Mid-South Community member profiles

Here are some profiles of the members of the Near North community.

Edward Griffin Remembers

Edward Griffin remembers a different South Side.

“I remember when there were lots of grocery stores and shopping centers to choose from when I was a little boy,” says Griffin, a 59-year-old resident of Chicago’s Mid-South Side.

Griffin also recalls a time when more El stops and busses served the community. “When I was a little boy, (the El) used to stop at 39th (Pershing) between Wabash and State, and several other places, but they eventually cut them out,” says Griffin. Busses once available 24/7 now only operate from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and not at all on the weekends. “If I need to go somewhere, it has to be before 7 p.m. On the weekends, and especially Saturday when I attend church, it’s almost impossible to go anywhere.”

Griffin suffers from asthma, a condition that hits hard in communities like his, causing twice as many hospitalizations and five times as many deaths in children than in the suburbs, according to Chicago’s health department and the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. Walking can sometimes be tough for Griffin, especially during very cold or hot months. He acknowledges that life would be easier for him with more public transportation and shops nearby.

“Our closest grocery store is at 39th and Vincennes, and that’s [expensive], so I have to go to the Jewel, which isn’t very close,” he says. “We could use more grocery stores in the area, as well as drug stores.”

Pausing to catch his breath on Cottage Grove Avenue during his weekly trek to the post office, Griffin acknowledges that things aren’t as they once were in the only place he’s ever called home.

On this especially windy and chilly afternoon he takes a longer than usual pause, and comments, “I usually get the $35 monthly CTA pass, but most of the time, waiting for the bus to come takes longer than simply walking the 15-or-so blocks from my house to the post office. So I just get the exercise and hope that I’m able to make it back home afterward.”