Voice of the City

05/08/2026

Plant Pop Up

Join us at Origin Woods this Saturday, May 9, 2026, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm to get some basil, veggies, and annual flowers grown by DBGE youth

04/21/2026

Voice of the City (VOTC) is accepting resumes until Sunday, May 3, 2026 for Artist/Teachers for summer teen program: Design.Build.Grow.Eat., a program presented with After School Matters (ASM).

DBGE has served hundreds of youth since 2013, guiding them in how they can positively impact their environment, learn about whole food from farm to table, food access/justice, while at the same time learning about themselves and each other (through sharing and exploring the teens' food traditions). Experience in landscape design, urban farming/gardening, basic building skills, and/or farm-to-table cooking is a plus. One program is located in Logan Square.

2023 marked a new direction for VOTC, focusing on people's relationship with Nature due to its new historic property in West Pullman, Origin Woods. VOTC seeks to ground identity, individual and collective, in connections to each other, the land, and ancestral history, leading to community healing and inspiring VOTC’s creative work moving forward.

Applicants' resumes, work experience, and references will be reviewed.

WHEN:
Summer: June 22 to August 8, 2026 (10 - 25 hours/week plus paid prep in weeks prior). In-person only.

VOTC leadership works hard to build a team and to set a coordinated schedule that allows team members the schedule and pay goals they need.

WHERE: Logan Square and/or West Pullman/Pullman

WHO: VOTC serves a very diverse youth population. All are welcome to apply.

PAY RATES: Based on experience reflected on applicant's resume, $18 to $30/hr (hourly rates are determined by ASM based on teaching experience aligned with participant population)

NOTE: A background check is required during the interview process due to the tight hiring window for summer.

EMAIL RESPONSES to: [email protected]
Please include the following in your email:
Resume
Interview availability
Preferred summer schedule (as best you know now)
Preferred rate range

03/16/2026

Please join us on Saturday March 21, 2026, as the Design.Build.Grow.Eat. youth host family activities at Origin Woods!

Teens are providing an egg hunt and decorating eco-friendly wooden eggs, a movie about Spring, and homemade pizza!

See the flyer below, and let us know if you can join us!

02/03/2026

Voice of the City, with After School Matters, is recruiting for its Spring teen programming, that begins February 23 and runs through May 9. Apply online now!

For more information, email: [email protected]

https://afterschoolmatters.org/apply

12/31/2025

Today is the last day of Our Little House renovation campaign.

Thank you for all of you who have supported this enormous effort!

Please share with those who want to make an impact locally.

VOTC now owns a historic 36,000 SF (.82 acre) property in West Pullman, newly named Origin Woods & Gardens: Art, Nature, Ancestry.

12/03/2025

Thank you! We raised more than $1,600, and over $1,000 this afternoon!

Thank you so much (Anthony, Linda, Jason, Arthur, Melissa, Kathleen, Connie, Carolyn!!!)

Best message of the day, "DBGE for life!!!" (Thank you, Arthur!)

We will continue to run this campaign through 12/31, so if you missed Giving Tuesday, there is still a chance to donate in 2025!

Please share and help us create a meeting space at Origin Woods, a .83 acre Nature space in West Pullman.

VOTC now owns a historic 36,000 SF (.82 acre) property in West Pullman, newly named Origin Woods & Gardens: Art, Nature, Ancestry.

11/30/2025

2025 has been a busy one for Voice of the City.

VOTC was awarded a Neighborhood Access Program grant by DCASE, for its program: Art, Nature, Ancestry at Origin Woods.

"Origins" has been the theme: We have held genealogy workshops and performances, land acknowledgement ceremonies, and community gatherings. Origin Woods sits in the historic Calumet region, one with rich history for Native Americans and African Americans along the Little Calumet River and the South Indian Boundary Line, a line of expulsion of Native Americans by the mid 1830's.

Our teens have planted 41 pre-settlement trees with OpenLands, and we have new art by Joe Nelson, and Robert Anderson to be unveiled soon.

What has been VOTC's biggest challenge throughout this wonderful year is the renovation of the small house. It is s huge project, but we are almost complete. The work restores the houses plumbing, electric, insulation and heats as well as siding.

In this Season of Giving, VOTC is raising $5,000 of the $50,000 for the project, and we are already at $4,000. Please help us get to $9,000.00!

The house will be used as office, classroom and genealogy research center for our neighbors.

Times are tough, and people want to make a difference. Your donations will do that by helping VOTC in establishing this meeting space at Origin Woods.

VOTC now owns a historic 36,000 SF (.82 acre) property in West Pullman, newly named Origin Woods & Gardens: Art, Nature, Ancestry.

04/06/2025

Yesterday our DBGE Youth at Origin Woods hosted Aztec Dance Chicago for our Equinox celebration, rescheduled from March 22.

We were joined by the musicians and dancers from Trickster Cultural Center.

It’s was a powerful day on building community, of celebrating Art, Nature and Ancestry, and of transforming a symbol of separation and trauma into hope, renewed storytelling and building relationships for the future.

Resistance comes in many forms.

Videos are posted in the comments.

12/09/2024

Calling out to the West Pullman community! ✨

VOTC is one of 24 recipients of the DCASE Neighborhood Access Program (NAP) grant for Art, Nature, Ancestry at Origin Woods in West Pullman.

Join us for our kick off event! Next Wednesday, December 18, 2024 from 6 to 7pm @ West Pullman Library (830 W 119th Street)

11/20/2024

DBGE Teens at Origin Woods! 🍂 Fall is upon us!