Building Homes, Restoring Hope: Reclaiming Chicago

On Chicago’s South and West sides – largely home to the city’s Black and Latine communities – vacant lots and abandoned properties have long contributed to lower home values, population loss, and difficulty maintaining the businesses and services that are essential to a thriving community. Reclaiming Chicago, a campaign led by United Power for Action and Justice, aims to change that through a proven national model for building affordable homes at scale.

By developing 2,000 homes on vacant and underutilized land on the South and West sides, Reclaiming Chicago is helping people stay in and strengthen their communities, driving repopulation that benefits the entire city. United Power works closely with member institutions, residents, and community partners to organize support, secure land, and leverage public and private funds to make homeownership affordable.

Construction has begun on 166 homes, half of which have already sold. In 2025, Reclaiming Chicago received the $10 million Chicago Prize from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, supporting a major new site in Chicago Lawn that will bring 112 homes to the community. In 2025, the Trust also joined many other funders in contributing to a zero percent construction loan , a key tool ReclaimingChicago uses to keep costs as low as possible.

“Chicago has seen significant population loss on the South and West sides. This work is about giving families a chance to stay, invest in, and build the kinds of communities they want.”

AMY TOTSCH
Lead Organizer
United Power for Action and Justice