LISC Chicago

Casa Queretaro, Lake Village East among Winners of Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:00:00 -0600

Casa Queretaro will be receiving first place for the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design at the upcoming 24^th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA).

Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz said he hoped Casa Querétaro would help to define “a gateway for the Pilsen neighborhood.”

Ignacio Dziekiewicz, president and principal of design at DesignBridge, is the architect of an affordable-housing development at 2012 W. 17^th St. built and owned by The Resurrection Project that with over 20 years of community planning first started the design phase in 2012 and concluded construction in 2016. The 45-unit apartment building replaced abandoned silos on a vacant lot that attracted crime, vandalism and drug users. The triangular property was also a brownfield site, and required the removal of three feet of contaminated soil across over an acre of land before the building could be constructed.

Casa Querétaro is now home to residents and families living in one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with large windows, granite countertops, energy star appliances and central air conditioning. The completed building is certified LEED for Homes Platinum and ranges from two-to-four stories, with onsite laundry, bicycle storage and community spaces, organized around a common entry courtyard.

“Families now have a modern state of the art facility to live in, with views out to the neighborhood and are surrounded by carefully designed landscape that previously wasn’t there,” Ignacio Dziekiewicz said. “Building and providing quality affordable housing is pivotal to the development of the City and the Pilsen community.”

The 45-unit apartment building in Pilsen replaced abandoned silos on a vacant lot that attracted crime, vandalism and drug users.

The project will be receiving first place for the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design at the upcoming 24^th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA).

“We’re very excited to be winning this award,” Ignacio Dziekiewicz said. “Receiving the Driehaus Foundation Award at CNDA pushes architects and owners to evolve and to do more in community development, so it’s a really important award.”

A few miles south in the Hyde Park/Kenwood area, the Lake Village East complex will be receiving the Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award. Lake Village East located at 4700 S. Lake Park Ave., was redeveloped from August 2015 through February 2017, said Bob Kaplan, Principal at Ansonia Properties & Ansonia Property Management, LLC.

Almost all of the residents in the 218-unit property stayed following the redevelopment, which featured window replacement, renovated elevators, a new laundry room and resident lounge, a doorman check-in site, plus new copper water piping for all 26 floors.

The Lake Village East apartment complex at 4700 S. Lake Park Ave. will be receiving the CNDA's Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award.

The building had been erected in the 1970s and had never received any major refurbishment. Subsidies that had allowed many of the residents to live in the building were restructured during the redevelopment process ensuring the building’s long-term affordability, Kaplan said.

“We saw the building as a great example of a mixed-income housing community that worked and was worthy of being preserved,” Kaplan said. “We came up with a plan to renew the subsidies for another generation. It was an incredible challenge, but we feel like we’ve done something good for the next generation.”

Established in 1995, CNDA recognizes the essential role that both non-profit and for-profit developers play in building communities in Chicago neighborhoods. The Awards recognize outstanding achievement in neighborhood real estate development and community building, especially the achievements of community development corporations (CDCs), other community-based organizations and for-profit developers working to build healthier neighborhoods in the Chicago metropolitan area.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design recognizes and encourages best practices in community design, landscape design and architecture. The winning projects clearly and successfully demonstrate a contribution to the visual, social and cultural life in the communities they serve.

Almost all of the residents in the 218-unit Lake Village East stayed following the redevelopment, which featured window replacement, renovated elevators, a new laundry room and resident lounge, a doorman check-in site, plus new copper water piping for all 26 floors.

LISC Chicago serves as the organizing agency for CNDA and the Driehaus Foundation Awards for Architectural Excellence in Community Design and works closely with sponsors and volunteer committees and judges to select award recipients and to produce the annual awards ceremony.

“CNDA is like the Oscars for the affordable real estate community, so it’s an honor to win this award,” Kaplan said. “We try to put a lot of care into every project we do, and it’s nice to be recognized.”

The full list of winners will be revealed on Thursday, April 5 in the Skyline Ballroom of McCormick Place, West Building, 2301 S. Indiana Ave. Tickets are $65 in advance and $75 at the door. Tables, which seat 10, are $650. For more information or to register visit, http://www.lisc-cnda.org/index.html.

LISC’s Quality-of-Life Planning Bettering Neighborhoods throughout Chicago

Mon, 08 Jan 2018 12:00:00 -0600

Attracting new businesses to West 79th Street is a mission for Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), and his associate, Nicole Wheatly. Renovation of a four-story building just west of Halsted Street is expected to begin later this year.

Gordon Walek

In its third decade, LISC’s Quality-of-Life Planning (QLP) is bringing equitable change to neighborhoods throughout Chicago.

In the late 1990s, LISC, with leadership support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, created the New Communities Program (NCP), a groundbreaking, bottom-up comprehensive community planning effort led by community residents and supported by LISC. These QLPs are visions for a community’s future created and owned by the community and have served as a guide for investments and actions.

Auburn Gresham on the move

In Auburn Gresham, the QLP identified a need for living wage employment opportunities and a location in the community for residents to access health services. That shared vision has led to the Healthy Lifestyle Building at 839 W. 79^th St. which will begin construction in the late spring of 2018. When the building opens in early 2019, it will bring hundreds of jobs and educational opportunities for residents. Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), expects the complex to contribute to a regrowth of the South Side neighborhood, noting an emerging plan for a giant fitness/athletic complex across the street, which could include a swimming pool, track, indoor lacrosse and soccer fields, and a basketball court that would be home to Leo High School’s standout hoops team.

Major rehab of the Healthy Lifestyle Building at 839 W. 79^th St. is expected to begin this spring. When the building opens in early 2019, it will bring hundreds of jobs and educational opportunities for Auburn Gresham residents.

“The Healthy Lifestyle Building will be a catalyst for additional development,” Nelson said. “It won’t be a one-hit wonder. Our plans are to repurpose vacant land that was left over after decades of disinvestment.”

Changes on Near North Side

A few miles north, the QLP helped set the stage for the upcoming merger between Chicago Public School’s Jenner Academy and Ogden International on the Near North Side.

Randall Blakey, executive director of the Near North Unity Program (NNUP), said the three-and-a-half year process to merge the schools – Ogden is majority white students; Jenner mostly minority students – was recommended by CPS in December 2017 and will be officially voted on by the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education in February 2018, with the schools merging prior to the 2018-19 school year.

“I’m ecstatic about this,” Blakey said. “What it means is this cross-cultural learning opportunity has a chance to take place within a community and with kids who are totally different from each other, but they have a lot to learn from one another.”

But the most important impact, “has been the capacity the planning process has built within neighborhoods to create and leverage opportunities like the Jenner-Ogden merger and Auburn Gresham’s Healthy Lifestyle Building – bringing both into reality,” said Jake Ament, Director, Neighborhood Network, LISC Chicago.

Ogden International School Principal Michael Beyer receives an award from Near North Unity Program Executive Director Randall Blakey at a NNUP gathering in late 2017.

Gordon Walek

During the planning process, LISC provides capacity-building and support via a neighborhood-based lead agency that convenes local residents and institutions to create a central community council and vision. Once the QLP is completed, LISC continues to provide technical support and resources for implementation.

Quality-of-Life planning throughout the city

To date, 23 QLPs have been created. These plans have garnered more than $850 million in new investments aligned in support of community visions in neighborhoods across the city.

Recent QLP highlights for neighborhoods throughout Chicago include:

Englewood: The original QLP which was created in 2005 called for a new grocery store and revitalizing the once-thriving 63^rd Street shopping district – Englewood Square with the new Whole Foods, Starbucks, Chipotle and other retail and services is a major win. An updated plan in 2016 and LISC’s Southwest Corridor Collaborative is working to leverage this investment to help build the economic future of Englewood and its residents. Additionally, in 2017 homicides and shootings declined by more than 40 percent compared to 2016 (the highest decrease of any police district in Chicago). The public safety task force, formed through the 2016 Quality-of-Life Plan, includes residents, police officers, street outreach workers and case managers who hosted several events in 2017 to promote peace and healing. The community was awarded a competitive $1 million grant from the Department of Justice to continue to drive down crime by engaging community residents.
Belmont Cragin: One of the newest QLPs has already seen some early wins through a multi-million-dollar youth center by After School Matters; a new school-based health center opened by PCC in Steinmetz High School; and an announcement this summer of $4.5 million in upgrades to the Steinmetz athletic fields by CPS and Cubs Charities Diamond Project.
Pilsen: The announcement last year by the City of Chicago that it will develop the Paseo Trail fulfills a vision in the original 2006 plan, passing near several major affordable housing developments already completed by partners such as The Resurrection Project on the Pilsen Planning Committee.

Principal Michael Beyer of Ogden International school makes time for some basketball with Jenner Academy of the Arts students.

Courtesy of NNUP

Since QLPs focus on and connect the highest priorities identified by the community, the impact that results rarely just achieves one goal at a time. In Auburn Gresham, the Healthy Lifestyle Building project will create 40-50 construction jobs from primarily neighborhood residents, Nelson said, plus 200-plus additional jobs once the building is finished. That includes teachers in workforce development leadership programs where adults whose students attend local schools can take resume/computer workshops and other trade skills. The building also will provide free income tax services for thousands of residents, Nelson added.

“It’s not only going to light up the community but provide tangible jobs,” Nelson said.

Blakey said similar parent-mentoring programs will take place following the Ogden-Jenner merger.

“We want to know if a parent is unemployed, underemployed or undereducated,” Blakey said. “Then a facilitator will come in and provide resources to parents.”

Michele Dreczynski, Chair of NNUP's Youth and Families committee, helped lead the pending merger of Jenner and Ogden schools.

Gordon Walek

According to Blakey, the impending merger has been well received, but it has taken a lot of intentional relationship building and education to get there. As part of the Jenner and Ogden Learning Together (JOLT) group, students and parents from both schools have gone to Cubs games together, had lunch at each other’s school campuses, and written letters to each other. In the summer of 2018, Blakey said the Ogden and Jenner students will participate in group cleanups of the Chicago River as well.

“This is a new cross-cultural learning opportunity,” Blakey said. “It’s going to be a model for the city, and I think the country as well.”

Planning and the stronger neighborhood structures that result are continuing this year on the West and Northwest sides.

Jake Ament, Director, Neighborhood Network, LISC Chicago, says Quality-of-Life planning is bringing innovative ideas and significant investments to neighborhoods throughout the city.

Gordon Walek

“Look for big things over the next two years from Austin, which is creating its first-ever plan,” said Ament. “They are joining North Lawndale and Hermosa/West Logan Square, who are each building on a 2005 Quality-of-Life Plan but expanding into new areas. Things are very different 12 years later, but each neighborhood is working on innovative ideas to bring needed investments while making sure that they build wealth and ownership for long-term residents.”

Micro Market Recovery Program Revitalizes Blocks Across Chicago

Mon, 27 Nov 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Anthony and Michelle Johnson and their children in front of the two-flat in the 700 block of North Spaulding Avenue that they purchased through the city's Micro Market Recovery Program (MMRP). They live in the lower portions of the house and rent out the top floor.

Photos by Gordon Walek

In 2012, Jeannie Oquendo believed a “dirty, unorganized” block in West Humboldt Park could become something special a few years later.

“It had been unsettled, but now the block is a whole lot cleaner because the people who live on the block care about the block,” Oquendo said. “It’s been fun to see it transform.”

Oquendo in 2015 became the first homeowner in the 500 block of North Central Park Avenue after six vacant properties were acquired through the City of Chicago’s Micro Market Recovery Program (MMRP). All of the buildings are now occupied, three with first-time homebuyers – the block has bloomed. Oquendo also owns a side lot next to her home, purchased in 2016, that this year was filled by a garden packed with tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers and other vegetables.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago coordinates the work of community organizations across the city who inventory vacant and foreclosed properties in target areas, identify owners of troubled properties and present recommendations to City officials and technical assistance providers. The MMRP provides $15,000 in purchase assistance to income qualified homebuyers toward the purchase of a single-family to 4-unit homes listed on the private market. In addition, vacant, foreclosed or a short-sale 1-4 unit building will qualify for MMRP purchase assistance.

As part of the MMRP, the Johnson family – Anthony, Michelle and their two young children – purchased a two-flat in the 700 block of North Spaulding Avenue also in West Humboldt Park. They live in the lower portions of the house and rent the top floor. The home had been vacant for more than a year, and the Johnsons moved in after the home was completely renovated.

“We love it,” said Michelle Johnson, who like her husband, teaches tuckpointing skills to local teens.

Jeannie Oquendo in 2015 became the first home owner in the 500 block of North Central Park Avenue after six vacant properties were acquired through the MMRP. All of the buildings are now occupied, three with first-time homebuyers.

The MMRP started in 2011 as an initiative by the City of Chicago to respond to homeowner foreclosure crisis and its impact on neighborhoods, said LISC MMRP coordinator Jack Swenson.

“The challenge is to reinvigorate the market in places where there has been no significant investment,” Swenson said. “The market couldn’t recover on its own because disinvestment had become so significant. The realization was in order to make the market work again, you had to stabilize entire blocks.”

From 2012-16, the City worked with LISC to identify 13 Neighborhood Target Areas on the South and West sides – including Chicago Lawn, Englewood, Austin and West Humboldt Park — for the MMRP where the housing market could not come back on its own. The program is continuing in six of those sections, including where Oquendo and the Johnson family live, plus added three more target areas in 2017, Swenson said.

David Reifman, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago said the city has “tried to connect our MMRP strategy to a larger community and economic development strategy.

Jack Swenson, the LISC MMRP coordinator, has years of experience working on urban development and a long history in Chicago’s planning department. MMRP, he said, has been successful in achieving its goals to “rebuild the private housing market in distressed communities by reducing the cost of home ownership, creating communities of choice and attracting new owners to vacant buildings on targeted neighborhood blocks.”

“So where we’ve seen success, literally taking back areas block-by-block-by-block, we want to tie that into our economic development efforts involving commercial corridors and making neighborhoods, ‘neighborhoods of choice’,” Reifman said. “To that degree, the MMRP program has been a significant contributor and started that process. And, I think it’s very important and incumbent upon the City as a whole to invest in neighborhoods and commercial areas that continue to support and bring value to the homes where we have seen successes with MMRP.”

To date, Swenson said MMRP has reoccupied 865 vacant properties, saved 76 people from foreclosure, reduced the cost of home ownership for 306 families and counseled 910 people on housing-related issues. The key to this success is working through local organizations that know the community and have deep relationships with local residents, according to Swenson, and starting small – showing progress on a few key blocks as a way to trigger bigger impact.

Swenson, who has years of experience working on urban development and a long history in Chicago’s planning department, said MMRP has been successful in achieving its goals to “rebuild the private housing market in distressed communities by reducing the cost of home ownership, creating communities of choice and attracting new owners to vacant buildings on targeted neighborhood blocks.”

“Many of the MMRP target areas have experienced a dramatic decrease in long term vacancy and an increase in pride of ownership among neighborhood residents,” Swenson said. “MMRP has been successful for several reasons. It puts organizations that understand a community’s issues front and center in developing solutions. It creates collaborative commitment between these organizations, the City, and technical assistance providers. It also invests in both the needs of those who are there today and the opportunities to attract future residents.”

John Groene, the Neighborhood Director for the West Humboldt Park Neighborhood Housing Services, described Oquendo, the Johnsons and other MMRP home purchasers as neighborhood leaders. “When someone invests and says I’m going to live here and raise my family here, its leadership,” Groene said. “It’s putting money where your mouth is. Home ownership turns whole blocks around.”

John Groene, the Neighborhood Director for the West Humboldt Park Neighborhood Housing Services, described Oquendo, the Johnsons and other MMRP home purchasers as “neighborhood leaders.”

“When someone invests and says I’m going to live here and raise my family here, it's leadership,” Groene said. “It’s putting money where your mouth is. Home ownership turns whole blocks around.”

Michelle Johnson, who purchased the unit despite water not working until after they moved in, said she and her family “are committed to making Spaulding our home.”

“In my mind a successful neighborhood is a place where people are happy to live and enjoy peace and healthy relationships,” Johnson said. “There are many struggles on our block but also many successes. If we are living in a building in the neighborhood, but aren't actually doing life in the neighborhood, we aren't actually neighbors. Our city doesn't need more folks occupying buildings; we need more neighbors. Our family has embraced where we live as part of our work -- a holistic development approach centered in relationships.”

Oquendo, a Prosser High School and DePaul University graduate, said she was happy to be her block’s trailblazer. The program allowed her to purchase the red brick home and fully rehab it. The process took more than two years, but she said it was worth it as she owns a home for the first time and has a place for her three children.

She wanted to live and own in West Humboldt Park because her parents live a few blocks away and she wanted to be close to the CTA Green Line, which she utilizes to travel to schools across the city for her position as a bilingual educator for the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago.

“What I would like people to know is this wasn’t an easy journey, but now I have my own house, and I’m not paying much more mortgage than I had to pay in rent,” Oquendo said. “And, this is all mine.”

For more information on the MMRP check out this video or these City of Chicago details.

Catalyzing Change Through Empty Lots on Chicago’s South Side

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 12:00:00 -0600

In Englewood, vacant lots have become beacons of opportunities. An opportunity that isn’t without difficulty and hardship. An opportunity that requires determination, vision and, most importantly, collaboration.

Since 2016, Englewood residents have been able to purchase vacant City of Chicago owned lots for a single dollar through the Large Lots Program - with just two requirements: they must already own property on the block and submit an outline of their plans to repurpose the space. To date, more than 500 lots have been sold city-wide, with an additional 900 expected to close before the end of 2017. However, renovating the spaces is not always easy.

LISC Chicago, in collaboration with Teamwork Englewood, has provided targeted grants to help some of the Englewood lot owners realize their visions. In addition to multiple small grants, with support from the Kresge Foundation, LISC invested in two catalytic projects that demonstrate the potential of engaging artists and empowering lot owners to reactivate vacant space. These owners received larger grants of $15,000 each and, teamed with local artists, put in significant labor and financial resources themselves.

Mekazin Alexander and Tina Hammond were the recipients of the catalyst grants. They shared a vision of not only revitalizing their block, but inspiring a future generation to take pride in their spaces. The following photo essay follows them through their renovation process.

Tina Hammond stands in front of her lot at 6832 S. Paulina St in Englewood. There are several vacant lots on her block, but this was the only one available for purchase. “If I could, I’d buy all the lots on the block,” she said. “When we moved in 15 years ago, the block didn’t look like this. We deserve better than what we’re getting. As a community, we deserve more than just a bunch of vacant lots.”

