A DIY Music Space Transforms into a Home For Asylum Seekers
May 11, 2021
At Casa Al-Fatiha in Logan Square, two local musicians built a sanctuary for LGBTQ asylum seekers.
By Alexandra Arriaga
This profile is part of our How a Community Heals series.
Each Saturday outside a squat Logan Square bungalow, people in the community know they can come by for items like milk, eggs, fruit and clothing. Some neighbors come prepared with carts to take home a whole box.
This weekly food distribution began last spring as the small house transitioned from a hostel, garden and interdisciplinary arts space for local artists to a sanctuary for LGBTQ asylum seekers released from immigration detention, calling it Casa Al-Fatiha. Here they could find a place to rest their heads and a community to rely on.
The house, formerly known as Earphoria, once kept a schedule abundant with open mics, potlucks and weekly shows. When in-person gatherings became impossible, two musicians decided to transform the space’s art and music legacy into a new one.
https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2021/5/10/a-diy-music-space-transforms-into-a-home-for-asylum-seekersnbsp
