Following a report by WBEZ showing a vast disparity in mortgage lending between predominantly white and predominantly black neighborhoods in Chicago, State Senator Jacqueline Collins called for action to induce more equitable lending practices.

“WBEZ’s report shows an overhead view of what many families in Chicago have seen from the ground: That banks are denying many mortgage loans to black Chicagoans who are prospective homeowners,” said Collins, D-Chicago. “As they reported, these disparities cannot be explained away by factors as simple as location or a home’s size. Even considering such differences, the report shows this inequality.”

WBEZ’s in-depth report details how prospective homeowners in predominantly black communities have been so shut out of mortgage lending that one single predominantly white neighborhood in Chicago has received more home loans than every black community combined. On the whole, WBEZ’s analysis shows that for every $1 banks loaned in Chicago’s white neighborhoods, they have loaned 12 cents in the city’s black neighborhoods and 13 cents in Latino areas.

“This is redlining through different means, and redlining is the outgrowth of racist policies that continue to undermine communities of color, and in particular the black community,” Collins said. “I will explore legislative means for addressing this disparity. There is no justice until we erase the last red line.”

A new, free coronavirus testing site is operating in the Auburn Gresham/Chatham area, a service long overdue after this neighborhood saw the death of the first Illinoisan lost to COVID-19. See information below. Residents who believe they are exhibiting symptoms, that may have been exposed to COVID-19, or who are in any way at heightened risk due to underlying health conditions, employment, or living situation, should go get tested!

CHICAGO – State Senator Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) renewed her call for the state to create a testing site easily accessible to the residents of Auburn Gresham, a community with one of the highest infection rates of COVID-19 in the state, and the home of the first known woman in Illinois to lose her life to the deadly pandemic.

“This pandemic has made clear that the residents in Auburn Gresham are more vulnerable due to lack of fresh food access and health care and suffer disproportionally with the underlying chronic conditions of asthma, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and kidney failure,” Collins said. “Patricia Frieson, the first woman in Illinois to lose her life to COVID-19, was a unique and beloved person who nonetheless was far from the only one in these dire straits.”

Auburn Gresham is located in the socio-economically vulnerable zip code of 60620 that as of April 30 has seen 683 cases of COVID-19, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Many of the residents of Auburn Gresham are the essential workers who cannot afford to shelter-in-place because they are the bus drivers, store clerks, janitors and nursing home employees.

The Chicago Tribune recently reported on the 30-year lifespan difference between North Side and South Side residents. Collins said for residents who may lack transportation options, other testing sites have become all but inaccessible.

“Gov. Pritzker has made admirable strides in increasing the state’s testing capacity but until we have a comprehensive plan of testing, tracing and treatment, there’s no way to mitigate the damage being done in the community,” Collins said.

Auburn Gresham is home to a large population of senior citizens who live in a number of senior buildings dotting the community.

“In Auburn Gresham, a neighborhood where few indeed are privileged with work that allows them to telecommute, these tests are needed to let essential workers know when they need to self-isolate and protect their fellow members of the community from the virus,” Collins said.

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State Senator Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) spoke to WTTW's Carol Marin this week about the vast and rapid expansion of video gaming in Illinois, even as the state has repeatedly refused to study the effect it's having on poor communities and those who struggle with addiction, even as it is now home to more gambling positions than the state of Nevada.

"I see a lot of red," Collins said, looking at a map of the 16th Illinois Senate District with dozens of markers indicating gambling sites. "I see a lot of poor people losing their livelihoods on false promises."

Collins said a statewide needs assessment to determine how the state should be responding to this increased presence of gambling was never performed. As gambling has become more and more of a cornerstone of the Illinois budget, WTTW reported that gambling addiction treatment has struggled to keep up with the increase in demand that has correlated with it.

You can view the full report by WTTW and DePaul University's Center for Journalism Excellence here.