Cook County Commissioner Jesús “Chuy” García (7th District) has named Dolores Castañeda as the 7th District’s recipient of the 2014 Unsung Heroine Award. Castañeda is a self-appointed neighborhood sentry—confronting gang members treading onto play lots and harassing neighbors—and the neighborhood go-to person—taking people into her home, offering rides to those in need, and sharing her money to help others make ends meet. Castañeda was honored, along with 16 other 2014 Unsung Heroines, at a breakfast in their honor on Thursday, March 25th at the Chicago Cultural Center.

In addition to being very active with CAPS efforts, Castañeda uses her own personal resources to cook meals and brings them, along with warm blankets and coats, to homeless individuals living on the streets of Chicago. She has taken the lead in renovating the Trumbull play lot near her home, and she is very active with her local parish of St. Agnes of Bohemia, taking communion to those who are unable to attend mass, and working to beautify the neighborhood through the Padres Angeles Graffiti to Art project which helps young people paint murals to cover-up graffiti. As a board member of the Jorge Prieto Clinic she is a staunch advocate for patients’ well-being, and she does all of this on top of working as a teacher’s aide at the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind.

Castañeda has kept this active pace as a single mother of four. Her eldest is currently working on her PhD and her other three children are currently attending college. It is because of her children that she works so hard to make her community safe, healthy, and one that thrives.