I Am Your Neighbor: Voices from a Chicago Food Pantry - Softcover

"Chicago is a city of neighborhoods with nearly 3 million unique stories. The Common Pantry has been part of our great city for 45 years encour­aging one neighbor to help another when faced with food insecurity. Our nation's food pantries, and their teams of volunteers, provide a great service. However, one of the first steps to alleviating the problem is recog­nizing that clients are not anonymous strangers, but our neighbors who deserve our compassion and understanding. 'I am Your Neighbor' allows each of us to take that first step." 
-- U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL - 5th Congressional District)

"There are people facing hunger in every community across the country. By sharing their personal experiences about their struggle with hunger, we not only have an opportunity to raise awareness about the problem, but also to give a powerful voice to people who often go unheard." 
-- Vicki Escarra, President and CEO, Feeding America

"Nearly 1 in 6 people in Cook County is unsure of where or when they will receive their next meal. Common Pantry is a member agency of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and provides emergency and supple­mental food to North Side residents when they need help making ends meet. Even as some economic indicators suggest a rebound, the volume of food insecurity in our community remains staggering. The authors of 'I am Your Neighbor' bring to life the root causes of hunger and economic distress in a way that statistics cannot." 
-- Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO, Greater Chicago Food Depository

David R. Brown has been a commercial real estate professional his entire 26 year career. “I am Your Neighbor” is his first book, and in no way is related to his profession. Rather, it is a reflection of his interest in community building through personal outreach.

Prior jobs at international real estate companies took him on grueling business trips to many places around the globe including London, Paris, Munich, Cannes, Frankfurt, Berlin, Prague, Zurich, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. David now enjoys a much more local focus running his own company doing property advisory, investment, development and finance. His true passion is his family and his community, spending time at sporting events, plays and dance recitals and in meetings with the school board, church, Common Pantry, community groups and other non-profit organizations. David is a native of Grove City, Ohio. Following his college years, David lived in New York City for ten years before returning to Chicago to settle down in 1995. He and his wife Shannon have two young daughters, Stella and Hazel. David is a graduate of Richard Avenue Elementary School, Brookpark Middle School and Grove City High School. He is also a graduate of Northwestern University with a BA in Urban Studies and Political Science, and received his Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government with a concentration in Housing and Community Development. He continues to learn something new every day that was not covered in school.

Roger Wright, a Chicago native, has been writing since he could hold a pencil. His early work life was as a Special Education Teacher in the Uptown Neighborhood of Chicago and in starting the Education and Workforce Development Program for Jobs For Youth Chicago. He is a former ghostwriter, training developer and speaker for Gallup Publishing and has 20 years of experience in writing and leading customer service, management and leadership development programs in business, non-profit, education and faith settings. His “Chicago Guy” blog has a worldwide readership and has been a regular feature on-line at www.Fictionique.com and, for the past four years, the blog aggregator Open Salon. His upcoming book titles are: “Finding Work When There Are No Jobs” (Publication Date: January 2013) and “Street Corner Spirits.” Roger is a graduate of Beloit College and Players Workshop of The Second City.