Our Chicago: A Conversation About 'Black, Latino Houses Matter' Program
Cook County Treasurer's Office program seeks to bring tax relief to Chicago homeowners
CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC 7, Chicago's No. 1 station for news, presented a virtual town hall to bring awareness to the Cook County Treasurer's Office program, "Black and Latino Houses Matter" is an effort to bring tax relief to Chicago homeowners who need it the most. ABC 7's Samantha Chatman moderated this hourlong event available on abc7chicago.com, Thursday, March 4 at 2 p.m.
Many people, especially in Black and Latino neighborhoods, have been hit hard by health and financial issues resulting from the pandemic. A Chicago resident can lose their home owing less than $1,000 in delinquent taxes. Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas created an innovative program aimed at removing properties with delinquent taxes from the Annual Tax Sale list.
Samantha Chatman leads a conversation with Treasurer Pappas to explain how this innovative program can give refunds for overpaid taxes and find exemptions to help families save their homes.
The treasurer will be joined by several organization partners to share ways they are reaching out to communities in need to educate them about the program. They'll also highlight an upcoming phone bank, a joint effort between the Cook County Treasurer's Office and ABC 7 that will give step-by-step instructions on what homeowners need to do to get assistance. The phone bank is open to everyone and is scheduled for March 11 from 3 to 7 p.m., offering help in Spanish, Polish and Chinese.
Phone number: 312.603.5105
Guest panelists:
-Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas
-Rev. Dr. Janette C. Wilson, Rainbow PUSH Coalition
-Marco Polo Valladolid, Mexican Civic Society of Illinois
-Munson Steed, Rolling Out
The virtual town hall was also exclusively streamed live on ABC 7's Facebook Live, YouTube, ABC 7's app and ABC 7's connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abc7chicago
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abc7Chicago/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abc7Chicago/
PREVIOUS TOWN HALLS:
Our Chicago: A Conversation About Vaccine Efforts
Our Chicago: Voices of the Community town hall examines discriminatory effects of redlining
Our Chicago: Voices of the Community town hall on COVID and the vaccine in the Latinx community
ABC 7 Chicago hosts digital town hall on bullying prevention moderated by Karen Jordan
Do You Hear Me? A Discussion about Race on July 16, 2020: Hosted by Cheryl Burton, on violence
About ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago
ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago is the No. 1 local news source and most-watched television station in Chicago. With top-rated daily newscasts spanning decades and the largest social media presence in the market with more than 2.3 million Facebook followers, ABC7 Eyewitness News provides breaking news, investigative reporting, weather, politics, traffic and sports in the multiplatform space to Chicago, the suburbs and northwest Indiana. Named Best News Operation by the Associated Press for four consecutive years, the station produces 41 hours of local news weekly and Chicago's only local weekday entertainment talk show, "Windy City LIVE," as well as its highest-rated New Year's Eve special. ABC7's award-winning programs such as "Heart and Soul," "The Ñ Beat" and "Asian Influences" showcase the city's diversity, while being the only Chicago station producing and broadcasting parades representing Chicago's rich cultural history. In addition to producing town halls focused on current social issues, the station has a long and proud tradition of broadcasting political candidate debates keeping Chicago's electorate informed. ABC7's outreach efforts include annual partnerships with the Red Cross for life-saving blood drives and, most recently, spearheading an effort to raise more than $1.5 million for area food pantries.
