Celebrating Chicago’s Most Creative, Collaborative Community Development

“For the Trust, it has always been inspiring to see the wonderful things that have come out of the creativity and talents of our region’s residents and organizations.”

On April 5, Dr. Helene Gayle, The Chicago Community Trust’s president and CEO, took the stage at the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards to recognize an outstanding community planning effort having a transformative impact for people in Chicago.

Dr. Gayle was proud to present this year’s The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award to the Preservation of Affordable Housing for Woodlawn: A Choice Neighborhood.

“What this year’s award winner has accomplished is nothing short of remarkable,” Dr. Gayle said in presenting the award.

“It has contributed to the first population increase in this Chicago neighborhood in 50 years. New jobs are being created, and the number of vacant properties and violent crimes have plummeted. The partnerships and investments that have emerged through this year’s winner have been a significant contributor to the rebirth of the community.”

Now in their 24th year, the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards (CNDA) are organized by LISC Chicago to recognize the essential role that nonprofit and for-profit developers play in building communities in Chicago-area neighborhoods.

On the program each year is The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award, acknowledging an organization whose commitment, creativity and collaborative efforts have generated investments and delivered services that build strong, sustainable neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for community members.

Representatives from Preservation of Affordable Housing accept The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award for their work in Woodlawn. Through their partnership-based efforts, the neighborhood population has increased for the first time in decades; jobs are being created; vacant properties and violent crimes have plummeted—an impact that the Trust president and CEO called “nothing short of remarkable.”

The evening’s 11 award honorees:

• Preservation of Affordable Housing Chicago for Woodlawn, A Choice Neighborhood
  The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award went to Preservation of Affordable Housing Chicago for its transformative work in Woodlawn. Learn more
• UCAN’s Drost-Harding Campus
  The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Outstanding Non-Profit Neighborhood went to UCAN for its Drost-Harding campus in North Lawndale. Learn more
• Rosenwald Courts
  The Outstanding For-Profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project Award went to Rosenwald Courts, the historic apartment building at 46th Street and Wabash Avenue that was meticulously restored. Learn more

Built in 1929, the Bronzeville apartment buildings known today as Rosenwald Courts provided quality affordable housing to black working families in need for more than half a century—and everyone from Joe Louis to Nat “King” Cole called them home. Read about Julius Rosenwald, the Sears Roebuck president and Chicago philanthropist who built them.

• Ansonia Properties, LLC for Lake Village East
  The Polk Bros. Foundation Affordable Rental Housing Preservation Award went to Ansonia Properties, LLC for its renovation of the Lake Village East apartments at 47th and Lake Park in the Hyde Park-Kenwood neighborhood. Learn more
• Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois
  The Woods Fund Chicago Power of Community Award went to Campaign for a Welcoming Illinois for its efforts to protect immigrant families from deportation. Learn more
• Space to Grow–Greening Chicago Schoolyards
  The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois Healthy Community Award went to Space to Grow–Greening Chicago Schoolyards, a collaborative targeting low-to-moderate income urban neighborhoods in urgent need of open green spaces. Learn more
• DesignBridge Ltd. for Casa Queretaro
  First place in the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design went to DesignBridge Ltd. for Casa Queretaro, an affordable housing development near 17th Street and Damen Avenue in the Pilsen neighborhood. Learn more
• Landon Bone Baker Architects for Chicago Center for Arts and Technology
  Second place in the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design went to Landon Bone Baker Architects for the Chicago Center for Arts and Technology, a state-of-the-art community center in the Illinois Medical District dedicated to offering arts and technology programs for students and vocational training for adults. Learn more
• Eckenhoff Saunders Architects for Michael and Karyn Lutz Center
  Third place in the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architectural Excellence in Community Design went to Eckenhoff Saunders Architects for the Michael and Karyn Lutz Center, an After School Matters recreation center for teens in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. Learn more
• Juan Salgado, City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor
  The Richard M. Daley Friend of the Neighborhoods Award went to Juan Salgado, the City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor, for his leadership in higher learning and community building that have created sustainable employment opportunities and improved many lives. Learn more
• Rodney J. Walker
  The CIBC Norman Bobins Leadership Award went to Rodney J. Walker, the author of a best-selling educational memoir who grew up in rough circumstances on Chicago’s South Side. He’s now working on a masters degree in education at Harvard University. Learn more

“New jobs are being created, and the number of vacant properties and violent crimes have plummeted. The partnerships and investments that have emerged through this year’s winner have been a significant contributor to the rebirth of the community.”

Presenting at her first CNDA ceremony, after joining the Trust in fall 2017, Dr. Gayle explained, “The Chicago Community Trust Outstanding Community Plan Award recognizes the importance of community driven conceptualization and implementation. This awardee is a stellar example of these values.”

“In addition, the awardee exemplifies the role that well-designed and well-managed affordable housing can play in sparking a local economic resurgence.”