GPLXC
Gage Park Latinx Council
Donate to support our Undocumented neighbors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gage Park Latinx Council named-
"Best New Latinx Organization"
-SouthSide Weekly
Annual Best of the SouthSide Issue.
"In many ways, GPLXC represents a community coming together to empower itself and its youth. Rather than allowing us to feel like Gage Park is merely a space we occupy, GPLXC is actively fighting for us to have a neighborhood that is truly nuestra tierra and ushering in a future where residents will never doubt they have a home." - Alejandro Ruizesparza,
SouthSide Weekly, 2019
State Rep. Aaron Ortiz speaks about our work in Gage Park.
Why Gage Park?
¿Por Qué Gage Park?
What we do / Que hacemos
Youth Art Programs
Free Youth Art Programs
Programas de arte juvenil gratuitos
Our Free Art programs are designed to engage youth in learning and community building with a focus on highlighting Latinx culture and celebrating creativity.
Nuestros programas de arte son gratuitos y diseñados para involucrar a jóvenes de la comunidad en el aprendizaje y la creatividad, con un enfoque en la cultura latinx.
Community Education
Community Education
Educación Comunitaria
Creating space for community is at the forefront of our work. Our Community Education spaces create opportunities to share lived experiences and knowledge while creating community networks for success.( Programs listed below )
Crear espacios para nuestra comunidad esta a la vanguardia de nuestro trabajo. Nuestros espacios ayudan a crear oportunidades para que miembros de nuestra comunidad compartan sus expereincias y conocimientos mientras crean redes para el éxito.
(Programas enumerados a continuación)
Community programs:
Programas comunitaria:
- First Generation College Network
-Know your Rights Trainings
- Children's Story Time
- Youth Art Club
- Gage Park Book Club
- Young Adult & Teen Mentorship
- SW Side LGBTQ+ Network
- Environmental Group
-Gage Park Parents Group
- Red de universidades de primera generación
-Conoce tus entrenamientos de derechos
- Hora de cuentos infantiles
- Red de arte juvenil
- Tutoría para adultos jóvenes y adolescentes
- Red LGBTQ+ del suroeste
- Grupo Ambiental
-Gage Park grupo de padres
Community Care
Cuidado Comunitario
We work to provide the Gage Park Community with resources and services directly. This includes distributing everyday necessities directly to our neighbors and connecting them with support through our partner organizations and resources fairs.
Trabajamos para proveer a nuestra comunidad de Gage Park con recursos y servicios directamente. Esto incluye distribuir necesidades/suministros a nuestros vecinos y conectarlos con el apoyo que requieren a través de organizaciones asociadas y ferias de recursos.
Community Service
servicio comunitario
Occupation of public space is, unfortunately, a privilege often denied to marginalized communities of color. Our reoccurring Community Clean-Up Day is a small step toward reclaiming public space in our communities.We question why Gage Park has such low access to city-funded trash bins and other basic resources and offer to solve the problem as a community while drawing attention to the larger issue: lack of resources allocated to our community.
La ocupación del espacio publico es, desafortunadamente, un privilegio a menudo negado a nuestras comunidades de color. Nuestro recurrente Día de Limpieza Comunitaria es un pequeño paso hacia la recuperación del espacio público en nuestras comunidades. Nos preguntamos por qué Gage Park tiene un acceso tan bajo a los contenedores de basura y otros recursos básicos financiados por la cuidad, mientras que ofrecemos resolver el problema como comunidad y llamar la atención a el problema principal: la falta de recursos asignados a nuestra comunidad.
Who we are - Conoce a Nuestro Equipo
Antonio D. Santos
Director
Samantha Martinez
Outreach Coordinator
Edith Dimas
Volunteer Coordinator
Katia Martinez
Community Organizer
Supporting Local Chicago Public School Students
We work directly with Chicago Public Elementary and High Schools in the community to provide support, workshops, resources,
essentials and supplies to Gage Park students and their families.
Trabajamos directamente con escuelas primarias y secundarias públicas de la comunidad para brindar apoyo, talleres, recursos, y suministros a los estudiantes de Gage Park y sus familias.
About Us:
Antonio D. Santos
Director
Antonio Domingo Santos is a founding member and serves as the Director of the Gage Park Latinx Council. As a lifelong resident of Gage Park and a first generation Queer Latinx his work has focused on creating space and visability for marginalized communities on the southwest side. In addition to his work at GPLXC Antonio creates and facilitates LGBTQIA+ curriculum, programs and workshops at the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he wrote a campus wide educational workshop on LGBTQIA+ issues for students, faculty and staff offered on the main campus, medical school and John Marshall Law school. He is committed to opening an LGBTQIA+ center in Gage Park through the Gage Park Latinx Council to serve an under resourced community that is often seen as invisible on the southwest side.
Samantha A. Martinez
Outreach Coordinator
Samantha A. Martinez is a founding member and serves as the Outreach Coordinator at the Gage Park Latinx Council. Samantha was born in Mexico but grew up and continues to reside in the Southwest side of Chicago. In 2018, Samantha graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Roosevelt University and is pursuing a Social Work degree, with the goal of opening up a wellness clinic through the Gage Park Latinx Council to offer bilingual therapy and mental health services to Southwest side residents. Samantha is passionate about advocating and practicing community care, bridging available resources to marginalized communities, and disrupting systems that continue to oppress Chicago’s residents.
Edith Dimas
Volunteer Coordinator
Edith Dimas is a founding member and serves as the Volunteer Coordinator at the Gage Park Latinx Council. Born and raised in the Gage Park community, Edith cares about helping the youth of the community. Having studied sociology at Roosevelt University, Edith has learned of the systematic marginalization her neighbors experience on a daily basis. Working as a daycare teacher and an educational surrogate parent, her interests are to help the brown girls and boys of Gage Park to obtain the resources and knowledge to navigate in society.
Katia Martinez
Program Coordinator
Katia A. Martinez is a founding member and serves as the Program Coordinator at the Gage Park Latinx Council. Katia graduated from Roosevelt University with a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology and was part of the Young Leaders Training Cohort through the Chicago Freedom School. As a first generation student from immigrant parents, Katia empathises with the hardships of first generation students and works to mobilize her community and bring mental health awareness. At the moment Katia is pursuing her Clinical Social Work degree with the hopes of practicing trauma informed care and healing justice in Southwest side communities.