My name is Nathan Green and I’m a lifelong resident of Oak Park. This town is my home and I’ve always been proud of that.
I’ve been following the articles about Faith Julian’s difficulties with her East Avenue home, and I’m writing to you to find out what the village of Oak Park is going to do for her. I’m not asking what a hired lawyer will do, or whether a nonprofit can eventually be set up to do in the next five years, especially with her health in decline.
Ms. Julian is Percy Julian’s daughter. She’s not a distant relative, she’s not his great-great-great granddaughter. She’s his daughter and the last of her family. We owe the world to Dr. Julian’s achievements. There’s a middle school named after him. And from what the Wednesday Journal has been reporting, it sounds like she’s on the verge of losing her home. Is this his legacy? His family, his brilliance, surviving everything they went through and, barely a generation later, his daughter might lose her home?
I’m asking what Village President Scaman is going to do about it. I’m asking what the village board is going to do about it. This is a rich town. The high-rises, the business rent, and the cost of living here makes that clear. The property taxes are infamous. Oak Park has the money to support Ms. Julian without her needing to beg for her life on GoFundMe.
Oak Park loves its historical buildings and districts dedicated to the famous people who lived here. But Faith Julian is here, alive, now. She deserves so much better than this, and I hope this letter finds its way to someone willing to stand up and do something for her with the respect and dignity she deserves.
Nathan Green
Oak Park
