From an early age, my mother told me I was born before my time! I have lived in North Lawndale, on the West Side of Chicago, for the majority of my life. I attended school locally at Howland and Hess. Growing up in the middle of my 5 siblings (four sisters and one brother), I found myself building community as a child throughout the area– Sears, YMCA, Girl Scouts– after-school activities with various agencies and organizations.

I raised one daughter in this neighborhood, in the same two-flat greystone where my mother, Gwendolyn Stewart, raised six children. I strive to uphold my mother’s legacy of hard work, civic advocacy and community ownership by remaining active and vocal in the North Lawndale/West Garfield Park neighborhoods as new development merges with legacy residents like myself and my family.

My goal in my retirement has been to make North Lawndale my Country Club. I’ve been involved with community organizations like SAIC Homan Square, Breakthrough, UCAN, Lawndale Pop-Up Spot and Stone Temple Baptist Church. In 2025, I was a Lead Civic Researcher on a project on aging in place in the community as part of the Black Researchers Collective’s Community Action Research Project.