Tears rolled down her face as Ursula Phoenix stood in Grant Park witnessing Barack Obama, a man from the South Side of Chicago, become the first black President of the United States in 2008.
She thought about her grandfather, who was once stopped from voting at gunpoint. And her mother, who left Alabama for Chicago, looking for a slice of equality. She thought about her 6-year-old daughter growing up in the era of the first African-American president.
“Tonight because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment change has come to America,” she heard Obama declare during his victory speech.
But things didn’t get better for perhaps the people who needed it most.
That’s because Obama’s national message of hope had an unfortunate exception: his hometown.
Ursula Phoenix, her daughter Chloe and her mother Barbara Keys reflect on the president's legacy.
Rosa Flores/CNN
In Phoenix’s mind, if a politician could deliver on a promise, it was Obama. And there was one vow in particular she remembers from a campaign speech in early 2008.
‘We do feel neglected’
“Our prosperity can and must be the tide that lifts every boat, that we rise or fall as one nation, that our economy is strongest when our middle-class grows and opportunity is spread as widely as possible,” Obama proclaimed.
More than eight years later, Obama returns to Chicago on Tuesday night to deliver a farewell. Like many here, Phoenix has pride for the walls Obama knocked down, but she struggles with the feeling that he could have done more.
“There was no consideration for those whose boat was cemented to the bottom, who were drowning,” Phoenix says.
Activist Ja'Mal Green believes President Obama has neglected to help the black community in Chicago.
Jake Carpenter/CNN
When President Obama spoke of hope and change in 2008, Ja’Mal Green, a community organizer, believed it would translate to safety on his block.
But that’s not the reality he sees as he walks the South Side streets today. He points to last year’s spike in violence: 762 were killed in 2016, more than New York and Los Angeles combined.
Green says he wishes President Obama would have used his position to bring more attention to the issues impacting black communities, like poverty, the underfunding of schools and the lack of economic investment in rough neighborhoods.
“We are not going to be saying thank you for the eight years of work that he didn’t do in the black communities,” Green says of Obama’s return to Chicago.
During Obama’s tenure in the White House, 3,917 people were murdered in Chicago, police records show.
“It’s heartbreaking,” President Obama told CNN affiliate WLS about the violence in Chicago. “Obviously, most issues around crime and safety are local. I can’t send the Marines into Chicago … I said in Grant Park when I was declared the winner of the presidency that this wasn’t a task for one year, or one term, or even one president.”
Since he left Chicago for Washington, several high-profile murders and crime statistics have kept the city in a grim spotlight. And a fractured relationship between police and black teens following the police shooting of Laquan McDonald only added fuel to an existing fire. The teen was shot 16 times. Most of the bullets were fired while his body was lying on the ground. Police reports later revealed officers on the scene lied to cover up the shooting.
“We do feel neglected,” Green says. “And we felt like [Obama] could do more and he could have possibly saved some lives.”
Green says he understands that age-old ills aren’t cured in eight years. But if there was a president who could help, he says, it would be the president who marched the same streets, demanding change.
Unfair to blame Obama for hometown woes?
Melvin Worley says President Obama did all he could with obstacles in front of him to help the black community.
Rosa Flores/CNN
Some of President Obama’s faithful supporters gathered inside a historic Catholic church for Sunday mass ahead of his farewell address this week.
Believers like Savannah Dean say their prayers were answered when Obama was elected. And when people are critical of President Obama for not fixing Chicago’s problems, she says they are being unfair.
“I don’t blame Obama for it,” Dean tells CNN. “I think people who criticize him don’t know better.”
Savannah Dean says Obama brought about great change when it came to jobs and healthcare.
Rosa Flores/CNN
She points to some of his successes: the low national unemployment rate; the more than 16 million people who got health insurance after the Affordable Care Act was passed.
Other supporters defend Obama by saying he was the leader of the country, not the mayor of Chicago. There were plenty of economic and international pressing issues he had to deal with as president. He couldn’t drop everything for one city.
