Transforming Neighborhoods

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by Lesley R. Chinn

Building and strengthening communities takes a block-by-block effort and Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) knows its not an easy job.

NHS executive director Bruce Gottschall, who will retire from the 35- year-old agency in December, has been at the helm from the beginning to see that neighborhoods such as North Pullman, North Lawndale, Roseland, and Auburn Gresham, slowly come back to life.

Some of the properties include rehabbing a three-story historic North Pullman property after years of abandonment. Through the Neighborhood Historic Trust, NHS was able to get financing from the Neighborhood Historic Trust in restoring the property.

Just a mile away, Roseland has seen new growth with new 17 affordable, homes near 105th Street between Michigan and Edbrooke. Rental construction properties built nearby and a senior housing facility are other projects NHS has worked on. Changes like these, can make a world of difference, Gottschall said. People were afraid to walk down the street, but those developments helped change the [area] completely, he said.

Change occurred in Auburn-Gresham when two vacant bungalow homes on 78th and Throop were rehabbed after they were purchased by NHS and sold to homeowners. NHS worked with the city to obtain grants anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 for extra improvements for residents to get new windows and other rehab work performed. Another vacant property in North Lawndale was rehabbed through the assistance of NHS. NHS helps people get into ownership and get involved in their neighborhood. Blocks where people are working togetherwe find that it has a positive effect on keeping neighborhoods together, even if there are some foreclosures, Gottschall stated.

A key to NHS success under Gottschalls leadership was through the First $100 Million Loan Pool. Created in 2002 by the former Chicago Department of Housing (now the Department of Community Development), this neighborhood lending program was comprised of funds which came from 26 different banks. Additional funding sources included the City of Chicago which helped low-to-moderate income borrowers become homeowners, fix up their property or keep their homes. Just this past April, more than $110 million came from 19 different banks, Gottschall recalled, adding that it makes it easier for individuals to get a loan.

As the neighborhoods saw improvement, opportunities to build banks in the community began to increase with the additions of Seaway Bank and Trust in Roseland, and Fifth Third Bank in Auburn Gresham, just to name a few. For many years, lenders werent willing to lend to these communities, Gottschall said. A lot of the neighborhoods have shown lots of improvement and people are [beginning to see] a bright future. Its not a process that happens overnight, but if things happen one-by-one, building on things [block-by-block] can make a difference, he said.

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