Historic homes in Uptown's Sheridan Park area, west of Broadway. Photo: Alanscottwalker / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
A small Uptown foundation is betting that a Thanksgiving-season party in one of the neighborhood’s grand old houses can carry its HIV and AIDS work into another year. New Vision of Hope Foundation has set its second annual Red Ribbon Autumn Harvest AIDS Benefit Gala for Saturday, Nov. 18, from 6:30 to 10 p.m.
The setting is the Mansion on Malden, the house at 4602 N. Malden St. that many neighbors still know as Judge Clark’s House. The block sits in the quiet residential pocket west of Broadway, where some of the large homes built in Uptown’s early years have survived as event spaces and private residences.
What guests can expect
Tickets are $75. The organizers describe the dress code as black tie, optional, which in practice means a suit will do. The evening includes food and drinks, live entertainment, prize drawings and a silent auction, the last of which usually does much of the fundraising work at events of this size.
The foundation has framed the gala as a season of thanksgiving, timing it a few days before the holiday so that it lands while people are already thinking about giving. Proceeds go to New Vision of Hope’s programs.
A neighborhood with a long stake in the issue
Uptown has been home to HIV service providers, clinics and support groups since the early years of the epidemic, in part because of its proximity to the North Side’s gay neighborhoods and its large stock of affordable apartments. Small groups like New Vision of Hope fill gaps around the larger agencies, often with a handful of staff and a long list of volunteers.
The foundation is also one of the newer members of the local business association this fall, a sign that it is trying to build ties with shop owners and landlords on the commercial strips as well as with residents.
Reservations and questions go to the foundation by phone at (773) 907-3480. A printed flyer with the full details has been circulating at businesses along Broadway.
Linh Tran-Whitaker covers Argyle Street, dining and community life.
