30 Years of Activism...
But the Battle Has Just Begun
Give to PCR
PCR's Mission
PCR's mission is to enhance the quality of life of residents living in communities affected by pollution. PCR educates and advocates policy and programs in an effort to coordinate local residents on issues of the environment, health, housing, neighborhood safety, and economic equity.
2001
-Organized a Community forum with public officials to discuss tenant rights issues, police brutality, urban progress concerns and accountability of public officials to its constituents.
-Collaborated with Northwestern University to produce a video documentary on the lawsuit residents filed against the Chicago Housing Authority regarding the PCBs and PAHs contamination in Altgeld Gardens. The film was entitled The Poison Promise of Altgeld Gardens.
From Left: USEPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, PCR Executive Director Cheryl Johnson, and PCR Founder/ President Hazel Johnson
1992
-Hazel Johnson was one of 13 African Americans who attended the United Nation Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
-Helped form Citizens United to Reclaim the Environment (CURE) which represented eight communities on the southeast side of Chicago.
-The recipient of the Presidents Environmental and Conservation Challenge Award presented by the former President George Bush, Sr., PCR was the only African American grassroots community based organization in the country to receive the nations highest environmental award.
1993
-Hazel Johnson, Chief Executive of PCR, was the 1993 recipient of the Tampax Women of Action Environmental Award.
1994
-PCR sponsored a Midwest Great Lakes Environmental Justice Summit
-Completed 722 surveys in Altgeld on lead poisoning potential risks in homes.
-Completed 200 community health surveys documenting diseases and illnesses that maybe environmentally related.
1997
-PCR was honored as one of the countrys top 100 environmental organizations by former President Bill Clinton.
-Implemented the tenant-to-tenant lead education entitled Resident Education About Lead Project. The goal of this project was to educate the residents about potential environmental lead exposures in their homes and how to prevent their children from being lead poisoned.
-Organized 1800 residents to attend a community meeting on the sodium trioxide spill in the community caused by the PMC Specialty Group. The residents expressed serious concerns about the health implications that were caused by the spill.
1998
-Hosted a meeting with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region V to prove that the soil contamination of PAHs are excessively high which can cause skin cancer and skin rash to individuals who come in contact with the soil. PCR teamed up with Northwestern Universitys Civil Engineering Department and the Chicago Legal Clinic to present the analysis to the US EPA.
-Trained twenty workers in Altgeld Gardens on environmental lead dust reduction in the renovation of apartments.
1999
-PCR worked extensively to monitor the cleanup process of a storage shed in Altgeld Gardens that was contaminated with PCBs oil.
PCR's Environmental Programs
Environmental Training, Education and Awareness is a partnership with the Coalition of Black Trade Unionist under the Community Action and Response to Environmental Toxic (CARET) Program to train residents in various environmental aspects to empower them become more knowledgable and marketable in the environmental field.
Environmental Careers Exploration for Youth is a program designed to engage youth in the awareness of environmental careers. The purpose of this program is to teach youth about green industry technology and services, indoor/outdoor air quality and environmental hazards (such as lead, asbestos, carbon monoxide, and radon gas), mold sampling, and general health effects of exposure including identification, treatment and abatement methods.
Youth Photovoice for Environmental Justice Club
Activism through Visual Artistry
Altgeld Garden's Environmental Justice Photovoice Club is a program designed to teach youth about environmental justice issues in their community. Youth are encouraged to use photography to share their personal stories, expose societal and environmental injustices, and to garner support for issues that affect their community. PCR's Photovoice Club also has a partnership with Le Mete, a non profit in Paris, France. Using online media and social networking sites, youth from each organization share their experiences with one another.
Employment Services
PCR's Economic Development Program is designed to teach residents how to prepare resumes, proper interview etiquette, and how to conduct skills assessments to help identify what jobs fits their skills. We also provide clients with referrals to jobs with local environmental and general construction contractors and provide individuals interested in starting their own construction company with referrals to the Small Contractor Network..