“Obama tried his best. He’s only the president. He’s not a dictator. He can’t do whatever he wants to do,” Chicago resident Melvin Worley says.
Obama’s next legacy
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Chuck Kennedy/Getty Images
Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Click through the gallery to see 100 moments from his administration.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The Obamas share a moment on a freight elevator as they head to one of the inaugural balls on January 20, 2009. "It was quite chilly, so the President removed his tuxedo jacket and put it over the shoulders of his wife," White House photographer Pete Souza said. "Then they had a semi-private moment as staff members and Secret Service agents tried not to look."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama wears 3-D glasses during a Super Bowl viewing at the White House on February 1, 2009.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama speaks with aides in the White House Oval Office on February 4, 2009. From left are Senior Advisor Pete Rouse, White House Director of Legislative Affairs Phil Schiliro, Senior Advisor David Axelrod, National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Darin McGregor/AP
Vice President Joe Biden watches Obama sign the economic stimulus bill on February 17, 2009. The goal was to stimulate the country's staggering economy by increasing federal spending and cutting taxes.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama acknowledges applause before addressing a joint session of Congress for the first time on February 24, 2009. The President focused on the three priorities of the budget he presented to Congress later in the week: energy, health care and education.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
A boy touches Obama's hair in the Oval Office on May 8, 2009. "A temporary White House staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama," White House photographer Pete Souza said. "Carlton's son softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the President's head to see if it felt the same as his."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Obama kisses Sonia Sotomayor after announcing her as a Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday, May 26. Sotomayor went on to become the court's first Hispanic justice.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Chuck Kennedy/The White House
The President returns to the Oval Office after going on a hamburger run for West Wing staffers and aides on May 29, 2009.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House/Getty Images
Obama closes his eyes before taping his weekly radio address at the White House on June 2, 2009.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times/Redux
Obama tours the Great Pyramid and Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, on June 4, 2009. In a speech at Cairo University, Obama pledged to "seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world," imploring America and the Islamic world to drop their suspicions of one another and forge new alliances.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama places a flower at the Buchenwald Memorial as he visits the former concentration camp in Germany on June 5, 2009.
Obama stands on stage before delivering remarks to service members in Jacksonville, Florida, on October 26, 2009. "Of all the privileges I have as President, I have no greater honor than serving as your commander in chief," Obama said in his speech.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Obama salutes during the dignified transfer of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin on October 29, 2009. The President traveled to an Air Force base in Dover, Delaware, to meet a plane carrying the bodies of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The President fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on December 3, 2009.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images
Obama poses with a diploma and gold medal after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 2009. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Obama was the fourth U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter also received the award.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Charles Dharapak/AP
The President talks on a cell phone as he steps off Marine One in Baltimore on January 29, 2010.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama plays with his daughters in the White House Rose Garden during a snowstorm on February 6, 2010.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama calls a member of Congress to discuss health care reform on March 19, 2010. A bill passed the Senate in December 2009, but there were intense negotiations before it could pass the House. The bill passed 219-212 after more than a year of bitter partisan debate. All 178 Republicans opposed it, along with 34 Democrats.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
Obama signs the Affordable Care Act -- his health care overhaul -- on March 23, 2010. It was the biggest expansion of health care guarantees in more than four decades, and it represented a significant step toward the goal of universal coverage, which has been sought by every Democratic President since Harry Truman.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama takes the stage on a rainy day outside of Chicago on May 31, 2010. He was scheduled to give a Memorial Day speech. "When the lightning began, the Secret Service told the President that it was too dangerous to proceed," White House photographer Pete Souza said. "He took the stage by himself and informed the audience that his speech was canceled and that for everyone's safety, they should return to their buses. Later, he boarded a few of the buses to thank them for attending and apologized for not being able to speak."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama takes questions at the G-20 Summit in Toronto on June 27, 2010. "We came to Toronto with three specific goals: to make sure the global (economic) recovery is strong and durable; to continue reforming the financial system; and to address the range of global issues that affect our prosperity and security. And we made progress in each of these areas," Obama said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The President puts his toe on a scale as White House travel director Marvin Nicholson tries to weigh himself in Austin, Texas, on August 8, 2010.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Charles Dharapak/AP
