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The A2 Times
A2 Group Finds its Voice in Flood-Prone Cicero, Illinois
by Dorothy Terry

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Delia Barajas, co-founder of Voces Fieles Comunitarias Contra la Opresión (Faithful Community Voices Against Oppression) in Cicero, IL, displays flood maps created by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning at a community meeting in June. Berwyn residents affected by the flood also attended the meeting. (Photo courtesy of Delia Barajas)

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When Delia Barajas’ group joined A2 last year, they hadn’t even settled on a name yet — just a pressing mission to make their Cicero, IL community a healthier place to live by combatting the toxic industries in their midst.

Then on July 2, 2023, an unprecedented flash flood inundated the predominately Latino community of about 85,000, along with Berwyn and other communities in the Chicago suburbs. Residents were left with flooded basements and damaged appliances. The nine inches of rainwater, mixed with toxins already present in the soil, created a contaminated stew that seeped into yards and the community’s already limited green spaces [[link removed]] .

On August 15, 2023, President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration [[link removed]] for the region, which made Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding available to eligible individuals in Cook and surrounding counties.

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Cicero neighborhood during July 2023 flood. (Photo by Moris Sanchez, a Cicero, IL resident.)

In the flood’s immediate aftermath, Barajas’ group branched from combatting air pollution to helping flood victims. They recognized that many residents needed assistance navigating the FEMA application process and accessing city services, so they went to work.

Along the way the group found a name — Voces Fieles Comunitarias Contra la Opresión or Faithful Community Voices Against Oppression — and has become the voice of a community where many are voiceless.

“Cicero is a town where lots of folks are undocumented and cannot get FEMA assistance,” said Voces volunteer Sasha Adkins. “We've got lots of vulnerable renters and low-income folks, and the flooding was really devastating, both financially and to people's sense of place.”

Realizing that the next “once in a lifetime” event in flood-prone Cicero could be one rainstorm away — due to climate change and city stormwater management issues — Voces is now focusing on remediation.

The group held a community meeting on June 24 — almost a year after the flood — to introduce a phytoremediation project that will deploy nature-based solutions for building resilience in Cicero. Phytoremediation uses plants to clean up contaminated soil, air and water.

The project is being made possible with a $20,000 grant award from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s National Coastal Resilience Fund. As a part of the grant, Anthropocene Alliance is helping 10 environmental justice community-based organizations in the Great Lakes region plan coastal resilience, with support from Freshwater Future and American Rivers.

Barajas said 60 residents showed up to the event. “The people who attended are people that have been adversely impacted over and over again in regard to urban flooding,” said Barajas. “It's important to hear their voices, instead of elected officials coming out and just saying, oh, here’s 100 trees.”

The event featured Alfred Diggs, a lecturer in biology at Loyola University Chicago, who presented information about phytoremediation and sample pots of switchgrass and fox sedge, plants native to the region that residents can plant in their yards and gardens.

Caleb Hadley, a graduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, shared details of the school’s project that is studying the pathogens in the stormwater. A free dinner and rain barrel giveaway followed.

As for next steps, the church grounds where the meeting was held will be the model for the project before it’s rolled out to the rest of the community.

“The speakers were great in explaining to residents how the project will work and how these plants can help our community,” said Voces volunteer Carmen Jiminez. “Residents seemed receptive to trying it. It’s little things like these that can make a difference.”

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