAP cuts
Food pantry operators in the south suburbs are expecting to see more people seeking help due to massive federal funding cuts and changes in the nation's biggest food assistance program that were part of President Donald Trump's mega spending and tax cut law. 'That's definitely going to hurt people, especially people with children that depend on that help,' said Beth Heinrich, director of Elsie's Pantry, which is based out of Savior Divine Lutheran Church in Palos Hills. 'We will most likely get more clients.' Clientele has spiked at the pantry in the years since the pandemic and as consumers have struggled with higher prices for food, gas and other necessities. Before the pandemic, the pantry served about 60 to 70 families a week. It now typically serves roughly between 120 and 140 people each week, during most of the year, Heinrich said. The pantry is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays. Since it was founded 25 years ago, the pantry has served more than 150,000 people, and this year for the first time it ran out of food one week in June and had to close early, said Heinrich. She said she is committed to doing all she can to make sure that never happens again. Oak Forest-based VKMI Hattie B. Williams Food Pantry, which had initially been open one day a week, added a second day in 2022 and a third day last year due to increased need, said Annie Hill, who runs the pantry with the help of volunteers. 'Our parking lot is usually really full,' she said last week. 'This past week I think we averaged about 300 families in the three days we were open.' What's typically bringing people in? 'There's not enough money to pay monthly bills and buy food and then there's also people that lost their jobs,' she said. 'We've seen people affected by cuts with government jobs.' She added she's also seen more people visiting making inquiries at the pantry. 'We're seeing now a lot of people driving to the pantry out of fear of losing their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits,' she said. 'They are seeking out a place that they can come and get what they need in the event that they do lose their SNAP benefits.' The bill President Trump signed last month, cuts $187 billion from SNAP — the biggest cut in the program's history — and expands work requirements for SNAP beneficiaries. Currently, adults up to age 54 without disabilities and dependents are required to work, volunteer or attend training for 80 hours monthly to apply for and keep the food aid. Under the new law, adults ages 55 through 64 will also have to meet those requirements. The law also shifts significant portions of the costs to the states. If they can't make up the difference, states will have to resort to making cuts in the SNAP program such as by restricting eligibility or making it harder for people to enroll, or they could opt out of the program entirely, terminating food assistance entirely in their state. That is according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center says 4 million adults, children, seniors, veterans and people with disabilities nationally will see food assistance terminated or substantially reduced. More than 1.9 million Illinois residents use SNAP benefits. The cuts in the law and requirements put food benefits for an estimated 360,000 Illinoisans at risk, according to a statement Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office released last month. The law's cost shifting mandate potentially could cost Illinois more than $700 million, and administrative burdens could cost the state another $100 million. Due to the SNAP changes, 'I think you will see a dramatic increase as far as having more people coming out to the pantry,' said Sam Latson, who helps run the food pantry at Living Grace Church in Lynwood. The pantry served about 2,000 people last year, and up until recent months had been averaging around 200 clients a month. It is now averaging around 150 a month. Latson said the decline is due to a drop off in the number of Hispanic people seeking help. 'Hispanics are afraid to come out, evidently because of fears of ICE,' he said, referencing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's unprecedented crackdown on undocumented immigrants around the country this year. But amid the changes in SNAP, he still expects overall numbers at the Lynwood pantry to rise. One in five Chicago area households are already experiencing food insecurity, and that's now expected to worsen, says Man-Yee Lee, a spokesperson for The Greater Chicago Food Depository, which supplies area pantries with food. 'This is our worst nightmare,' she said of the SNAP cuts and changes. 'This will cause food insecurity to skyrocket.' In fiscal year 2024, the Food Depository and its partner network distributed more than 121.3 million pounds of food across Cook County, and it served approximately 2.4 million households, said Lee. 'Fiscal year 2024 was a record year for us,' said Lee. 