Photos by Annie Grossinger

Tina’s vision for the lot is simple: She wants a space for the community to congregate. In addition to beautifying the lot, complete with a vegetable garden and flower beds, she and her husband, Alvin Sr., planned to create an event space. “We don’t have youth centers or places for the kids to go," she said. "This will be that place.”

Tina and Alvin Sr. took care of 6832 S. Paulina long before they were the owners. They picked up trash and made sure it looked presentable. “This is our community. If we don’t take care of where we live, how can we expect other people to care? I’ve never felt like, ‘this is not my building so I don’t have to clean it up’. My house is a reflection of your house and vise-versa.”

Mekazin Alexander purchased a 5,500-square-foot lot in the middle of two vacant lots on South Perry Street. She had taken an urban landscaping program and saw the lot as an opportunity to implement her new knowledge. Her vision was an ambitious mix of permaculture, urban agriculture, an event space, and a meditative pond.

Early on, Mekazin realized the biggest hurdle to her success would be trying to develop and maintain the lot as an individual owner. After securing the larger catalyst grant, she constructed a team: a horticulturist, an artist, several community volunteers and permaculture-enthusiasts, and her eager family. “If we hadn’t pushed for money and help, we’d be moving at turtle speed," she said. "This doesn’t happen overnight.”

Mekazin’s daughter plays in the soon-to-be fire pit. On her block, the reaction to her work was immediate: “Right after we cut down the big trees, two women and a guy I’d never met came by. They thanked me and said, ‘we feared for our safety every time we had to cross.’ They would walk in the street.” With the smaller grants, costs to remove the trees would have depleted nearly all her funds.

Mekazin’s plan to incorporate permaculture adds an innovative and cutting-edge approach to her lot. Permaculture is a scientific and artistic method for designing land to not only self-sustain, but actively regenerate biodiversity and natural resources. It’s founded on the premise that by mimicking nature’s principles, one can create healthy, long-term habitats.

During the school term, Mekazin intends to engage students at Johnson College Prep – allowing them to use her lot for urban agriculture in return for some basic maintenance. “The only thing I want in return is for the lot to maintain food so we can feed people on the block and those that participate.” Eventually, she wants to incorporate an outdoor kitchen so she can use the vegetable garden to demonstrate healthy cooking.

Alvin Sr. installs the fence at 6832 S. Paulina. Alvin Sr.’s mother is from Mississippi and always had a garden. When it came time to plan their lot, they wanted the families on their block to enjoy the same thing.

Alvin Sr. lays down the path to the event stage, where Tina hopes to hold dances. “You’ve never seen a person dancing not be happy,” she said.

Alvin Sr. and Tina make sure to work on the lot nearly every single day. “What we do with our lot will inspire people with other lots here. We’re looking to show them, not just tell them,” Tina said.

Tina runs a daycare called Tina’s Treasures from her home. She hopes the kids in her care will be able to enjoy the space as well.

By late August, Mekazin’s lot had flowers, eight fruit trees, the shell of a fire pit and stage, and the makings of the meditative pond. Planting has been relatively easy, but clearing the land proved to be more difficult than she anticipated. There were large trees, mountains of garbage, downed tree branches and stumps – some of which she incorporated into her design – and a concentration of weeds. But Mekazin remained undeterred. She had a vision, which she intended to create: “I’m truly a dreamer.”

Mekazin’s daughter and nephew assist with building the stage, which they hope to utilize in performances and block parties. The stage, which Tina’s lot features as well, is a common theme amongst many of the lot owners’ visions. It’s not an example of unoriginality, but one of need. There aren’t safe places for community members to congregate, so lot owners like Mekazin and Tina are set on creating them.

Alvin Sr. and Tina stand with Alderman David Moore at the unveiling of their finished lot on Saturday, August 26, 2017. The mural was painted in collaboration with local artists Pugs Atomz and Damon Reed.

Tina serves food to neighbors and friends at the grand opening of their lot.

“I’m not ashamed of where I live; I’m proud of it,” Tina said at the beginning of her and Alvin Sr.’s journey. Now her neighbors and friends can enjoy the success of their efforts.

Mekazin welcomes her neighbors and friends to the grand unveiling of her lot on Sunday, October 1, 2017.

Photos by Taryn Roch

Friends enjoy the Mediation Pond in Mekazin’s lot. The bench was created by local artist Dorian Smith Jones.

The metal sculpture that welcomes you to the lot was created by a local artist, Alice Jones.

Mekazin’s completed lot sits between two vacant ones that she hopes to eventually renovate as well. Though her lot has officially been unveiled, she still has plans to optimize the space to include more offerings for the community. But for now, she can enjoy the planted fruits of her labor.

Annie Grossinger

Evelyn’s Food Love Uses LISC Small Business Loan to Bring Hip New Restaurant to Washington Park

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Evelyn Shelton realized her ambition to open a Washington Park restaurant, thanks in part to a LISC Small Business loan.

Photos by Gordon Walek

Evelyn Shelton wants to revitalize Washington Park one triple chocolate chip pancake at a time, and a substantial LISC Small Business loan is allowing her to do just that.

Shelton debuted her restaurant – Evelyn’s Food Love – in Washington Park, a neighborhood that has struggled with crime, vacant lots and poverty. She said residents and others have quickly embraced the new restaurant, which has a cafeteria-style setting, open seating, and offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some of the most popular items include roasted chicken, fresh salads and triple chocolate chip pancakes covered in chocolate syrup, caramel, vanilla bean ice cream and cocoa powder.

“This area has nowhere to go but up, and Washington Park was an area where we thought we could make a difference,” said Shelton, a Bronzeville resident who graduated from King High School and has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, a master’s from Roosevelt University and a culinary degree from Kendall College.

LISC Small Business loan

LISC provided Evelyn’s Food Love a $146,800 loan through the SBA Community Advantage program, which Shelton used to purchase the building at 5522 S. State St. and make renovations. Steve Hall, vice president for LISC Small Business, said many traditional banks and lenders are reluctant to lend to first-time business owners in communities like Washington Park, and Shelton likely would not have been able to open her restaurant without LISC’s help.

“This area has nowhere to go but up, and Washington Park was an area where we thought we could make a difference,” said Evelyn Shelton, a Bronzeville resident who graduated from King High School and has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, a master’s from Roosevelt University and a culinary degree from Kendall College.

“A key tenet of our economic development strategy is that power and wealth comes through ownership. Investing in local businesses and entrepreneurship in our neighborhoods is essential to creating community wealth and power,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. "Supporting a locally owned business like Evelyn's Food Love is integral to supporting the community."

Hall added: “Many of our customers depend on technical assistance from LISC Small Business, and, without that assistance, they wouldn’t qualify for a loan anywhere except from predatory lenders.”

Washington Park might not seem like an obvious choice for a new business to put down roots. But the neighborhood also has a rich history, residents hungry for new local options and community organizations eager to attract more businesses, better housing and other community services.

New restaurant fills Washington Park niche

Shelton said longtime Washington Park residents constantly tell her about the neighborhood’s vibrant past, with places like Club DeLisa, a legendary nightclub and music venue, making this part of State Street a South Side destination from 1934-58. They’re glad to have a non-fast food restaurant to routinely visit and have fast made Evelyn’s Food Love a community gather spot.

Evelyn's Food Love is a rarity in the neighborhood of Garfield Boulevard and State Street - a family-style, sit-down restaurant. On a recent morning, motorists shouted encouragement to Shelton as she entered the eatery.

“The residents are very, very happy that we are here, and we are happy to be a part of the positive change that we think is inevitable for this neighborhood,” Shelton said.

Hall understands where Shelton is coming from. The Beverly resident grew up near the Ida B. Wells Housing Projects and was one of the first in his family to graduate from college.

Hall said Shelton might not be an obvious business customer for most institutions. Her loan is too small, and her plans might seem too risky. But, she represents precisely the kind of customer LISC Small Business’ serves: people of color, women, veterans and people who live in low-to-moderate income areas.

“I understand [Evelyn] from a banker’s perspective and from a community perspective,” Hall said. “Evelyn’s community, that is my community – where it is often tough to attract traditional lenders and investors.”

Hall said his childhood was shaped learning how to fight and talk fast to get out of difficult situations. Even as a 9-year-old, he dreamt of owning a small business, and, now 46, Hall has operated six small businesses – some with success, others not as much.

Hall, who was previously a small business banker for a regional bank on Chicago’s South and West sides, said of the 60-some small businesses that LISC Small Business has helped fund in the past two years, 97 percent are still operational.

The businesses that succeed become bedrocks of the communities, and Hall said they hopefully inspire others to open their own small businesses in the neighborhood.

“Others think, maybe I can achieve this outcome,” Hall said. “If you see it, you can believe it.”

The restaurant not only brings fine food to a corner of Washington Park, but also an opportunity for employment. Shelton and two of her employees prepare for the lunch crowd.

Loan a catalyst for further development

“At LISC, we do loans that banks traditionally would not do,” said Hall, who noted that LISC Small Business loans up to $250,000 are offered for startup businesses and business expansions in communities that are underbanked. “We try to fill a gap where LISC gives them the initial capital to get started, but we want them to graduate so they can access conventional loans in the future.”

Hall said Small Business Saturday, which takes place Nov. 25, is one of the few times all year that businesses like Shelton’s get the attention they deserve.

“Small Business Saturday was started to really push these mom and pop stores,” Hall said. “These businesses need local support to survive.”

Shelton said LISC has been “a great partner for us.” She’s hoping to expand her restaurant by adding a backyard patio and purchasing a vacant lot next door, where she could add a smoker or venue for live entertainment.

Evelyn Shelton represents precisely the kind of customer LISC Small Business’ serves: people of color, women, veterans and people who live in low-to-moderate income areas.

“We’re excited about the possibilities,” Shelton said. “LISC really helped us do this. They told me that I was their mission statement, and this is why they existed – to help businesses like mine that could not otherwise receive loans. They worked really, really hard to make this happen, and everybody was invested. And now, look, it’s happened.”

For more information on Evelyn’s Food Love, visit http://www.evelynsfoodlove.com/home.html

For more information on LISC Small Business, visit http://liscsmallbusiness.org/

11th Annual Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Tournament

Wed, 30 Aug 2017 12:00:00 -0600

The Hoops Finals pitted teams from 16 Chicago neighborhoods against each other. They'd sharpened their skills through the summer, playing games in their communities.

Photos by Alonzo Alcaraz

On August 19, 2017, LISC Chicago hosted the 11th annual Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Tournament at Grant Park. Hoops in the Hood is a network of community-run basketball programs in Chicago empowering residents to reclaim their streets and promote peace. Each year, youth ages 8-19 play in the summer-long leagues that blend street basketball with other recreational activities designed to develop youth leadership skills and teamwork while fostering civic engagement and community building.

“Week by week, block by block, Hoops in the Hood has replaced neighborhood crime hotspots with safety zones. The games and block parties have brought residents together to celebrate their neighborhoods,” said Ashleigh Wayland, LISC Chicago’s communications officer. “Hoops in the Hood is a great reminder of just how important our work at LISC Chicago is, and an inspiration to keep working harder to make Chicago’s neighborhoods healthier and stronger.”

This year’s tournament marked the culmination of weekly games that took place in various neighborhoods all summer long. “I’m so jealous of whoever wins the major league,” an 8-year-old Little Village player said, dribbling between untied shoelaces. “Cubs tickets… they get Cubs tickets!” He smiled and placed one hand on his hip, a basketball on the other. “I’ll win em’ when I’m old enough. Just got to keep working hard.”

With the support of State Farm, the long-time leadership sponsor of Hoops in the Hood, all participating teams – win or lose – walked away from the tournament with book bags stuffed with school supplies for the upcoming school year.

With more than a decade of positive impact, LISC Chicago has expanded the Hoops in the Hood network to 16 community partners: ABC Pilsen, Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, Beyond the Ball, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, BUILD Inc., Chicago Men in Action, Claretian Associates, Near West Side CDC, Northwest Side Housing Center, Project H.O.O.D., Saint Anthony Hospital Foundation, Southwest Organizing Project, Teamwork Englewood, The Ark of St. Sabina, Annie B. Jones Community Services (Shore Up) and The Community Builders. This year, 41 teams (four of which were all girl’s teams) amounted to 350 participating athletes.

The finals this year were in Grant Park. Forty-one teams (four of which were all girl’s teams) competed.

A Pilsen player from an all girls’ team stood patiently in line for the bounce-house in between games with a sunflower painted on her cheek. “I’m excited to play.” When asked if she plans to participate in the Hoops program next year, she responded, “I’m never going to stop playing basketball.”

To top the day off, LISC Chicago partnered with local caterer Skyler Dees from North Lawndale, whom was able to grill on-site, a first-year success. “The day isn’t even over and this has been one of my favorite events.” Participants lined up anxiously for a burger or sweet potato and caramelized onion sandwich, the tournament’s number one hit. “For my small business to help make such an impactful event come together, I am truly blessed.”

With the city skyline painted in the background, Teamwork Englewood took home the ultimate prize along with an undefeated title for the 15-19 age group; Near West Side CDC was the champion of the 11-14 age group; Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council was the winner of the first all-girls team; and, Chicago Men In Action was the champion for the 8-10 age group.

Rob Castaneda, co-founder and executive director of Beyond the Ball, a community sports nonprofit and tournament director for the Hoops in the Hood Citywide Tournament, was blown away by the overall outcome of Hoop’s success. “You could feel a true sense of community and that’s what this program is all about – safe, fun community engagement.”

Hoops in the Hood 2017 partners and supporters include: State Farm, the Chicago Park District, the City of Chicago, the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Housing Authority, Cubs Charities, Chicago Bulls, Chicago White Sox and the Shedd Aquarium.

“I want to recognize and thank our partners and sponsors,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “Hoops in the Hood would not be possible without your support – this truly is a partnership and commitment to community organizations who are addressing youth engagement and violence prevention.

From Client to Facilitator

Thu, 20 Jul 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Casandra Caldwell in front of the Woodlawn Resource Center on South Cottage Grove Avenue.

Photos by Gordon Walek

On a recent Friday afternoon at the Woodlawn Resource Center, Casandra Caldwell had a difficult time walking directly from reception to a conference room at the rear of the building. At every turn she was stopped by someone wanting to chat or asking for help with a computer-related task.

“And this is one of our slow days,” she said with a laugh.

Caldwell is a LISC AmeriCorps member currently serving as a digital literacy instructor at the facility — one of 10 Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) operated with support from LISC Chicago. She spends her days integrating a digital education curriculum into the operations of one of the city’s most active hubs for job seekers and those looking to obtain better control of their personal finances.

Having previously struggled with her own economic wellbeing, Caldwell could never have anticipated her professional trajectory. Like many of her neighbors in the Woodlawn community, she was often forced to spend more time worrying about the means of living than the larger societal impact of her efforts.

Today, however, she plays a crucial role in lifting up her neighbors and setting them on the path to financial stability. As digital skills become increasingly necessary for managing personal finances and gaining employment, her efforts are described as indispensable by colleagues and clients alike.

“People come to the center looking for Casandra because they know they’re going to get what they need,” said Woodlawn Resource Center Site Director Sheryl Morris. “She plays a significant role in making sure our work works.”

Through her efforts to familiarize job seekers with new technology and ensure digital education is incorporated into the FOC’s efforts, Caldwell is helping lay the groundwork for fully modernized financial wellness initiatives in Chicago and beyond.

In her role as a digital instructor, Caldwell familiarizes job seekers with basic computer technology, allowing them to complete resumes and submit them to potential employers.

Digital literacy integration

FOCs offer a three-pronged approach to financial wellbeing. Clients receive job placement services, an income supports screening and individualized financial coaching. This model is rooted in the idea that employment alone isn’t enough to help struggling individuals move out of long-term poverty and indebtedness.

But as local and national economies continue to evolve, it’s crucial that FOCs evolve alongside them.

As such, LISC provides digital literacy instructors like Caldwell to the FOCs throughout the city. Its willingness to fund these positions is based, in part, on feedback from employers who say digital literacy is the missing link between job seekers and available positions.

As for the effectiveness of these burgeoning digital literacy efforts, LISC data shows that job seekers who receive some form of digital literacy education are twice as likely to stay employed for at least six months than those without the training.

“That, to me, is an indication they have the potential to advance in that job or field,” said Caroline Rendon, LISC Chicago’s assistant program officer for financial opportunities.

Like Chicago’s other FOCs, the Woodlawn Resource Center caters to the unique needs of its surrounding community. As she watches her neighborhood ready for the transformation that will likely accompany the development of the Barack Obama Presidential Library in nearby Jackson Park, Morris believes the increased focus on digital literacy is especially important.

“My vision for this work going forward is to continue providing services and skills toward employability and economic mobility,” she said. “In terms of societal norms, digital skills are crucial. If our people don’t have those core pieces of knowledge, they’ll be left behind at a faster rate and have a harder time catching up. So if we can provide those skills and make the digital world less intimidating and less mysterious, then we’re moving the needle a little at a time.”

“People come to the center looking for Casandra because they know they’re going to get what they need,” said Woodlawn Resource Center Site Director Sheryl Morris, above. “She plays a significant role in making sure our work works.”

In her effort to make digital literacy a key component of the FOC’s work, Caldwell is focused on creating both formal and informal avenues for clients to learn the skills they need for success. The formal avenues include classes that introduce job seekers to foundational skills such as Microsoft Office, e-mail etiquette and filling out online applications. The informal avenues involve one-on-one coaching by Caldwell to clients with whom she’s built a rapport.

Seniors — many of whom want to develop a familiarity with social media or who don’t feel prepared to keep up with a regularly scheduled class — are especially enthusiastic about the opportunity to sit with Caldwell and learn at their own pace.

By providing customized options for everyone from children to retired individuals, Caldwell and her team are planting the seeds for intergenerational progress in Woodlawn.

From client to leader

Casandra Caldwell first became familiar with the FOC model as a client. A Woodlawn resident since 2001, she took advantage of the resources provided by the Metropolitan Family Services FOC at Kennedy-King College in Englewood. It was there she found employment as an Affordable Care Act (ACA) ambassador and discovered her passion for community work.

