CHICAGO (CBS) – She is a powerhouse who built a ministry and changed the narrative on a Chicago street corner once famous for its troubles.
Week after week, Sandie Norman heads to the West Side Austin community to bring food, prayer and hope, and as CBS 2 learned, she’s committed no matter the weather.
News reporter: “It says a lot about your dedication that you are here even in the cold and rain.”
Norman: “I don’t care if it’s below zero, okay? We’re here.”
No matter the weather, the Sandie Norman Ministry is at Madison Street and Central Avenue every Friday for prayer, fellowship and delicious, hot, home-cooked food.
“Welcome, welcome, welcome!” she said to visitors recently.
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Norman started street hospitality during the pandemic when churches were closed, but her need to serve was stronger than ever.
“I just said, OK, I’m going out,” Norman said. “And I’m going to bring the kingdom to the streets, just where no one else wants to go.”
The department has had a major impact in Austin, a neighborhood long plagued by violent crime. In the immediate area around Madison and Central, the ministry has had a major impact.
“What you see now wasn’t like that,” she said. “It was a lot of drug dealing, just a lot of activity, police cars.”
City records show that crime has indeed been lurking since Norman founded the department, but it’s about more than numbers. Norman’s department and the officers in the area said they truly care about each other.
‘We have officers there who are putting their lives on the line. They are here with us,” she said. “And so we wanted to do it for the community. We wanted to be able to bless the officers.”
Andre Parham served as Chicago’s precinct police commander until last August.
“This corner, when I first came to the district, was one of the biggest challenges we had,” Parham said.
He added, “Because Sandie Norman and her ministry come out here…and work with the community and reach people who are hard for police to reach. [to] has made a real, real difference in this particular area.”
News reporter: “You have a partnership here.”
Parham: “Yes, I do. 100%”
So how does law enforcement create that partnership?
“It’s simply this: giving the community a voice, but involving the community and making them part of the solution,” said Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling.
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CBS 2 spoke with Snelling, who called Norman a fighting force for good.
“If we have people like that, who are involved in their community and don’t wait to hear it, and they want to be part of the solution, then we can make great things happen,” he said.
Where does Norman’s need to serve her community come from?
“I grew up in areas where there was a lot of violence,” Norman said. “So I made the decision that I wasn’t just going to talk about the problem, but I wanted to be someone who goes back and is changed.”
That’s why she’s enlisted the support of people who live in Austin, and others who live miles away. They all believe that their presence on a street corner in Chicago and a warm hand can change a community.
“Yes, and we love what we do,” Norman said. “We don’t get paid. We have no political ties. We do this because we love God and because we love people.”
When she first started, Norman worked two jobs to pay for the food she could donate to her neighbors. Even now, her ministry receives no subsidies or funding.
Norman said it all comes from people just pooling their resources to make the world a little better.
For more information about Sandie Norman Ministries, visit her website SandieNormanMinistries.org.
Jim Williams