'We distributed more food than we ever have in our 46-year history, even surpassing numbers at the height of the pandemic.' Among recipients of that food is Aubrey Lewandowski. Since the Palos Hills resident was laid off from her job as an operations manager at Amazon, she started working about 30 hours a week delivering food for DoorDash, Uber Eats and Instacart. But she has had to rely on food stamps to help feed her children, ages, 4, 9, 11 and 13. She said she has to also regularly seek help from Elsie's Pantry and St. Blase Pantry in Summit. She has worried about how the SNAP cuts and changes law could affect her benefits. The benefits are 'extremely important,' she said 'With four kids growing, obviously they do eat a lot. Without that, I wouldn't be able to cover all the food.' She said the pantry assistance is also very important. Pantries are concerned about how they will be able to meet the anticipated growing need for help, said Lee, who stressed that emergency food systems and charities were never meant to and can't solve hunger alone, which is why SNAP is vital. 'We recognize our work just became that much more difficult,' she said. But people at the Food Depository have been doing what they can to prepare by stepping up fundraising efforts and through a food Rescue program. That program saves good food from being wasted by connecting food retailers with nearby food pantries and programs in its network. It rescued 15% more food last year than it did the previous year, Lee said. Pantry operators say they will continue doing all that's in their power to tackle food insecurity. 'We've survived for 25 years through everything else, through the pandemic,' said Heinrich. 'We will do what we can with what we have.' Those who want to help to support the emergency food system can do so volunteering at their local pantry, donating and by helping to advocate for anti-hunger policies via social media or though the Food Depository's advocacy action center at for easy to follow actions to help, Lee said. If you or someone you know needs food assistance throughout the year or if you would like to provide support through donations or volunteering, here are contacts for more information: Greater Chicago Food Depository, 773-247-3663 Elsie's Pantry, 708-598-4435, Living Grace Church in Lynwood, 708-895-5690 VKMI Hattie B. Williams Food Pantry in Oak Forest, hattiebpantry@ Annie Hill, 708-927-4561
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Block party shows UnBlocked Englewood's progress on repairing South Side homes
Amid grills cooking savory barbecue, bubbles blowing from an ice cream truck, face painting and peals of laughter from kids in a nearby bouncy house, Justine Mosely Stephens was struggling not to tear up. 'I'm a crybaby,' she said. 'Don't start me. I have been truly blessed and highly favored.' Stephens and many others were taking in the revelry of the second annual block party at 6500 S. Aberdeen St. Block parties are not an unusual sight during the summer months in Chicago, but festivities on this particular Englewood street have garnered attention since 2024. That was when housing activist and social justice artist Tonika Johnson put forth UnBlocked Englewood — an initiative that used grant dollars from the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Mayor's Office of Equity and Justice designated for artists and organizations to create art, acquire vacant lots and repair dozens of buildings for homeowners on the block. The collaborative effort brought together the Chicago Bungalow Association, the Chicago Community Trust, the Terra Foundation for American Art and Oak Forest-based DNR Construction, as well as utilities such as ComEd and Peoples Gas, to weatherproof the homes and provide energy-efficient appliances. DNR conducted assessments of the homes on the block to see what repairs were needed and their costs. In the winter months, Stephens, a Beverly resident who owns and maintains several properties on the block, wanted help with a dilapidated chimney on a building. UnBlocked fixed her chimney and put a boiler in, at no cost to her. Stephens, who does most of her property improvements herself, is looking forward to UnBlocked tackling the porches on her buildings. 'A new boiler will cost you between $3,500 and $5,500,' Stephens said. 'If I add up all the work that they've done for me so far … I'm looking at $100,000.' She said she's talking to two more people looking to get involved with the program now that the results are being seen in real time. According to Amber Hendley, a researcher in residence at the bungalow association and an UnBlocked spokesperson, 18 of 24 properties on the block have already received or will receive home improvements. Next steps entail building and mending gates and fences on 11 properties, porches and decks on 10 properties and repair work and weatherization for four more homes. In the past couple of months, the program has helped two families acquire three vacant lots that sit between their properties. Hendley said the next acquisitions will be two city-owned vacant lots at 6515 and 6520 S. Aberdeen. UnBlocked so far has completed $49,505 in repairs in 2025, including a new roof for a home on Aberdeen and new concrete front stairs at a different house on the block. Another $89,425 has been earmarked for future work, including plumbing and electrical repairs on the street. Appraisals on the 18 participating properties will begin this month. 