Welcome to the Neighborhood!
Becoming Hillside Yoga and Wellness
I moved to Hillside around 1986 with my first husband. It was still considered a decent neighborhood, just a little run down. Our house was actually not considered “in” Hillside—wrong side of the tracks. But it really didn’t matter. I got to know our neighbors, standing around in the front yard talking to each other. Captain Stevens and his wife walked twice daily and picked up trash. Another neighbor’s grandchildren knocked on my door to ask if they could get some plums from my yard.
My daughter was born, and a little later I was divorced. My mother moved in with us to help out. I went back to school at LaGrange College, about three blocks from my house. My neighborhood expanded to include other students and professors. My house was definitely the worse for wear with peeling paint and a hole in the dining room ceiling where the rain came in. Even so, we welcomed students and athletes from all over the world. They cooked too much food, told stories to my daughter, and remembered to move the bucket when it rained.
One year, my insurance company told me I had to paint the house or lose coverage. I was a single mom and college student. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Family, friends and neighbors all showed up. Mr. Jackson from up the street told me he was sorry he couldn’t help because of his asthma, but he would help pay for paint. I got a check from another student’s father in Japan. People showed up to scrape and paint. I kept my insurance.
An old friend, newly single, returned to LaGrange to raise his kids near family. We ended up marrying. He and his children moved into Jefferson Street, doubling the size of our household. The neighborhood was becoming more run down. And then some friends moved into the neighborhood. They had a passion for hospitality and community. Soon we were again having people from all over coming to our neighborhood—students, immigrants, peace-walking Buddhists, Mission Year couples. Some stayed to help the neighborhood improve. Our friends started Casa Alterna. DASH (Decent Affordable Sustainable Housing) non-profit was created and Hillside was their early focus. Our neighborhood community grew.
One day on their daily walk, Mrs. Stevens’ foot went through a hole in the bridge. It was in terrible shape. My husband was outraged. He called the railroad company. It took a while, but working with the city, state, and the railroad company, the bridge was finally replaced. Our neighbors worked together to get speed tables and stop signs added to make our street safer. We planted a community garden and later, when I became a yoga teacher, we offered community yoga for adults and children.
Change is constant, and the neighborhood keeps changing too. Lots of people have moved on. Some have stayed. A few years ago, we decided to move outside the city. It was really hard. I had spent most of my adult life in the house on Jefferson Street and the Hillside neighborhood. I taught yoga at the DASH community room that is now part of Beacon Brewery, Pure Life Studio, my neighbor’s garage, a therapy office, and even in my house. I didn’t want to leave. And then, when I was ready to open my own yoga studio, there was a place available in Hillside. We opened in 2022 and it has been great to recreate the sense of community that is Hillside there.
And now we have changed our studio name to Hillside Yoga and Wellness. What has not changed is the friendliness and community we have created at the studio since we opened. It’s in that spirit that I chose our new name.
Welcome to Hillside Yoga and Wellness! Welcome to the neighborhood!
Joanne
With gratitude to my parents, especially my mother, Jean Johnson, who instilled in me the importance of hospitality, generosity and welcoming strangers.
