In August 2022, the first bus of immigrants arrived in Chicago. That year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending groups of immigrants and asylum seekers to sanctuary cities across the U.S. Since then, over 51,000 immigrants have arrived in Chicago.

Abbott and other red state governors meant to erode our city’s commitment to welcoming immigrants by overwhelming us with thousands of new arrivals. But it didn’t work. Instead, our community mobilized to provide our new neighbors with shelter, food, warm clothes, and legal assistance.

Our free store, La Tiendita, began with volunteers going from house to house to collect donations and delivering them to makeshift shelters in Chicago police stations. We eventually opened a physical location in Washington Park, and in April 2024, we moved to our new home inside the Coppin Community Center, a social service nonprofit that has long served South Side residents. In doing so, we committed ourselves to serving all Chicagoans, not just new arrivals.

Over the last three years, city services have been strained, and there has been anger from some residents at the amount of resources being dedicated to new arrivals. People rightly critiqued the city for not doing enough to support Chicagoans who have lived here for generations.

But what Chicago’s rapid expansion of its shelter system also showed was that we are capable of rethinking how we address the most persistent issues facing our city. We created the MESA Network in order to use the lessons we’ve learned in the last few years to build a better Chicago. Our mission is to support immigrants on the South Side, but we are committed to creating a city where, rather than competing over limited resources, every person has the tools and support they need to build a better life for themselves.

MESA stands for Mobilization, Empowerment, Solidarity and Advocacy. These represent our values as well as our vision for the South Side of Chicago.

MESA (Manos Entrelazadas South Side Alliance)

Serving new arrivals. Serving long-time residents. Serving the South Side. Learn more at mesanetwork.org

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