'Once we've gotten these lots, the block will collectively own over 40% of the vacant lots on the block,' she said. 'There are lots owned by LLCs … that in the next three years we are going to figure out how to get to those absentee landowners to figure out if you're not doing anything with it … don't want it, care about it, we do.' 'You can't make it out here without this program — just look at lumber, materials and labor out the box,' Stephens added. 'People did not realize what they can do, what they can have … now they realize you don't have to live like that.' Kemya Johnson, 19, moved into a three-bedroom apartment owned by Stephens with her mother and brother a month ago from the North Side. Johnson said the family decided to come back to the South Side for the culture. 'We were tired of being around people that don't look like us,' Johnson said. The familiarity with the Englewood area and the people has Johnson ready to stay for a while. 'Now that I know the whole block is being done, I'm grateful, because a lot of people don't care about their neighborhood, but she (Tonika) does,' Johnson said. 'I only met her briefly, but I can see the good she's doing. I love it. We always moved around a lot, never stayed put and we're choosing to stay here.' Melvin Walls had deteriorating green siding replaced on his Aberdeen home with cohesive tan-colored siding. He has plans to build a gazebo and benches for the community to gather in the adjacent undeveloped lot he acquired with the help of UnBlocked. 'Everything in the house is way behind … but if I could get it back up to par, I'll benefit,' the 71-year-old said. 'Things have been getting better slowly but surely.' Keena Washington has been on Aberdeen for 16 years. With UnBlocked, she's looking forward to the flooring being replaced in the kitchen and bathroom in her two-flat. She doesn't think it would have gotten done had it not been for the program. Carla Bruni, a preservation and resiliency specialist with the bungalow association who has been with UnBlocked since it started, said the sustained engagement in the neighborhood has been a unique experience. 'The first year was getting in there, doing any work we could possibly do with the contractors, with what we had in our resources,' Bruni said. 'Second year, we hit the ground fundraising, and now we can spend some of that.' She said she smiles when she's seen neighbors helping others because their load is lighter and they have more room to help someone else. She said a homeowner who's having her roof done felt ashamed at the state of her home. Getting assistance piecing her house back together left her in tears. 'We are collaborating with the residents to put beauty as well as reparative effort into this block,' said Janell Nelson, co-founder and director of activations and engagement for Englewood Arts Collective. Celebrating the progress made and giving thanks, block party attendees watched the unveiling of two sculptures created by artist Kenya Moffett-Garner — two massive sculpted planters, featuring a man and woman and filled with flowers. The sculpted heads sit in a lush lot of green between homes on the block. The West Side-based artist's grandparents live in Englewood. 'It reminds me of people in my family,' she said of her inspiration for the heads and faces she created. 'The inspiration is for people to see themselves in my work.' Illustrator, animator and graphic designer Bianca Pastel was on site as well, with sketchbook in hand, drawing vibes and inspiration from the crowd that will inform a mural she's doing for the block — her first big solo mural. 'I'm really excited that I have this opportunity,' she said. 'I want to build on my fantasy of knights and protection. I want more Black fantasy in these areas.' Tonika Johnson envisions UnBlocked serving as a case study for other neighborhoods to replicate or expand on. The team has been gathering information that organizations and other artists can use — the most important being relationships across sectors, such as researchers, nonprofit organizations and municipal entities. 'You can't do anything like this without everybody talking with one another,' Johnson said. It was when Johnson spoke with TJ Townsend, Walls' grandson, that UnBlocked gelled. He had been helping his grandad make improvements on his mother's home so that his elder could age in place. Johnson learned about his family's history with her 'Inequity for Sale' project, which highlighted the harm racist discriminatory land sale contracts had on Chicago's Black community. Hendley was part of a 2018 study that found between $3.2 and $4 billion of wealth was expropriated during the 1950s and 1960s. 'People get up in age and were like: 'I just want to walk away' (from their homes),' Townsend said. 'That's one of the issues that we have in the city. The younger generation doesn't understand the house is paid for. Our grandparents are living longer, and I had to fuss and beg for them to stay. Seeing that they're staying, now they got the hope and desire back to hang in a little longer.' Brad White, senior program director at the Driehaus Foundation, a partner with the bungalow association, says he's never seen a community-based project like UnBlocked. 