W.O.W. Capital Grant Program

Meet the Grantees

Meet our 2025 WOW Capital Grant Program recipients. WOW awarded up to $500K to community investment vehicles and worker-cooperatives to development their real estate projects.

CrossTreats

CrossTreats will acquire and rehabilitate a 12,500 square foot building into a food manufacturing headquarters to expand its operations and worker-members. CrossTreats is a worker cooperative that creates healthy, nut-free snacks. Many worker-owners are justice-involved, using the worker co-op platform to address challenges to reentering the workforce. Their signature snack – Mo’Mo Bites – is scheduled to hit shelves in 2026.

“We want to show people that there can be positive change from people that look like them in our community hub.”

Bennett Place

Bennett Place is a 16-unit mixed-use building owned collectively by 25 members of the South Shore neighborhood.  WOW grant funds will be used for a second phase of renovations, allowing the team to build out the 5,000 square foot ground floor commercial spaces to include a full-service restaurant. The collective purchased the building in 2020 and completed the rehab of the housing units as the first phase of renovations.

“Community ownership should empower both the consumers and the entrepreneurs who provide services in their community.”

Quilombo Chicago

Quilombo Chicago will acquire and rehabilitate a 10-unit mixed-use building with 5,500 square feet of commercial space that will provide below–market rental units and community-focused retail and office space. Quilombo’s shared ownership model is governed by a non-profit board comprised of young adults local to South Shore and adjacent communities. Quilombo’s project seeks to create affordable residential and commercial opportunities that reflect its values: Community Care, Transparency, Embodiment, Restoration, and Izwe-Lethu (cooperation).

“Community wealth building means that you no longer must leave your community to gain access to the things that you need.”

HAZ Cooperative

HAZ Cooperative will rehabilitate its collectively-owned building to expand opportunities for artists through studio, e-commerce, and event spaces. HAZ is a hybrid worker-owner and artist-owner cooperative that serves as an artist hub in Pilsen. HAZ uses cooperative principles to make art an accessible and viable career path for all.

“We view this work as a project of consequence. This means that we hope our work means something to the field and can shift the cooperative model into the arts in a way that exists outside of the traditional measures.”

Five Point Holistic Health

Five Point Holistic Health will rehabilitate a portion of a commercial building to expand areas for the delivery of holistic health services, including massage, psychotherapy, and acupuncture. This worker co-op is currently made up of seven worker-owners, with the goal of expanding ownership to 50% of all employees. Five Point was founded in 2014, making it one of the longest operating worker co-ops in the city.

“Assuming the best of your partners and committing to transparent communication has been a key to our success.“

E.G. Woode

E.G. Woode will acquire a 1,860 square foot commercial building that will be developed for pop-up business opportunities for local vendors in the Englewood neighborhood. E.G. Wood is a member-based real estate shared cooperative. The small business pop-up will be the third building developed by the collective.

“Catalytic developments often come from a multitude of small things that stack on top of each other.”

Our Partner

Chicago Build Better Together LogoWealth Our Way is funded through the City of Chicago’s Build Better Together Initiative. Build Better Together is Mayor Brandon Johnson’s comprehensive economic development strategy driving growth in each of Chicago’s 77 communities. Build Better Together leverages the foundation set by the “Housing and Economic Development Bond” and “Cut the Tape” along with other tools at the City’s disposal to execute on key projects for our communities based on the three foundational pillars:

  • Quality and Affordable Housing for All
  • Business, Innovation, and Job Growth
  • Neighborhood Investments and Vibrant Communities
Wealth Our Way (W.O.W.) Overview

Many low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, especially those on the South and West sides of Chicago, have been disinvested in by the government and private sector. As a result, these residents do not own or control many of the assets in their neighborhoods (businesses, homes, land, commercial property, etc.). Residents in these neighborhoods are excluded from opportunities to build financial wealth, often shut out of development decisions, and can be at risk of displacement.

W.O.W. is a collaborative initiative developed by Community Desk Chicago (The Desk) to support communities in launching wealth-building models, based on their terms, that advance their quality of life, build wealth and shift power dynamics in their neighborhoods.

Seeded through a $4.11M City of Chicago investment, the W.O.W capital grant program provides both capital grants and technical coaching to commercial shared ownership models that promote ownership and control of businesses and community assets, specifically, Community Investment Vehicles (CIVs) and Worker Cooperatives (Work Co-ops).

Funding Opportunity

Selected CIVs and worker co-ops will be awarded W.O.W. capital grants for up to 75% of the total project costs for their real estate project, with a maximum award size of $500,000. Up to $3.5 million of W.O.W. capital grants may be awarded.

W.O.W. capital grants are one-time awards that must be expended by December 31, 2026.

W.O.W. Program Activities

The W.O.W. capital grant program provides structured technical coaching, capital coordination and other related resources to support the launch of both worker co-ops and CIVs across the City of Chicago. The W.O.W. framework provides the necessary technical resources to help ensure success as communities design wealth-building models their way.

In addition to receiving funding, W.O.W. grantees will participate in a set of interrelated activities that support the progress and success of their CWB model and their real estate project. Over the course of 16 months (September 2025 to December 2026), participants’ activities will include:

  • Work Plan –organizing and executing key project tasks through a structured work plan to help ensure long-term success
  • Technical and Operational Support – monthly engagement with an operations coach and a real estate coach
  • Launch Support – access to “back office” investment services and third-party educational resources on financial literacy, wealth building and community engagement
  • Knowledge and Networks – participation in a CWB Community of Practice (COP) to share lessons learned and best practices with peers and national experts
  • Capital Coordination – connections to local and national philanthropy, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and other flexible capital sources
For More Information

Applications for W.O.W. Capital Grant Program are now closed.

For questions about the W.O.W. Capital Grant Program, please email us at wow@communitydeskchicago.org.