Meet Eastlake Tenants Union
Who We Are
Founded in 2021, the Eastlake Tenants Union is a grassroots squad of tenants coming together to upgrade life in all Eastlake buildings. We're all about empowering our people with knowledge of their rights, rallying everyone to push for better conditions, and getting tenants to take the reins on their homes through collective cooperative ownership.
Founder and Housing Organizer
Showtime Shanna
Shanna is a natural-born organizer, writer, and entrepreneur. Shanna empowers tenants on their rights and develops strategic plans to ensure tenants' best interest
Union Representative
John Owens
John Owens is a Union Representative for Washington Park SRO. John is a family man, mentor, and friend. He believes all tenants regardless of class, race, or socio-economic status deserve to live in peaceful, humane, affordable housing.
Union Representative
Sharron Melendez
Sharron Melendez is a Union Representative for Bristol Apartments. She is a mother, grandmother, spiritual counselor, and confidant. Sharron works to ensure tenants in the union come together in perfect love and trust, free from judgement.
Driven by our community and never ending hustle!
Uniting the voices of tenants in subsidized housing and hustling for better living conditions.
ELTU in the Press
WBBM News Radio | December 18, 2022
Chicago apartment buildings' disgruntled tenants voice concerns outside City Hall
Residents representing tenants at dozens of apartment buildings managed by East Lake Management and the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation are demanding that city officials do something about their living conditions.
Chicago Sun Times | October 18, 2022
‘Why do we have to live like this?’ No more
city business for East Lake Management, tenants say
Protesters outside City Hall say lax security, pests, monthslong maintenance backlogs are all reasons the city should stop working with the management company.
abc 7 Chicago | December 7, 2022
Senior living residents say they are isolated since management closed community rooms for pandemic
Patrica Hightower has lived in the Park Shore East apartments for 20 years. Socializing with other residents is what keeps the 80-year-old going but community rooms in her building and others managed by East Lake Management have been closed since the beginning of the pandemic.
WBBM News Radio | December 7, 2022
‘It’s been like living in a prison’: Chicago apartments reopen social rooms after protest
East Lake Management, which runs a number of senior apartment buildings across Chicago said Wednesday that they'll now reopen community rooms that have been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Side Weekly | May 5, 2022
Tenant Union Demands Change at Washington Park SRO
Formerly known as the Washington Park YMCA, the building located at 5000 South Indiana Avenue acted as a community anchor that provided fitness facilities, after-school programs, housing and resources to the residents of Washington Park and beyond.