The one-on-one financial coaching she received was equally important. During one session, her counselor suggested they review her credit report for errors. Caldwell was confident she knew her credit history, but upon running the report, she discovered she had been mistakenly issued a $1,000 medical bill. Having been unaware of the charge, it had gone unpaid and severely damaged her score. Working with her FOC financial coach, she was able to rectify the situation.

“That’s why I always tell people to check their credit score even if they think they know what’s going to be on there,” she said. “I thought I knew too.”

During her time as an FOC client, Caldwell also took advantage of another LISC FOC resource: the Twin Accounts program. This credit-building program allowed her to build her credit score while adding to her personal savings.

Needless to say, her experience with the FOC was personally transformative.

When her contract as an ACA promoter ended, a contact at the FOC told her about LISC AmeriCorps and suggested she apply. Although she decided to do so, she was nervous about her ability to effectively teach digital skills.

“I knew how to use a computer for myself, but I wasn’t sure I could teach it to other people,” she said.

Whether working with clients or greeting them at the Resource Center's front desk, Caldwell is a popular figure at the Financial Opportunity Center that serves the Woodlawn neighborhood.

To her surprise, however, Caldwell flourished in the position. In addition to managing the Resource Center’s computer lab, she took on various administrative responsibilities within the organization. Perhaps most importantly, she teamed up with the FOC’s core staff to ensure digital education became part and parcel of their daily work.

Her position has thus far involved a great deal of experimentation and flexibility. While Caldwell is proficient with most basic software, she’s come up against a handful of situations in which she’s had to sharpen her own skills in order to help clients tackle unique challenges in their places of employment.

Looking ahead, she plans to apply the education stipends she’s accumulating as an AmeriCorps member to the human development program at Kennedy-King College. She also intends to remain active in local community development by pushing for further integration of digital literacy education at the FOC.

That’s good news for her students, many of whom have become regulars at the Woodlawn Resource Center specifically because of their relationships with Caldwell. One such student, Linda Stewart, came to the Resource Center for retraining assistance after an injury forced her to move on from her previous career.

“Technology is moving so fast that you either get up and figure out how to do it or you get left behind,” she said. “What makes Casandra so good at what she does is her warm personality and the fact that she wears so many hats.”

Stewart has worked with Caldwell in both formal and informal settings to improve her computer skills and prepare to re-enter the workforce. Having grown up in an era before technological ability was a prerequisite for employment, Stewart said she is grateful for Caldwell’s warmth and enthusiasm.

Site Director Sheryl Morris sees the same characteristics.

“Everyone here loves Casandra,” she said. “She’s so patient. She’s also really great at innovating. She thinks of things that will help us implement our services in a deeper, more meaningful way, and she’s always willing to jump right in. She’s a key component of our success.”

To learn more about LISC AmeriCorps, check out this recent story by Stacey Rapp, Director, LISC AmeriCorps program, http://www.lisc.org/our-stories/story/serving-freedom.

For more information on LISC Chicago’s Financial Opportunity Centers, contact Jennifer McClain, Director of Financial Opportunities, at 312-422-9563 or jmcclain@lisc.org.

It's Officially Hoops in the Hood Season

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Photos by Gordon Walek

Summer is finally here, and the opportunities are endless. With a full decade of neighborhood impact, LISC Chicago and community partners are kicking off the 11^th annual season of Hoops in the Hood, a sports-based initiative that creates safe spaces for youth to interact and build positive relationships with peers and caring adults while making visible use of public spaces and fostering a sense of community.

With support from State Farm, LISC Chicago is able to provide a unique community safety strategy to bring together youth from across Chicago. Designed to literally take back the streets from gangs and violence, the program sets up in public safety “hot spots” in parks and on blocks that most residents avoid on an average summer night.

Local control is a key part of the program. Communities pick the locations and times for the program and choose the activities. In some neighborhoods the location is always the same, while others move each week to a new block, Chicago park or local gym.

“Hoops in the Hood is one of my favorite times of the year,” said Ashleigh Wayland, communications officer, LISC Chicago. “Going out to each neighborhood and seeing how they make their Hoops program unique to their community is inspiring. Hoops is really about bringing people together and engaging with one another.”

At the end of the summer, all of the 16 participating neighborhoods will come together for a Cross-City Tournament.

This year, LISC Chicago has expanded the Hoops in the Hood Network and is working with 16 community partners including: ABC Pilsen, Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, Beyond the Ball, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, Build Inc., Chicago Men in Action, Claretian Associates, Near West Side CDC, Northwest Side Housing Center, Project H.O.O.D., Saint Anthony Hospital Foundation, Southwest Organizing Project, Teamwork Englewood, The Ark of St. Sabina, Annie B. Jones Community Services Shore UP and The Community Builders.

At the end of the summer, all of the participating neighborhoods will come together for a Cross-City Tournament.

Over the years, more than 18,000 kids have participated in Hoops programs, learning leadership skills, social responsibility and teamwork, and thousands of other residents have coached, watched their kid play, danced, laughed or simply spent a night out with their neighbors.

Save the date for the 11^th Annual Hoops in the Hood Annual Cross-City Tournament on Saturday, August 19 at Grant Park - 1000 S Columbus Dr.

See the 2017 Hoops in the Hood schedule for the 16 participating neighborhoods.

For more information on LISC Chicago’s Hoops in the Hood program contact Ashleigh Wayland, Awayland@lisc.org or (312) 422-9568.

Bridges to Career Opportunities Graduates Start a New Chapter in Life

Mon, 05 Jun 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Brian Bunting received his National Institute for Metalworking Skills training through the Bridges to Career Opportunities program.

Photos by Annie Grossinger

To commit to reviving your finances or establishing a career takes perseverance and determination. It’s not a quick fix nor is it easy without the support of others. Two graduates of LISC’s Bridges to Career Opportunities program share their story of how they capitalized on opportunities to better their future.

Through the Bridges to Career Opportunities program, clients working with LISC’s national network of Financial Opportunity Centers (FOC) can ramp up foundational literacy and math skills, get technical training and pursue certifications for a particular industry—and receive support like financial coaching to set long-term goals and help manage expenses during training. These programs connect clients to “middle skills” jobs with a career pathway, and help local employers staff up with employees who can get the job done.

Jovan Sams joined the North Lawndale Employment Network as part of this 2016 New Year’s resolution.

Jovan Sams

On New Year’s Eve, 2016, Jovan Sams made a resolution he planned to keep: get his life together for his family. As the father of eight kids, he was concerned about his ability to provide. He had been unemployed for seven years, relying on side jobs for income, such as car repair and cutting grass. It wasn’t enough.

“I’ve got a lot of people depending on me,” he said. “And I knew I had a lot of skills to offer the world.”

Raised in the Jane Addams projects, Jovan was surrounded by temptation. Despite being a mechanic by age 16, he ended up in the wrong crowd.

“Everybody was selling drugs, gang banging. I wanted to fit in, so I started hanging with the wrong crowd doing things I had no business doing,” he said.

After serving time for a felony conviction, he couldn’t find employment. The felony label was more powerful than his years as a mechanic. In 2015, he declared bankruptcy. It was a pivotal moment that inspired him to change.

“I wanted something for the long-haul. I wanted a career, not just a job.”

As part of his New Year’s resolution, he walked into the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) and asked to take advantage of all the services available to him. First, he completed the U-Turn Permitted program in June 2016. He received job readiness training, which included lessons on how to approach his felony conviction with employers. Two weeks after his graduation, Jovan’s coach referred him to a transitional job at Foundation for Homan Square, where he was hired as a front-desk greeter at Nichols Tower. While working, he completed Moving Forward, NLEN’s Diesel Mechanic Training Program, concurrently with NLEN’s Bridge Literacy program. As he neared the end of his transitional job, he was hired as a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Apprentice through the CTA’s Second Chance program. Through the program, he passed his repair and mechanic, and Bus Operator exams.

Throughout Jovan’s journey, his commitment was tested. His son was shot in the leg and his daughter was hospitalized due to congestive heart failure. Despite this, he never missed a day of work. According to him, NLEN became a refuge.

“It showed me that life can be taken at any moment,” he said. “You have to choose what you want in life. You have to make precise decisions. Choose what you want and stick it through.”

In addition, he had to manage his changing path while surrounded by former friends who were still engaged in illicit activity.

“Trying to be positive around a lot of negative people is hard,” he said. To give himself some space, he kept to his home and shed the friends that weren’t supportive.

Recently, Jovan accepted a promotion at the CTA to become a rail car repair man. He’s now a part of the union and sees a path to management in the future.

“I’m in a state of euphoria,” he said. “I talk to everyone about NLEN. I wish there was a line going out the door. There’s a lot of people that don’t know about it that need to know.”

Computer classes were part of Jovan Sams' Bridges to Career Opportunities training.

However, Jovan acknowledges that it takes effort and perseverance to complete the program. “You can’t just come in here, you have to be serious about changing. People are used to old habits. You get out of jail and the same people in there are right here. It’s like you’re trapped. If you don’t have people to encourage you, if you don’t have plans, you’ll stay there.”

Jovan credits his family and the teachers at NLEN for supporting him and his journey. Despite graduating, he still frequents NLEN to meet with his financial coach, use the computer lab and keep up with his teachers. “I always want to be here,” he said.

His financial coach helped him raise his credit score over 200 points. Eventually, he hopes to own his own home. Right now, though he looks forward to the stability of his new job.

“Things have been happening real fast. I set out to change in a year and it happened in three months. I’m just thankful that someone is seeing it and taking notice,” he said.

Brian Bunting joined the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) in March 2016.

Brian Bunting

Brian Bunting has worked construction for 35 years in eight states. He moved from job site to job site, following the work as it went. However, Chicago, his last destination, was his trickiest transition.

“I’ve never worked somewhere that the motto is: We don’t want nobody that nobody sent,” he said. Meaning, as a new transplant to Chicago, his newness was a hindrance. In Chicago, workers needed to have an “in” and they needed to be part of the Union.

“I was used to showing up on the job site and talking to the superintendent. That doesn’t work here,” he said.

Brian moved to Chicago in 2008 at the request of his wife, who was sick and wanted to be close to her family. In 2012, eight days before their 10^th wedding anniversary, she passed away. The tragedy caused him to turn to liquor.

“I was out of whack. I needed to do something. I was 11,000 miles from everyone I knew.”

It was Brian’s doctor, who was helping him recover from a back injury that passed him a pamphlet for the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC). She told him, “This might be a fit for you.” At that point, he had been unemployed for three years. In March 2016, he was accepted into the program.

“I was scared and intimidated,” he said. “Living in a city of three million where I don’t know anyone, but I didn’t have a choice. This was my last chance to make something of myself, to be self-sufficient.”

Brian applied for JARC’s Computer Numerical Control (CNC) program. As part of the application process, he took a TABE test. He scored at an 11^thgrade level in reading but at a 5^th grade level in math, a significantly lower result than the 9^thgrade level required to be accepted into the CNC program. Brian was discouraged by the results, but accepted the offer to join the Bridge Program to improve his skills.

One of Brian’s math teachers gave him his cell phone number and told him to call day or night.

“I was reluctant to it,” Brian said. “I finally reached out. One Saturday night, I was home studying, and I called him up and said I was having trouble. Gabe talked me through it.”

In three months, he reached a 9^th grade level.

Brian Bunting visits Jackie Guzman, one of his teachers at JARC.

“I like the atmosphere at JARC. They’ve treated me really well here,” he said. “I beat myself up more than anybody could if things don’t go as fast or as well as I want them to, but they worked with me. They stuck by me. I guess they saw something in me I didn’t see in myself at the time.”

While in training, Brian met with the Income Supports Specialist, who suggested he apply for food stamps. He also met with a Financial Coach several times and participated in Financial Education workshops. He enrolled in JARC’s Press Brake program and obtained the National Institute for Metal Working Skills (NIMS), OSHA for General Industry credentials, and a Forklift Operator’s License. Soon after, with support from his Employment Coach and JARC’s Job Development team, he was hired full-time as a Press Break Operator at Chicago Dryer.

“I couldn’t dream of a better job for myself,” Brian said. It was the hours he’d hope for, an easy location and a team of people that he likes. “I started a whole new chapter.”

With a steady paying job, he’s able to pay back his landlord, Anne, who had been lenient with sporadic payments in the past. “I try to take care of her the best I can because she took care of me,” he said. She is also one of his biggest supporters, including his sister-in-law and her husband. “They think it’s fabulous.”

In his downtime, Brian is committed to his garden, where he grows tomatoes, habanero peppers, strawberries and much more.

“I’ve lived a rather colorful life. I’ve done some prison time. I’ve done some military service prior to prison. I was in a motorcycle outfit. This is the 8^th state I’ve lived and worked in. I visited 47 of the 50 states – following work, following the party, following life. I never really buckled down. Now I’ve made a 20-year commitment to Chicago.”

With a smile, he said, “I’m part of the JARC family now.”

In Chicago, the work of the FOC Network is supported by multiple funders including leading support from: Bank of America; JPMorgan Chase; the Crown Family Philanthropies; State Farm; and Boeing.

For more information on LISC Chicago’s Financial Opportunity Centers or the Bridges to Career Opportunities program, contact Jennifer McClain, jmcclain@lisc.org or (312) 422-9563.

No Small Plans on the Southwest Side

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Gordon Walek

In 2005, at the start of the LISC Chicago New Communities Network, Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn and Englewood each created a community-led Quality-of-Life Plan to chart a course for their neighborhood’s future. Over the years, a lot has changed in these three Southwest Side neighborhoods.

Some of those changes have been guided by or even are a direct result of the plans. School-based health centers opened through the Elev8 program in Chicago Lawn and Auburn Gresham, and the latter leveraged the work into a targeted education initiative, Auburn Gresham GOLD.

Two veterans’ housing projects and one of the largest recent new single-family home developments in Chicago were built in Auburn Gresham. Englewood Square, a new retail development anchored by a Whole Foods, has replaced a massive vacant lot at the corner of 63rd and Halsted in Englewood. More than $50 million has been invested in Chicago Lawn over the past 10 years, including more than $11 million to rehabilitate vacant housing.

Englewood Square, a new shopping center at 63rd and Halsted streets, had its roots in Englewood's 2005 Quality-of-Life Plan.

Gordon Walek

Other changes have been outside the communities’ control. The pop of the real estate bubble and subsequent foreclosure crisis. A job market that keeps getting tougher for the working class. Change at Chicago Public Schools. A surge in violence on the streets.

And so, near the end of 2015, with all these changes in mind, LISC and community-based lead agencies in each of the three neighborhoods launched a new round of Quality-of-Life planning.

“LISC has been committed to these communities for the last 36 years and has supported capacity building in the neighborhood organizations, community planning, special programs and real estate lending,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “In that work, Quality-of-Life Plans are a powerful way to bring together a neighborhood, come to agreement on clear goals and strategies, and create the energy to implement.”

This month, all three Quality-of-Life Plans were finalized and published, the result of thousands of residents, community groups, nonprofits, local businesses, faith-based organizations and others dreaming, debating, collaborating and considering what their neighborhood needs to thrive.

For its new Quality-of-Life planning process, Perry Gunn, executive director of Teamwork Englewood, helped enlist neighborhood residents and others who in the past had not been engaged in planning work. "They learned how to head a meeting, how to structure the discussion," said Gunn, pictured above in the Starbucks at Englewood Square. "That's capacity building for our neighborhood, that's leadership development that will continue."

Gordon Walek

The approach to creating the plans has changed in some ways from last time, in part because with more than a decade of experience using the plans as a tool to improve their communities, the agencies leading the work have changed, too.

“These neighborhoods have done plans before, so we didn’t need the same playbook,” said Jake Ament, who helped coordinate the final plans from LISC. “We’ve moved to where we work with and provide our partners with the tools to drive more of the process themselves.”

Because each neighborhood is different, each sets its own path in how it approaches creating its plan. Auburn Gresham GOLD had caught the attention of United Way, for example, and so the lead agency, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), folded its partnership around that issue into the neighborhood’s Quality-of-Life planning.

In Englewood, which made it a priority to bring in even more local voices to the Quality-of-Life planning process this time around, LISC’s training in facilitation helped residents who had not been outspoken neighborhood advocates in the past become effective chairs for the committees that built the strategies and programs for each issue area.

An early action project in Englewood's new plan was a business competition for local entrepreneurs that brought out three dozen companies to compete for $10,000 in prizes from Whole Foods Market.

Annie Grossinger

“They learned how to head a meeting, how to structure the discussion,” said Perry Gunn, the executive director of lead agency Teamwork Englewood. “That’s capacity building for our neighborhood, that’s leadership development that will continue. People are stepping up and appointing themselves to be champions of issues in our community. They raised their hands and said, ‘I’ll take this issue moving forward.’”

In terms of what the three plans cover, there are definite similarities, as you would expect from three contiguous neighborhoods on the Southwest Side. The titles and specific programs differ, but each plan has a focus on youth and education, health, housing, jobs, economic development and community safety.

There are, however, some differences. Auburn Gresham set strategies around senior services to serve a large and active local population. Chicago Lawn’s plan, titled Chicago Southwest because it again encompasses West Lawn, Gage Park, West Elsdon and now parts of Ashburn, included strategies around leadership development and immigration. “Every community does it a little bit differently,” Ament said. “And we encouraged that even more this time.”

Englewood

The LISC model for Quality-of-Life planning process includes early action projects – small-scale initiatives undertaken as the plan is being created that energize the community and illustrate what can be accomplished by working together. In Englewood last year, the early action projects did all that and more.

A business competition for Englewood entrepreneurs brought out three dozen local companies to compete for a $10,000 prize from Whole Foods Market. Drumming circles formed to play on city streets in an effort to fight against violence. More than 120 local nonprofits banded together around Giving Tuesday in November, all agreeing to raise money for Quality-of-Life Plan projects, rather than their own organizations.

Nicole Wheatly and Carlos Nelson, of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation, survey properties on West 79th Street, which the new plan has identified as a corridor for potential businesses. "People want to see change," said Wheatly, the project manager for GAGDC's Quality-of-Life planning process, "and they want to be part of it."

Gordon Walek

Englewood’s Quality-of-Life Plan, which was supported by the McCormick Foundation as the lead funder, includes a proposed program for health care navigators that can help fill service gaps in the neighborhood, the creation of a housing resource center for residents, and a multi-partner program to coordinate tutors, afterschool programs and other resources to raise the reading levels of elementary school kids by the third grade.

