Voices in the Hall

Photographs from Chicago's Paul Revere Elementary School in the Greater Grand Crossing Neighborhood. The S. Oakwood/Brookhaven or "Pocket Town" neighborhood is a small, tight knit black community on Chicago's S. Side. Roots run deep in this neighborhood. The stakes are high for the children of this community. Born into poverty, surrounded by drugs and gangs, poorly served by the city and local schools, many of the children face an uncertain future. In the past two decades this working class neighborhood has seen a steady decline as the S. Side's industry has moved away. Paul Revere Elementary School is the hub for neighborhood. Gary Comer, a Chicago philanthropist who grew up in the neighborhood has adopted the school. He has developed a community based plan for change and redevelopment starting with the school. In the past six years he has invested millions of dollars in Revere and recently completed construction on a $23 million dollar youth center. The Comer Science and Education Foundation is also developing Revere Run, a development plan that will add 90 new homes to the neighborhood. The past few years have marked the end of the Pocket's isolation. A few new homes have been completed and change is imminent, but for the most part, the neighborhood's children struggle through their daily lives with passion, hope and resilience. Jon Lowenstein spent three years documenting life at Paul Revere Elementary School.

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