Could Pope Leo’s connection to Dolton, Illinois assist in reshaping the village’s image following issues with ex-Mayor Tiffany Henyard?

DOLTON, Ill. (WLS) — From brawls to blessings, it has been quite a turn of events for the village of Dolton.

Tourists are flocking to Pope Leo XIV’s boyhood home in the south suburb.

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“We are very happy we came, and these people don’t know how lucky they are,” said Dolton visitor Margaret Carlson.

Lucky is not exactly a term that would define Dolton is recent months.

Residents have endured so much controversy surrounding the tenure of former Mayor Tiffany Henyard, who faced corruption and political retaliation allegations. It all came to a head when a big fight broke out at a meeting in Thornton Township, where Henyard served as supervisor.

Months later, Dolton has a new mayor and now can claim a pope.

“We are trying to move past the negative, so it’s like a breath of fresh air,” said Dolton Village Trustee Brittany Norwood.

Norwood said she and Dolton Mayor Jason House are trying out figure the best way to use the pope’s Dolton connection to help change the town’s image.

“We do have plans. We are still at the beginning phases. Our goal is to make sure we honor the pope and his Catholic faith in the best way possible,” Norwood said.

Neighbors who live on the block of the pope’s boyhood home hope his connection will bring some much needed prosperity to a suburb that has many abandoned homes and store fronts.

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“I really think this right here is definitely a change in our atmosphere, and definitely is bringing hope to our community, healing to our community,” said Dolton resident Donna Sagna Davis.

Davis lives next-door to the pope’s former home, and she enjoys meeting all the new visitors to her town.

Three generations of Mayika Flanagan’s family have lived on the block. She hopes the attention will force residents and the village to clean it up.

“It’s going to be a positive outcome. I feel like there is going to be a big change by the end of this year,” Flanagan said.

House was unavailable for an interview on Monday. Norwood and other ally trustees would not give any hints on what he has planned, but they say they will announce soon their plans to honor the pope.