I am glad we were able to visit, even if it was brief. We will plan it better next summer!
Monica In Chicago
Tag: chicago
CTA Adds Crisis Intervention Teams
I saw this initiative announced in several news sources, and I hope it will work! At least it’s a move in the right direction, and I would love my tax dollars to go toward it. Even though sometimes I need to take Uber or Lyft, I would much prefer never to take either of them because of safety concerns.
CTA to add crisis intervention, community violence prevention teams
By Talia Soglin | tasoglin@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: August 12, 2026 at 3:24 PM CDT
New teams of crisis intervention and community violence prevention workers will soon roam portions of the agency’s Red, Blue and Green rail lines.
The CTA plans to spend $9.6 million to fund the teams over the course of a one-year pilot program.
The teams will be composed of workers trained in de-escalation, crisis intervention, mental health, and in first aid like CPR and Narcan administration, the CTA’s Chief Innovation Officer Molly Poppe told CTA board members Wednesday. They will all wear branded uniforms, the CTA said.
The CTA’s board of directors approved contracts with several nonprofits for the teams of what the CTA is calling “safe ride specialists” at the agency’s monthly board meeting.
It was among the final actions taken by the current iteration of the CTA’s board, which will be replaced in just a few weeks pursuant to statewide transit funding and reform legislation that mandates a significant shake-up of the governing bodies that oversee the Chicago area’s transit systems.
The crisis intervention pilot program comes amid ongoing conversations about how to best address crime and quality-of-life issues like smoking on the CTA — as well as how best to help people who are unhoused or experiencing mental health crises who seek shelter on the city’s transit system.
Those issues played a prominent role in transit reform conversations last year and have continued to be a focus of transit leaders as the region gets ready to transition to a new system of transit governance — with more than $1 billion in expected new revenue available to it annually.
The teams of specialists are expected to be at work on the rail system in September, according to the CTA.
The launch of the new program comes after the CTA significantly increased law enforcement presence on the system after the administration of President Donald Trump threatened last year to withhold millions in federal funding from the system unless it did so.
Transit and law enforcement leaders have cited significant decreases in crime on the system following that boost in law enforcement hours, which includes officers from the Cook County sheriff’s police.
FBI-classified serious crimes on the portion of the CTA within city limits are down about 29% when compared with last year, according to Chicago police data.
Acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen touted the results of the agency’s security efforts Wednesday.
“We talk a lot about our multilayered security strategy, our dynamic security strategy,” she said, noting the increase in law enforcement decrease in crime. “We’ve layered on another layer here today. And it’s not just one type of resource, it’s several.”
The biggest contract under the CTA’s new safe ride program is slated for the Metropolitan Family Services nonprofit. The group will get up to $6.6 million to fund 20 community violence intervention specialists on the portion of the Red Line downtown between the Lake and Roosevelt stations.
The violence prevention workers will “engage proactively” with young people on the system and “serve as a positive presence, building a rapport and trust on the system,” said Joe Bird, the CTA’s chief security officer. They will work the system seven days a week between 12 p.m. and 3:30 a.m.
The other contracts funded under the pilot program will go to the homelessness organizations Housing Forward and Street Samaritans as well as to mental health and substance use group Healthcare Alternative Systems.
Teams staffed by those groups will work on the CTA’s Green Line between Harlem and Central avenues; on the Blue Line’s O’Hare branch between Logan Square and O’Hare and on the Blue Line’s Forest Park branch between Austin and Forest Park.
Also Wednesday, the CTA’s board approved additional funding for an existing program in conjunction with the Chicago Department of Family & Support Services.
That program, dedicated to assisting unhoused people who seek shelter on the CTA, helps fund outreach work on the CTA’s Red and Blue lines as well as shelter beds set aside specifically for people who shelter on the CTA. The agency expects the program to cost up to $4.2 million annually, the agency said. Board members approved the program through the end of 2027 with an option to extend for an additional year.
