CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Each Tuesday we look at people and organizations doing positive things to help others. With this week's Difference Maker, here's WBBM Newsradio's Jim Gudas highlighting the Pilsen Food Pantry.
Evelyn Figueroa and her husband, Alex Wu, are family physicians who said many of their patients in Pilsen needed much more than medical treatment.
"There wasn't a lot of focus on the environment in which the person lived and the consequences of poverty and the unequal allocation of resources," Figueroa said.
So they started the Pilsen Food Pantry, but Figueroa realized hunger was a symptom of a larger issue.
"Food insecurity is a proxy for poverty, and really that's what our organization is about. When people approached our pantry, they had other requests and other things they needed, and slowly we've building out more services and capacity so that we can take more comprehensive care of the families and individuals that come to our pantry," Figueroa said.
The pantry expanded to become the Pilsen Social Health Initiative, which includes a thrift store with affordable clothes and goods, as well as a social worker to help families apply for assistance programs.
There are also plans for a computer center with Internet access for students, as well as distributing basic medical supplies to Pilsen residents.
"We operate through a lens of justice. There are a lot of unfair things that happen to a lot of people, and I take care of a lot of people who work very, very hard and never get ahead," Figueroa said.
Figueroa said that's how she hopes to make a difference.
To nominate someone you believe deserves recognition for doing great things, please go to wbbmnewsradio.com/nominate.