Carmen Del Real is Keeping Cicero Real Clean
Señora Carmen Del Real during her daily route (except Sunday) down Cermak Rd., beginning at Central Ave. and usually ending near Austin Blvd. Del Real began picking up the streets of Cicero, alone, in 2021 and has become known during her daily clean ups. People give her bendiciones and the owner of a restaurant gave her and attached a statue of La Virgin de Guadalupe to keep her safe while cleaning (April Alonso for Cicero Independiente).
By Irene Romulo
Back in her rancho in Palo Alto, Zacatecas, Carmen Del Real, 74, used to grow elotes, zucchinis, green beans and potatoes. She started working en el campo when she was ten years old.
“Back in el rancho, as soon as you start crawling they tell you to go work in the fields,” she said in Spanish as she laughed.
She moved to Cicero on a more permanent basis to live with her children around five years ago but following the death of her husband, her sister and her younger brother, Del Real said she fell into a deep depression. So, she started picking up garbage around Cicero.
“I told my Father God that if I was able to get out of this depression I would start picking up trash,” Del Real said. “I put a little bit of the depression in each bag, I seal them and make sure not to bring any of it back with me.”
Now, she’s out of the house everyday, except Sunday, by 7:15 with her carrito to clean up Cermak Road from Central to Austin and sometimes all the way to Lombard.
“Yo ando como la muerte,” she said while giggling. “Yo junto de todo para echar en mi carrito: condones, pantalones, calzones hasta poquito cagadillos.”
Back when she first started cleaning up the streets in 2021, her son Jose F. Galvez emailed town president Larry Dominick to see if Del Real could be supported or recognized for her work. The town sent a staff member from the Cicero Task Force to give her some bags and a trash pick up stick.
Earlier this year, Del Real’s phone was stolen from City View, Galvez once again asked for help to replace her phone.
In September, Del Real was finally able to replace her phone using donations gathered through an online fundraiser and contributions from a town of Cicero employee. She said, however, that she doesn’t hold any resentment towards whoever took it back on August 12.
“Maybe they need it more than I do,” she said. “We shouldn’t wish bad on anyone.”
An unknown person replaced Señora Carmen’s makeshift basket with an old laundry basket in the alley behind Cermak Immediate Care where Señora Carmen piles up her trash pick up before throwing it in the trash (April Alonso/ Cicero Independiente).
Despite her son’s worries about her going out alone, Del Real has not stopped going out to clean up since the incident. She likes knowing her work is valued and appreciates all the bendiciones people give her when they run into her.
“Vengo a casa y descanso. Me baño y como muy agusto porque ya hice mi tarea del día,” Del Real said.
Her work has silently brought strangers together. At the corner of 58th Ave and Cermak, Del Real had set up a makeshift basket to store the trash she picks up. Someone replaced it with a permanent basket. She doesn’t know who did it but it shows that people are willing to support each other.
Additional reporting by April Alonso
Author's note: While I wholeheartedly admire la Señora Carmen's efforts, I agree with a reader who recently pointed out that regular trash pick-up throughout our town should be provided by our local government.
Irene Romulo is co-founder and development coordinator of Cicero Independiente. You can email her at irene@ciceroindependiente.com or follow her on twitter @ireneincicero.
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