[in person] Police District Council 008 - Chicago Lawn (Garfield Ridge, South Lawndale, Archer Heights, Clearing, West Lawn, Ashburn, Chicago Lawn, Brighton Park, Gage Park, West Elsdon)

The meeting agenda for today has been published online and may be found at https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/ccpsa/district-council-agendas/dc-008/notices-and-agendas/2025/Updated-Regulare-Meeting-Notice-and-Agenda-008-2025-04-17.pdf

Chairman Jason Huff will not be in attendance for this meeting

Meeting was started at 6:34pm.

First order of business was to approve the minutes from last month’s meeting on the 19th of March.

Speaker Alex Levesque was first to speak, he was representing a non-profit charity in the district. The center has been there for 15 years. He is the founder, the organization was created with the goal of curbing gang violence in the district.

Everything is done in house, there are learning opportunities on-site, allowing effected members of their community to learn valuable job skills. Through this organization, community members can get entry-level jobs with employers such as Ferrari.

Attendees in the room include the local Alderman, and one other community member. The room is mostly empty, the rain must have kept people home.

Speaker Levesque says he took initiative to start the program after facing frustration. He was upset with the state of the city in the 90’s. He himself is a big fan of classic cars. He said “young men only have two things on their mind”, referring to young women and cars.

Levesque quit his full-time job to teach himself about auto restoration. He bounced from auto-shop to street corner handing out home-made fliers to distribute to young members of the community. The organization is grant-funded.

The program is 6 months longs, and it is comprised of 40 participants each. He claims an 85% success rate, as far as securing employment afterwards.

Speaker Levesque speaks on changing generational habits, bringing in older mentors from the community to serve as examples and teachers for the attendees. “We are trying to create better human beings”, he said.

An Ella French Tribute memorial Chicago police vehicle was built by the students of Levesque. A 1967 Plymouth cruiser, the mascot for the Good Stop program. The Good Stop program is an initiative to distribute step by step pamphlets on how to safely comply with officers during a traffic stop.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:26pm.