All Chicago residents deserve to live in healthy and holistic communities with access to jobs, education, housing, retail and other baseline amenities. In Black and Latinx neighborhoods, financial resources to support community development and revitalizations are often difficult to obtain.
Community Desk Chicago works with nonprofits, community developers and entrepreneurs to assemble the necessary capital, expertise and other resources to increase real estate development in their neighborhoods that promote a high quality of life and provide wealth-building opportunities.
Celebrating the launch of The Desk!
News & Announcements
Panel Video Englewood Economics: How community and capital are coming together to drive resurgence (video)
Community Desk Chicago CEO Ja’Net Defell recently moderated this panel at the City Club of Chicago in front of an audience of more than 150 Chicago leaders and executives. The discussion included our NDI participant, Cecile DeMello of Teamwork Englewood (read her...
Spotlight on Humboldt ParkOne of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative
Our July 2023 issue of Deskside, our regular newsletter, was devoted to Humboldt Park, one of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative (NDI). Let’s learn more about the leaders, organizations, and efforts happening in Humboldt...
Client Profile: Juan CalderonAdvocating for Humboldt Park is His Life’s Work
If life is a tapestry of experience, the threads of Juan M. Calderon’s existence are inextricably woven with Humboldt Park — and by extension, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC). Calderon, born to a Puerto Rican father and a Mexican mother, also identifies as...
Chicago Tribune As development comes to South Shore, gentrification is focus of group aiming to safeguard residents
Near the corner of 71st Street and Crandon Avenue, Michael McDowell mans the flat top at Surf’s Up South Shore as he has nearly every day since 2014. McDowell, who took over the Southern seafood and wing shop franchise from his stepmother, has seen South Shore’s ups...
Spotlight on EnglewoodOne of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative
Our May 2023 issue of Deskside, our regular newsletter, was devoted to Englewood, one of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative (NDI). Let’s learn more about the leaders, organizations, and efforts happening in Englewood...
Client Profile: Cecile De Mello She never stops searching for solutions to revitalize Englewood
Cecile De Mello likes to ask questions. So much, in fact, that she once considered doing so professionally. “When I was in high school,” she says, “I wanted to be a journalist. I was very inquisitive about the way my community was set up.” De Mello was living in...
WCIU ‘On The Block’ Features South Shore CIV
"On the Block," a show produced in collaboration with Block Club Chicago and WCIU Chicago, covered the new Community Investment Vehicle (CIV) focused on Chicago's South Shore community.
Block Club Chicago South Shore Residents Could Soon Invest In And Control Local Developments Through A New Project
SOUTH SHORE — Leaders in South Shore are launching a project that aims to give neighbors more control over — and possibly a chance to profit from — developments in their community. The We the People community investment vehicle would buy and control real estate in...
Spotlight on South ShoreOne of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative
Our March 2023 issue of Deskside, our regular newsletter, was devoted to South Shore, one of the three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developer Initiative (NDI). Over the next few months, we will shine a light on NDI leaders and the great work...
Client Profile: Tonya Trice She’s hopeful – and tenacious – about bringing economic development to South Shore
About a decade ago, Tonya Trice and her husband were talking about the future of their neighborhood. South Shore is coming back, he told her. He was sure of it. He was certain that the South Side neighborhood, home to a stunning stretch of lakefront and a large Black...