Neighborhood Capital Fund Fuels South and West Side Corridor Revitalization

Underinvestment has limited economic mobility and contributed to higher rates of poverty across Chicago’s South and West sides. Combined with depopulation, it has left vacant lots, abandoned buildings, and fewer opportunities for residents to build stability and financial well-being. In many of these neighborhoods, community-rooted organizations are advancing solutions to these challenges—but often without the resources needed to bring them to life.

The Neighborhood Capital Fund, a funders collaborative led by The Chicago Community Trust in partnership with Schreiber Philanthropy, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Target Foundation, The Joseph Pedott Legacy Fund, JPMorgan Chase, Development Now for Chicago, Knight Impact Partners, and an anonymous donor, aims to close that gap. The fund provides flexible capital to support real estate projects aligned with local priorities, helping to catalyze clustered investment, create jobs, expand services and amenities, and improve overall quality of life.

The Neighborhood Capital Fund accelerates neighborhood development by providing late‑stage capital grants and technical assistance to community institutions, local entrepreneurs, and real estate projects that often struggle to secure traditional investment or reduce debt. The fund builds directly on what We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery proved over the past several years, that clustered place‑based investment creates jobs, expands services, and sparks new life on local corridors. Based on Mastercard data findings, communities with two or more We Rise Together projects have experienced four times the economic activity compared with similar communities in the region. The Neighborhood Capital Fund focuses its support on the people and organizations who know their neighborhoods best, helping them bring community‑driven projects from vision to reality.

In February 2026, the Neighborhood Capital Fund made $7.86 million in grants for nine projects that will expand essential amenities, services, and economic opportunities in these communities, benefiting the broader region. These include the following:

KOCO Office & Silver Fox Café, Grand Boulevard

In Grand Boulevard, the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) is bringing new energy to Cottage Grove with the transformation of a three-story building into a community hub. When complete, the building will include KOCO’s offices, a library, a food pantry, community event space, and the Silver Fox Café to serve seniors. The project will create 90 jobs and offer space for seniors, young people, and families to gather. The Neighborhood Capital Fund grant closes a critical financial gap caused by additional construction needs identified during the permitting process.

“The café will give employment to young people as well as create opportunities to build bonds between the youth workers and their elders who will be patrons of the café. It gives both youth and seniors a reason to stay in their communities over the long haul.”

Shannon Bennett
Executive Director
Kenwood Oakland Community Organization

Yollocalli Fire Station, Little Village

In Little Village, the National Museum of Mexican Art has transformed a long-vacant firehouse into a youth arts center full of color, offering support services for residents. The Yollocalli Fire Station now serves more than 300 young people each year through programs in arts, digital media, entrepreneurship, and leadership. It also provides a welcoming space for workshops, performances, and community events, making the building a true neighborhood anchor. Funding from The Neighborhood Capital Fund will support the remaining financial gap.

“The Fire Station takes the living form of the name Yollocalli – house of the heart in Nahuatl, a Mexican indigenous language. It represents a safe space for the community to access the arts and creative resources so that they can support each other and continue to build their vision for the future of the community.”

Vanessa Sanchez
Director of Education & Yollocalli
National Museum of Mexican Art

These two projects – and the other recent NCF investments – will bring new services, create jobs, activate buildings that once sat idle, and offer spaces where residents can learn, lead, and come together. This is how neighborhood economies grow, not through one big project, but through many community‑driven efforts that create lasting change.