Excitement is also high for a newly formed Design and Development Community Advisory Board, which will serve as a voice for residents on the size, purpose and style of new buildings in the neighborhood’s increasingly hot local housing and commercial market. Using a model from the Near North community, the board will review proposed new developments against a set of community-approved design standards.

“We want to change the dynamic with investors. In this community, we’ve always been told what we’re going to get. This will let us tell developers what we need,” said Rosalind Moore, the director of programs at Teamwork Englewood, adding that all five aldermen who represent parts of Englewood have already signaled their support.

Auburn Gresham

To get a good idea of the momentum built in Auburn Gresham for its Quality-of-Life Plan, you just needed to be at the community meeting when the plan was released last October.

“There were more than 400 people in the room, in a space that was not built for that kind of numbers,” said Nicole Wheatly, the project manager for Auburn Gresham’s Quality-of-Life Plan process. “People want to see change, and they want to be a part of it.”

Chicago Southwest's new plan, which covers Chicago Lawn, West Lawn, Gage Park, West Elsdon and parts of Ashburn, puts a big emphasis on jobs, which the neighborhoods' industrial base can to some extent support.

Gordon Walek

To bring in a lot more people, GAGDC created the “Your Voice Matters” campaign. For a year the team made a pitch for participation under their ubiquitous orange pop-up tent at block parties, the enormous annual 79th Street Renaissance Festival and other public events. They went block by block to knock on doors, asked folks who were involved to make calls to bring in their friends, posted reminders on the GAGDC website and social media, and distributed flyers and newsletters.

“This time, we really wanted to hear the voices of the people on the street and in the churches – the folks who hadn’t been engaged before,” said Carlos Nelson, GAGDC’s executive director.

It worked. More than 1,500 residents gave input to the Quality-of-Life Plan’s eight task forces, and Nelson said that the group expanded the geographic reach as well, into Washington Heights, Greater Grand Crossing and Chatham.

He points to elements of the plan that are a result of the wider reach. The economic development section includes programs to support local black-owned businesses, for example, and there are strategies to strengthen the local African American middle-class, so more people can afford to buy and maintain the area’s iconic brick bungalow housing stock.

Education was also a major focus for the Chicago Southwest plan, the process of which was led by the Southwest Organizing Project. “This time around with the Quality-of-Life planning, we had the opportunity as a community to really explore across all issue areas,” said David McDowell, SWOP’s senior organizer.

Gordon Walek

“There was a social justice angle to what we heard,” Nelson said. “We talked about equality and issues around wealth, educational opportunities and access to affordable housing. We had discussions about living-wage jobs and how not enough are accessible in our community, and why is that? And, we talked about how to mobilize ourselves to make a difference.”

Chicago Southwest

After three months of the Quality-of-Life planning for Chicago Lawn and surrounding communities last year, a light bulb went off for the planning team, led by the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP).

Because over the last few years the community has created plans dedicated to specific issues like health and foreclosures – and because the impact of the issues overlapped in so many ways – it made more sense to use the Quality-of-Life Plan to review challenges and strategies with a comprehensive, cross-sector lens, rather than in committees divided by topic.

“This time around with the Quality-of-Life planning, we had the opportunity as a community to really explore across all issue areas,” said David McDowell, SWOP’s senior organizer.

Auburn Gresham's plan includes steps to strengthen the local African American middle-class so more people can afford to buy and maintain the area’s brick bungalows and two-flats.

Gordon Walek

The goal of finding new homeowners for foreclosed properties in the neighborhood is more effective when strong local schools serve as a draw, he explained. Anti-violence work is more likely to gain traction when there are fewer vacant houses on the block and more children engaged at school. When families have stable housing and kids feel safe on the streets, those students do better in class.

The attention to anti-violence and education issues also tied directly to a redirected focus in the 2017 plan on jobs. Still recovering from the loss of living-wage jobs during the recession, Chicago Southwest needs more options for employment, particularly for youth, undocumented families and individuals returning from incarceration – all of whom have a particularly hard time finding a job.

“There’s a conversation about what it takes to help businesses thrive, but we thought in addition to that, there is a different question about how to help those three specific populations,” McDowell said.

In the final plan, one section is dedicated to jobs, including projects to create a pipeline of opportunity between school and work and new alliances forged between African American and Latino leaders and employers. Another section is focused on economic and retail development, with plans for supporting existing businesses and reviving commercial corridors.

Englewood's plan features a Design and Development Community Advisory Board, which will serve as a voice for residents on the size, purpose and style of new buildings in the neighborhood. “We want to change the dynamic with investors," said Rosalind Moore, right, the director of programs at Teamwork Englewood. "In this community, we’ve always been told what we’re going to get. This will let us tell developers what we need."

Gordon Walek

Onward to implementation

There is no single moment when a community’s Quality-of-Life planning ends and implementing programs to meet its goals begins. With early action projects already running and a process designed to create enthusiasm and partnerships, implementation has already started.

Certainly, however, the plans’ release is an opportunity to change gears. In Englewood and Auburn Gresham, meetings are shifting from planning to doing, with committees focused on spearheading projects and identifying funders and supporters. In Chicago Southwest, SWOP staff and partners have new ideas for their standing programs – and are keeping their eyes open for other ways to advance the plan’s proposals.

One of the biggest new opportunities to arise from creating these Quality-of-Life Plans is the Southwest Corridor Collaborative, a targeted and place-based approach to economic development in the three communities. Announced in November by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, LISC and the local partners, the Southwest Corridor Collaborative is a $50 million investment in the local economy focused on developing living-wage jobs with lending for investments in real estate and local neighborhood businesses.

During the process, as all three neighborhoods were aiming to increase the number of available jobs, it became apparent that in addition to programs at the neighborhood level, a collaborative economic development approach could have an impact that was big enough to stretch across the Southwest Side.

One of the biggest new opportunities to arise from creating these Quality-of-Life Plans is the Southwest Corridor Collaborative, a targeted and place-based approach to economic development in the three communities. It's a $50 million investment in the local economy focused on developing living-wage jobs with lending for investments in real estate and local neighborhood businesses. SWOP's Jeff Bartow, right, models the collaborative's T-shirt

Gordon Walek

“This is a tried-and-true LISC process – see a common need and see an opportunity to create something that can address it, then go back to the neighborhoods and say, ‘What do you think of this?’ That’s what happened with Elev8, Smart Communities and Financial Opportunity Centers,” Ament said.

“For us, the Southwest Corridor Collaborative is really implementation of the strategies that focus on jobs and economic development in our Quality-of-Life Plan. It can be a catalytic program for our commercial corridors,” Nelson said.

Currently, Nelson and his team are working hard to bring in other resources as well. To save a terra-cotta gem of a building at 839 W. 79th St., GAGDC is working to convert the former furniture store from 1925 into a healthy lifestyle hub, supporting more than 100 living-wage jobs in the community.

“When I’m writing to explore support for the building from funders and investors,” Nelson said. “I always say, ‘This project is informed by our Quality-of-Life Plan.’”

Even as the Southwest Side plans are printed and complete, a new round of Quality-of-Life planning is being launched in three West Side communities: Hermosa/West Logan Square, North Lawndale and Austin. Several new partners and geographies are involved in the 2017 cohort, so the process will be similar but distinct from the Southwest Side cohort.

“These three new plans are part of LISC’s commitment to continue supporting local planning and building strong relationships and collaborative processes over the next three years,” Ament said. “Part of what makes Quality-of-Life planning so effective is that no matter where the neighborhood is coming from, it allows the residents and local organizations to shape where they want to go.”

Check out the latest Quality-of-Life Plans:

Englewood Quality-of-Life Plan

For more information, contact Taryn Roch at (312) 422-9554 or troch@lisc.org

Auburn Gresham Quality-of-Life Plan

For more information, contact Tameeka Christian at (312) 422-9564 or tchristian@lisc.org

Chicago Southwest Quality-of-Life Plan

For more information, contact Jake Ament at (312) 422-9573 or jament@lisc.org

23rd Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards Honor Top Community Projects

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Maurice Jones, LISC's president and CEO, addresses a crowd of more than 1,500 people at the 23rd Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards ceremony.

Eric Young Smith

More than 1,500 community developers, architects, business leaders, neighborhood advocates and elected officials gathered at McCormick Place on Tuesday, February 28 for the 23^rd Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA). Nine organizations and two individuals were honored for their achievements in community development and architectural design.

The ceremony, organized by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Chicago, is a rare occasion in which all of the contributors to neighborhood redevelopment – community organizers, real estate developers, architects, bankers, residents, foundation and corporate leaders, elected officials and others – are in the same room to recognize and celebrate Chicago’s top real estate development and architectural design projects in the city’s neighborhoods.

In addition, this year marked the 20^th Anniversary of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design.

As usual, the awards saluted a wide range of real estate projects and neighborhood organizing efforts, ranging from an extraordinary youth and family center in East Garfield Park, to a new shopping center in the heart of Englewood. Also acknowledged were community organizing initiatives in Chicago Lawn and Albany Park designed to maintain a dependable supply of affordable housing. Saint Anthony Hospital was saluted for its consistent delivery of mental health services in recent years, and the Near North Unity Program for its Quality-of-Life planning and design guidelines.

The Architectural Excellence awards went to firms that designed new space for the Lakeview Pantry, the new branch of the Chicago Public Library in Chinatown, and new rental apartments on the site previously occupied by the Cabrini Green public housing project.

And two individuals were honored. Architect Thomas H. Beeby, who chairs the 14-member jury that selects the winners of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design, received the Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award. Raven Smith received the PrivateBank Norman Bobins Leadership Award for creating Straight From The Go, a campaign to emphasize the positive elements of life in Chicago neighborhoods.

“For more than two decades the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design have celebrated Chicago’s neighborhoods,” said LISC Chicago Executive Director Meghan Harte. “Community development by definition is neither easy or fast, but the people and organizations who do this work in our neighborhoods have succeeded in making progress. At CNDA, we stop briefly to recognize and celebrate individual achievements and the communities that together we have created by design.”

The awards ceremony was preceded by a panel discussion around this year’s theme, “Communities by Design,” in which panelists discussed what design means in creating strong, sustainable neighborhoods.

Here is a complete list of CNDA23 award winners:

The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award

Near North Unity Program for Near North Quality-of-Life and Design Guidelines

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award

Breakthrough for The Breakthrough FamilyPlex

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design

1st Place – Wheeler Kearns Architects for Lakeview Pantry

2nd Place – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP for Chicago Public Library – Chinatown Branch

3rd Place – Landon Bone Baker Architects for Terrace 459 at Parkside of Old Town

The Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award

Thomas H. Beeby

The PrivateBank Norman Bobins Leadership Award

Raven Smith

A Neighborhood of All Stars

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Andrell Bryant at the Hoops in the Hood finals last summer.

Gordon Walek

When gang members shattered his windows and tried to set his house on fire – Rob Castaneda’s hope faded. He and his wife recently moved to Little Village - eager to start a new life chapter. But the Chicago crime in their southwest side neighborhood overshadowed their dreams for the future.

With a damaged home and broken hopes, the Castanedas were ready to say goodbye - but their neighbors weren’t. They rallied behind the family, encouraging them to stay on the block. That determination inspired the Castanedas. They realized moving wouldn’t solve the neighborhood problems. But something else could help the area bounce back.

Read the complete story in State Farm's newsroom...

Rob Castaneda and Andrell Bryant at the Hoops finals last year.

Gordon Walek

Neighborhood Group, CPD Awarded for Making Uptown's Argyle Street Pedestrian Friendly

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Photos by Dave Suarez for Uptown United

There was a time not long ago when Uptown residents arriving home from work were nervous about exiting the Argyle Red Line station.

“Four or five years ago, a lot of people would get off the train, put their heads down and book it to Sheridan or Broadway as quickly as they could,” said 48^th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman.

Despite the presence of several lauded restaurants — many of them owned and operated by Vietnamese immigrants — there was a sense that this particular stretch of Argyle Street between Kenmore Avenue and Sheridan Road was failing to live up to its potential.

Osterman remembers gang presence, public drinking and loose cigarette sales contributing to an intimidating atmosphere, especially after dark.

The result was a block that neighbors avoided. In turn, business owners had trouble attracting clientele. The lack of pedestrian traffic meant that those engaging in illegal activity were free to do so without fear of repercussions. In short, Argyle Street was struggling.

That was then. Fast forward to 2017, and the story is remarkably different.

Argyle is now home to a thriving business community that supports dozens of local jobs. In the summer months, the block is lined with sidewalk patios. All year long, neighbors stop to linger as they make their way to and from the train. At night, far fewer storefronts are shielded from the street by menacing security gates.

While many people and programs have played a role in this turnaround, most community leaders agree that a single initiative has been the primary catalyst: the Argyle Night Market.

Uptown United, a community organization, and the Chicago Police Department, together created the Night Market, a street festival that has breathed new life into a block on Uptown's Argyle Street.

A collaborative initiative between Uptown United and the 20^th District of the Chicago Police Department, the Night Market is a weekly summer event that brings together residents, business owners and visitors.

In addition to providing opportunities for local vendors to connect with community members, the event injects a regular dose of vitality into a previously derelict block. In the four years since its founding, the Night Market has become a vital tool in the effort to enhance public safety and foster meaningful connections between Uptown residents.

For their roles in having cultivated this wildly successful initiative, Uptown United and the Chicago Police Department were recently awarded the Excellence in Neighborhood Revitalization and Economic Vitality Prize — one of MetLife Foundation’s Community-Police Partnership Awards. Since 2002, this collaborative effort between the MetLife Foundation and LISC has recognized partnerships that exhibit demonstrable accomplishments in advancing the well being of communities across the country.

Out of a pool of more than 400 applicants, the Uptown United-Chicago Police Department partnership is one of only eight to have been selected as a 2016 recipient. In addition to nationwide recognition, the organizations will receive a $15,000 prize to support future community building initiatives on Argyle and throughout the neighborhood.

The best version of ourselves

Uptown United Executive Director Martin Sorge describes the Argyle Night Market as “halfway between a street festival and a farmer’s market.”

The nighttime scheduling of the event — initially intended to populate Argyle during hours in which it was usually deserted — adds a celebratory feel that’s in keeping with many of Chicago’s summertime festivals. Meanwhile, the presence of local restaurateurs and food vendors allows for a culinary experience unlike anything else in the city.

These days, it’s easy to take the Night Market for granted. It’s become such a beloved part of the neighborhood’s annual entertainment lineup that many assume it was always destined to be a hit. But when Uptown United staffers began planning the inaugural market in 2013, its long-term success was anything but assured.

Uptown United Executive Director Martin Sorge describes the Argyle Night Market as “halfway between a street festival and a farmer’s market.”

Though Sorge wasn’t yet a part of the Uptown United team in those early days, he’s heard plenty of stories about organizers working tirelessly to connect with local business owners and solicit their support.

“This really was a grassroots approach,” he said.

This effort to enlist local restaurateurs was crucial. Rather than cast the widest possible net and invite vendors from the citywide festival circuit, Night Market organizers wanted to create an event that allowed residents and visitors to bond over the deeply personal menus of the restaurants lining Argyle Street.

For Alderman Osterman, this meant designing a market that allowed Uptown residents to address their public safety challenges while collaboratively leveraging their unique cultural assets to highlight “the best version of ourselves.”

Local police officers played an important part in working with vendors and residents — many of whom were hesitant to spend time on Argyle in the early days of the Night Market — to create an atmosphere that was safe and inviting.

Staffers in Alderman Osterman’s office asked for increased police presence during the first Night Market season to combat the impression that the corner of Argyle and Sheridan was unsafe after dark. The local commander agreed to provide the officers, and Uptown United hired two off-duty officers for supplementary security.

In addition to their primary role of patrolling the area, officers have worked with local businesses and residents to ensure they each play their part in keeping the corridor secure before, during and after the Night Market. Sorge said officers regularly dialogue with businesses owners and residents to ensure concerns are addressed and the event lives up to its potential as an economic and social boon for the neighborhood.

Many restaurants on Argyle Street between Kenmore Avenue and Sheridan Road are owned and operated by Vietnamese immigrants.

Sorge said ongoing communication with the police department has been key in allowing the Night Market to succeed over the long haul. He recommends that other community organizations interested in revitalizing problem areas invest early in developing relationships with local police.

“Your role as a neighborhood organization sometimes means acting as a bridge-builder between local businesses, residents and the police,” he said. “Use your particular program or area of expertise to help make the job of the police easier. For example, we help businesses with installing security systems, improving facades and discussing best practices for business and neighborhood safety.”

In a written statement, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said the agency is honored to be recognized alongside Uptown United.

“The Argyle Night Market is a prime example of how police departments and community organizations can come together to foster positive relationships with our city's residents and businesses,” the statement said. “By working together with Uptown United to host the Argyle Night Market, we were able to build upon an existing partnership to present an event highlighting the diversity found within the Uptown community. This event and partnership provided our officers an opportunity to interact with residents in a welcoming social environment, allowing them to further cultivate meaningful relationships with the public they serve.”

It's been a vehicle for bringing people together

In the years since the Night Market debuted, it has grown in ways its original planners could never have imagined. While they struggled to attract visitors during its earliest seasons, last year’s series drew more than 20,000 people to eight markets between July and August.

Its success means year-round benefits for Uptown.

“These little things that people just think of as fun events can have a much bigger impact,” Sorge said. “The Night Market has been a way to keep the unique identity of this neighborhood while also engaging people of all different backgrounds, supporting local businesses and having a great time.”

Its ability to bring together people of different circumstances has been particularly important. According to Census estimates, Uptown counts a significantly larger proportion of Asian immigrants and people of Asian descent than most Chicago communities. A focus on embracing that cultural heritage while pursuing inclusive economic development has allowed the Night Market to produce substantive gains for everyone in the neighborhood.

“If you’re there at 7 o’clock on a sunny summer evening, you see people of every race and from every socioeconomic background enjoying the market,” Alderman Osterman said. “It’s been a vehicle for bringing people together.”

That neighborhood cohesion has been an integral component of Argyle’s turnaround. Since the founding of the market, the Argyle business district has seen decreases in theft, battery, narcotics possession, assault and criminal property damage by margins of more than 60 percent. Osterman and Sorge attribute those decreases in part to people’s increased newfound willingness to spend time on the street.

Individual residents have also reaped important benefits. Inspired by new interest among residents and visitors alike, local business owners have been more willing to invest in physical improvements. Young artists, having been given the opportunity to perform at the Night Market, feel more included and invested in the future of their community.