Obama hosted a working dinner with Mideast leaders on September 1, 2010. With Obama, from left, are Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II. Obama said he was "cautiously hopeful" that talks could achieve a two-state solution to the long-running Mideast conflict.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama shoots baskets before speaking at Cleveland State University on October 31, 2010.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The President greets U.S. troops after an unannounced flight to Afghanistan on December 3, 2010. The U.S. combat mission ended in Afghanistan in December 2014, but American troops remain in the country to support Afghan forces and counterterrorism operations.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama prays in the Oval Office with co-chairs of the National Prayer Breakfast on January 27, 2011. From left are U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, U.S. Rep. Tom Coburn, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, Obama, former Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick and U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The first family tours the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro on March 19, 2011. Obama visited Brazil, Chile and El Salvador during his trip to Latin America.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama talks with Vice President Joe Biden after a teleconference call about Libya on April 5, 2011. Obama committed U.S. forces to the U.N.-authorized mission in Libya, and he told the American people there were strategic and moral reasons to act. Failure to do so, he said, would have allowed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to unleash his military on his own people.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama and members of his national security team monitor the mission against Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. "Fourteen people crammed into the room, the President sitting in a folding chair on the corner of the table's head," said CNN's Peter Bergen as he relived the bin Laden raid five years later. "They sat in this room until the SEALs returned to Afghanistan." (Editor's note: The classified document in front of Hillary Clinton was obscured by the White House.)
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Irish Government/Pool/Getty Images
Obama and the first lady enjoy a glass of Guinness as they visit his ancestral home of Moneygall, Ireland, on May 23, 2011. Moneygall is believed to be the birthplace of one of his great-great-great grandfathers.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron play table tennis with students in London on May 24, 2011.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Allpix/Splash News/Newscom
During his state visit to England, Obama was also able to meet with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. The first couple gave the queen a handmade leather-bound album with rare memorabilia and photographs that highlighted the visit by her parents -- King George VI and Queen Elizabeth -- to the United States in 1939. To Prince Philip, they gave a custom-made set of pony bits and shanks and a set of horseshoes worn by a recently retired champion carriage horse. The Obamas were given copies of letters in the royal archives from a number of U.S. presidents to Queen Victoria. Michelle Obama also was given an antique broach in the form of roses made of gold and red coral.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama greets Hugh Hills, 85, in front of Hills' tornado-damaged home in Joplin, Missouri, on May 29, 2011. It was the deadliest tornado to hit American soil since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1950. Nearly 160 people were killed.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama talks backstage with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett before a reception in Philadelphia on June 30, 2011.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Charles Dharapak/AP
Obama shakes the prosthetic hand of Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry on July 12, 2011. Petry was at the White House to receive the Medal of Honor. The Army Ranger lost his hand while tossing an enemy grenade away from fellow soldiers in Afghanistan.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama does pushups on the White House basketball court after a member of the Harlem Globetrotters made a shot on April 9, 2012.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
During an event on April 18, 2012, Obama looks out of the famous Rosa Parks bus that was restored by the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. "I just sat in there for a moment and pondered the courage and tenacity that is part of our very recent history but is also part of that long line of folks who sometimes are nameless, oftentimes didn't make the history books, but who constantly insisted on their dignity, their share of the American dream," the President said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama congratulates cadets as they receive their diplomas from the U.S. Air Force Academy on May 23, 2012.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The Obamas take in the Chicago skyline on June 15, 2012. The Obamas lived in Chicago before he was President, and they still own a home there.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Charlie Neibergall/AP
Obama faces off with Mitt Romney at a presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, on October 16, 2012. Obama was re-elected with 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he interacts with Nicholas Tamarin, 3, just outside the Oval Office on October 26, 2012. Nicholas, son of White House aide Nate Tamarin, had been out trick-or-treating. "The President told me that this was his favorite picture of the year when he saw it hanging in the West Wing a couple of weeks later," White House photographer Pete Souza said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza//The White House
Obama takes the oath of office during his swearing-in ceremony on January 21, 2013. He is the 17th President to win a second term.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Gerald Herbert/AP