'That's another reason this is so valuable, because people can start to believe that they can do this too. And this can show them how … it's going to take a little while, engagement, and everybody come together, but it is possible to get done.' Hendley agrees. 'What's important for us to do is make sure we do right by this block and not just one or two things here and there,' she said. 'We've been in and out of these homes, assessing and reassessing, asking people what they wanted, but also saying, 'Oh, this definitely needs love, because you can't transfer this to the next generation in this condition.' At the end of the work, appraisals will happen again to see the value added to people's homes after the repairs. 'It's all about making sure home ownership is a win, that it does transfer wealth,' Hendley said. 'This is a block full of Black folk who have stayed through all these predatory practices; they should get everything they own to pass on. We're taking care of them, with an eye toward the future, because these homes are an asset.' drockett@
Chicago Tribune
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Block party shows UnBlocked Englewood's progress on repairing South Side homes
Amid grills cooking savory barbecue, bubbles blowing from an ice cream truck, face painting and peals of laughter from kids in a nearby bouncy house, Justine Mosely Stephens was struggling not to tear up. 'I'm a crybaby,' she said. 'Don't start me. I have been truly blessed and highly favored.' Stephens and many others were taking in the revelry of the second annual block party at 6500 S. Aberdeen St. Block parties are not an unusual sight during the summer months in Chicago, but festivities on this particular Englewood street have garnered attention since 2024. That was when housing activist and social justice artist Tonika Johnson put forth UnBlocked Englewood — an initiative that used grant dollars from the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Mayor's Office of Equity and Justice designated for artists and organizations to create art, acquire vacant lots and repair dozens of buildings for homeowners on the block. The collaborative effort brought together the Chicago Bungalow Association, the Chicago Community Trust, the Terra Foundation for American Art and Oak Forest-based DNR Construction, as well as utilities such as ComEd and Peoples Gas, to weatherproof the homes and provide energy-efficient appliances. DNR conducted assessments of the homes on the block to see what repairs were needed and their costs. In the winter months, Stephens, a Beverly resident who owns and maintains several properties on the block, wanted help with a dilapidated chimney on a building. UnBlocked fixed her chimney and put a boiler in, at no cost to her. Stephens, who does most of her property improvements herself, is looking forward to UnBlocked tackling the porches on her buildings. 'A new boiler will cost you between $3,500 and $5,500,' Stephens said. 'If I add up all the work that they've done for me so far … I'm looking at $100,000.' She said she's talking to two more people looking to get involved with the program now that the results are being seen in real time. According to Amber Hendley, a researcher in residence at the bungalow association and an UnBlocked spokesperson, 18 of 24 properties on the block have already received or will receive home improvements. Next steps entail building and mending gates and fences on 11 properties, porches and decks on 10 properties and repair work and weatherization for four more homes. In the past couple of months, the program has helped two families acquire three vacant lots that sit between their properties. Hendley said the next acquisitions will be two city-owned vacant lots at 6515 and 6520 S. Aberdeen. UnBlocked so far has completed $49,505 in repairs in 2025, including a new roof for a home on Aberdeen and new concrete front stairs at a different house on the block. Another $89,425 has been earmarked for future work, including plumbing and electrical repairs on the street. Appraisals on the 18 participating properties will begin this month. 'Once we've gotten these lots, the block will collectively own over 40% of the vacant lots on the block,' she said. 'There are lots owned by LLCs … that in the next three years we are going to figure out how to get to those absentee landowners to figure out if you're not doing anything with it … don't want it, care about it, we do.' 'You can't make it out here without this program — just look at lumber, materials and labor out the box,' Stephens added. 'People did not realize what they can do, what they can have … now they realize you don't have to live like that.' Kemya Johnson, 19, moved into a three-bedroom apartment owned by Stephens with her mother and brother a month ago from the North Side. Johnson said the family decided to come back to the South Side for the culture. 'We were tired of being around people that don't look like us,' Johnson said. The familiarity with the Englewood area and the people has Johnson ready to stay for a while. 'Now that I know the whole block is being done, I'm grateful, because a lot of people don't care about their neighborhood, but she (Tonika) does,' Johnson said. 