SWEET HOME UPTOWN 2026
Honorees
Marc Kaplan – Longtime organizer with low-income residents, Leadership Team member of Northside Action for Justice (NA4J)
Marc Kaplan began organizing in Chicago in the early 1970s, where he helped build grassroots movements rooted in racial, economic, and social justice. Notably, he was part of the Black Panther Party’s survival programs.
Marc’s organizing quickly centered in Uptown, one of Chicago’s most economically and culturally diverse neighborhoods and home to large populations of low-income white residents and Native Americans relocated to cities by the federal government. He spent his days knocking on doors across the neighborhood—often speaking with more than 100 residents a week—to listen, share information, and organize neighbors around issues affecting their buildings and blocks. Through actions like rent strikes and arson patrols, residents built the people power needed to remain in their homes.
One of Marc’s unique contributions was organizing youth sports and recreation programs, and campaigns to combat the glue sniffing that plagued many young people in the 1970s. Liberation schools evolved into community-based extensions of colleges, enabling Uptown residents to earn degrees and apply their skills in the community. This work also helped lead to the creation of Uplift High School. Over three decades, Marc’s youth engagement reached hundreds of young Uptown residents.
A network of community organizations grew from these efforts, with many still active today. Organizers launched tutoring programs, voter registration drives, and legal support for tenants facing eviction. Legal defense and welfare rights efforts later became the Uptown People’s Law Center—now home to one of our Sweet Home Uptown 2026 Champions.
In the late 1970s, tenant organizing along Broadway led Marc and his colleagues to file a major civil rights lawsuit challenging plans to displace low-income residents. Though the case lasted more than a decade and was ultimately “lost,” early rulings slowed private investments and opened the door to many wins with new affordable housing developments, jobs, and even a new grocery store.
Through the 1980s, Marc continued working with tenant leaders and legal advocates to safeguard affordable housing across the Northside. Campaigns to stop the prepayment of federally subsidized housing mortgages helped preserve dozens of buildings that could have been lost to gentrification.
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Dordie Hester – Housing Justice Community Organizer at ONE Northside
When the Heartland Alliance collapsed and its properties became available to interested developers, Dordie played an integral role convening a coalition to Save the Leland Hotel, a 137-unit affordable housing property. At the time, ONE Northside had an office in the building and knew the tenants’ plight as both neighbors and organizers.
The Leland Hotel was in dire shape and getting worse, with a city-appointed receiver in place. Buyers balked at the size of the building, looming costs, and significant needs. Critical funding of services was about to expire—putting two floors of residents on the brink of homelessness.
Dordie Hester refused to let the story end there. She convened elected officials, service providers, and neighborhood partners, and organized tenants to demand action. As is her MO, Dordie quietly built leadership skills and a strategy for residents to advocate for themselves—with results that deserve to be recognized.
Dordie’s organizing and coalition advocacy, combined with pressure on legislators all the way up to the governor’s office, unlocked emergency funds even before a new owner was selected. In late 2025, Mercy Housing Lakefront stepped forward as a new owner intent on preserving the building as affordable housing. The planned preservation project represents a massive victory for the community, and, according to Voice’s Mike Rohrbeck, “it’s an achievement with many owners.” Dordie remains on the front lines, acting as tenants’ liaison to owners and managers, and advocating with and for residents who will benefit from the planned renovation of the Leland Hotel in 2026.
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Dan Burke – Retired Multi-Family Midwest Director, US Department of Housing & Urban Development
“Dan Burke has impacted affordable housing from almost very angle.”
— Michael Rohrbeck, Executive Director of Voice of the People Chicago
Throughout his career, Dan made community development happen in many roles and varying approaches:
• As a community organizer working at the home base of Saul Alinsky organizing;
• As an attorney-advocate, pioneering legislation and modeling methods of resident/non-profit acquisitions—alternatives to mortgage “pre-payments” and market-rate sales that displace low income people;
• Financing and funding numerous affordable real estate developments in Uptown, up and down the Lakefront and across Chicagoland;
• Heading up Midwest operations for Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), one of our nation’s leading non-profit housing corporations; and,
• As Director of the Multifamily Midwest Region of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2013 to 2023. He led a team of 200 staff overseeing 6,300 HUD-assisted multifamily properties in six states—impacting thousands of low income families.
