2021-22 LGC All Hands on Deck Leadership Series | Reimagining Home Ownership: Reclaiming Communities Campaign
Open to Fellows and All Hands on Deck Partners only.
This unplugged, virtual conversation will be moderated by WBEZ Senior Editor of Race, Class and Communities ALDEN LOURY. Alden will explore Chicago's history of practices which drove segregation and prevented predominantly Black homeownership in the South and West Sides of the city with guest speakers MARISA NOVARA (LGC Fellow since 2016), commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing, RICHARD TOWNSELL (LGC Fellow since 1999), executive director of Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, and WILONDA CANNON, senior director of community economic development for Breakthrough Urban Ministries and real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Realty.
The discussion will focus on the Reclaiming Communities Campaign — a joint venture between Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) and Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC), in partnership with United Power for Action and Justice (UPAJ) — which seeks to make homeownership more accessible and help families build wealth.
The project plans to build 1,000 single family homes on the West Side and 1,000 on the South Side, beginning with 250 new homes in North Lawndale. The City of Chicago will sell city-owned lots to the Reclaiming Communities Joint Venture for $1 each and streamline the acquisition process that will help reduce construction costs to keep the homes affordable. This campaign builds on the INVEST South/West neighborhood investment initiative. Our speakers will help us understand what led to this project as well as the impact of affordable homeownership in Black and Brown communities.
This program is part of our 2021-22 LGC All Hands on Deck Leadership Series titled Emergence: "Make no little plans". This seven-part monthly series brings to our virtual audiences the BIG thinking and BIG ideas we have seen civic leaders dream about and make reality over the last year. Participants learn firsthand how these civic leaders have been solving issues and driving unity and positive change across all neighborhoods and Chicago’s central business district.
Partnering with WBEZ once again this year, the series is moderated by award-winning reporters who are experts on key socioeconomic issues that address opportunities to rebuild the region and delve into the initiatives, contributions and partnerships required to achieve BIG plans for Chicago. Speakers range from CEOs and academicians to community builders, activists and government officials.
Our collective BIG thinking and BIG "doing" must focus on closing the current socioeconomic gaps in our neighborhoods to ensure Chicago is no longer a “tale of two cities”. Let's seize this moment of emergence and, with a renewed vision, reimagine and activate the potential in every one of our 77 neighborhoods. Let’s think BIG together to drive BIG change—come emerge with us!