Despite police data that shows a sustained decrease in CTA crime, the agency continues to take heat on safety.
During the public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting, Pennie McCoach, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 — which represents CTA rail workers — slammed the agency over safety, calling its current security measures “inadequate.” McCoach’s comments followed the June killing of CTA worker Thomas Kevin Barlow, who was shot and killed outside of a South Side rail maintenance facility.
Wednesday’s board meeting was the CTA board’s last regularly scheduled meeting before their terms expire on Sept. 1 pursuant to the transit legislation.
At least two current CTA board members, including its current chairman, attorney Lester Barclay and Michael Eaddy, a pastor, will serve on the new iteration of the transit board. Both were appointed to serve on the new CTA board by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The board will also see some new faces. The mayor’s third CTA board pick is Dee Atkins, chief of community engagement and equity at mental health and substance use organization Thresholds.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who gets two appointees on the new board, named Tom Kotarac — a current board member of the nearly defunct Regional Transportation Authority — and Ann Kalayil, associate vice president of facilities and construction at Columbia College Chicago.
Gov. JB Pritzker, who will appoint the board’s remaining two members, has yet to announce his picks.
How Does Your Chicago Summer Look Like?
I received this in one of the WBEZ newsletters, and I couldn’t stop laughing! Yes, that’s how it looks!
| Hi Henrietta! Somewhere between changing the sheets for the third time and making yet another cheese plate, I realized my home has basically become a bed and breakfast. My washer and dryer have been working overtime, as have I. If your summer has looked anything like mine, you know how it is. Everyone wants to experience summer in Chicago and all the fun that comes with it, yet you’re scrambling to remember what’s even happening this week. Let our calendar do the planning for you and bring your guests our way for a good time, like a free jazz concert featuring Mike Reed’s Common Good Dance Band on August 14 at Navy Pier or Thalia Hall’s Free For All on August 29. The good news? Fall is coming, and with it, a little breathing room. We’ve already got some great events on the books, so once the guest room empties out (or the air mattress is deflated), it might be time to start filling in your own calendar again. Scroll down for a preview. Nathalie |  |
Sharing A Vlog About Our Conference
Pavlo creates amazing vlogs, and I am not even jealous; I know I can’t create anything even remotely close to what he produces. Excited to share his vlog about PG DATA 2026 conference (starring me, among others:))
“Not A Tornado” Pictures
Officially, we didn’t have a tornado in our neighborhood (there was a tornado that touched down more to the south), but while I was in the office on Monday, I could feel the building slightly swinging. And many trees in Rogers Park were uprooted. My neighbor walked around and took several pictures.
This one is mine – just by our house.
There were two storms on Monday, one around 1 PM and another around 5 PM, and both times, it became pitch black, as if the night had suddenly fallen. My mom got very scared, and when I came to see her later on Monday, she kept asking what it was. But honestly, it was scary for anyone who had seen it!
Lena In Chicago
A summer weekend when Lena comes to Chicago is always special. We have some favorite activities that we do each time, and we always try something new. Here is a short summary of all our activities.
Lena arrived on Friday evening. It was not super late, and we tentatively planned to go to Jarvis Beach and even went there, but the wind was cold, and we didn’t feel like getting into the water (and even more so – getting out), so we just sat there and talked, and then went home.
On Saturday, I went for an early bike ride by myself, and Lena just walked to the lake.
Grant Park Music Festival: A Space Odyssey
Yesterday’s concert was another of my favorites: Grant Park Orchestra accompanied Troupe Vertigo. As I have already said multiple times, I shamelessly love circus, even the aspects which are usually considered vulgar, but Vertigo performances are always beautiful, elegant, and breathtaking! This season’s concert theme was Space:
Now that you have an idea about the music, I will just post the photos of the artists. I didn’t take a lot of photos because I didn’t want to take my gaze off the stage, but I think you can still get an impression of how amazing it was!
