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 Park
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: Advocating for Humboldt Park is Juan Manuel Calderon’s Life 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 Englewood
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 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 Shore
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 is 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...
Client Profile: Urban Market Exchange
Local artisans tend to have two choices when just starting out – either they can travel to shared maker spaces on the north side of Chicago, or they can work from their own basements and kitchen tables. Quandra Speights, a Chicago native who has supported nonprofits...
The Atlantic: Our Chicago: A Blueprint for Better Communities
Communities across the country are in a state of flux, and Chicago's are no different. Faced with steep challenges, longtime residents are establishing sustainable growth through housing development, community investment, and entrepreneurship opportunities—and...
WBEZ: Bridging the funding gap for community-based real estate projects
Community Desk Chicago is a real estate development group that focuses on building wealth and investment in Black and brown communities on the city’s South and West sides. Reset learns more about the organization and how it’s shifting the city’s model of community...
Fox 32: Community Desk Chicago helping South and West Side residents unlock their economic potential
Ja'Net Defell, director of Community Desk Chicago, talks about their mission and the importance of increasing access to capital for communities of color. Watch the segment on Fox 32's website.
Chicago Sun-Times: $2.7 million initiative to spur real estate development on South and West sides
The Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Teamwork Englewood and the South Shore Chamber Community Development Corp. were selected through the Neighborhood Developers Initiative, run by Community Desk Chicago. Continue reading on Chicago Sun-Times.
Block Club Chicago: South Shore, Englewood, Humboldt Park Groups Getting $2.7 Million, Support For Community-Led Developments
SOUTH SHORE — A program offering money, knowledge and clout to three South and West Side community groups is aiming to help local leaders propel economic development in their neighborhoods. Continue reading on Block Club Chicago.
Univision Chicago: Conoce el programa que proporcionará recursos a emprendedores latinos para el desarrollo de viviendas en Chicago
Community Desk Chicago lanzó una iniciativa en la que se invertirán $2,7 millones en organizaciones con proyectos de bienes raíces, con el fin de ofrecer viviendas accesibles. "El principal objetivo es la creación y desarrollo de vecindarios. Se ayudará a tres...
Press Release: Community Desk Chicago launches with $2.7 million initiative to help three South and West Side groups control their own destinies
A new kind of help desk is making it possible for Chicago communities to control their own destinies.
Crain’s Chicago Business: Housing rehabs could unlock wealth in Chicago’s struggling neighborhoods
Ocie Windham has leased apartments in the South Shore and Chatham neighborhoods for more than 30 years. He keeps the rents affordable and maintains occupancy at 95%. But with rising real estate prices—in part to due to speculation surrounding the development of the...
Ja’Net Defell: Unlocking access to capital
By Ja'Net Defell, Director I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. It was and still is a predominately Black community. I remember as a child that the highlight of my day was walking to the local family-owned grocer. The store was no...