Block Club Chicago | 10/01/2024

WEST GARFIELD PARK — Work has begun to bring a wellness center to West Garfield Park as part of a larger development aimed at increasing life expectancy for residents and providing essential resources to combat generational disinvestment.

The Sankofa Wellness Center, 4305 W. Madison St., broke ground Sept. 16, with the 60,000-square-foot facility set to open to the public next year.

The Wellness Center intends to serve West Side residents with amenities that will include:

Health care services, including primary medical care as well as reproductive, behavioral and dental health services from Erie Family Health Centers.

Block Club Chicago | 09/04/2024

AUBURN GRESHAM — Erika Allen began dreaming of building an anaerobic digester on the South Side 15 years ago.

Allen, a farmer since she was 8 years old, comes from a family of South Carolina farmers. Her father, Will Allen, is a James Beard and MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award winner for his work in urban farming and innovation. Sustainable urban agriculture is in her blood.

The way Allen saw it, an anaerobic digester would take the food waste piled high in local landfills and convert it into rich compost to grow food for disinvested communities, she said. Methane, a gas food releases as it decomposes, wouldn’t float from landfills into the air we breathe.

On a sunny Friday in late August, after nearly two decades of work, Allen toured the Green Era Campus: a dream realized.

The Green Era Campus, 650 W. 83rd St., is home to the anaerobic digester Allen has worked to build, a $35 million project turning food waste into enough compost to create a new garden every day, she said.

Fast Company | 07/25/2024

Illinois and DARPA just announced an ambitious $500 million quantum computing campus in Chicago–with PsiQuantum at the center.

In the past two months, a stealthy Palo Alto-based startup called PsiQuantum has leapfrogged these big names to become a surprise leader in the space. With a total funding of $700 million from the likes of BlackRock, Founders Fund, Playground Global, and Microsoft’s venture arm, the eight-year-old startup was tapped in April to build a utility-scale computer in Brisbane, Australia. Today, it was named as the anchor commercial tenant in a massive new quantum research campus on Chicago’s South Side. With over a half billion in funding from the state of Illinois, the city, and DARPA, the Department of Defense’s advanced research wing, the ambitious project aims to establish the United States as a leader in quantum technologies. The company has vowed to have its first system operational by late 2027, years earlier than other projections.

Block Club Chicago | 07/17/2024

A new training and control center in West Garfield Park for Chicago Transit Authority bus and train drivers won key City Council approval Wednesday.

The vacant land at 335-375 N. Pulaski Road will be converted into a three-story training and control center that will “contain general office space, classrooms and training spaces, and a control center,” according to a presentation at the Plan Commission.

The new control center will oversee all bus operations for the entire CTA system, attorney Bridget O’Keefe, who is representing the transit agency, previously said. The CTA currently operates out of a single floor in a building at 120 N. Racine Ave. in the West Loop, according to Chicago YIMBY.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) supports the project because it would bring job opportunities and beautification initiatives to her West Side ward. About 120-150 CTA jobs would be relocated to the facility.

CBS News | 07/09/2024

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced a new Climate Works investment of $30 million for clean energy jobs on Chicago's South and West sides.

The investment is meant to build the clean energy workforce while creating job opportunities in low-income communities. It seeks to create more than 1,000 jobs in the solar energy field over the next three years.

"From day one of my administration, I've worked with stakeholders and the general assembly to put green jobs at the center of our economic revitalization," Pritzker said.

The state is making a commitment to solar energy job training on partnership with Chicago's 548 Foundation—a nonprofit dedicated to developing affordable housing and providing energy upgrades.

AP News | 07/01/2024

On Monday, June 3, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory participated in a signing ceremony with the Green Era Campus in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood to commemorate a newly established agreement: a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The MOU will amplify the strengths of the Green Era Campus and the laboratory as they join forces to pursue research opportunities in sustainability in agriculture, renewable energy generation, food equity and access.