Housing Rights and Advocacy
In helping clients receive fair and equal treatment in housing issues, PCR:
PCR's History
People for Community Recovery (PCR) was founded in June 1979 and was incorporated on October 25, 1982. It mission, to press for serious and long overdue repair work in Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago Housing Authority development located on the South Side of Chicago.
PCR soon turned its attention to the more serious problems of urban environmental pollution when it was discovered that the Southeast side of Chicago had the highest incidence of cancer of any area in the city.
PCR's founder and CEO, Hazel Johnson, made numerous calls around the country to educate herself regarding the cancer rate in her own community. Later she connected with city and state health departments to investigate reports on environmental problems surrounding Altgeld Gardens as well as information regarding industrial pollution.
Ms. Johnson dedicated years learning about urban environmental issues and networking with other environmental groups. After conducting her research, she learned that many waste disposal companies surrounded Altgeld Gardens as well as manufacturing companies that produced and emitted thousands of pounds of pollutants into the air, water and land. PCR found that due to the heavy concentration of industry, low income residential communities on the Southeast side of Chicago were being exposed to substantial amounts of toxic chemicals that could be responsible for negative health impacts.
With these facts in mind, PCR along with other residents from Altgeld Gardens began to address the environmental problems within their community. For the past two decades, PCR has been applying pressure on "corporate polluters" and government officials to make them aware of their negligence. It is PCR's goal to make both corporations and the government accountable to the communities in which they operate.
Concurrently, PCR has continually been educating itself and the community about urban environmental issues and their relationship to industry. Through extensive research and partnerships, PCR has found a significant correlation among various industrial processes-- the byproducts of which pollute the air, land and water--and the health status of urban minority communities. With perseverance, tenacity and dedication, PCR continues to be a positive force not only within the Altgeld Gardens community, but within the Environmental Justice movement at large.
Contact Us
People for Community Recovery
13116 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60827
Executive Director: Cheryl Johnson
Phone: (773) 840-4618
Fax: (773) 840-4414
cheryl.johnson_peopleforcommunityrecovery.org
EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!
HAZEL M. JOHNSON, PCR FOUNDER NEEDS YOUR HELP!
In January 2010, Hazel M Johnson, the mother of environmental justice movement has fallen ill. She spents months in several hospitals and long term care facilities, however due to the poor treatment she was receiving and substandard health insurance, her family decided to discharge her home. Due the severity of Ms. Johnson's health and limited financial resources to give her quality home care, Hazel had to go back to a long care facility for the 24-hour care she needs. Mrs. Johnson has improved the quality of life for millions of Americans through her advocacy in environmental justice. She has directly improved the quality of life for thousands of residents on the Southeast Side of Chicago. Her work has also served as the impetus for legislation that has improved the quality of life of people across the country. RIght now, Hazel needs your help more than ever. Her life literally depends on it! Environmental health is one of Ms. Johnson most concern and now she is experiencing how hard it is for poor people to received quality health care in long-term facility. Ms. Johnson's health condiition has been compromised, her right hip has been broken and she has fallen out the beds twice at different long-term care facilities. President's Obama Health Care Plan must inclusive and equitable to all people including our senior population who need long-term care stated her daughter, Cheryl Johnson. She will be starting a health campaign based on her personal experience with her mother's illness and it will be for adequate health care for terminal ill citizens. Please help us to ensure that the "Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement" can afford quality health care in a facility and to allow PCR to fight for equal quality health care for all citizens of the United States of North America. Quality health care is a basic human rights issue for all!
Donate to help Mrs. Hazel M Johnson
Articles
Article:10 African American Green Heros
THE RACE AND ETHNICITY
BOOK REVIEW DISCUSSION LIST
Various Articles about PCR & Altgeld Gardens
Article: Dumping on the Poor
Article: Waste Dumps Toxic
Traps for Minorities
2010 People for Community Recovery. Website designed by
Identity Engineers.