Obama kisses his wife during the inaugural parade in Washington. Sasha, left, takes a photo of her sister, Malia.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The President takes a tour of the ancient city of Petra during a visit to Jordan on March 23, 2013. He was accompanied by a University of Jordan tourism professor, and all other visitors kept well away -- except for a few stray cats.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama and four former U.S. Presidents attend the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and Museum on April 25, 2013. From left are Obama, Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Charles Dharapak/AP
Obama looks to see if it's still raining at a White House news conference on May 16, 2013.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama takes a photo with a sleeping boy at the White House during a Father's Day ice cream social on June 14, 2013.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama and the first lady tour an old slave house on Senegal's Goree Island on June 27, 2013. It was part of a three-nation tour in Africa. "For an African-American -- and an African-American President -- to be able to visit this site, I think (it) gives me even greater motivation in terms of the defense of human rights around the world," Obama said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Bo, one of the Obamas' dogs, hangs out in the Outer Oval Office as the President begins his day on November 6, 2013. "Each morning, the President always enters through this door rather than the direct outside door to the Oval Office," White House photographer Pete Souza said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Advisers Ben Rhodes, left, and Tony Blinken show their approval as Obama discusses Iran negotiations with Secretary of State John Kerry on November 23, 2013. Two years later, after arduous talks that spanned 20 months, negotiators reached a landmark deal aimed at reining in Iran's nuclear program. The essential idea behind the deal is that in exchange for limits on its nuclear activities, Iran would get relief from sanctions while being allowed to continue its atomic program for peaceful purposes.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron pose for a selfie with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt during Nelson Mandela's memorial service in Johannesburg on December 10, 2013. Some thought it was tasteless, considering the occasion.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama tosses a football in the Oval Office on January 6, 2014.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama greets locals in Phoenix after touring a model home of a nonprofit's housing development on January 8, 2014.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama works on his computer aboard Air Force One on February 19, 2014.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Aides laugh as the President swats a fly in the Oval Office on May 6, 2014.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama slides across a counter to pose with staff members at a Shake Shack restaurant in Washington on May 16, 2014. Vice President Joe Biden, lower right, also did the same. "The President normally does a group photo with restaurant staff when he stops for lunch or dinner," White House Photographer Pete Souza said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Obama, center, walks with the parents of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl after making a statement about Bergdahl's release on May 31, 2014. Bergdahl had been held captive in Afghanistan for nearly five years, and the Taliban released him in exchange for five U.S.-held prisoners.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
The President sits for a 3-D-printed bust being produced by the Smithsonian Institution on June 9, 2014. See the final product from the White House Maker Faire, which highlighted the importance of 3-D printing and other technologies that help people design and build new things.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Obama tries out a driving simulator July 15, 2014, as he tours the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia. The simulator was meant to demonstrate the types of "smart" vehicles being developed at the center.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
The President delivers a statement on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 18, 2014. The St. Louis suburb was in turmoil after Darren Wilson, a white police officer, fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. "Ours is a nation of laws: of citizens who live under them and for the citizens who enforce them," Obama said. "So, to a community in Ferguson that is rightly hurting and looking for answers, let me call once again for us to seek some understanding rather than simply holler at each other. Let's seek to heal rather than to wound each other."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Evan Vucci/AP
Obama leaves the White House briefing room after speaking about various topics on August 28, 2014. But the reaction on Twitter was largely focused on his rarely worn tan suit.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama visits Stonehenge on September 5, 2014. White House photographer Pete Souza recalled that day: "We were at the NATO summit in Wales when someone mentioned to the President that Stonehenge wasn't that far away. 'Let's go,' he said. So when the summit ended, we took a slight detour on the way back to Air Force One."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Alex Wong/DPA/AP
Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington on September 30, 2014.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Evan Vucci/AP
Obama hugs Ebola survivor Nina Pham in the Oval Office on October 24, 2014. Pham, one of two Dallas nurses diagnosed with the virus, was declared Ebola-free after being treated at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. The other nurse, Amber Vinson, was treated in Atlanta and also declared Ebola-free.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Chuck Kennedy/The White House
The President walks along the White House Colonnade on January 22, 2015.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama delivers remarks at the Edmund Pettis Bridge on the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when marchers were brutally beaten in Selma, Alabama, as they demonstrated for voting rights in 1965.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama poses with the world's fastest man, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, at an event in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 9, 2015.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama's wave aligns with a rainbow as he boards Air Force One in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 9, 2015.