Dan’s remarkable impact is best summed up in the words of others in the affordable housing field who have worked alongside him, so here are just a few:
“Dan made an outstanding contribution to the affordable housing field throughout his remarkable career and has helped thousands of low-income families to obtain an affordable home. At POAH, we are grateful for his work in helping us to enter Chicago so we could advance our mission. At HUD, Dan demonstrated exceptional leadership to ensure the integrity of HUD’s multifamily programs and to include the input of all stakeholders in new policies and initiatives. His commitment to HUD’s mission was unwavering and he always kept the needs and interests of low income residents at the center of his work.”
— Aaron Gornstein, President & CEO of POAH
“Dan is unquestionably one of the smartest, most dedicated, caring housers I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Thousands of low income families and seniors who never met him—and indeed probably never heard his name—have affordable, decent housing today due to the dedication, intelligence and perseverance of Dan Burke.”
— Michael Bodaken, former Executive Director of the National Housing Trust
We honor Dan for a tireless career in organizing, teaching, public interest law, and affordable housing development, all to preserve and promote the diverse, thriving communities we envision.
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Champions
Lee Byrd – Voice of the People Chicago Board Member and Resident Representative
Lee Byrd (she/her) has been a beloved Voice of the People resident since 2016 and has served as a member of the Voice of the People Board of Directors since 2021.
Lee worked in guidance counseling and as a substitute teacher in the 1990s and 2000s, becoming an informal mentor to friends of her children and troubled youth. She came to Voice as a mother (now grandmother) and victim of domestic violence, who seeks to raise awareness about the issue including DV survivors of all ages. Ms. Byrd works part-time at a seniors building in Uptown and started a home-based business making everything from custom face masks during COVID to donated Sweet Home Uptown mugs.
In 2023, Lee joined the board of the Dovie Thurman Affordable Housing Trust, serving as Secretary and Vice-President. Having benefitted by affordable housing that has meant so much to her, Lee’s ambition with the Trust is “to save affordable housing for future generations.” She has been a consistent leader in her building, bringing the attention to building, property management, community, and social service needs of her fellow residents. We are thankful for her contributions to Voice of the People and our community here in Uptown!“Lee is a home away from home for young people. She has been creating safe spaces for people in the community for her entire time living here.” – Anna
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Aubrey Dvorak, LCSW
Aubrey Dvorak, LCSW (she/her), is Uptown People’s Law Center’s first in-house social worker—a rare but highly impactful role in a law center serving residents with complex, high-stakes needs. Aubrey truly goes above and beyond to both directly provide and coordinate trauma-informed, responsive care to our community.
One example is how she sprung into action when the Northmere SRO was declared uninhabitable in the fall of 2025. Aubrey immediately held a meeting for the 70 residents to explain what was happening on what timeline, and who they could rely on for support. By the next day, residents were coming to Voice of the People and other agencies for housing referrals and services.
This work reflects Aubrey’s greatest strength: gathering the right people at the right time. She convenes the Uptown Advocates, a coalition of professionals from 25+ local agencies who meet monthly to problem-solve cases organizations cannot handle alone.
As Mike McKane, Voice Resident Support Coach and Jesuit Volunteer says, “She really dignifies people, and makes them feel seen and heard when they’re going through challenges… She’s always ready to jump on the next thing to relieve residents of some of the intense challenges they face.”
Ethan Robinson, Resident Support Coach and MSW Intern, adds: “She doesn’t take no for an answer. When one avenue doesn’t work, she says, ‘Okay, what other solution can we try?’”
Aubrey Dvorak holds a BA from Loyola University Chicago and an MSW from the University of Illinois Chicago. She previously worked as a teacher and school social worker.
