She needed free moving services

An elderly Jewish woman who lived in the 48th ward had to relocate to a new apartment in 1980 and couldn’t afford to hire movers. So, she called the office of Alderman Marion Volini, where I worked, for help.

I would have never thought of asking an Alderman for something like that, but in Chicago, people asked local politicians for all kinds of things. And she had nobody else she could turn to.

I told her the Jesus People, an Uptown-based group, offered free moving services, but she would have to listen to their lecture first. I felt terrible saying that because she shouldn’t have had to pretend to be interested in another religion just because she was poor. But she felt she had no choice.

She thought for a moment and said, “Well, you should have an open mind.”