Your NPR news source

Elvia Malagón

Reporter, Social Justice/Wage Gap
Tonnette Johnson sitting on bed with pink walls and curtain in background
Race, Class & Communities
How long do you need to save to buy a home in Chicago? Four years, experts say.
By Elvia Malagón
 
Mary Brooks watering plants inside apartment
Since video went viral of Harvey apartments boarded up — with people inside — tenants struggle to move
By Elvia Malagón
 
A person walks across a frozen lake in winter
We’ve got answers to your winter-related questions
By Jason Marck , Joe DeCeault , and 4 more
 
Letitia Jackson, a former Peoples Gas employee, is among nearly a dozen former and current Peoples Gas employees filing a federal lawsuit against the company over alleged safety and racial discrimination.
Black utility workers in lawsuit allege they face discrimination while working at Peoples Gas
By Elvia Malagón
 
Diamond Jones, 30, who is challenging Richton Park’s crime-free housing ordinance, stands in her attorney’s office earlier this month.
Politics
Her family called police for help, then her lease was terminated
By Elvia Malagón
 
Hiola G. Alston standing and looking into camera
Environment & Public Health
Peoples Gas rate hike would hurt Chicagoans struggling to pay utility bills, advocates say
By Elvia Malagón
 
person walking on sidewalk in snow
Environment & Public Health
What you should know about the city’s heat ordinance
By Elvia Malagón  and Justin Myers
 
Prices in Chicago increased 17% over the summer, but have started to drop, according to digital marketing services company Rent.
Rent prices dip slightly in Chicago metro area, new report finds
By Elvia Malagón
 
Vannessa Olivera, at home in Kilbourn Park. Her family has found some footing as they try to win asylum and anxiously await their work permits.
Race, Class & Communities
A year since the first buses of migrants arrived in Chicago, the journey to asylum for Vannessa Olivera, others is just beginning
By Elvia Malagón
 
People walk around Chicago’s Chinatown Square.
Race, Class & Communities
Chicago’s Chinatown, unlike similar neighborhoods elsewhere, is flourishing
By Elvia Malagón
 
CPS Header
Education
High school classrooms are transformed into ‘welcome center’ for migrant families in West Town, Humboldt Park
By Elvia Malagón
 
Luis Perez, who went to College of DuPage and Northern Illinois University, stands at Mozart Park in the Logan Square neighborhood on June 30, 2023.
Education
Chicago student borrowers on the hook — again — after high court rejects Biden’s loan forgiveness program
By Elvia Malagón  and Lisa Philip
 
Highland Park Header
After surviving Highland Park parade mass shooting, ‘some days ... it’s just really hard to still get out of bed and go outside’
By Elvia Malagón
 
Jailyn Brown, who has been receiving $500 through the Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot, at a bus stop in Bronzeville on her way to her job in Bucktown. Brown said she uses some of the money for rideshares but usually takes a bus.
Politics
Are guaranteed income programs working?
By Esther Yoon-Ji Kang  and Elvia Malagón
 
Felix, 72, who received $500 a month from the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot, at his home in Pilsen, where he is his wife’s main caretaker. “It was a success having those $500 that they would give us,” he said. “Because it was a lot of help to me.”
Race, Class & Communities
How guaranteed-income programs helped these Chicago area residents
By Esther Yoon-Ji Kang  and Elvia Malagón
 
Asylum-seekers who are moving from the shelter at High Ridge YMCA step out of buses outside Daley College in the West Lawn neighborhood, where they will be staying temporarily on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
After days of delays, city moves migrant families from North Side to Daley College
By Elvia Malagón , Fran Spielman , and 1 more
 
Aleksei Eremenko and his family sitting on couch
Race, Class & Communities
After fleeing Russia over war in Ukraine, a Chicago family joins asylum-seekers in legal limbo
By Elvia Malagón
 
McCormick Place with Chicago skyline in background
Migrants at Navy Pier or McCormick Place? Alderperson says a central facility is better than neighborhoods for asylum-seekers.
By Fran Spielman  and Elvia Malagón