Several years in the making, this MOU links Argonne researchers with a community partner deeply involved in community engagement and research efforts aligning with Argonne’s science pursuits. The Green Era Campus partners operate a 35,000-square-foot anaerobic digester system on their nine-acre campus and an urban farm with space dedicated to community-driven programming. Green Era Campus is a partnership between Green Era Sustainability, Urban Growers Collective and Green Era Educational NFP.

Mailchimp | 1/30/2024

The six-state coalition Great Lakes ReNEW has been named one of 10 inaugural Regional Innovation Engines by the U.S. National Science Foundation, with an award of up to $160 million over 10 years.

ReNEW will focus on turning waste into wealth through extracting valuable minerals and toxic forever chemicals from our water.

This award is a huge climate win for all of us.

City of Chicago | 01/30/2024

Ranging from approximately $37,900 to $5 million, the grants will help pay for eligible project costs and expenses that pose barriers to small business owners, especially emerging entrepreneurs and minority owners within underinvested South and West side neighborhoods.

"These Community Development Grants reinforce our commitment to fostering vibrant, walkable neighborhoods by supporting the dreams and initiatives of passionate Chicagoans,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “From expanding local businesses like Essential Elements to innovative projects like The Fields Studios and Firebird Community Arts, these strategic investments will anchor additional growth, contributing to the vitality of our communities."

Among the recipients is the Chicago Prize 2022 Recipient, The Sankofa Wellness Village.

Crains | 09/11/2023

Chicago’s neighborhoods are known worldwide for their grand architectural heritage — rows of stately two-flats and greystones, broad, tree-lined parkways, courtyard apartments, craftsman bungalows and vibrant commercial corridors.

Amid this beauty is another familiar yet humbler sight: strip malls. While many provide essential community amenities, others are poorly maintained, partially vacant or home to businesses like liquor stores or predatory lenders that undermine neighborhood strength.

What if we were more intentional in harnessing the potential of these familiar sites to create community assets? What if this type of overlooked real estate could improve access to healthy food and needed retail? What if the properties themselves could be a vehicle to build wealth for nearby residents?

Chicago TREND is taking an exciting first step toward this vision through a new real estate fund.

Block Club Chicago | 06/21/2023

A long-vacant school in Englewood is getting a $26.6 million overhaul, breathing new life into the Racine Avenue corridor. The Regenerator, a four-story project at the former Woods Elementary building at 6206 S. Racine Ave., received City Council approval Wednesday. The development will transform the vacant school closed by Chicago Public Schools in 2013 into 48 affordable one- to two-bedroom units, a 22,000-square-foot health center and a community center. The Go Green On Racine team — a group formed by community organizers at Teamwork Englewood, Inner-City Muslim Action Network, E.G. Woode and the Resident Association of Greater Englewood — is leading the project.

Block Club Chicago | 05/09/2023

A workforce development center that will fuel the next generation of tech leaders could soon open in Greater Grand Crossing, creating a “beacon of innovation and impact” on the South Side, project leaders said.

Leaders at the Comer Education Campus received a $5 million community development grant from the city this month to build Xchange Grand Crossing. The 50,000-square-foot hub at 7301 South Chicago Ave. will train and employ neighbors interested in jobs in the tech industry.

The $27 million project is the “extension of decades of community development that the Comer Foundation has done in Grand Crossing,” Emily Emmerman, special projects director, said. Local community partners — including CHAMPS Male Mentoring, Ring of Hope, Network for Young Adult Success, Community Neighborhood Initiatives and more — joined forces with the campus for one of the “biggest, all-hands-on-deck projects to date,” Emmerman said.

Block Club Chicago | 05/5/23

AUSTIN — The Austin community celebrated Wednesday as construction started on the $40.9 million Aspire Center, a business development hub.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) and other officials broke ground on the site at 5500 W. Madison Ave. The center will be at the former Emmet Elementary School, which closed in 2013, and it’s expected to be done in 2024.

The center will be an advanced manufacturing training center, business incubator, community hub and spot for events, according to a city news release. It’s expected to create 50 permanent jobs and be used to train 2,000 workers in the next five years, according to the city.