Obama says goodbye to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi from a West Wing hallway on April 29, 2015.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
DOUG MILLS/The New York Times/Redux
The President speaks at a White House event that recognized emerging global entrepreneurs on May 11, 2015.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with Obama near the Bavarian Alps on June 8, 2015. Obama and other world leaders were in Germany for the annual G-7 Summit. "Merkel asked the leaders and outreach guests to make their way to a bench for a group photograph," White House Photographer Pete Souza said. "The President happened to sit down first, followed closely by the Chancellor. I only had time to make a couple of frames before the background was cluttered with other people."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama takes a photo with the "Racing Presidents" of the Washington Nationals baseball team on June 11, 2015. The mascots, which race at every Nationals home game, represent former U.S. Presidents -- from left, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. "The President asked the Secret Service to stop the motorcade when he spotted The Racing Presidents," White House Photographer Pete Souza said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
David Goldman/AP
Obama sings "Amazing Grace" during services honoring the life of South Carolina state Sen. Clementa Pinckney on June 26, 2015. Pinckney was one of nine people killed in a church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama greets audience members after speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 26, 2015. He was making his first visit to his father's homeland as commander in chief.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
David Lienemann/The White House
The President and first lady escort Pope Francis back inside the White House after an arrival ceremony on September 23, 2015. The Pope was on a six-day visit of the United States that also scheduled stops in New York and Philadelphia.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama was playing golf in La Jolla, California, where a wedding ceremony was about to begin on October 11, 2015. "The bride and groom were waiting inside, but when they looked out the window and saw the President, they decided to make their way outside," White House photographer Pete Souza said. Souza sent a copy of the photograph to the couple, Brian and Stephanie Tobe. "Both wrote back to me that they were extremely grateful to have the President 'crash' their wedding."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Obama holds Ella Rhodes, daughter of Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, in the Oval Office on October 30, 2015. She was wearing an elephant costume for a Halloween event at the White House.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pete Souza/The White House
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld knocks on the Oval Office window December 7, 2015, during a taping of his series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." The two drove around the White House in a 1963 Corvette Stingray, drank coffee and talked politics in the episode.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Lawrence Jackson/Zuma Press/Newscom
The President and the first lady meet R2-D2 and a stormtrooper for a White House screening of the new "Star Wars" movie on December 18, 2015.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
DOUG MILLS/The New York Times/Redux
Obama cries as he talks about the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting during a White House news conference on January 5, 2016. "Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad," he said, referring to the 2012 massacre that killed 26 people in Connecticut. Obama, calling for a national "sense of urgency," unveiled a series of executive actions on guns, including expanded background checks.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Lawrence Jackson/The White House
The Obamas greet Virginia McLaurin, 106, before a White House reception celebrating African-American History Month on February 18, 2016. McLaurin was so excited that she started dancing, and the video went viral.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama walks past House Speaker Paul Ryan in Washington during a St. Patrick's Day lunch with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny on March 15, 2016.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Cuban President Raul Castro tries to lift up Obama's arm at the end of a joint news conference in Havana, Cuba, on March 21, 2016. Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Cuba since 1928, and he called for the U.S. embargo against Cuba to be lifted.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama, left, and first lady Michelle Obama, right, tango with dancers during a state dinner in Buenos Aires on March 23, 2016.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Olivier Douliery/Getty Images