Looking ahead, Sorge said residents should expect another successful season in 2017. While specific plans are still in the works, the prize money they will receive as part of their award will likely allow for enhanced programming and outreach.

Additionally, a recent physical transformation of Argyle Street provides reason for optimism. The block that hosts the market was recently transformed into Chicago’s first “shared street” — a space that encourages pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to slow down and more deeply interact with each other and their environment. Sorge said the new layout naturally lends itself to congregation and celebration.

As for Alderman Osterman, he too expects another great season. Having seen the effects of the Argyle Night Market over its first four seasons, he said the event is a testament to the skill and capacity of Uptown United.

“It’s not something that’s easily done,” he said. “You need leadership, partnership and vision, and Uptown United from day one has understood the potential benefits and has been willing to do the hard work to enact it.”

For more information, contact Jake Ament at (312) 422-9573 or jament@lisc.org

Englewood Quality-of-Life Business Competition Announces Winners

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 12:00:00 -0600

Cookie samples from FBG Cookies & Company are passed to judges and attendees.

Photos by Annie Grossinger

A cookie company. A fitness studio. A nutritious catering service. A microbrewery. A construction project management team. Two insurance companies and, a wellness company. More than 50 people attended the Englewood Quality-of-Life Business Competition on Saturday, December 15^th to watch eight Englewood-based companies compete for a grand prize of $10,000 from Whole Foods.

“Real capital gives the average person a chance to get over the hump,” said Perry Gunn, the executive director of Teamwork Englewood.

Thirty-six companies entered the competition. After initial rounds in front of a selection committee, the finalists were whittled down to nine. However, one couldn’t make the final round of competition.

“I was impressed by the quality,” said Gunn. “Each round was competitive.”

The finalists

Eddie Downs of FBG Cookies & Company, a full-service bakery café that provides high-quality healthier goods at an acceptable price.
Andrea Natay Dane of Forever Fitness Chicago, LLC, a health and wellness company that is expanding to provide packaged fruits and vegetables in vending machines.
Michelle D. Flagg, Redacre Solutions, Inc., a project management company.
Ronda Hale Johnson of NU Horizon Insurance, a multi-line insurance service.
Sonia Kennedy of EW360, a health and wellness company.
Cherice Price of Cherice Price Insurance, a professional insurance brokerage company.
Lesley Roth and Steve Marchese of Opus Niche, Inc. doing business as Englewood Brews, a microbrewery and taproom.
Alexis Williams, Let Us Serve You, a nutritious catering company.

Walter Robb listens to a finalist answer one of his questions.

Walter Robb, Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market, and one of the judges, opened the competition.

“The power of really believing in someone, that they can do something, is powerful,” he began.

Each finalist had a few minutes to make their pitch. Then, the floor was opened to the panel of judges for questions, who included Robb; Andrea L. Zopp, Deputy Mayor & Chief Neighborhood Development Officer, City of Chicago; Maria Guerra Lapacek, Commissioner, City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection; and, Edward and Shirley Calahan, Calahan Funeral Home. Afterwards, the judges scored each finalist on a scale of 1 to 10. Scores from the previous rounds were then factored into an overall score, which produced the winners.

The winners

The prizes were awarded as follows:

$10,000 Winner: Englewood Brews
$10,000 Runner-up: FBG Cookies & Company
$10,000 Third Place: Forever Fitness Chicago
$2,500: Cherice Price insurance, EW360,
$1,600: Let Us Serve You, NU Horizon Insurance, Redacre Solutions

Judge Edward Calahan from Calahan Funeral Home displays a score for Michelle D. Flagg.

“This will be a fast-paced year of getting folks on-board,” said Lesley Roth, in regards to her winning business plan. “We’ll be looking for investors and a space that has good synergy with the other businesses. It’s a relationship-building process.”

Part of what made the judges pick Englewood Brews was that it proposed a multi-tiered system, where hops farming and brewing would create jobs and the beer would increase tourism. “This is an opportunity in the community for other entities to get involved in the farming of hops and partner with Englewood Brews,” Roth added. “Englewood Brews would be a champion for this burgeoning industry in Englewood and of course, will buy the hops produced.”

“They knew their product and target audience,” said Calahan. “They knew where they were going to market and what level of profit to expect. They were great presenters with a clear sense of passion. Truthfully, the top three were all just superb.”

Andrea Natay Dane pitches her company, Forever Fitness Chicago, LLC, a health and wellness company that is expanding to provide packaged fruits and vegetables in vending machines.

“We put so many hours into this competition,” said Roth. “It took a lot of soul-searching.” While the brewery is in its nascent form, Roth and Marchese have already decided on a flagship beer: a cream ale.

Williams of Let Us Serve You is also ready to put her prize money to use. The funds will be put towards the packaging and labelling of her drink and muffin products. To date most of the company has been self-funded. Williams, a former risk management professional, left her corporate job for her own start-up in what she describes as a “huge leap of faith.”

“I had no idea where I’d end up,” she said.

She was encouraged to apply to the competition by a member of her church.

“I wanted to compete because I need Let Us Serve You to be known, but I also need the money to expand,” said Williams. “This is my business, but also my passion.”

Dr. Sonia Kennedy of EW360 hands out sample products to the judges.

Though Williams’ company didn’t place first, Teamwork Englewood and the judges are committed to assisting all the finalists.

“When we support each other, we create a greater and stronger tax base, better schools and better businesses,” said Calahan. “I’m going to support them going forward, but they also need to support each other.”

“I hope this becomes an annual event,” said Gunn. “Throughout the rounds, you could see how invested everyone was, from the contestants to the business coaches. It was like therapy to them.”

The Business Competition was born from the Jobs and Economic Development task force, which was created by Teamwork Englewood and the Englewood Quality-of-Life Plan committee. The task force was charged with identifying economic development opportunities such as businesses that could help create a viable and sustainable local economy in the heart of Englewood. The $40,000 in seed funding was donated by Whole Foods.

Large Lots in Englewood – Vision and Hard Work Create New Community Assets

Wed, 21 Dec 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Vacant lots – shrouded in wild flowers, speckled with garbage and abandoned without care – have long permeated the blocks of Englewood. Their locations don’t discriminate. They sit next to family homes and businesses, foreclosed properties or other vacant lots. How they came to be abandoned is often unclear. They’ve been that way for so long.

Through a City of Chicago-sponsored Large Lots Program, residents of Englewood have the opportunity to revitalize their blocks by purchasing vacant spaces for a single dollar. The only requirements are that applicants already own property on the same block of the lot they wish to purchase, and they state their plan to repurpose the lot.

The City sold 276 lots to community members in greater Englewood in December 2014 as part of an initial pilot of the Large Lots Program. To support these new lot owners in realizing their visions, LISC, through Teamwork Englewood, provided small grants to lot owners using funds from the Kresge Foundation for creative placemaking efforts around the country.

In May 2016, after Teamwork Englewood formed a selection committee of placemaking experts from within and outside of the community and coordinated an application and training process, 16 lot owners received small grants of $1,600-$2,500. Sammiria Malcone, Linda Maalik and Delece Williams are long-time residents who decided to take part in the creative placemaking program. They spent their funds on prepping their properties for a comeback. Though varying in vision, all share a common goal: To create something beautiful and useful for their community.

Recently, the City expanded the Large Lots program to 30 communities throughout Chicago. Applications are being accepted through January 31, 2017. For more information click here.

Photographer Annie Grossinger made repeated visits earlier this year to the lots Sammiria Malcone, Linda Maalik and Delece Williams were transforming. Here are her images of the works in progress.

Lending a Hand

Tue, 06 Dec 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Gordon Walek

It’s been a busy end of the year for lending at LISC Chicago as the organization celebrated projects across the city that have been supported through LISC loan capital.

Community partners held ribbon cuttings for new affordable apartments in Woodlawn and suburban Northlake, and for new supermarkets in Englewood and Bronzeville. La Casa Norte held a ground-breaking ceremony for housing homeless families in Humboldt Park. In South Chicago, SkyART held a grand opening of a new studio for local youth.

Different kinds of development, different communities, different types of loans. What ties them all together is LISC’s capacity to provide the capital needed to bring crucial new assets to a neighborhood as it continues to build.

Nationally, LISC raises and invests more than a billion dollars annually in underserved communities. In September S&P Global Ratings assigned an “AA” credit rating to LISC’s lending, an unusual validation for a nonprofit investor.

“We respond flexibly to the unique needs of each community to help a neighborhood revitalize itself,” said Barbara Beck, LISC Chicago’s director of financial services and underwriting.

Gordon Walek

“We respond flexibly to the unique needs of each community to help a neighborhood revitalize itself,” said Barbara Beck, LISC Chicago’s director of financial services and underwriting. “That can be an under-invested area that is making improvements in residential, commercial or other kinds of real estate, and in another area it might be looking to preserve affordable housing because the neighborhood is changing.”

One example is La Casa Norte’s project at 3531-33 W. North Ave. The new facility is slated to include 25 affordable apartments with supportive services for homeless families and youth, the organization’s offices and facilities open to the neighborhood, such as a health center, computer lab and nutrition center.

“It’s going to be a wonderful community center, deepening the services we provide today and offering new services we know are critical in the neighborhood,” said Sol Flores, the organization’s founding executive director.

Typical of the complicated fiscal realities of developing property with a social mission in mind, La Casa Norte has pulled together a layered mix of private and public financing to fund the project: city TIF funds, philanthropic donations, New Market Tax Credits, federal HUD grants for supportive housing and more.

LISC’s role is to fill in gaps in financing as needed, ranging from early-on funds that help a nonprofit developer envision what could be possible to mini-permanent loans for longer-term, amortizing financing.

LISC support to La Casa Norte, for example, came in 2011 as a pre-development loan to fund initial costs like the zoning approvals and architectural drawings that transformed its initial ideas into an achievable reality.

With these specific, actionable plans in hand, the organization was ready to raise the other funding needed. “Without that pre-development loan, we wouldn’t be able move the project forward at all,” Flores said.

Loans In the gaps

Like the La Casa Norte loans, much of LISC’s lending is short-term and often during a moment in a development’s timeline when traditional loans aren’t easy – or sometimes possible – to find.

In Northlake, LISC provided a predevelopment and permanent loan for the development of Wisdom Village, a 71-unit affordable housing development for seniors. Then early this year, LISC arranged financing so Turnstone Development could proceed with construction when the state budget crisis held up federal funds committed to the project, which was about a third of the way complete at the time.

A LISC pre-development loan helped lay the groundwork for Englewood Square, the new shopping center at 63rd and Halsted that includes a Whole Foods market.

Gordon Walek

For the new Whole Foods at 63rd and Halsted, a LISC pre-development loan three years ago provided the capital the designated developer, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI), needed to respond quickly with initial feasibility, engineering and legal work.

“When you have an interested, quality tenant, you want to move heaven and earth to meet their timetable and needs,” said Angie Marks, vice president of real estate at CNI. “Sometimes at the early stages of a project, all is not yet known. LISC really played a role that facilitated what it took to move the project forward.”

Marks said CNI has also turned to LISC because of its experience and comfort with complex public/private partnerships. For the new Mariano’s at 39th and King Drive, CNI had worked for years with the City of Chicago and the Chicago Housing Authority, which owns the land, to bring a grocery story to the food desert on the Mid-South Side.

CNI was able to finance most of the construction cost conventionally but to reduce its equity requirement, it needed to close a notable gap or face higher costs and the risk of delaying the project. LISC and IFF together provided CNI subordinate financing during the construction phase.

“We make loans carefully, of course, and need to balance the demand of fiscally-responsible lending with the proposed social and community impact. A variety of internal financing tools lets us take on a bit more risk so that we can support important community projects,” Beck explained.

The new 74,000-square-foot Mariano’s, now open, will have 400 employees and has turned a piece of land that has been vacant for more than a decade into a community retail anchor. These new retail developments in Englewood and Bronzeville fulfill community goals written into their community Quality-Of-Life Plans.

“The value we can bring to the table is we can work through a more complicated financing structure,” Marks said. “We can work with public agencies like CHA and negotiate benefits agreements that bring jobs to the community. To do the work, we need partners.”

LISC loans were instrumental in sustaining the South Chicago Art Center following its 2001 opening and with supporting its expansion to SkyART a couple of years ago, allowing it to serve even more youth with arts programming on the far South Side.

Gordon Walek

Lending to the mission

In 2001, the South Chicago Art Center opened with 18 students in a small facility open two days a week.

By 2014, the organization was serving more than 3,500 young people annually with a wide variety of programs and wanted to buy and rehab its own space. Now named SkyART, the group used a construction and mini-perm loan from LISC to give it the fiscal flexibility it needed to redevelop and move into a new studio.

This October, SkyART celebrated its one-year anniversary in the new space with a grand opening. The 6,000-square-foot studio has a state-of-the-art computer lab, an extensive art library, space to host visits from an entire local school, and as of January, a ceramics studio – all new with the new facility.

“The building is beautiful in a neighborhood without a lot of beautiful,” said Sarah Ward, SkyART’s founder and executive director. “A little girl walked in the other day in front of me, and she turned to her mother and said, ‘I can’t believe I get to go to a place so pretty.’”

Ward said that her team turned to LISC for loans because of its expertise and experience, a big plus for a nonprofit dedicated to developing young people, not real estate. “LISC is committed to our work. I can call them up and they’ll help me with paperwork or whatever I need.”

LISC has been a supporter of SkyART from the beginning – it provided the seed grant that launched the organization – and the development loans are just another way that LISC has helped advance arts and youth development in South Chicago.

“Our model at LISC is comprehensive community development, and we have a multitude of tools and approaches to help our partners reach their goals,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “Our loans that help build new housing, revitalize commercial corridors, and provide new cultural and social services work side by side with our other programs.”

As a banner 2016 comes to an end, LISC lending continues to feed a pipeline of new developments. One of the biggest is converting Lawson House, a 22-story SRO at 30 W. Chicago Ave. formerly run by the YMCA, into more than 430 units of supportive housing. The Lawson redevelopment will preserve a measure of affordability in the River North community.

LISC’s predevelopment loan, together with a matching loan from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, will allow Holsten Real Estate Development’s project to move forward with the architecture work and feasibility studies.

“Lawson House is an important resource in the community, but it needs a major upgrade. There is a lot of interest in making that happen, but to keep the project moving, the developers need funds early, while all the complexities are worked out,” Beck said. “That’s where we come in.”

For more information on LISC Chicago’s lending contact Barbara Beck, Director, Financial Services and Underwriting at BBeck@lisc.org or 312-422-9553.

Streets Cleaned, Vets Honored in Day of Service

Thu, 01 Dec 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Photos by Annie Grossinger

On a day dedicated to those who have served this country, through bouts of rain and blustering winds, more than 50 volunteers combed through a vacant lot in Auburn Gresham and collected trash on 79^th street as a service of their own. The volunteers – comprising LISC Chicago staffers, Chicago Cares volunteers, AmeriCorps members, Mercy Housing for Boys & Girls volunteers and more – worked side-by-side on November 11 to make an improvement towards a much larger goal.

“There’s nothing like seeing people give their time,” said 17^th Ward Alderman David Moore. When deciding on where to begin, Alderman Moore said he deferred to the residents, who targeted the lot.

The vacancy and disarray of the lot means more than simply an empty lot. In a few years, the City of Chicago intends to add a Metra stop at 79^th street, only a few dozen yards from the overgrown fenced-off space the volunteers were cleaning. The event was part of the Southwest Corridor Collaborative (SWCC), a new partnership between LISC Chicago, the City of Chicago, Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and Teamwork Englewood. SWCC is a targeted and place-based approach to economic development which emerged from the neighborhood’s Quality-of-Life Planning in Englewood, Auburn Gresham and Chicago Southwest.

Laying groundwork

“Our plans focus on development of key commercial corridors like 79^th Street,” said Carlos Nelson, executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation. “We’re here today because this is going to be the parking lot for the new Metra stop.”

Cleaning the lot and surrounding area, however, is more than simply prep work. Rob Schuller, an employee at Mercy Housing for Boys & Girls, drew upon the broken windows theory when describing the volunteer impact. The theory, first proposed by James Wilson and George Kelling in 1982, suggests that broken windows are metaphors for disorder within a community.

“How an environment looks has a profound effect on the message to community members,” said Schuller. “If you have a community that looks trashy, it reflects on the psyche of the community. If it looks bad, you feel bad.”

Carlos Nelson, right, the executive director of the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp., sees neighborhood cleanup projects as the first step in jump-starting new business development.

Schuller, a four-time Marine Corps and two-time combat tour veteran, volunteered on a day meant to honor his service because he prefers to contribute. “Veterans are incredibly resilient and adaptive, which lends themselves to helping others with the obstacles they face,” he said. “I want members in the community to feel worthy and like we care about them.”

Chicago Cares

“There is something to be said for keeping spaces clean” said Jenné Myers, CEO of Chicago Cares, an organization that brings resources to mobilize people who serve that has joined with LISC as partner in SWCC. Thirty of the volunteers were from Chicago Cares. “When people drive by and see us working, it looks like someone is paying attention.”

The idea that the “someone” could be “anyone” was particularly poignant. The volunteers came from across the city. Some were from the North Side, some the West Side and some were local, but the common consensus was that the issues facing one neighborhood were the issues of all Chicagoans.

“Service is a unifier,” said Myers. “Here we have tons of people who have never met, from all areas, working side-by-side and making connections.”

“I always say that you should help when you can because if it’s not you one day, it will be you another,” said Alderman Moore. “It’s good to see people from all different wards here today.”

This togetherness was what Schuller hoped to show the boys from Mercy Housing who came to volunteer.

“The act of giving is therapeutic,” said Schuller. “Completing a mission makes you feel better about yourself. It gives you a sense of belonging and accomplishment.”

All for one, one for all

“We want to show our youth that we’re all in this together,” echoed Robert Simpson, a colleague of Schuller. “There’s always someone who needs it more. This gives the boys the opportunity to have their turn to give back.”

The act is the first, and one of many, to come in revitalizing the corridor. Within the next two years, Nelson expects growth with institutional partners, including health and education institutions, as well as local businesses. As part of the Quality-of-Life Planning, the area will be developed into a healthy lifestyle hub that would provide 100-150 living wage jobs, thus spurring economic viability. To do so, Nelson intends to use volunteers to help spur catalytic projects like the parking lot cleanup.

“Certainly, we need financial resources, but the lion-share of work we want to do locally,” he said.