'I only met her briefly, but I can see the good she's doing. I love it. We always moved around a lot, never stayed put and we're choosing to stay here.' Melvin Walls had deteriorating green siding replaced on his Aberdeen home with cohesive tan-colored siding. He has plans to build a gazebo and benches for the community to gather in the adjacent undeveloped lot he acquired with the help of UnBlocked. 'Everything in the house is way behind … but if I could get it back up to par, I'll benefit,' the 71-year-old said. 'Things have been getting better slowly but surely.' Keena Washington has been on Aberdeen for 16 years. With UnBlocked, she's looking forward to the flooring being replaced in the kitchen and bathroom in her two-flat. She doesn't think it would have gotten done had it not been for the program. Carla Bruni, a preservation and resiliency specialist with the bungalow association who has been with UnBlocked since it started, said the sustained engagement in the neighborhood has been a unique experience. 'The first year was getting in there, doing any work we could possibly do with the contractors, with what we had in our resources,' Bruni said. 'Second year, we hit the ground fundraising, and now we can spend some of that.' She said she smiles when she's seen neighbors helping others because their load is lighter and they have more room to help someone else. She said a homeowner who's having her roof done felt ashamed at the state of her home. Getting assistance piecing her house back together left her in tears. 'We are collaborating with the residents to put beauty as well as reparative effort into this block,' said Janell Nelson, co-founder and director of activations and engagement for Englewood Arts Collective. Celebrating the progress made and giving thanks, block party attendees watched the unveiling of two sculptures created by artist Kenya Moffett-Garner — two massive sculpted planters, featuring a man and woman and filled with flowers. The sculpted heads sit in a lush lot of green between homes on the block. The West Side-based artist's grandparents live in Englewood. 'It reminds me of people in my family,' she said of her inspiration for the heads and faces she created. 'The inspiration is for people to see themselves in my work.' Illustrator, animator and graphic designer Bianca Pastel was on site as well, with sketchbook in hand, drawing vibes and inspiration from the crowd that will inform a mural she's doing for the block — her first big solo mural. 'I'm really excited that I have this opportunity,' she said. 'I want to build on my fantasy of knights and protection. I want more Black fantasy in these areas.' Tonika Johnson envisions UnBlocked serving as a case study for other neighborhoods to replicate or expand on. The team has been gathering information that organizations and other artists can use — the most important being relationships across sectors, such as researchers, nonprofit organizations and municipal entities. 'You can't do anything like this without everybody talking with one another,' Johnson said. It was when Johnson spoke with TJ Townsend, Walls' grandson, that UnBlocked gelled. He had been helping his grandad make improvements on his mother's home so that his elder could age in place. Johnson learned about his family's history with her 'Inequity for Sale' project, which highlighted the harm racist discriminatory land sale contracts had on Chicago's Black community. Hendley was part of a 2018 study that found between $3.2 and $4 billion of wealth was expropriated during the 1950s and 1960s. 'People get up in age and were like: 'I just want to walk away' (from their homes),' Townsend said. 'That's one of the issues that we have in the city. The younger generation doesn't understand the house is paid for. Our grandparents are living longer, and I had to fuss and beg for them to stay. Seeing that they're staying, now they got the hope and desire back to hang in a little longer.' Brad White, senior program director at the Driehaus Foundation, a partner with the bungalow association, says he's never seen a community-based project like UnBlocked. 'That's another reason this is so valuable, because people can start to believe that they can do this too. And this can show them how … it's going to take a little while, engagement, and everybody come together, but it is possible to get done.' Hendley agrees. 'What's important for us to do is make sure we do right by this block and not just one or two things here and there,' she said. 'We've been in and out of these homes, assessing and reassessing, asking people what they wanted, but also saying, 'Oh, this definitely needs love, because you can't transfer this to the next generation in this condition.' At the end of the work, appraisals will happen again to see the value added to people's homes after the repairs. 'It's all about making sure home ownership is a win, that it does transfer wealth,' Hendley said. 'This is a block full of Black folk who have stayed through all these predatory practices; they should get everything they own to pass on. We're taking care of them, with an eye toward the future, because these homes are an asset.'