Voice staff and tenants collaborate and volunteer with advocate, housing and service groups up and down the lakefront with a goal of averting emergency situations like the loss of the Northmere SRO, and promoting possibilities to save and preserve affordable housing. Aubrey is a fantastic partner in these efforts!
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Jenna Pearse Pollack – Community Development Director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center
Jenna is an urban planner, artist, researcher, community land trust organizer, and cultural strategist, bringing her wide-ranging interests and creative heart into everything she does to invest in our communities.
Through her independent shop, Solidarity Works Chicago LLC, Jenna collaborates on solidarity economy projects through strategic planning, policy development, and media production. Before joining the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, she was Program Manager for the Chicago Community Wealth Building Ecosystem (CCWBE) at University of Illinois Chicago. The university served as a “hub” for cooperatives and community land trust start-ups, where Jenna navigated, facilitated and advocated in the space between the City, technical assistance providers, and grantees like Voice of the People.
Jenna brings her love to history to the Archiving Advisory Board for the Chicago Black Social Culture Map. Her passion for dance comes to life as a board member of Links Hall and Springboard Danse. Her research on local dance, adaptive reuse, and urban renewal appears in Dancing on the Third Coast: Chicago Dance Histories (University of Illinois Press, 2027). She has performed and been commissioned by dance and theater companies across North America, Spain, and Germany. As a Voice fan and volunteer videographer, she volunteered to film Voice of the People’s “Social Cost Appeals” training session. Without a budget, she produced the informative video, “Saving Taxes; Saving Affordable Housing.”
Jenna loves live performance, non-fiction, archiving, and rabble-rousing.
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June Webb and Urban Relocation Services, Co-Founder and President, Urban Relocation Services
In 1996, June Webb, along with Pam Gecan, co-founded Urban Relocation Services (URS). Even before relocation services were identified as an important component in the success of the redevelopment of affordable housing projects, June was emboldened by her experience at RESCORP and motivated to help residents, and started URS to support tenants of “CHA Transformation” projects, including Cabrini Green, Robert Taylor and Henry Horner Homes.
The URS team began delivering logistical support to families with moving during construction, and quickly saw the need to connect residents to social services in the process (URS couldn’t fully provide). They worked with local partners and stakeholders of all kinds, a practice that continues to this day. In challenges ranging from the needs of school-aged children, housekeeping issues, preparing to move, Urban Relocation Services was there for them. They facilitated collaboration with developers, property managers, and service providers to make every transition as smooth as possible.
Over the past 30 years, June Webb and her team has planned, implemented and supervised major relocation programs monitored by the City of Chicago’s Department of Housing, the Illinois Housing Development Authority, and multiple agencies.
They’re now recognized for providing the necessary relocation services within the affordable housing industry. They are experts in tenant communications and meetings, preparing residents for the uncertainties of construction, and informing tenants of their rights and responsibilities as they move into their newly renovated homes.
“With the myriad of professionals engaged in affordable housing, relocation service providers are among the least credited for creating and preserving affordable housing,” says Mike Rohrbeck, Voice Executive Director, “but they are so critical to making projects successful and sustainable.”
Uptown activists have seen URS in action: In Uptown’s Darlington Hotel, permanent relocation was the only option, and they stepped in to help SRO residents navigate a difficult transition. Additionally, the URS team has worked with Mercy Lakefront on multiple redevelopment projects, such as Harold Washington Apartments and Eastwood Apartments. At Sweet Home Uptown, the Leland Hotel will be highlighted as a community victory in the preservation of 137 units of affordable housing. In this pending development, Urban Relocation Services are on the ready to assist tenants and provide critical services to move this vital project to completion.
Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), in partnership with Voice, witnessed URS services up close with the renovation of the 5-building, 103-unit Heart of Uptown Apartments Project (HUPA). In this, URS in tandem with Voice’s Resident Opportunity Services team, propelled the project to completion within one year.
Antonio Rodriguez and Tiffany Courtney of the URS team eased tenants through a multitude of challenges, ultimately bringing them back home to beautifully remodeled apartments.
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