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$26 million targets poorer areas
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Gift of MacArthur Foundation will fund development
By Johnathon E. Briggs
Tribune staff reporter
May 23, 2007
Chicago's largest philanthropic organization, the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, announced Tuesday that it will invest $26 million during
the next five years to help redevelop 16 of the city's lowest-income
neighborhoods.
The New Communities Program seeks to revitalize beleaguered neighborhoods and
preserve the diversity of others in the path of gentrification, officials said.
Launched in 2003, the program is a public-private partnership aimed at helping
the 16 neighborhoods implement 10-year "quality of life" plans drafted by
residents and community-based organizations to correct long-standing problems.
Included are programs to train ex-offenders as auto mechanics and ideas for new
multimillion-dollar housing and commercial strips.
On the Northwest and West Sides, the communities include Logan Square, Humboldt
Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Little Village, Pilsen and the Near
West Side.
On the Southwest and South Sides, they are Chicago Lawn, Douglas, Englewood,
Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Woodlawn, Auburn Gresham, South Chicago and
the North Kenwood-Oakland area.
"Chicago's neighborhoods, even its poorest, are significant assets, holding
tremendous untapped human and economic potential," said MacArthur President
Jonathan Fanton. "We believe that the New Communities Program is leading a
renaissance that will bring lasting value to the city and provide a model of
what can be done in cities all across this country,"
Coordinated by the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a community development
organization, the MacArthur committed $21 million in seed money for neighborhood
projects in 2002. Foundation officials said those grants helped generate more
than $255 million in new investment in the communities.
The corporation's consultants met with residents and took them on bus tours of
the neighborhoods, seeking to identify their most urgent problems and to draft
solutions, officials said.
Foundation officials said they expect the grants announced Tuesday to generate
$500 million in new investment.
"From my perspective, this is called success," said Mayor Richard Daley, who
joined Fanton in Auburn Gresham at the Center for Working Families, a program
supported by the Local Initiatives Support Corp. that works to increase the
financial stability of low-income residents. "How we change Chicago is
block-by-block."
Each community effort is led by a neighborhood-based agency. LISC provides funds
to mount short- and long-term initiatives, as well as technical support.
In just four years, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Community Development Corp. has
led groups to improve housing for seniors, establish minority-owned businesses
along the 79th Street corridor and launch an annual street festival.
By fall of 2008, the community group expects to have transformed a city-owned
abandoned building near the corner of 79th and Sangamon Streets into a mixed-use
development made of energy-efficient materials.
On the Northwest Side, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association already has
helped 54 families keep their homes in the face of redevelopment plans.
Meanwhile, the Quad Community Development Corp. is establishing a vibrant
commercial district that will bring more shops and residences to the Hyde Park
area.
Fanton also announced an additional $4 million grant to help expand the
Chicago-based New Communities Program to 10 other regions.
---------
jebriggs@tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune
$26 million targets poorer areas
--------------------
Gift of MacArthur Foundation will fund development
By Johnathon E. Briggs
Tribune staff reporter
May 23, 2007
Chicago's largest philanthropic organization, the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, announced Tuesday that it will invest $26 million during
the next five years to help redevelop 16 of the city's lowest-income
neighborhoods.
The New Communities Program seeks to revitalize beleaguered neighborhoods and
preserve the diversity of others in the path of gentrification, officials said.
Launched in 2003, the program is a public-private partnership aimed at helping
the 16 neighborhoods implement 10-year "quality of life" plans drafted by
residents and community-based organizations to correct long-standing problems.
Included are programs to train ex-offenders as auto mechanics and ideas for new
multimillion-dollar housing and commercial strips.
On the Northwest and West Sides, the communities include Logan Square, Humboldt
Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Little Village, Pilsen and the Near
West Side.
On the Southwest and South Sides, they are Chicago Lawn, Douglas, Englewood,
Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Woodlawn, Auburn Gresham, South Chicago and
the North Kenwood-Oakland area.
"Chicago's neighborhoods, even its poorest, are significant assets, holding
tremendous untapped human and economic potential," said MacArthur President
Jonathan Fanton. "We believe that the New Communities Program is leading a
renaissance that will bring lasting value to the city and provide a model of
what can be done in cities all across this country,"
Coordinated by the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a community development
organization, the MacArthur committed $21 million in seed money for neighborhood
projects in 2002. Foundation officials said those grants helped generate more
than $255 million in new investment in the communities.
The corporation's consultants met with residents and took them on bus tours of
the neighborhoods, seeking to identify their most urgent problems and to draft
solutions, officials said.
Foundation officials said they expect the grants announced Tuesday to generate
$500 million in new investment.
"From my perspective, this is called success," said Mayor Richard Daley, who
joined Fanton in Auburn Gresham at the Center for Working Families, a program
supported by the Local Initiatives Support Corp. that works to increase the
financial stability of low-income residents. "How we change Chicago is
block-by-block."
Each community effort is led by a neighborhood-based agency. LISC provides funds
to mount short- and long-term initiatives, as well as technical support.
In just four years, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Community Development Corp. has
led groups to improve housing for seniors, establish minority-owned businesses
along the 79th Street corridor and launch an annual street festival.
By fall of 2008, the community group expects to have transformed a city-owned
abandoned building near the corner of 79th and Sangamon Streets into a mixed-use
development made of energy-efficient materials.
On the Northwest Side, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association already has
helped 54 families keep their homes in the face of redevelopment plans.
Meanwhile, the Quad Community Development Corp. is establishing a vibrant
commercial district that will bring more shops and residences to the Hyde Park
area.
Fanton also announced an additional $4 million grant to help expand the
Chicago-based New Communities Program to 10 other regions.
---------
jebriggs@tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune
Note from HOW: HOW Alert:
There is a map attached to the print edition article listing where the MacArthur Foundation will invest. Note our community is listed as Near West Side (WestHaven).
Near West Development Corp (NWSDC) is the LISC agency for this area,West Haven and minority partner in the LLC which will develop Madison & Western.
What effect will this continued identification as one of the city's lowest-income neighborhoods have on efforts to attract quality retail locations to our community? Does anyone know what the current demographics are for the area ?
- Karen
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