This month Pilsen residents and businesses will have access to more hyperlocal news about their community. The Pilsen Portal, a community news portal, is being relaunched as Chicago Voz. The relaunched community news site will officially launch on October 15, 2014. This exciting new expansion of the hyperlocal site will increase its neighborhood news coverage and access to resources. “I’m very excited we are relaunching the Pilsen Portal as Chicago Voz,” says Luiz Magaña, Chicago Voz Digital Communications Coordinator, “because we plan to focus on writing more  articles that impact our community.”
The focus of Chicago Voz is to tell stories relevant to these communities and highlight local businesses, organizations, artists, writers and community leaders that continue to shape our neighborhoods. It will also serve as an incubator for community journalists by providing free community journalism workshops and providing emerging journalists a platform to publish their articles. “We see Chicago Voz as an opportunity to become an important outlet for residents and non-residents to get information,” said Magaῆa, “as well as for emerging community writers to find an outlet to share their voice through.”
The new name is reflective of Chicago Voz’s mission to work closer with community writers, journalists, and artists so that the diverse voices of the neighborhood can be represented across the city and create healthy digital communities. “We are proud to say that Chicago Voz is ‘The Voice of Pilsen in Chicago’,” said Magaῆa.
The original Pilsen Portal began in 2009 as part of the Smart Communities program and the Broadband Technology and Opportunities program. It was also a byproduct of the Pilsen Planning Committee and an extension of the Pilsen Quality of Life Plan. With the support of LISC Chicago and the McCormick Foundation, the Pilsen Portal was able to expand beyond a community website to become a site that allows greater Chicago to visit the beautiful Pilsen neighborhood.
Chicago Voz is an independent community website managed by an editorial board that makes decisions on the content created and published. In the near future, Chicago Voz will also be expanding into neighborhoods like Back of the Yards, Little Village and other neighborhoods. This website is managed by The Resurrection Project (TRP), a nonprofit community development organization. However, all opinions made by Chicago Voz do not reflect those of The Resurrection Project. Visit ChicagoVoz.com
If you are interested in being a contributor for Chicago Voz, please contact [email protected].
For media inquiries, contact Diana Pando at 312-880-1140 or at [email protected].

Return to Nueva Vida October 2014 here.