Life has not been easy for Lewis and Ineary Jefferson since they moved to Cabrini-Green 10 years ago.
First, they were forced to go to court to win custody of their daughter`s two young children after the state took the youngsters from her because of neglect.
A few years later, another daughter was raped and killed, leaving the elderly couple to care for her five children.
That same year, another daughter, addicted to drugs, abandoned her six children and the Jeffersons took them in.
Now two of the grandchildren, who range in age from 10 to 18, have started families of their own, adding two great-grandchildren to the household.
Home for the family of 17 is a four-bedroom, bullet-riddled apartment on the first floor of a high-rise building.
The Jeffersons are believed to be the largest family living in Cabrini.
On Sunday, about 100 people attended a benefit at the Nicole Gallery, 734 N. Wells St., to raise money to help the family purchase a house outside the housing development.
It would take about $50,000 to get them settled into a large house, with about one dozen rooms, according to Al Joy, founder of Joy Institute of Life Management, the non-profit counseling organization that sponsored the benefit. The benefit included a speech by Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. Another fundraiser is scheduled next month.
”(The Jefferson`s) story deeply touched and moved me,” King said.
”(Society) looks at some people as being disposable and has made it almost impossible for them to better themselves. (The Jefferson`s) are reaching for a dream . . . I couldn`t say no to helping them.”
MWS Associates, a property management company in Chicago, has offered to help the Jeffersons find a house and perform any necessary renovations.
”We just want to go somewhere nice,” said Lewis Jefferson, 73, a tenant-patrol captain at Cabrini. ”We are tired of running and being scared.”
Without the help of others, the Jeffersons, who are both retired, said they would not be able to afford a new home.
”I really thankful that someone wants to help us,” said Ineary Jefferson, 65, sitting in the living room of her apartment. The grandchildren ”keep asking me `Grandma, when are we moving?` I tell them, `Hopefully soon.` ”
Despite their tragedies, the Jeffersons have remained a proud family. They struggle to make their $250 rent payment each month from their $1,600-a- month combined Social Security and disability payments. Never asking for handouts, they try to keep their family together-and alive.
And in some ways, the Jeffersons consider themselves lucky. All of the children are in school and none are involved in gangs, they said.
However, they have not been immune to the gang violence that surrounds them.
The oldest, 18-year-old Maurice, was shot in the head last year. He survived, but doctors were unable to remove the bullet which is still lodged in his skull.
The family`s first-floor apartment has been riddled with bullets by gunfire that had been a daily occurrence at Cabrini-Green until recently when police became more visible at the complex in response to the shooting death of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis.
Bullets have shattered windows and ricocheted off their kitchen cabinets. The front door, before being replaced, looked like swiss cheese, the grandmother said.
When Ineary Jefferson cleans the apartment, she sweeps up bullet remains outside the front door. And the children have learned how to run in a zig-zag direction to make it difficult for someone to shoot them.
On Sunday some 200 Cabrini-Green residents, community activists and religious leaders met in a community center to talk about solving the violence that plagues the housing complex.
Representatives of about a dozen gangs attended the meeting and said they were willing to call a truce in order to end the violence.
Last week, Marion Stamps, a 25-year resident of Cabrini Green, introduced a 15-point peace plan, which she plans to present to Mayor Richard Daley and CHA Chairman Vince Lane. Among her recommendations was that the gang members cease the violence and work with the residents to solve the problem.
A few weeks ago, the family thought they had found their knight in shining armor after a man, hearing of their plight, offered to pay for them to move to an apartment in Evanston. The family had packed their bags and were ready to go when the man, who the family refused to identify, backed out at the last minute, according to Ineary Jefferson and Joy.
Since then, one grandson has been shot at and a granddaughter was beaten up by a female gang member, Ineary Jefferson said.
Now, they don`t leave their apartment during the day unless it is a necessity and they all sleep under their beds at night.
Meanwhile, their bags remain packed.
