Beyond Today Mission Statement

We are an organization of Chicago residents committed to working togther
to promote environmentalism, social justice, and peace.

Welcome!

What is Beyond Today?

It's our neighborhood environmental and social justice group near the Chicago River by Montrose and the surrounding neighborhoods.

We are grassroots. Our main volunteers and leaders have arisen from community events to clean up the river and establish organic and native gardens within our neighborhood.

We are a diverse group. If you are young or old, renter or homeowner, a hardcore environmentalist, or you just don't like to see resources wasted, Beyond Today is meant to be useful to you.

If you live in our neighborhood, please take a moment to let us know if you are interested in joining this community.

Beyond Today was started by members of the Riverbank Neighbors in January of 2003 as part of our effort to stop the war and to work on broader environmental and social justice issues.

The Environmental Neighborhood Project is our main project at this point. We have come to realize that through our work for Riverbank Neighbors, a wonderful community has formed. This community has a high level of knowledge about the environment and issues facing us, it has a high level of practice of environmental ways of living, it has strong social ties and working relationships. We think this is a special opportunity to form a community which intentionallly seeks a way to be Chicagoans who don't destroy the earth, but protect the natural resources upon which we rely for the happiness and survival of our children's children.

We are working together to examine every little bit of our way of life and question it- from the cars we try not to drive, to the pesticides we don't want to use, helping each other to figure out a healthier way to live.

Below is a map showing the neighborhood where most of us live, however, quite a few of us live off this map, but they are in our community just the same. Notice the river. Most of us are also part of Riverbank Neighbors and act as stewards of the riverbank. We do our best to advocate to protect the water, and it is not as polluted as it was. Many of us are also Water's School gardeners. This is a school and community organic garden at Sunnyside and Maplewood.