Fingers on the Pulse

By David Feinberg
JCUA Board of Directors

I first learned of JCUA after a chance meeting at the Bucktown Arts Festival.  My family and I had recently moved to Chicago, and I was looking for a way to live my Judaism that connected with my values and the values I want to impart to my children.  Judy Levey and I soon met for lunch and we explored common professional interests in community redevelopment, urban planning, and urban policy.  Judy suggested that I meet with some of the Community Ventures Program advisory committee members and attend a meeting.

I was immediately drawn to a familiar blend of mission-driven professionalism – this was a group that wanted to implement best practices of community development lending while seeking to create positive social change through their investments.  With a background in education, non-profit real estate development, and urban planning, I felt like I could contribute to the mission, and be challenged on my practices.  Additionally, I could do this in a Jewish context!  This was novel and spoke to what I previously thought were disparate components of my identity.

On the CVP board, I’m encouraged to bring new ideas to the table- the types of community development projects we consider, new ways to measure our impact, and more ways to create linkages between CVP’s investments and JCUA’s member campaigns and trademark programs.

CVP’s newest loan recipient, VeriGreen, will rehab and preserve these senior affordable housing in Rogers Park. Read more about CVP here.

Recently we approved a loan for an affordable housing development for seniors in Rogers Park, and we are nearing approval of a small business loan for tenant-initiated custodial and contracting business that will work on an affordable housing preservation project.   We have started a preliminary review of a community center that would bring trauma counseling for youth, after school options, and wellness programming, emerging from JCUA’s work on the trauma center campaign!

I am inspired by JCUA this year – our new member initiatives and campaigns, the growth of our teen social justice program (Or Tzedek), and the expansion of CVP’s loan program and recipients.  JCUA staff have their fingers on the pulse of social justice activism in Chicago, JCUA’s board members have amazing narrative arcs on the social justice history of Jewish Chicago, and our members continue to grow in number, innovation, and contribution.  Mostly, I am excited to know that I am a part of an organization where Tikkun Olam is the priority, in a way that builds deeper understanding and lays the foundation for authentic relationships across diverse communities.  The barriers to equity and justice in our city are multifaceted and numerous; fortunately, JCUA provides a conduit to eradicate inequity and usher in a more just Chicago.

A Win for Fair Housing Policy

By Aline Sredni
JCUA Intern 

In the last month, the Supreme Court released some really important decisions. Most people have heard about the court’s views on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and Marriage Equality. However, these were not the only decisions issued. One of the other decisions that didn’t make the forefront of the news was the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. This is an important ruling in the fight for fair housing practices around the country, and we are celebrating it here at JCUA.

The Inclusive Communities Project successfully sued the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for disproportionately allocating federal tax credits to build affordable housing in low-income, minority communities. This decision upholds and strengthens the Fair Housing Act of 1968, by ruling that it is unconstitutional to set housing policies that not only explicitly, but also IMPLICITLY discriminate against a protected minority. In other words, the disparate impact of a potential landlord or housing authority’s decision, if at all racially biased, could be considered unconstitutional.

Municipalities across the U.S. have been sustaining a vicious cycle of segregation and marginalization. Instead of building subsidized housing in racially and economically diverse communities that would potentially give low-income individuals and families greater access to education, jobs and other types of programs, local governments frequently opt to place subsidized housing in poorer neighborhoods. This practice has resulted in generations of segregation and a separation of wealth. This ruling is a powerful reminder to local and state governments that the Fair Housing Act of 1968 does not, in any way, approve the spending of federal housing money in ways that perpetuate and prolong segregation of low-income communities in this country.

JCUA’s Community Ventures Program (CVP), which gives zero-interest loans to developers and community based organizations that help provide affordable housing and economic development, regards this as huge win! We welcome a more leveled field regarding equitable housing access for everyone in Chicago. While only time will tell if this ruling will ultimately help to desegregate neighborhoods, it is a great step in the right direction.

Learn more about JCUA’s Community Ventures Program here.

For more information about this ruling and other housing related news, check out these articles:

• The Atlantic Citylab: “What the Supreme Court’s ‘Disparate Impact’ Decision Means for the Future of Fair Housing”
• The Atlantic Citylab: “Wealth Doesn’t Trickle Down, But the Effects of Housing Discrimination Do”
• Housing Wire: “HUD Announces Final Rule On Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Project”

CVP Loans Are Making An Impact Today

By Sarah Gold
JCUA Manager of Community Building

As part of my ‘initiation’ into my new role leading JCUA’s Community Ventures Program (CVP), I had the opportunity to visit and touch base with each of our current projects. Here is a snapshot of how JCUA’s loan fund is being used to make a difference by supporting three essential affordable housing and economic development projects throughout Chicago.

Breaking Ground – Rehabbing of Foreclosed homes

Current redevelopment two-flat project.