And there seem to be a plethora of people willing to spare their afternoon for the resurrection of a neighborhood.

“There’s negative things going on every day, but there’s still hope, still positive things happening,” said Walter Grant, an employee at Mercy Housing for Boys & Girls. “This is a good example of how to keep pushing.”

To learn more about the Southwest Corridor Collaborative read the announcement here. If you are interested in getting involved and want to support this collaborative, contact Phillip Moore at PMoore@lisc.org or 312-422-9555.

‘Meeting Halfway’ Builds Partnerships between Community Organizations and Banks

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 12:00:00 -0600

A client receives financial services at the offices of Insituto del Progreso Latino.

Gordon Walek

When residents of low-income neighborhoods are not connected to the financial mainstream, entire communities suffer.

Without access to mainstream financial products and services, many families find themselves reliant on expensive check cashing services and predatory financial institutions. Banks, in turn, struggle to engage with residents whose lack of resources and financial know-how prevent them from maintaining stable accounts.

Locally, this issue is especially pronounced.

According to Family Assets Count, 16 percent of Chicagoans are unbanked and 25 percent are underbanked, meaning many have neither a checking nor savings account. Compared to their peers in more stable financial situations, individuals in these households are less able to build wealth through investments, prepare for emergencies and pass on good financial habits to their children.

While these problems are deeply entrenched in many communities, a new initiative developed by Emerging Markets Development Corporation and recently spearheaded in Englewood, Logan Square and Pilsen provides reason for hope.

Known as Meeting Halfway, the program emphasizes the establishment of strategic partnerships between community organizations and local banks as a means of building trust and providing tangible benefits to both sides of the arrangement.

“Banks don’t always do a great job of reaching out to people in low-income communities, and community organizations don’t always do a great job of connecting residents with financial institutions that stand to benefit them,” said Caroline Rendon, Assistant Program Officer for Financial Opportunities at LISC Chicago. “If we can help show banks there’s a good business case for working in these neighborhoods while also showing people that their financial wellbeing is better served by mainstream banks than marginal financial institutions, entire neighborhoods will be better off.”

Partnership development

For community organizations, the Meeting Halfway program generates new ideas and initiatives to address the economic marginalization that undergirds many neighborhood problems. For banks, the initiative offers new insight into the financial needs of underserved families and a chance to tailor their products according to these findings.

In strategizing how to enlist community groups with the capacity to develop these partnerships, Emerging Markets Development Corporation turned to LISC Chicago and its network of Financial Opportunity Centers. Located in 12 neighborhoods throughout the city, these centers offer bundled financial, employment and income supports services to low- and moderate-income individuals and families.

“Our Financial Opportunity Centers are really well positioned to convene local partners because they have experience coaching low- and moderate-income clients on how to manage their money and build wealth,” Rendon said. “In many cases, their staff already have connections with local banks and are able to make those connections directly.”

Ultimately, three Centers were selected through an application process to take part: Metropolitan Family Services’ Financial Opportunity Center at Kennedy-King College in Englewood, the Center for Changing Lives in Logan Square and Instituto del Progreso Latino (IDPL) in Pilsen. These institutions were responsible for reaching out to local banks and engaging them in their respective planning processes.

Kimberly Jones, branch manager and assistant vice president of U.S. Bank, came on board early to help Englewood organizers plan a successful process. Having made her career in community banking, she said she was drawn to the project by a desire to help young people understand the role financial institutions play in ensuring a neighborhood’s wellbeing.

“I think we all bought into the idea that we’re here to help, and for me, if that means opening up the bank for a meeting at the end of the business day or opening up our community room on the weekend, I’m happy to do it,” she said. “We all kind of realized it was time to roll up our sleeves and dig in.”

She also welcomed the participation of other local banks, saying Chicago is a large enough market to sustain a wide range of financial institutions.

“I’m excited about the potential to revitalize the community and connect with young people through Metropolitan Family Services,” she said. “Bank involvement is critical to a process like this because we can help people secure the resources they need to really get to that next level in life.”

For their part, Englewood representatives focused on increasing financial literacy for residents between the ages of 18 and 25. Their FOC staff brought years of experience working with Englewood’s young adults and an intimate knowledge of the importance of removing barriers to financial stability.

Similarly, Pilsen representatives are working with small business owners to increase their financial knowledge. Many small businesses in Pilsen are run by individuals using their own capital. IDPL saw a need to provide these business owners with contextualized financial education and capacity, and are better able to do so thanks to the partnerships built with banks and credit unions through Meeting Halfway.

And in Logan Square, organizers focused their energy on increasing their capacity to provide financial education to families with preschool-aged children and early childhood educators. In doing so, they hope to empower low-income families to remain rooted in the neighborhood in spite of ongoing demographic and economic shifts. Starting with this group of preschool parents and educators, the organizers also created a financial advisory council that will work with a neighborhood bank in the coming months to develop family-centered financial products.

“I was surprised at how many young people didn’t have checking accounts, and how they didn’t know how it was so important to have a safe place to hold their money,” said Shunnetta Brown, AmeriCorps Digital Literacy Instructor and a Meeting Halfway attendee. “Young people can be held accountable to be more responsible for the money they make. It will help them in the long run when they get older.”

Looking ahead

In each neighborhood, organizers created space for the development of strategies through a series of planning sessions. These gatherings were facilitated by Skill Scout — a Chicago-based company focused on workforce development and removing barriers to employment. In addition to the Financial Opportunity Centers and banks, these meetings were attended by neighborhoods residents and representatives of various public and private institutions.

In an early session in Englewood, Christine Brown of Metropolitan Family Services said she hoped to rebuild trust between community members and banks in the wake of the 2008 recession and the subsequent housing crisis that devastated her neighborhood.

“In the past 10 years, people have lost trust in banks due to foreclosures, the stock market and a number of other factors,” she said. “We want young people to take control of their finances right out the gate so worrying about money doesn’t control their lives.”

Planning processes in Pilsen and Logan Square dealt with similar themes of distrust between the two sides. By bringing people together in a collaborative space, organizers established relationships between residents, community organizations and banks that will serve as the foundation for future partnerships.

The planning sessions now behind them, the groups are hard at work putting their newly articulated visions into action. Projects currently in development include the establishment of financial workshops aimed at youth and co-facilitated by Metropolitan Family Services’ financial coach and bank staff from Marquette Bank, U.S. Bank and Guaranty Bank in Englewood; the organization of financial training and an advisory group for early childhood educators in Logan Square and the development of financial education designed specifically for small business owners in Pilsen.

Moving forward, the groups will continue cultivating relationships, conceptualizing programs and developing educational materials to further bridge the gap between residents and responsible banking institutions.

“This process really got people thinking about how to build these relationships in a new way,” Rendon said. “They helped each other realize that with the right resources and energy, they can really transform their neighborhoods.”

For more information, contact Caroline Rendon, Assistant Program Officer for Financial Opportunities, at 312-422-9560 or CTRendon@lisc.org.

This IS Englewood

Fri, 07 Oct 2016 12:00:00 -0600

The new Englewood Square shopping center at 63rd and Halsted

Gordon Walek

There are lots of ways to identify positive neighborhood change – increased population, income levels, school test scores, housing prices, new businesses, lower crime rates, etc. But sometimes the early signals are more subtle and less empirical – such as how long it takes to cross a street.

Consider Ivan Ramos’ walk the other day from his Financial Opportunity Center office on the southeast corner of 63^rd and Halsted to the northwest corner of the intersection, where Whole Foods was preparing to open a grocery store. En route he stopped and talked to people he knew – former and current clients, co-workers, maintenance people and others. While on the south side of 63^rd Street he visited the Teamwork Englewood office to greet his friends Perry Gunn and Rashanah Baldwin.

Ivan Ramos and Lavetta Van Buren outside the Kennedy-King Financial Opportunity center at 63rd and Halsted...

Gordon Walek

A few years ago, that walk wouldn’t have taken nearly so long. Or happened at all. For one, there was nothing on the northwest corner. It was a vacant space – a ghostly reminder that the once-thriving 63^rd Street commercial corridor faded long ago. For another, despite the presence of the Kennedy-King College campus, the intersection wasn’t pedestrian-heavy, lessening the chance for random encounters with neighbors and associates. Finally, the relationships among Englewood community organizations weren’t at the level where people were routinely dropping in on one another.

Whole Foods rules

It’s a stretch to attribute Englewood’s newfound cosmopolitanism to the arrival of a Whole Foods grocery store, but people attending the grand opening at the new Englewood Square shopping center on September 28 didn’t count it out.

“It’s a tale of two cities,” said Ramos, who for the last five years has been helping residents find jobs, learn employment skills and improve their credit scores at the Kennedy-King Financial Opportunity Center (one of 12 FOCs throughout Chicago supported by LISC). “The conventional notion of Englewood is a place of crime and violence. But what you see here is a community – in every sense of the word.”

And the arrival of new businesses at 63^rd and Halsted, he says, is a big part of that. In addition to Whole Foods, the center includes a Starbucks, a Chipotle restaurant, a clothing store, a nail salon and a health center.

Perry Gunn, executive director of Teamwork Englewood, is counting on the the new Englewood Square shopping center to spur further development in the neighborhood.

Gordon Walek

More than just a shopping center

“This is more than a shopping center,” said Perry Gunn, executive director of Teamwork Englewood, a LISC lead agency that for years has been working to make the neighborhood stronger. “It’s a place that will make people think differently about this community. They’ll feel the vibe. It’ll make businesses want to invest here.”

The new Whole Foods is just the beginning. LISC Chicago and its community partners, such as Teamwork Englewood, the Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation, the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), and other local community organizations, have been laying the groundwork – through organizing, and quality-of-life planning for more targeted investments. Not that Englewood Square is the first new Englewood investment in a while. An Aldi grocery store is a couple of blocks east on 63^rd Street, where other businesses serve the Kennedy-King College population.

“But 63^rd and Halsted is such a touchpoint for many of us,” said Asiaha Butler, the president of RAGE, who grew up in the neighborhood and for the last several years has organized residents to promote the area. “We’ve all had our experiences here – my mother met my father at 63^rd and Halsted – and that helped unify people around this project. It’s symbolic.”

Whether Englewood Square is the first step in restoring 63^rd Street’s 1950s retail status as second only to the Loop’s State Street in gross sales is anyone’s guess. And it’s irrelevant to generations of young people, such as Lavetta Van Buren, 24, for whom those years are ancient history.

“But 63^rd and Halsted is such a touchpoint for many of us,” said Asiaha Butler, center, the president of RAGE, who grew up in the neighborhood and for the last several years has organized residents to promote the area.

Gordon Walek

Hiring locally

Van Buren, with a vibrant personality and healthy ambition, is one of roughly 100 people, about 45 from Englewood, that Whole Foods hired to work in the store. Her 20-hour-per-week schedule will allow her to study health sciences at Chicago State University. She was referred to Whole Foods through the Kennedy-King Financial Opportunity Center, operated by Metropolitan Family Services, which worked closely with the grocer to identify qualified applicants and provide special training through a “customer service boot camp” this summer for people who needed it.

“Very early Whole Foods began having community meetings with Englewood residents about the store,” said Ramos, who saw the store as a potential employer for his clients. He suggested to Teamwork Englewood and the Greater Englewood CDC that they offer a customer service preparation class to applicants and partner with Whole Foods to help design the curriculum.

Last summer, 45 Englewood residents attended the two-day “boot camp” in which they learned about customer service, conflict resolution and other qualities that Whole Foods values in its employees. A number of them were subsequently hired, as were Kennedy-King FOC clients, such as Van Buren, who Ramos said already had sufficient retail sales experience and didn’t require additional training.

Lavetta Van Buren's part-time job at Whole Foods will allow her to pursue nursing studies at Chicago State University.

Gordon Walek

Van Buren learned of the FOC from her year-old son's father, who was a client there, while she was studying for her certificate in medical assistance. She made frequent use of the center’s computer lab and its digital skills training program. “The doors were always open here,” she said. “I was here every day, applying for jobs, working on my resume, printing stuff. How can that not be helpful?”

“Lavetta was one of about 20 percent of people who come through our doors who you know is ready,” said Ramos. “She was a go-getter. We knew she was polished. Each of our departments worked with her and said the same thing about her. ‘We’ll support her.’”

Neighborhood vendors

In addition to hiring people from the neighborhood to work in the store, Whole Foods is fueling the flames of local entrepreneurs by arranging for about 35 vendors to sell their products in the store, including Jimmy Prude, whose Jimmy’s Vegan Cookies were already on the shelves in several other Whole Foods Chicago stores.

Prude, formerly a community organizer with the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (he sold his first batch of cookies at GADCs 79^th Street festival in 2011), is obviously pleased with a new outlet for his product. He’s also optimistic about the impact of new businesses at an historic intersection.

Tina James snaps a photo of Jimmy Prude during opening festivities for the Whole Foods store on September 28.

Gordon Walek

“There’s a renewed sense of community well-being here,” he said. “It feels good to shop local, which people in Englewood, West Englewood and Auburn Gresham will now be able to do. This should allow Englewood to be positioned for future development.”

Prude welcomes the opportunity to sell more cookies, promote veganism, and good health in general, to a wider audience. Through his website, he’s profiling local residents engaged in health-related efforts.

Sewing seeds for change

David Doig, whose Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives did the early development work on Englewood Square (thanks in part to a $400,000 pre-development loan from LISC Chicago), agrees that the grand opening is emblematic of more than just new shopping opportunities. The process of getting the shopping center, he says, has been a confidence-builder for residents and community organizations. Doig’s no stranger to these matters. He began his community development work with the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation in North Lawndale before becoming a city planner and superintendent of the Chicago Park District. His subsequent real estate development work has included the revitalization of the Pullman neighborhood on the far South Side.

“People in disadvantaged neighborhoods are used to being lied to,” he said, which breeds cynicism and suspicion. “But community groups here saw an opportunity and worked for more than three years to get it. It was a unifying effort.”

LISC Chicago plans to take advantage of the momentum with an announcement coming later this month, which will target economic development investment on 63^rd Street from Cottage Grove Avenue to Pulaski.

“The Englewood community has been working on this revitalization process for the last 10 years, but it’s not the only one,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “Teamwork Englewood has been partnering with neighbors in Auburn Gresham and Chicago Lawn so they can work on improving their entire quality-of-life strategy.”

Looking south on Halsted from 63rd Street back in the day when the commercial corridor was a bustling shopping district.

And in a related effort, LISC Chicago is supporting Meeting Halfway, an initiative to link local organizations with banks and other financial institutions to improve financial stability and literacy at the neighborhood level by helping people forge stronger connections with mainstream financial services.

“In the next five to 10 years, Englewood will thrive,” said Ivan Ramos. “I saw it happen in Pilsen, where I grew up. It’s now a completely different neighborhood, but it didn’t lose its soul. And Englewood won’t either.”

Business District Leadership Program Graduates New Cohort

Wed, 28 Sep 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Annie Grossinger

Whoops, hollers and the shouts of nicknames permeated the Community Room at Harold Washington College as the second class of the Business District Leadership (BDL) Program graduated.

Eighteen community leaders working at organizations supporting neighborhood-based economic development and small business development from across the city, with a variety of experience levels and backgrounds, received their certificates which cemented a year of intensive learning and collaboration. Instead of marking the end, however, it signified the beginning as each will return to their neighborhood and implement a Neighborhood Change Project developed during their participation in BDL

Five graduates were awarded micro grants, supported by Groupon Chicago, to help propel their Neighborhood Change Projects. The BDL Groupon micro grant recipients are:

Grand prize winner $5,000 – Tacarra Birmingham (West Humboldt Park Dev. Council) – for Forty Acres Market Day
$2,500 winner – Hannah Jones (ICNC) – The Hatchery Job Readiness program
$2,500 winner – Greg Carroll (Uptown United) – Taste of Uptown
$2,500 winner – Sandra Bivens (51^st Street Business Association) – Bronzeville Jazz/Musical festival
$2,500 winner – Caroline Connors (Morgan Park Beverly Hills Business Association) –G019

Tracy Lewis of the Quad Communities Development Corporation is among the 2016 BDL grads.

Annie Grossinger

“It was a competitive process,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “We looked at what would be a lasting impact on the communities overall.”

Projects were graded based, in large part, on feasibility, perceived impact on the community, clarity of budget, and amount of community support.

Birmingham’s project is a 40 Acre Market Day around harvest season, which addresses the food desert in West Humboldt Park. The goal is to help the local economy, promote spaces within the community and teach community members about food and healthy eating and cooking.

Birmingham credits her BDL class with helping refine her project: “The course material is great,” she said, “but working with others is the best part. I was able to talk to my cohort about projects they had done and learn from their experiences.”

Togetherness was a common theme that arose throughout the year and during graduation. Caroline Connors, the class valedictorian, stated that the BDL Program “has given me the invaluable opportunity to meet with extraordinary people.”

The 2015 BDL Neighborhood Change Projects

A year after graduating, the 2015 BDL alumni is evaluating the successes of their projects.

Jacqueline Samuel, Ph.D., the senior program director at Claretian Associates and a 2015 BDL graduate, created a cultural book for the commercial district in the South Chicago neighborhood that also serves as a portfolio for local artists and a historical memento for the community.

Jackie Samuel, senior program director at Claretian Associates and a 2015 BDL graduate, created a cultural book for the commercial district in the South Chicago neighborhood that also serves as a portfolio for local artists and a historical memento for the community.

Gordon Walek

“I asked myself, how can I do a change project that impacts both violence and poverty issues?” said Samuel. She noticed the growth of public arts in the community and saw this as an opportunity. So, she sourced a photographer to interview artists and worked with kids to map the cultural movement in the neighborhood. “It became a way to really integrate a positive, show growth in community and keep youth engaged in our community,” she said.

The ensuing book is now available for purchase. “It’s my talking tool,” said Samuel. I use the book whenever talking to people who have an interest in the community.”

It’s one piece of an ongoing cultural revitalization that she hopes for the neighborhood. “I really want to get people to see the cultural asset of this community,” she said. “We have so many artists with so many talents to give. How do I boost that?”

Samuel sits on the board of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce. Her experience with the BDL Program was powerful enough that she recommended it to the executive director, Dan Lira, who was among the 2016 graduates.

Jamie di Paulo, executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and a 2015 BDL grad, established a low-interest and easy-to-qualify loan program to improve facades along the 26^th Street commercial corridor.