Chicago Tribune
14-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Economic uncertainties pose risk to south suburban housing market
Risks of recession, potential job cuts and forecasts of trade war-related higher consumer prices could put a damper on the housing market as the spring and summer home buying and selling season approaches, real estate agents said. 'I think our clients have concerns about all of that,' said Erika Villegas, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors, which has more than 16,000 members including members with clients throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. 'Unfortunately, it feels like it's a little bit of everything' weighing on clients. 'We know that's at the top of everybody's mind right now,' said Alonzo Abron Jr., founder and owner of Oak Forest-based A. Progeny Global, a full-service real estate firm with a heavy focus on the south suburbs. 'The thing is the fear. Fear controls a lot in the industry,' Abron said. 'The average person will question should they move or shouldn't they move.' Uncertainty about the economy understandably can make people feel less confident about making long-term investments like buying a home, said Geoff Smith, executive director of the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. The data reflects that. Fannie Mae reported in March that its national home purchase sentiment index decreased 1.8 points in February. That was the first year-over-year decline in nearly two years driven by consumers' increased pessimism that mortgage rates will go down in the next year, a decline in consumers' optimism toward their personal financial situation, including household income, and concern they could lose their job, Fannie Mae said in a news release. Nationally, consumer sentiment dropped 11% in April from March, falling for the fourth straight month, the University of Michigan's survey released Friday showed. Expectations for business conditions, personal finances, incomes, inflation and labor markets all deteriorated. The share of consumers expecting unemployment to rise in the year ahead increased for the fifth straight month and is more than double the November 2024 reading and the highest since 2009, Joanne Hsu, surveys of consumers director, said in a news release. 'I certainly can see that applying to the Chicago area,' Smith said of the national consumer indicators. The Chicago metropolitan housing market already had challenges related to general affordability and a limited supply of for sale housing, he noted. Illinois is one of the states where the for-sale housing supply hasn't rebounded to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. 'The inventories of for sale homes in Illinois are about 60% less than what they were in 2019 pre-COVID,' Smith said. That's among the weakest recoveries in the country, he said. 'This is statewide, but I think it generally would apply to Chicago metro as well,' he said. 'You combine all those conditions with economic uncertainty, it would point to a potentially challenging year in the housing market.' Real estate professionals report the uncertainties, including job security concerns, have already prompted some of their clients to change their plans. Villegas, who is designated managing broker and co-owner RE/MAX in Oak Park, said she had a client under contract to sell who went to work that following Monday and was told the company would be making job cuts. 'They decided not to sell,' she said. 'I have a couple planning to sell, and a spouse suddenly lost the job,' said Carol Moore, real estate broker and instructor at Keller Williams Preferred Realty in Orland Park. 'They've had to re-evaluate.' Abron has also had a few clients change their plans. Would-be sellers, who locked in considerably lower mortgage interest rates in 2019, 2020 and 2021, have opted to stay in their homes because of the continuing higher rates, real estate professionals said. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.62% as of April 10, 2025, down just slightly from 6.64% a week earlier and from 6.88% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. Paris Williams lives in a condominium in Chicago and was in the market for a larger home in the south suburbs for him, his wife and 3-year old daughter. But the couple, who have a 2.5% interest rate on their condo, put the brakes on plans to move until interest rates drop substantially. 'I'm kind of spoiled; 6%, 7% interest rates, financially that makes no sense to me,' Williams said. Closed sales activity in the Chicago metropolitan area is forecast to rise 3.5% in 2025 compared to sales activity in 2024, and home prices are projected to increase nearly 6%, Smith said. But February 2025 sales of single-family homes and condos in the Chicago metropolitan area fell 0.1% to 5,160 from a year earlier, and the inventory of homes fell 1.7% to 11,037, according to the Illinois Realtors monthly report released in March. The median price rose 7.5% to $344,000 from a year earlier. 'Heaven only knows' what the ultimate impact of economic uncertainties will have on the housing market this year, said Moore. 'I feel there is a sense of uneasiness.' In order for real estate professionals to be successful in this market, they have to continue focusing on serving their clients well, she said. 'Regardless of what's going on, if people still need to buy, they still need to buy, and if they still need to sell, they still need to sell,' said Moore. Abron, who is chair of the Global Real Estate Council with the Chicago Association of Realtors, echoed those sentiments. 'There's some fear in the market, but there's always opportunity,' he said. He said his company remains focused on the community and holding outreach events. 'You have to be a resource and not just a brokerage,' he said. Villegas said it's important for real estate professionals to be knowledgeable on the market. 'Knowledge is power, and it allows us to empower our clients,' she said.