Breaking Ground, Inc. is a community-based organization on the west side of Chicago, which provides leadership development, manufacturing job training, and employment in construction and related fields to residents of Lawndale and Garfield Park. Breaking Ground is working to rehabilitate abandoned and foreclosed homes in West Lawndale, Berwyn, Bellwood, Maywood, and Austin. In 2011, JCUA provided a zero-interest loan of $90,000 to support housing redevelopment work.

Interior under construction.

As of today, Breaking Ground has leveraged the CVP loan and is redeveloping and selling 45 homes as follows:

► Sold – 26 units
► In construction / completed waiting to be sold – 13 units
► Under Contract to acquire – 6 units

JCUA’s loan is enabling Breaking Ground to continually rehab multiple properties at once. I had the opportunity to visit two homes, one under construction and one under contract to be sold. When visiting with Breaking Ground, Josh DeGraff, Director of Housing stated, “Without the much needed help from the JCUA loan keeping our contractors working we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the great things we have done in the Chicagoland affordable housing community during the past few years. We are very thankful for Breaking Ground’s partnership with JCUA.” Learn more about Breaking Ground.

Rosenwald Courts, Recipient of JCUA Community Ventures Loan, Celebrates Groundbreaking

From Left: David Roos, Landwhite Developers LLC, Peter Ascoli, grandson of Julius Rosenwald, and Judy Levey, Exec. Dir. of JCUA

February 18, 2015, marked the long-awaited ground breaking for the redevelopment of the historic Rosenwald Building in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. Gathered together in a small, heated tent at the site, Alderman Pat Dowell emceed the event as long-time community members, the development team and supporters celebrated this momentous occasion.

Through its Community Ventures Program, JCUA provided a zero-interest, pre-development loan of $100,000 in the early stages of the project. JCUA invested in this project at a time when others would not, in part because of a longstanding feeling of connection to the neighborhood. As Julius Rosenwald, the original developer, once was inspired to invest in supporting and creating quality affordable housing and vibrant retail, so too was JCUA when approached by the new developer, Landwhite, in 2012. To learn more about the project, visit JCUA’s earlier blog post.

Once complete, the newly renovated Rosenwald Apartments will have 239 one and two-bedroom units of senior and family affordable housing, two-acres of usable courtyard green space, as well as 40,000 square feet of retail and office space along 47th Street. This development will serve as a major catalyst for other redevelopment opportunities throughout Bronzeville and JCUA is proud to be a part of making this project possible. This once iconic, bustling hot spot in Bronzeville is finally getting the much needed attention it deserves to revive this community anchor, as it was in its glory days.

JCUA Executive Director, Judy Levey, JCUA Manager of Community Building, Sarah Gold, and Community Ventures Program Advisory Council member Ralph Brown attended the event, along with long-time JCUA supporter Peter Ascoli.

JCUA salutes the late community activist and friend Bobbie Johnson, whose tireless work to save the Rosenwald is no longer just a dream.

‘Thank You for Making Mayfair Commons a Priority for JCUA’

A pre-development loan of $100,000 from JCUA’s Community Ventures Program will help support the redevelopment of Mayfair Commons in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago.

By Judy Levey
JCUA Executive Director

“Preserving housing stock.” It’s a phrase that sounds official and impersonal. Occasionally, though, we are reminded that there are human stories behind the bureaucratic language.

After reading our recent update on JCUA’s financial involvement in a redevelopment project, Rev. C. J. Hawking, executive director of Arise Chicago, sent me this note:

Judy,

I am writing to thank JCUA for your support of the Mayfair Commons [a 97-unit senior citizen residence at 4444 W. Lawrence in Chicago].

Back in 1997, I was the pastor of Mayfair United Methodist Church and our church leader, Jean Chapman, who had worked hard all of her life, did not have a decent home to which she could retire. Jean was an amazing, dynamic leader and I admired her very much.

Rev. C.J. Hawking, Arise Chicago

When the Mayfair Commons opened, we were all so excited. I wrote a letter of recommendation for Jean and met with the managers. She was the perfect candidate for them and they soon discovered that to be the case.

Jean moved in and a large number of us went there to celebrate with her! It was a perfect place for her and she so deserved to live in such a nice place. I visited her there many more times and I just loved the place! We need 300 more like them in the city.

A few years later Jean died of a sudden heart attack. I think about her a lot and what a special woman she was to me and so many others.

I am so grateful that she had Mayfair Commons as her home base.

So, thank you for stepping up and making Mayfair Commons a priority for JCUA. I am so very moved that you would help folks there feeling cared for and safe.

Be well, CJ

JCUA September Newsletter

Read the JCUA September newsletter here.

In the September issue of the JCUA newsletter…

• Cantors to sing for expanded trauma care.
• JCUA invests in senior citizen housing.
• Membership meetings build toward selection of issues.
• JCUA stands with the striking employees of Golan’s moving.
• Nate Seeskin joins JCUA as AVODAH organizing fellow.

► Read it now!

JCUA August Newsletter

JCUA’s latest newsletter is now online here.