Gordon Walek

Jamie di Paulo, executive director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, was among Samuels’ 2015 graduating class. His project was to create a low-interest and easy-to-qualify loan program to improve facades along the 26^th Street commercial corridor. After securing a partnership with The Private Bank, 20 local businesses qualified for a loan.

“Stores are looking better now and it’s taking off,” said di Paulo. “People are redoing facades without asking for money or resources.”

His goal is to expand, using new partnerships, including a rebate program, and more stores. Eventually, he would like to work with local businesses to create a standardized look and feel in order to preserve the integrity of the corridor. “It’s about the community,” he said.

“The best thing about LISC Chicago’s BDL program is the network you create,” he said. “I might be the expert on facades but someone else might be the expert on restaurants or loans.”

Post BDL Graduation

As the number of neighborhood organizations with expertise in economic development increases, LISC Chicago is looking to the future. According to Harte, “It’s not over after graduation. A big part of the work is to continue to collaborate and create opportunities where people can continue peer-to-peer learning.”

Reclaiming Southwest Chicago

Wed, 07 Sep 2016 12:00:00 -0600

As Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan walked toward the intersection of West 62^nd Street and South Washtenaw Avenue, Ticina Edwards rushed out her front door and extended her hand.

“I love my home,” she told Madigan.

It was a satisfying moment for the attorney general.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan talks to Chicago Lawn residents on a recent walking tour to assess how far the neighborhood has come since being ravaged by foreclosures during the economic downturn.

Paolo Cisneros

Madigan had walked this same block alongside scores of Chicago Lawn residents midway through 2012. At that time, the building that would become Edward’s home was boarded up and surrounded by overgrown weeds and piles of trash. Houses up and down the street were equally neglected; the victims of a foreclosure crisis that gutted this Southwest Side community.

On this day, however, the run-down buildings and eerily vacant streets felt like a distant memory to the more than 300 neighbors who joined Madigan on her walk.

They had come together to celebrate the completion of the first phase of Reclaiming Southwest Chicago; a strategic effort seeded by LISC to rebuild a stable and vibrant community in the wake of one of the most difficult periods in Chicago Lawn’s history.

The locally-driven effort has so far surpassed expectations.

“It’s a 180 degree difference,” Madigan said as neighbors described the various property acquisition and rehabilitation projects that have so far been completed. “You can tell there’s hope and vitality in this community whereas four years ago there was hope but not much vitality.”

Reclaiming Southwest Chicago is a collaborative effort headed up by the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), Brinshore Development and United Power for Action and Justice. It began with $700,000 in support from LISC’s Testing The Model (TTM) initiative which was funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Those funds, spent on planning, staffing, data collection and technical support provided Reclaiming Southwest Chicago with the infrastructure required to leverage additional resources.

“Our support of Reclaiming Southwest Chicago is a great example of how strong neighborhood organizations can take on new areas of work with LISC’s support of planning, staffing, technical expertise and data infrastructure,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “Reclaiming Southwest Chicago has changed the trajectory of the housing market in Chicago Lawn. It’s a powerful statement for what can be achieved in Chicago neighborhoods.”

As an indicator of how the foreclosure crises affected Chicago Lawn, each red dot on this map, prepared in 2008 by the Southwest Organizing Project, represented a foreclosed or vacant property.

In the four years since its launch, Brinshore and SWOP have rehabilitated 50 housing units in the phase one target area between 51^st Street, California Avenue, 63^rd Street and Rockwell Avenue. Another 50 were restored by local contractors as a response to new signs of neighborhood vitality sparked by the campaign.

All told, the number of vacant structures in the target area has shrunk from 93 to 21. Organizers say that number will reach zero by the end of 2017.

This upgrade in the built environment has been accompanied by improvements in quality of life determinants. Property values and school performance metrics are up while violent crime is down.

With the support of several organizations — including the Attorney General’s office — Reclaiming Southwest Chicago has succeeded in empowering residents to make these and other strides toward the holistic revitalization of their community.

A Neighborhood in Crisis

The streets of Chicago Lawn are lined with handsome bungalows, elegant courtyard buildings and sturdy oak trees on neatly manicured parkways.

In recent decades, the working class neighborhood came to be known as a place where families of all backgrounds could establish solid economic footing and begin the process of building better lives. But the economic crisis of 2008 and the wave of foreclosures that followed threatened to undermine Chicago Lawn on physical, social and economic levels.

Between 2005 and 2011, more than 30 percent of local housing units saw at least one foreclosure filing, according to the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. Additionally, one in six housing units was vacant for more than two years.

As the neighborhood emptied out and lending activity decreased, those who remained were left to deal with struggling schools, increasingly dangerous streets and a sputtering local economy.

Vacant properties on selected Chicago Lawn blocks in 2012.

For many neighborhoods, the cumulative effect of these circumstances would have been a death knell. But luckily for Chicago Lawn, SWOP had spent more than two decades cultivating deep relationships between religious congregations, schools and other local institutions.

In this time of crisis, these networks were uniquely suited to begin the process of rebuilding and reclaiming the neighborhood.

Reclaiming Southwest Chicago

The Reclaiming Southwest Chicago campaign is a coordinated effort by SWOP and its partners to repair both the physical and social damage caused by the foreclosure crisis.

With more than 30 member institutions representing more than 30,000 people, SWOP is highly skilled at developing and executing strategic campaigns aimed at building local power. But they also needed expertise in the complex art of housing development in order to truly reverse the neighborhood’s trajectory.

That’s where Brinshore Development came in.

Brinshore is a private development company with a proven track record of revitalizing neighborhoods using a variety of funding tools. Having articulated a desire to help revitalize Chicago Lawn, the company teamed up with SWOP to create a joint-venture development entity that is carrying out the initial phase of redevelopment.

As the agencies were fine-tuning the details of their arrangement, Attorney General Madigan and several other state attorneys general successfully secured a settlement from the banks responsible for the foreclosure crisis.

Vacant properties on the same Chicago Lawn blocks following the efforts of Reclaiming Southwest Chicago.

All graphics courtesy of the Southwest Organizing Project

Madigan chose to invest $3 million of Illinois’ portion in Reclaiming Southwest Chicago. Her contribution provided the campaign with much needed early momentum and the ability to begin aggressively acquiring and rehabbing properties.

Having cultivated a long and productive relationship with SWOP, LISC Chicago also contributed funds and expertise. Additionally, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago worked to identify potential renters and buyers for the newly rehabbed properties.

The brick-and-mortar improvements to the neighborhood have coincided with community initiatives headed up by SWOP and United Power for Action and Justice — an organizing cohort that draws members from across the Chicago region.

Among others, these include efforts to prepare local leaders to become buyers and renters; organizing contractors to acquire and rehab other vacant properties; supporting programs to improve local schools and expanding access to health care.

The result has been a campaign that addresses Chicago Lawn’s challenges on multiple levels. Given the complexity of neighborhoods and the institutions that undergird them, this comprehensiveness was essential.

After all, simply rehabbing houses and putting them on the market wouldn’t have been enough to ensure Chicago Lawn fully bounced back from the devastation wrought by the foreclosure crisis. Residents needed faith in the future of their community to fully commit to the neighborhood and begin rebuilding its social fabric. Thanks to its comprehensive approach, Reclaiming Southwest Chicago provided a reason for that faith.

As its first phase wraps up, campaign organizers have their eye on extending the initiative outward into the rest of Chicago Lawn. As they do so, they intend to fight not only for the continued revitalization of their neighborhood but also the adoption of a new paradigm of city planning.

A vacant Chicago Lawn house in July 2008.

Alex Fledderjohn

Specifically, they aim to prove that when the wellbeing of neighborhoods is considered as important as wellbeing of the Loop and the city’s most exclusive lakefront communities, Chicago will be stronger for it.

“Our success as a city depends on creating neighborhoods where families of all races, faiths and income levels can find affordable housing, safe streets and good schools,” Nick Brunick of United Power for Action and Justice told the crowd after they had recently returned from their walk with Madigan.

According to many in the audience, they’re well on their way to making that idea a natural starting point for conversations about the future of Chicago.

“You have other communities that want politicians to take the lead on everything, but in this case, SWOP took it upon themselves,” said State Sen. Mattie Hunter. “They have the formula, and I hope other communities can learn from them.”

Halfway Point for Englewood Quality-of-Life Planning - Ready to Act

Mon, 22 Aug 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Community members and members of the Englewood QLP task forces vote on strategic next steps.

Annie Grossinger

Dozens of people gathered in the community room at St. Bernard Hospital in late July to discuss the Englewood Quality-of-Life Plan – so many that there weren’t enough chairs.

“There are so many people here,” said Perry Gunn, Teamwork Englewood’s executive director who kicked off the meeting. “This is a good thing.”

The attendees, who stood, sat, and perched against walls, were enthusiastic and energetic. Some were members of the neighborhood organization, Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), some were part of Teamwork Englewood and some were committed community advocates. All were ready for action.

The meeting marked the halfway point of the second round of Englewood’s Quality-of-Life planning. Englewood completed its first Quality-of-Life Plan in 2005 as a part of LISC’s New Communities Program and has spent the last 11 years implementing the strategies set in that plan. Much has changed in Englewood over the last decade and the time was right to plan again in 2016.

“We don’t want to just plan, we want to do,” said Gunn. “There are more community residents at the table, in leadership roles. The city and community are all interested in Englewood.”

The current plan is being guided by five task forces focusing on the following areas:

Health and Wellness
Housing
Jobs and Economic Development
Public Safety and Security
Youth and Education

Rosalind Moore of Teamwork Englewood announces the launch of the Englewood Quality-of-Life Business Plan Competition.

Annie Grossinger

At the midway celebration, Rosalind Moore of Teamwork Englewood took the opportunity to make an announcement: In the spirit of “doing while planning”, the Jobs and Economic Development task force is launching an early action project. The task force was charged with identifying and envisioning economic development opportunities such as businesses that could help create a viable and sustainable local economy in the heart of Englewood.

The task force members developed “The Englewood Quality-of-Life Business Plan Competition” and will award local business owners and entrepreneurs who create new or expand small business enterprises and create opportunities for employment within the bounds of the Greater Englewood community area. Each plan is eligible to win up to $40,000 in seed funding. Funding from the competition is coming from Whole Foods, which is opening a new store soon at 63^rd Street and Halsted.

The competition is a step forward to introducing new businesses to the once-thriving area.

“One of our strategies was to revitalize the business corridor,” said Moore. “We used to be the second largest shopping district in the City of Chicago. Why can’t we be that again?” Her words were met with thunderous applause.

Another early action project currently underway is the African Drumming Circles – Cultural Lessons in Community Peace, which is part of the Public Safety and Security task force. The drum circles are scheduled throughout the community in public areas. Residents are invited to participate in free lessons and open discussions about culture, community, pride, preservation and activism.

An early action project coming out of Englewood's Quality-of-LIfe planning is the African Drumming Circles – Cultural Lessons in Community Peace, which is part of the Public Safety and Security task force. The drum circles are scheduled throughout the community in public areas.

Annie Grossinger

“We’re exploring, what people want in terms of a healthy community in the face of a lot of the violence,” said MJ Johnson, a consultant for Teamwork Englewood and member of the Public Safety and Security task force. His task force is one that cannot operate in a silo as it affects, and is affected by, the rest. And measuring success can be tricky. “It’s ambiguous, it’s huge, it’s complex and the only thing to do is to chip away at it slowly. It’s not a simple answer.”

The second phase of Quality-of-Life Planning is focused on the delicate balance of planning and action. According to Johnson, there is a need to be flexible, but not at the cost of losing momentum.

Gunn echoes this sentiment. “When people can see ideas that they had sitting around a table actually happen, it gives them an emotional lift, and it sparks more community engagement in the process,” he said. “The key for Englewood is for people to see some activity happening.”

The community advocates in the room are examples of this excitement.

Task force members celebrate the midway point of the Quality-of-Life Planning.

Annie Grossinger

“Everywhere this group goes, I’ll be there,” said Cora Butler, a member of the Youth and Education task force.

For Gunn, the next six months will be focused on building resources and capacity while ensuring there is community consensus around common goals.

“I can’t believe how many people are looking towards the next task force meeting,” Gunn said. “People are excited to have a process where they can contribute their ideas and be heard. They see hope and they want to see this hope turn into action.”

The midway point is only the beginning.

Ten Years of Hoops in the Hood: An Oral History

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Eric Young Smith

This year marks the 10th anniversary of LISC Chicago’s Hoops in the Hood program, a network of community-run basketball games in 14 neighborhoods across the city. Designed to literally take back the streets from gangs and violence, the program sets up in public safety “hot spots” in parks and on blocks that most residents avoid on an average summer night.

Teams of neighborhood youth compete weekly June through August, capped by a cross-city championship with more than 400 participants. The program has grown to be about much more than summer basketball. The community-based lead agencies and their local partners have added soccer, face painting, barbeque, health screenings, live music, arts-and-crafts – whatever mix of activities will be the most fun for the most people.

Local control is a key part of the program. Communities pick their own name for the program, and they choose the activities. In some neighborhoods the location is always the same, while others move each week to a new block.

Over the years, more than 16,000 kids have participated in Hoops programs, learning leadership skills, social responsibility and teamwork, and thousands of other residents have coached, watched their kid play, danced, laughed or simply spent a night out with their neighbors. After a decade of Hoops in the Hood, some of the program’s architects and participants talked with us about how the program came together and what it has meant to their community.

For the last decade, young people from the Near North Side to Englewood have been facing off in street basketball games through Hoops in the Hood, a LISC Chicago-supported program that stresses physical exercise, leadership skills and community participation. The contest pictured here, in Englewood, is typical of the program's philosophy of transforming high crime intersections into playing fields.

Juan Francisco Hernandez

Meghan Harte, executive director of LISC Chicago

LISC Chicago saw a program that was working for one of our community partners in Pilsen and scaled it to the citywide level, meanwhile ensuring it was community-run and flexible to each neighborhood’s needs. That's a big part of why it's been so successful.

Julio Guerrero, vice president of institutional advancement at The Resurrection Project in Pilsen

The Resurrection Basketball League started in 1999 from community organizing efforts – the idea came from leaders in the community to work with local police. A lot of people stay inside on Friday nights when things heat up. There was an intentional focus to go directly to where there are issues and create safe spaces in the community for kids to do something productive and take stand against the violence taking place.

At first it was a little bit ragtag. We had volunteers pulling up in trucks to set up. People donated hoops; they donated barbeque grills. We didn’t call it placemaking, but that’s what it was. You’re replacing something bad with something good.

Keri Blackwell, former deputy director of LISC Chicago, now assistant director for community affairs at Chicago Cubs Charities

A staffer from TRP moved to Little Village and approached us to fund a similar program, B-Ball on the Block. That was 2006.

When LISC sees a great idea underway in a neighborhood, there’s an interest in sharing the news. The first thing we did was provide a workshop for anyone who wanted to come and learn about it. The neighborhoods with a Quality-of-Life Plan that included a specific interest in programs for youth were especially interested. By 2008, the Hoops in the Hood program was in 10 Chicago neighborhoods.

Meghan Harte

With generous support from State Farm, we have enthusiastically supported Hoops in the Hood financially and logistically for the last 10 years.

Over the years, the weekly Hoops games have transcended basketball and morphed into full-blown street festivals, attracting a variety of neighborhood residents, vendors and service providers. The masked residents here are at a game in Little Village.

Eric Young Smith

Lisa L. Cooper, community relations specialist for State Farm

State Farm is committed to supporting innovative efforts that help make communities safe and stronger. Hoops in the Hood is an asset to neighborhoods across Chicago, and we have been proud to partner with LISC Chicago and its community-based partners on this shared mission.

Rob Castaneda, co-founder and executive director of Beyond the Ball, a community sports nonprofit based in Little Village, and tournament director for the Hoops in the Hood citywide tournament

Beyond the Ball started in 2000. We had been playing basketball within a controlled environment, a school gym or church gym. There was a fear of being outside in the neighborhood. But in 2006, we lost access to the gym we had been playing in. That was the first year of B-Ball on the Block in Little Village. It was being run by Enlace.

Originally, I was skeptical. Then when I was out at an event, I saw how vibrant a place can be where people were normally scared. Now they’re out there, happy and excited. A lot of what Beyond the Ball became was inspired by Hoops in the Hood. It changed my perception of what community sports can be.

Rudy Esteban, resident of Little Village, played in B-Ball on the Block from 2006 – 2009

I was 15 to 18 when I played. My friends from high school got together and we formed a team. I was on the same team with the same players every year. It was something we really looked forward to every week. When I got there, it was great people in the community, and I wanted to help out with the kids. There’s always art and a bunch of activities to do. With Rob, I saw what a good job he was doing for the community. I envisioned that I could do something positive like that for kids and teenagers. Now I’m a Park District instructor. I run programs for little kids to adults. We teach different skills for basketball and other sports too.

Genesis Robinson, high school senior at Westinghouse College Prep, participant from 2010 – 2012 in East Garfield Park’s Homecourt program, run by Breakthrough Urban Ministries

We had an entrepreneurship program [for middle school students] in Breakthrough selling candy, chips, Gatorade, cold water. We had an adult over us, but we started from the ground up and expanded it. If I had to go out of town on a weekend I would say ‘Mom, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to miss Homecourt.’

I am too old to sell concessions now, but I still go to the games every week in the summer because it’s fun. Regularly when it’s hot out people get mad, but at Homecourt games there’s no fighting. It’s a happy time. You can tell people’s attitudes are way more positive.

In addition to engaging young people during the summer months, Hoops is a structure for local residents to take back their streets from criminal elements. Research has shown that crime goes down on blocks that have been closed off for Hoops games.

Alex Fledderjohn

Bill Curry, chief program officer of the Breakthrough Youth Network at Breakthrough Urban Ministries

We use sports as community building, not just teen building. Initially it felt like an outdoor basketball league, but now it’s also a community party. People are getting their face painted, grilling out, dancing with hula hoops.

When I pull back and look at it, what I see is tradition. Every neighborhood has traditions – some celebrated and some disastrous. For a 14- or 15-year-old kid in our neighborhood, it helps us create a new normal experience in East Garfield Park. Kids can come to have pretty high expectations of what they want in life if they have opportunities to see what a normal life can be.

