Heritage House is a persisting nightmare, both for the self-image of Oak Park and for the long-suffering residents of the House. I first became aware of how troubling the situation was there in Wednesday Journal articles in 2023 through the powerful witness brought by House residents before the Aging in Communities Commission of the village board. And I recently became aware of how that situation has in no way improved by attending the June 2026 meeting of House council and residents.
Why has the situation, so aggravated for all parties, remained, at best, unimproved? The residents, our grandparents, parents and siblings, are not being identified with as “family.” Thus their quality of life and dignity is not being defended because “they” are “others.” Or perhaps there is too much silo-ing of the various village agencies and offices, so they end up being feckless in application. Or perhaps there is just a failure to find the courage in and among those who could act to bring achingly needed change, or just a failure of imagination in the face of complex systems of ownership and (mis)management.
Or perhaps this is just another unfolding of how racism works in the 21st century, given that the current residents are vast-majority Black. Where is to be found the “good trouble” in civic action when we need it so desperately?
The recent village manager’s report of the village board meeting of June 9 (a would-be record of Heritage House code violations and citations) was, to the public at least, inaudible and garbled in presentation. I was simply stunned as to how little those data conveyed the lived experience and history of Heritage House residents. In this village, we pay much too much in real estate taxes for the village government to be found so feckless.
Oak Park must be a “village that works” toward the good quality of life of all its residents.
Carl Spight
President, AMENS Group
Oak Park