In the August issue of the JCUA newsletter…

• Mimi Harris makes the news
• JCUA members focus on leadership…and change
• Deborah Goldberg to lead Or Tzedek
• Rebecca Katz reflects on three years as JCUA’s director of teen programs
• JCUA supports affordable housing in Albany Park
• Vigil and coffeeshop discussion at Broadview

► Read it now!

Green ReEntry Project is Completed on the Southwest Side

The marching band from Fairfield Elementary, across the street from the house on Fairfield, enhances the celebration (more photos).

City housing advocates are celebrating the completion of an unusual housing project on Chicago’s Southwest Side.

On April 28, JCUA joined city and foundation officials and others to celebrate the Inner City-Muslim Action Network’s ribbon cutting on 6210 S. Fairfield. The house, which was the second project completed by the Green ReEntry crew, was the culmination of tremendous efforts of an unconventional idea that went far beyond the confines of a typical bricks and mortar project.

The Green ReEntry crew is made up of formerly incarcerated individuals who are reclaiming their lives through leadership training, community engagement, and learning construction skills (learn more about Green ReEntry).

“We would never have been able to acquire this home if community partners and organizers from the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Southwest Organizing Project and others across the city didn’t come together three years ago through the Multifaith Housing Reclamation Campaign to help us mobilize with our local leaders around this home,” said IMAN’s Alia Bilal who served as emcee that morning.

Community Development Projects Supported by JCUA Receive Driehaus Foundation Awards

By Judy Levey
JCUA Executive Director

At an event known as the Oscars of community development in Chicago, two projects supported by JCUA won awards last week.

It was the 20th anniversary of the annual Community and Neighborhood Development Awards. Ten projects received awards acknowledging significant real estate developments, architecture, community organizing and individual achievements in a variety of areas. 

Two of the projects were supported, in part, by zero-interest loans from JCUA’s Community Ventures Program. Landon Bone Baker Architects was the award-winning firm in both cases. Both of these projects won Richard H. Driehaus Foundation awards for architectural excellence.  

Gracie’s Café

Last year, JCUA assisted St. Leonard’s Ministries on the start-up of Gracie’s Café, a component of Harvest Commons which provides job training to formerly incarcerated people living in the building.  The café, located at 1517 W. Warren Blvd., is now operating and adds to the vibrancy of the development and neighborhood.

Community Development that Transforms Houses into Homes

by Beth Filipiak
JCUA Intern, Community Development

What really makes a house a home? Is it the flooring, or the façade? The paint colors or the appliances? Or rather is it the opportunity to actually call a place your own – a place for you and your family to live, to grow and to engage the community? To build that community spirit and connection, to know that this house, and the community, are yours.

Ownership is important, and that is the philosophy guiding the Breaking Ground organization as they continue to rehabilitate houses in neighborhoods like North Lawndale, Hermosa and Austin. They then sell them at below market rates, assist buyers in receiving additional government subsidies, and provide a one year guarantee on all of their construction work.

They see their work as part of a long term strategy of not only building homes, but also of building lives and the communities around them. Because of the care and dedication they put forward in their work, many of the homeowners maintain their relationship with Breaking Ground, knowing that this organization is also part of their community.

Taking a recent tour of the project were (photo at upper left) Ralph Brown, Kaitlyn Wiedeman, David Midgely, Roberta Nechin, Josh DeGraff, Zachary Braun and Judy Levey. Wiedeman and DeGraff are with Breaking Ground. Brown, Midgely, Nechin and Braun are JCUA leaders. Levey is JCUA’s executive director.

As a 2010 recipient of a zero-interest loan from JCUA’s Community Ventures Program, Breaking Ground is part of the JCUA community. Hence, members of the Community Ventures Program Advisory Committee went to the North Lawndale community to see the results of their dedication first hand.

The committee learned that this particular grey stone house was scheduled for demolition before Breaking Ground was able to take over. It had been vacant, unsecured, and needed major infrastructure updates.

Now, the original hardwood floors have been beautifully rehabbed, the walls painted, the bathroom tiled, the kitchen cabinets and counters redone and all major systems are more than up to code. Standing there in the house, it was difficult to imagine that it had ever been considered for demolition. Yet without Breaking Ground, it would have most likely been a vacant lot. Instead, the Breaking Ground staff are putting the finishing touches into a future home for a family that would not have been able to live there otherwise, and the neighborhood will have another family with a place to call home.

Home ownership is a dream for too many people. There are too many people in Chicago who need a place to live. As of January 2013, the Chicago Housing Authority had a wait list with more than 85,000 people, while they still have over 2,000 empty (“offline”) units. A July 2013 study estimated that 116,042 Chicagoans were homeless in the 2012-2013 school year, a 10% increase from the previous year.

Affordable housing continues to be a great need, and may seem overwhelming at times, yet JCUA continues to work toward a more affordable Chicago. To learn more about JCUA’s Community Ventures Program, click here.