John Donahue, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, passed away last month. We served together on the board of the National Coalition for the Homeless. During our time on the NCH Board I was able to visit his program in Chicago and he spent time with us in Portland. No one on the NCH board will ever forget John belly-dancing at Portland's Alexis Greek Restaurant during a celebration. People in Chicago called him Juancho, but I always teased him about looking like Scotty from Star Trek. From the Chicago Coalition web site:
Juancho was the CCH executive director since 1990. His intelligence, warmth and energy enabled him to mobilize people to push for change, a guiding force during more than 40 years' work in Chicago and Central America. Under his leadership, the coalition's work has focused on finding ways to prevent and end homelessness, pushing for workable solutions that create more affordable housing and living wage jobs.
The Chicago Sun Times also offered a moving memorial:
John Donahue was many things to many people, but he was nobody's chump. A big man with an outsized heart, this lifelong advocate deployed his keen wit and strategic mind to advance the cause of justice for the poor. For more than 40 years until his sudden death from lung cancer a week ago, Chicago's most effective community organizer labored from Chicago to Central America to wipe out homelessness, poverty and social injustice. He was the son of a Chicago fireman, and his advocacy bridged every ethnic and racial line. He was lovingly nicknamed Juancho, but he spoke the universal language of compassion for those who hang to the short end of life. Once a Roman Catholic priest, he gave up the ministry 24 years ago to marry Icela, who survives him, along with their five children.
Hearing this news is crushing. Chicago has lost a hero and everyone who has worked with him has lost a good friend and mentor. My prayers are with his wife and family.