The Obamas read a book to children at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on March 28, 2016. The Easter Egg Roll has been a White House tradition since 1878, when President Rutherford B. Hayes allowed children to roll eggs on the South Lawn.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Obama and his daughter Malia walk down the steps of Air Force One after arriving in Chicago on April 7, 2016. She will be attending Harvard University after taking a gap year, the White House announced in May.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Kensington Palace/Getty Images
Obama talks with Britain's Prince William, right, as William's wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, plays with their son, Prince George, on April 22, 2016. The President and his wife were visiting Kensington Palace in London.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Obama tests virtual-reality goggles during a trade fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 25, 2016.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after laying wreaths at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 27, 2016. Obama, the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, called for a "world without nuclear weapons" during his speech.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
STEPHEN CROWLEY/The New York Times/Redux
The President arrives in the White House briefing room to deliver remarks on June 23, 2016. The Supreme Court had announced that day that it was evenly divided in a case concerning Obama's executive actions on immigration reform.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Aude Guerrucci/Getty Images
Obama hugs his daughter Malia at the White House Fourth of July party in 2016. She was celebrating her 18th birthday during the party, which included musicians Janelle Monae and Kendrick Lamar.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
STEPHEN CROWLEY/The New York Times/Redux
The Obamas sit next to former U.S. President George W. Bush at a memorial service in Dallas for the five police officers who were killed during a protest on July 7, 2016. Obama said that the nation mourned along with Dallas, but he implored Americans not to give in to despair or the fear that "the center might not hold."
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Obama hugs Hillary Clinton after speaking at the Democratic National Convention on July 27, 2016. "I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman -- not me, not Bill, nobody -- more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America," Obama said.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
ALEXEI DRUZHININ/AFP/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Obama at the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, on September 5, 2016. Obama, who had a 90-minute session with Putin, said their talk was "candid, blunt and businesslike," and included the issues of cyberintrusions and the Syrian conflict.
Obama shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on November 10, 2016. "My No. 1 priority in the next two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our President-elect is successful," Obama said after meeting with Trump for about 90 minutes.
Photos: 100 moments from Obama's presidency
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
Obama and the first lady leave the stage after the President's farewell address in Chicago on January 10, 2017. During his speech, Obama recounted a presidency that saw setbacks as well as successes. Admitting candidly that political discourse has soured under his watch, Obama demanded that Americans renew efforts at reconciliation. "It falls to each of us to be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy," he said. "To embrace the joyous task we've been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours."
Phoenix won’t be attending Obama’s farewell speech on Tuesday evening. She will be watching it on television from her home on the South Side.
This time, she and her family will look for new seeds of hope for Chicago. His planned presidential library on the South Side, Phoenix says, is an opportunity for kids to trade in guns for jobs.
“I think that [Obama] is iconic when it comes to one’s ability to bootstrap to make it,” Phoenix says. “And to be able to ascend against all odds.”
That’s perhaps where many of the people who are disappointed about Obama in Chicago got it wrong.
“Obama is not the messiah,” Phoenix says.
But she hopes his return to Chicago will help end a dark chapter for the city he loves.
“I think his physical presence is welcomed and needed,” Phoenix says. “Anytime he is around, it’s going to be helpful to the youth and to us all.”
President Obama gives his farewell address tonight at 9 ET from Chicago. You can watch it live on CNN TV, CNN Go and on your mobile devices. Or follow along with our live blog.