Walter Burnett, Jr., alderman of Chicago’s 27th ward, where Chicago Men in Action runs Hoops in the Hood

The Near North neighborhood is a changing community, with a lot of new residents. The Hoops in the Hood program is one of the initiatives my office supports because it provides a space for everyone to come out, to compete or watch the games or get something to eat. We need events like that – where people can see their neighbors and be part of the community. It’s really important that we offer positive options for teenagers and youth and a place they can get together that’s fun and safe.

Rob Castaneda

Since the inception, we’ve had the [Chicago Police Department] 10th District involved. For the first seven or eight years, it might have been a squad car stop by, and for the last few years, the bike patrol is involved. The kids see them walking around, and they see the police in their neighborhood in another light. The police officers will shoot around on the basketball court between games and play soccer, too. These are the interactions with the police I value more than a photo op.

Eric Washington, the Chicago Police Department’s deputy chief of community policing, former commander of the 11th District, which includes East Garfield Park

I see the value in Hoops in the Hood and the officers participating or coming by the event see the value in it. It’s an opportunity to see people at a different level and an opportunity for the residents to see the police differently, as well. I heard in the 12th District they have some officers play in some of the games. That’s a good situation, too. That’s how you bridge any divide that’s there – you get to know each other.

Jackie Samuel, senior program director at Claretian Associates, which runs Hoops in the Hood Classic in South Chicago

Each year we go twice to Germano Millgate, [a public housing project in the community]. It’s so isolated, and the kids there really can’t go to the parks in the area. These kids, there’s a good 500 to 600 of them in the complex, they have no place to play, so this is what they look forward to every year. Leading up to this year it was a really stressful because there’s a gang war going on right now. It’s rumored that until one gang member is dealt with, it won’t be safe for anybody.

We had a meeting beforehand with other organizations and residents and the [Chicago Police Department] district commander about the safety issues. The fourth district, they were very present and in the end, it turned out to be the most wonderful event. The parking lot and the street were just filled. People just came over and thanked us for giving them a chance to come out and play.

Hoops culminates each summer with the cross-city championship in Seward Park, where about 400 players who've participated in games throughout the 14 participating neighborhoods square off to see who has the best stuff.

Gordon Walek

Bill Curry

We stay at the same spot, a playground and park at St. Louis and Carroll that had been not very accessible to families because of the high rates of violence for several decades. We wanted to see if we could rebrand it. I think it’s worked in a lot of ways. LISC did a report that looked at violent crime rates within a one block radius of the park on the actual days of the event but also all through the warm months. And they found a 52 percent reduction in crime in that radius. That’s 28 or 29 families every year that don’t have a violent crime attached to them.

Julio Guerrero

The first thing in community organizing is building relationships. You bring people together and then you all figure out the actions. Folks see the kids annually when they stay in the program year to year, so they become connected to a network. It’s a place for people to begin their journey of interest and engagement of what’s happening in the neighborhood.

Fred McGee, father and grandfather living in East Garfield Park who volunteers to coach, cook and clean up at Homecourt games

It’s for everyone – young and old. I’m retired so it gave me something to do and a chance to give back a little. I have a grandson also. He’s not only a player but helps me with the set up and breakdown as well. There are a lot of volunteers from different churches, too. When you see the interest from other people looking out for you – it makes a tremendous difference as far as the impact in the community. You see a little more structure and involvement with the kids, and brings the community a little closer.

Keri Blackwell

The model is an easy, low-touch way to organize residents and stakeholders, a great way to get people to come to the table. And it provides a nice platform to build capacity within the neighborhood – for the volunteers, churches, block club leaders there’s the organizing aspect to running an event. Those are skills that translate to other issues and efforts in the community.

For LISC, Hoops has helped explore what sports with community development can look like. It’s opened up and built partnerships with the NFL, the Cubs, the Bulls, and it provided the experience to implement other programs. When the City of Chicago put out a request for proposal for its PlayStreets program, we mobilized our partners on the South Side immediately.

More than 16,000 kids have participated in Hoops programs, learning leadership skills, social responsibility and teamwork, and thousands of other residents have coached, watched their kid play, or simply spent a night out with their neighbors.

Juan Francisco Hernandez

Rob Castaneda

With the Hoops in the Hood network we’ve built a real community of practice: A network with ten years of practical experience and dedicated organizations at the neighborhood level. Chicago by its very nature is a city of neighborhoods and it’s hard to go in with just one plan and have it work out in every neighborhood. We’ve had conversations among the neighborhoods about keeping it going. We’re prepared and ready to move on and continue to grow this work.

Bill Curry

One thing I love about the Hoops in the Hood network is the friendships I’ve built across neighborhoods with other leaders. Sometimes I’d be a trainer [at the LISC workshops to start each summer] and present how we do things, and sometimes I’d be the one learning and growing. We’re all working and seeing what works. It’s never done.

Keri Blackwell

This is a community-owned experience. It’s highly labor intensive but, people do it because they believe in their youth and they believe in the neighborhood. It’s magical to see people feeling comfortable and happy and safe and joyful out in their community. I’m super excited to see how it’s going to go over the next 10 years.

Meghan Harte

We are proud of the impact Hoops in the Hood has made over the last decade. The program’s capacity has grown immensely, and we’re excited to see the program take a life of its own as our support comes to an end. On our end, LISC Chicago is going to continue to innovate new programs and help bring them to scale.

The following neighborhoods/community partners are participating in Hoops: Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council (Back of the Yards); Beyond the Ball (Little Village); Breakthrough Urban Ministries (East Garfield Park); Build, Inc. (Austin and Humboldt Park); Chicago Men in Action (Near North); Claretian Associates (South Chicago); Near West Side CDC (West Haven); Northwest Side Housing Center (Belmont-Cragin); Saint Anthony Hospital Foundation (North Lawndale); Southwest Organizing Project (Chicago Lawn); Teamwork Englewood (Englewood); The Community Builders (Quad Communities); and, The Resurrection Project (Pilsen).

Here's when and where Hoops games are happening this summer.

The 2016 Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Tournament and Celebration will take place on August 20, 2016 at Seward Park in the Near North community.

Additional reporting by Rachel Lieberman.

Financial Opportunity Centers: Connecting People to the Local Economy

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Photos by Gordon Walek

For the last decade, LISC’s network of Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) have helped residents of underserved neighborhoods establish good credit, find jobs, increase their incomes and learn digital skills.

Recently, LISC researchers analyzed the experience of 40,000 people who visited the 80 FOCs across the country and noted that 76 percent of them increased their net income, more than half increased their net worth and 60 percent either increased their credit score or acquired a credit score. Fifty-eight percent of those who started with zero or negative net income moved to positive net income.

Those findings, and others, were discussed in late June in Chicago, where 250 LISC employees, FOC staff, and partners from across the country gathered to share best practices and enhance the services they offer, fund, and otherwise support.

Seung Kim, LISC senior program director, Family Income & Wealth Building, leads one of the many panel discussions and workshops featured in a national Financial Opportunities Center conference in Chicago earlier this summer.

“Financial Opportunity Centers are embedded in local community organizations that are trusted, known for their history of providing quality services, and convenient to where people live and seek out services,” said Seung Kim, LISC senior program director, Family Income & Wealth Building. “The Centers use a coaching approach to engage people over the long term and make decisions to achieve their goals and visions. ”

Bridges to Career Opportunities

A major focus of the Chicago conference was the Bridges to Career Opportunities initiatives that are designed to target basic skills gaps, connect clients to “middle skills” and living wage jobs with an opportunity for upward mobility, starting them on a career path instead of just a job.

At Bridges to Career Opportunities sites (they aren’t currently available at all FOCs), client’s ramp up foundational literacy and math skills, get technical training, pursue certifications for a particular industry, and receive financial coaching to set long-term goals and help manage expenses during training. Studies have shown that this combination of professional training and financial coaching is what makes a difference. Clients using combined services are 50 percent more likely to land a well-paying job than people receiving employment services alone.

A welding instructor, left, and his student at the Jane Addams Resource Corporation, one of the Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers that specializes in a Bridges to Career Opportunities approach in which clients learn technical skills that will help them move into well-paying, dependable jobs.

The meeting included a tour of two well-established FOCs in Chicago that specialize in the Bridges to Career Opportunities approach: Insituto del Progreso Latino in Pilsen, and the Jane Addams Resource Corporation in Ravenswood. Later during the conference, attendees heard from quantitative and ethnographic FOC researchers about recent findings, and from keynote speaker Asim Mishra, chief of staff at the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal entity that helps fund much of the FOC work. Participants also engaged in panel discussions with seasoned FOC directors, and workshops on topics ranging from client retention to program sustainability.

Best practices

While each FOC and Bridges to Career initiative is as unique as each neighborhood, meeting participants sought to take advantage of LISC’s large network of sites and build off of each other’s successes.

Financial Opportunity staff from around the country visited the Jane Addams Resource Corporation training center on Chicago's North Side, as well as the offices of Instituto del Progreso Latino, in Pilsen, which also employs the Bridges to Career Opportunities initiative.

“I’m looking to learn about best practices, particularly around the use of data to evaluate and further strengthen and build the total impact of what we do,” said Alan Gentle, director of the Roxbury Center for Financial Empowerment in Boston. “I’m looking for some tips on how to really strengthen partnerships with vocational training and programs, and strategies for expanding our client base and sustainability for the program.”

Antonio Nunes, Bridge to Hospitality program manager at the Roxbury Center for Financial Empowerment added, “Our bridge program is brand new; the ultimate goal is finding something we can build off of, finding what works in different communities and bringing it to ours.”

Asim Mishra, chief of staff at the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal entity that helps fund much of the FOC work, was the keynote speaker at the Chicago conference.

The numbers are in

In 2015, the Chicago’s FOC network provided services to 9,565 people, with 6,050 of them receiving bundled services (two or more core services in the areas of employment counseling, financial coaching, and access to income supports). Seventy-seven of them increased their monthly cash flow. And, long-term job retention – holding a job for a year or more – almost doubled when financial coaching reinforced the work of employment counseling.

“We all know that healthy, sustainable communities are made up of people who have living wage jobs and feel confident about their economic futures,” said Meghan Harte, LISC Chicago’s executive director. “Unfortunately, desirable careers and financial security aren’t equally available to everyone, especially for many people in our low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. Financial Opportunity Centers help clients connect with the regional economy through jobs and wealth building. These services are especially vital to disrupting the persistent lack of opportunity available to individuals, families, and communities of color in Chicago and beyond.”

Guy Loudon, executive director of the Jane Addams Resource Center, at a panel discussion during the Chicago FOC conference.

More information about LISC’s Financial Opportunity Centers and Bridges to Career sites outcomes is available in a recent LISC study. To learn more about LISC Chicago’s Centers, view our video series, or the directory of Chicago Financial Opportunity Centers.

Photos from the Chicago FOC conference...

Leading Locally: Chicago Plans Graduates 20th Neighborhood Team

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 12:00:00 -0600

Members of the latest Chicago Plans workshop class.

In her role as an organizer of the annual Woodlawn Community Summit, Liz Gardner recently found herself grappling with a problem that has frustrated community activists for decades: How, she wondered, could her event encourage meaningful engagement between residents of different backgrounds while still managing to effectively tackle the problems they face?

After all, neighborhoods are complex places filled with competing interests, visions and values where even modest attempts at collaboration can sometimes become maddeningly difficult.

Photos by Gordon Walek

Earlier this year, this problem took on an added importance for Gardner and her colleagues. Her team is scheduled to present a long-term organizational plan at next year’s summit, and they want to be sure it captures the collective sum of Woodlawn’s residents’ ideas.

“We have a lot of people who want to see Woodlawn grow organically,” Gardner said. “Instead of doing small things, we want to come together so we can become a force to be reckoned with.”

As she began to consider how the preliminary stages of their planning process would take shape, along with two of her peers, she applied for and was accepted into LISC’s Chicago Plans program.

Managed by LISC Chicago, Chicago Plans is a four-part series of workshops focused on training small teams of community leaders to design and implement neighborhood planning processes that allow for substantive exchanges of ideas and the simultaneous development of consensus — both of which are essential for participatory planning. LISC has engaged the Institute for Cultural Affairs to facilitate the workshops.

Having recently completed Chicago Plans, along with 27 other community leaders from across the city, Gardner said the training prepared her team to draft a plan that truly captures the diversity of their neighborhood.

“After going through the training, my team and I are able to better understand why people do what they do,” she said. “Instead of dictating to our community what’s happening based on a few small conversations we have with each other, we’re better able to work collaboratively with community members.”

LISC engaged the Institute for Cultural Affairs to facilitate the Chicago Plans workshops. Here, Seva Gandhi leads a workshop in Pilsen.

Over the course’s two series, Chicago Plans has now graduated 60 total participants from 20 different communities. The program has equipped them with improved toolboxes for neighborhood planning and new connections with peers from across the city.

At its core, Chicago Plans, builds on the success of LISC’s nationally lauded New Communities Program (NCP). Launched in 2003, NCP brings together Chicagoans from all walks of life to draft and implement neighborhood Quality-of-Life plans.

By engaging residents from even more neighborhoods through Chicago Plans, LISC hopes to further empower local leaders to influence the trajectory of their communities and the city.

“The skills people learn in Chicago Plans are really powerful in terms of allowing them to tap into the human potential of the communities they’re working with,” said Burrell Poe, a member of a recently graduated team from Chatham. “They enable you to help people develop their own solutions that are fair, authentic and which respect existing knowledge.”

True to Poe’s point, the Chicago Plans curriculum emphasizes building on the collective wisdom of groups. Rather than preparing participants to serve as top-down leaders, the activities they learn enable them to tap into the experiences and perspectives of their neighbors. That wisdom can then be channeled into a plan that truly reflects their visions.

For example, one activity prompts participants to work together to build a timeline of local history in order to establish the context for future efforts. Another enables them to take detailed stock of local social networks to better understand the influence that certain individuals and institutions may be able to exert. And yet another focuses on preventing avoidable conflict by developing consensus around volatile issues of public importance.

Much like the first cohort, members of the most recently graduated group developed strong bonds with each other over the course of their time in the program.

Gandhi, left, and LISC's Jake Ament with workshop participants in Pilsen.

“We had another great combination of neighborhood leaders participate in Chicago Plans who really connected well as a group,” said LISC Program Officer Jake Ament. “The continued need for Chicago Plans has been clear each time we finish the series – the teams want to continue the conversation and get others involved. LISC’s neighborhood partners tell us these tools have allowed them to build up the direct leadership of community residents, and we’ve heard from city agency staff that conversations are more productive.”

As for Woodlawn Community Summit, Gardner said she’s confident the plan she and her colleagues present to their neighbors next year will build consensus and inspire action, largely thanks to the skills they developed in Chicago Plans.

“I strongly support Chicago Plans and think every neighborhood professional should go through this training,” she said. “For nascent organizations as well as more seasoned ones, it’s well worth their time.”

Chicago Plans was generously supported by the Chicago Community Trust.

For more information, contact Jake Ament at (312) 422-9573 or jament@lisc.org.

LISC Chicago

Casa Queretaro, Lake Village East among Winners of Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards

LISC’s Quality-of-Life Planning Bettering Neighborhoods throughout Chicago

Auburn Gresham on the move

Changes on Near North Side

Quality-of-Life planning throughout the city

Micro Market Recovery Program Revitalizes Blocks Across Chicago

Catalyzing Change Through Empty Lots on Chicago’s South Side

Evelyn’s Food Love Uses LISC Small Business Loan to Bring Hip New Restaurant to Washington Park

LISC Small Business loan

New restaurant fills Washington Park niche

Loan a catalyst for further development

11th Annual Hoops in the Hood Cross-City Tournament

From Client to Facilitator

Digital literacy integration

From client to leader

It's Officially Hoops in the Hood Season

Bridges to Career Opportunities Graduates Start a New Chapter in Life

Jovan Sams

Brian Bunting

No Small Plans on the Southwest Side

Englewood

Auburn Gresham

Chicago Southwest

Onward to implementation

23rd Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards Honor Top Community Projects

The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award

The Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award

The Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award

The Woods Fund Chicago Power of Community Award

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Healthy Community Award

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design

The Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award

The PrivateBank Norman Bobins Leadership Award

A Neighborhood of All Stars

Neighborhood Group, CPD Awarded for Making Uptown's Argyle Street Pedestrian Friendly

The best version of ourselves

It's been a vehicle for bringing people together

Englewood Quality-of-Life Business Competition Announces Winners

The finalists

The winners

Large Lots in Englewood – Vision and Hard Work Create New Community Assets

Lending a Hand

Loans In the gaps

Lending to the mission

Streets Cleaned, Vets Honored in Day of Service

Laying groundwork

Chicago Cares

All for one, one for all

‘Meeting Halfway’ Builds Partnerships between Community Organizations and Banks

Partnership development

Looking ahead

This IS Englewood

Whole Foods rules

More than just a shopping center

Hiring locally

Neighborhood vendors

Sewing seeds for change

Business District Leadership Program Graduates New Cohort

The 2015 BDL Neighborhood Change Projects

Post BDL Graduation

Reclaiming Southwest Chicago

A Neighborhood in Crisis

Reclaiming Southwest Chicago

Halfway Point for Englewood Quality-of-Life Planning - Ready to Act

Ten Years of Hoops in the Hood: An Oral History

Meghan Harte, executive director of LISC Chicago

Julio Guerrero, vice president of institutional advancement at The Resurrection Project in Pilsen

Keri Blackwell, former deputy director of LISC Chicago, now assistant director for community affairs at Chicago Cubs Charities

Meghan Harte

Lisa L. Cooper, community relations specialist for State Farm

Rob Castaneda, co-founder and executive director of Beyond the Ball, a community sports nonprofit based in Little Village, and tournament director for the Hoops in the Hood citywide tournament

Rudy Esteban, resident of Little Village, played in B-Ball on the Block from 2006 – 2009

Genesis Robinson, high school senior at Westinghouse College Prep, participant from 2010 – 2012 in East Garfield Park’s Homecourt program, run by Breakthrough Urban Ministries

Bill Curry, chief program officer of the Breakthrough Youth Network at Breakthrough Urban Ministries

Walter Burnett, Jr., alderman of Chicago’s 27th ward, where Chicago Men in Action runs Hoops in the Hood

Rob Castaneda

Eric Washington, the Chicago Police Department’s deputy chief of community policing, former commander of the 11th District, which includes East Garfield Park

Jackie Samuel, senior program director at Claretian Associates, which runs Hoops in the Hood Classic in South Chicago