God In Chicago

This must be one of the most diverse blocks in the city. To my left, a renovated three-story brick apartment building housing a hair salon in its storefront. Next to it, a vacant lot is fenced off. Across the street, a small mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant sits next to a car repair shop, which sits next to a Walgreens.My destination was on the other side of a vacant lot next to a hair salon. It is a nondescript two-story brick office building and blends in perfectly with the surroundings.I’m running a few minutes late, so the sound of music was already coming from the auditorium as I walked through the fiberglass doors and up the stairwell to the second floor. Later on, a speaker came to the podium on the front stage and gave a presentation about the good work this organization was doing in the surrounding neighborhoods through their food pantry.The speaker noted that this partnership - between members of two different immigrant groups residing in Albany Park - was doing such a good job of providing “food for