 Crain's Chicago Business | 03/15/2023

The Chicago Blackhawks have struck a deal with Rush University Medical Center to acquire a 7-acre site next to the team’s Fifth Third Arena hockey facility, where the team plans to build a $65 million, two-rink expansion of its Near West Side hockey venue.

The land sale agreement, disclosed today in an ordinance submitted to the City Council, would tee up a 135,000-square-foot development that would double the size of the Hawks’ hockey complex on the block and add a new venue for the team and youth hockey players near the United Center.

The Blackhawks’ purchase price will pay Rush back for the $17.5 million it spent to acquire the hospital’s portion of the Malcolm X campus and include nearly $6 million that will be put toward the Sankofa Wellness Village project at 4301 W. Madison St. in West Garfield Park, according to the planning department.

North Lawndale Employment Network | 02/11/2023

Pritzker Traubert Foundation is honored to be the recipient of the Voice of the Voiceless Award at North Lawndale Employment Network’s 18th Annual Sweet Beginnings Tea in 2023.

The award is being accepted on behalf of all our community and civic partners involved in community development on the South and West sides. We believe that only when all our neighbors and neighborhoods thrive can Chicago reach its full potential, a belief that has inspired our work in the Chicago Prize. Since its launch in 2019, The Chicago Prize has provided over $30 million dollars of grants to collaborative community-led initiatives to support catalytic community development projects on the South and West sides of Chicago. We are proud to be part of growing momentum to invest in community-led change in Chicago’s neighborhoods.

Sweet Beginnings, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN). The NLEN was part of the North Lawndale team that applied to Chicago Prize 2020. The North Lawndale proposal was a finalist and received over $600,000 of support from PTF to help execute on their visionary plan. NLEN built and opened their new building in September 2021.

Office of the Mayor | 02/10/23

First round of community development grant funding announced for 2023 will support expansion and new construction of local businesses, mixed use developments, and nonprofit organizations

CHICAGO—Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot announced today that twelve neighborhood businesses and nonprofit organizations are set to receive more than $27 million in Community Development Grants. Ranging from approximately $54,000 to $5 million, the grants will support neighborhood investments for local cooperative grocery stores, health centers, music education centers, and locally owned restaurants. Grants will be used to fund interior renovations, new construction, and other eligible costs.

PTF January Newsletter | 01/31/2023

I hope that everyone had an opportunity to enjoy the end of year holidays. Pritzker Traubert Foundation (PTF) is sharing this newsletter with the goal of building more partnerships in the coming year.

Like many of you, we believe that economic opportunity should not be dependent on if you were born on the Southside, Westside, or Northside of Chicago. From our investment in the Chicago Prize to our support for innovative and sustainable workforce solutions, the Foundation continues to support partnerships and leaders that create more economic opportunity across the city. We had an impactful and productive 2022 that included several major workforce investments, the launch of Chicago Prize 2022 and several key citywide partnerships such as the Chicago Public Media/Sun Times merger, but there is much more to do.

Chicago Sun-Times | 01/12/2023

The Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative plans to build a walkable village in West Garfield Park, and its project will get $10 million from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation as part of the foundation’s 2022 Chicago Prize.

Leaders from the foundation announced the winner Thursday afternoon.

The group was one of six South and West side finalists for the prize that were announced last year. Its project, the Sankofa Wellness Village, will allow residents to be no more than 15 minutes from what they need — from health care and groceries to arts and entertainment.

RUSH University Medical Center | 01/12/2023

RUSH is proud to be a part of the Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative, which was just announced as the winner of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation 2022 Chicago Prize, including a $10 million award. The prize was announced this afternoon.

This is a key step in RUSH’s work aimed at improving community well-being and elevating life expectancy for residents of West Garfield Park.

The collaborative, a group of residents, faith-based organizations, health care institutions, nonprofits and other stakeholders that work and live in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood, will use the prize to build a wellness village in the community. It will include the RUSH Center for Community Well-Being. Groundbreaking is anticipated by the end of this year.