Located on the southwest side of the city, Chicago Lawn and Gage Park are multi-ethnic working class communities determined to stop the downward spiral of disinvestment and urban decay and to create an attractive, safe and inviting place to live for families from many backgrounds. Today, African-Americans and people of Mexican and Arab descent are purchasing homes in the area, becoming a part of existing institutions and supporting new types of organizations and businesses.
Historically, Chicago Lawn, which includes Marquette Park, had been a European-immigrant community, predominantly Lithuanian, German, Polish and Irish. Long-time residents recall knowing all their neighbors and being connected to others through their schools, parishes and jobs at nearby manufacturing plants.
By the 1990s, the gradual demographic change that had been taking place in Chicago Lawn increased rapidly. The population grew by 20 percent from 1990 to 2000, reaching 61,412. The African American population more than doubled to 52.9 percent, the Latino population went up 7.3 percent to 35.1 percent, and the white population dropped 72 percent. The transition from white to Black and Latino moved so quickly that some saw new residents as “placeholders” rather than true stakeholders, and local institutions did not keep up with the change. Many longtime residents left, and those that stayed felt a sense of loss and resentment.
The efforts of neighborhood institutions to combat predatory lending, educate homeowners and get banks to reinvest in the community meant that Chicago Lawn never lost large amounts of housing (it gained 664 units in the 1990s; this despite a drop in owner-occupied housing from 80 percent to 51.6 percent and an increase to 19.8 percent of its population living below the poverty level).
NHS of Chicago in Chicago Lawn/Gage Park is one of the lead groups partnering with the New Communities Program. Community leaders and residents participating in Chicago Lawn’s New Communities Program report that as the community has adjusted to this rapid change, neighborhood institutions have brought on new leadership and new organizations have been born. They acknowledge that still much needs to be done, but feel confident that those involved are committed to building productive relationships, sharing resources and creating new ones.
Institutions such as NHS, Greater Southwest Development Corporation (GSDC), the Southwest Organizing Project, and Southwest Women Working Together have been instrumental in bridging the racial divide through relationship-building, housing and economic development, and advocacy around immigration, education, violence and predatory lending.
NeighborWorks Day, "Neighborhoods of Promise: A Showcase of Homes," June 2011
What makes the NHS program in Chicago Lawn and Gage Park distinctive is that it is part of a collaboration of organizations all working together to improve the community. Our partners in this collaboration include Greater Southwest Development Corporation and the Southwest Organizing Project, a community organization with over 35 member institutions, including NHS. Together we have created the Keep Our Homes Program to fight the impact of sub-prime lending and foreclosure on the community. This program has enabled NHS to save over 100 homes from foreclosure over the past year.
It has also allowed NHS to create a unique partnership with Bank of America to reach people in the community in danger of losing their homes. In 2009, Bank of America sent solicitations to over 500 homeowners who were behind in their mortgages and the coalition organized 75 community leaders to visit all these homes and encourage people to apply for a loan modification. It is expected that at least 100 of these loans will be modified and thus saved from foreclosure.
