Program Development
Community Development in Service to the Community
The Austin community in Chicago has often been overlooked and underserved. One of the largest community areas in Chicago, Austin provides abundant opportunity on Chicago’s west side. Two L lines, Metra train service, and multiple bus routes make it transit rich and ripe for Equitable Transit Oriented Development (eTOD). It is also home to some of the finest historic housing stock in the city, including two- and three-flats.
Austin is also home to a historic Black population that spans income brackets and many small businesses and corridors by the community and for the community.
Austin’s residents and community organizations identified priorities for the community including the need for more safe, decent, affordable housing and community reinvestment.
Thus, Austin Ascending was launched. the program provided small grants to leverage further capital to reinvest in Austin’s two- and three-flats. The program provided funds primarily to residents, primarily Black women, were longtime owners of two- and three-flats with units that had been vacant for more than two years.
The program provided them with funding and technical assistance based on their needs. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the community’s traditional residents. And, those funds added scores of rehabbed affordable housing units that the community needed. The recipients also had opportunities to network together to advocate for additional improvements such as beautification programs, street repairs, and community policing.
The program was built from the ground up and can be adapted and scaled up for other communities.