Fueling Potential with Philanthropy: We Rise Together

When the new North Austin Center opened on Chicago’s West Side in February of this year, Santiago Navarro registered his son, Julian, for By the Hand Club for Kids’ after school programming. Julian says his life changed for the better immediately, getting him off his video games to make new friends, exercise in the center’s gymnasium, and finish his homework before going home for the day. “[The Center] has helped tremendously for parents like me who are busy at work and have kids here. We know they are well taken care of,” said Navarro.

We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery invested $1.5 million in the sports and community center, which is expected to serve 25,000 families each year and attract 250,000 visitors to the neighborhood annually for intermural leagues.

Of the more than 30 real estate projects We Rise Together has invested in, 10 have already opened, providing new jobs, much-needed healthcare, childcare, recreation, healthy food, and more. Additional We Rise Together grants in these same communities have gone to organizations that support thriving Black- and Latinx-owned businesses and provide job training and connections to improve local employment, with the overarching goal of building thriving neighborhood economies for a stronger Chicago.

Evaluating our work has shown that community investments can bring immediate, significant economic benefits. For example, evaluation partner Mastercard Data & Services has shown that within 14 weeks of North Austin Center opening on February 1, businesses within a half-mile posted 7.2 percent more transactions and saw a 14 percent lift in consumer spending. Some of that may be attributed to more foot traffic, as well as to a special marketing initiative designed by North Austin Center partners to encourage visitors to shop and dine in the community.

“While community members have told us that they continue to need more well-paying jobs, affordable grocery stores and housing, and social services, as well as better options for development financing, more than half of the people we surveyed in these same communities are hopeful about their economic futures. That’s a signal to keep going,” said Christen Wiggins, We Rise Together program director.

We Rise Together is seeking to raise an additional $3 million dollars this summer to make a final round of neighborhood anchor real estate grants by the end of the year. The effort has been successful so far thanks to more than 160 donors, including individuals, philanthropic partners, and corporations—but we know it will take ongoing collaboration and investment to ensure projects open their doors and are surrounded by thriving small businesses and quality job opportunities.