Air Quality Hazard
I never experienced anything like that! And from what I hear, it’s not just me – the hazardous air quality situation is the worst ever experienced in Chicago. It had dramatically worsened during the night, and I didn’t realize what was happening when I got out for the morning bike ride.
The smell of the air was awful, and I didn’t realize how “global” it was. The picture taken from one of my favorite spots shows a complete disappearance of the skyline.
When it was time for the girls to go to camp, they asked for masks, and they were not wrong. The situation became even worse later in the day, although I still hope that it will become better by Saturday, as the forecast promises!
Summer!
I think I already had at least three announcements that summer is finally here, but it was still “not exactly”, because the lake was cold, and the temperatures were not getting to their summer level, and during the heat wave, I was away:).
The latter one does not imply that I wanted to be here during the heat wave:), but only after I came back, and was finally able to go to the beach after work, I could feel Chicago summer in full; the way I love it. Chicago summer at its best is the reason I never want to be away, at least in July and August.
On Tuesday, I finally went to the beach after work, and it felt super nice. And yesterday, I took a late break at work (I do not care what it is called, and why I am taking a break shortly before most people leave home; it’s just the time when I actually can take it!)
Biking/Falls/Potholes
On June 2, right before the conference started, I fell off the bike for seemingly no reason. It was very close to home. I was returning from my morning ride, and I was just a couple of blocks away from home when all of a sudden my bike jumped, the front wheel took a sharp turn right, and I fell off really badly, breaking half of my nails and getting a bruise and a scratch on my temple; fortunately, small enough not to be seen unless someone would seat very close to me on my right side. I was telling everyone it was a perfect fall because I still looked presentable, even though I didn’t like how badly I’d been hurt. The scratch healed, and the nails were repaired, but unfortunately, that was not it.
Several times afterward, I felt my bike jump at approximately the same spot, and I still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the road there. Then, last Tuesday, it happened again – I fell really badly at the same spot. Once again, I could not figure out why – I didn’t see anything dangerous on the road. Once again, the helmet protected my head; however, I landed on my right hand knuckles, and the hand quickly became swollen and painful.
Still, there was nothing for me to do except go to work, because it was too early to get to any doctor’s office, and I still could move my fingers and type. And I had six meetings on that day :). I had high-dose ibuprofen tablets in my bag (I always have them since the times my back pain could appear out of nowhere), so I took one in the morning and one in the evening, and that reduced the inflammation a bit, but it was still painful, and I could not lift anything with my right hand, and couldn’t even open the door, which made my life in the office quite challenging (not like it would be better at home). In the morning, the hand was neither worse nor better. Since my workday starts way earlier than the doctor’s workday, I decided to go to the office and start calling from there. The doctor’s office picked up the phone at 8:15. They said my doctor was not in the office (which I already knew) and that there was nobody to see me that day at the Evanston office, so they suggested going to the Lincolnwood office. I had no other choice because I didn’t want to drag out the uncertainty any longer (and I also suspected that my children would give me a hard time if I didn’t go). After my morning meetings, I got into Uber and went to Lincolnwood. A nurse practitioner saw me and said that “just in case,” I should do an X-ray. Guess what? This facility doesn’t have. X-ray, so they were sending me back to Evanston! I called to check the hours; they were open, and I didn’t need an appointment.
One more Uber ride. Two reception desks. One line after, just to be checked in. Then I finally walked to the lab, which had zero people in line, and got my X-ray done. But if you think that was it, it was not. I was told that a radiologist would take a look “later on that day.” Good thing it was actually “that day,” not in the middle of the night! Turned out, I didn’t have a fracture after all.
You can say all well that ends well, but this whole ordeal cost me three hours of life and $100 total Uber fees, and I still don’t understand why I had to go to Lincolwood to get an “OK” for X-ray!!!
Also, I counted the number of healthcare workers with whom I interacted on this day, including receptionists and information desks – ten!
Hettie's Reflections 