LIFEWTR® Spotlights and Uplifts Black Creatives

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PRNewsFoto

 LIFEWTR® Spotlights and Uplifts Black Creatives

Quilen Blackwell’s journey took him from Madison, Wis. to Thailand to Milwaukee and finally to Chicago, where he founded an organization that takes vacant lots, turns them into solar
farms that grow flowers. The flowers Chicago Eco House grows provide an economic solution for poverty where the farms are located.

While Blackwell was attending University of Wisconsin in Madison, he started hearing about the Peace Corps. He was placed in Thailand and he helped rural farmers form a co-op. He saw people helping out each other and being responsible for others. It was also where he saw agriculture benefit rural communities.

Blackwell went to Milwaukee to work as a community organizer. Then, he went to ministry school and volunteered as a tutor at Team Englewood High School. Blackwell interacted with the students and their parents while he was tutoring. One of the things the young people expressed was a need for employment, within their community. That led him to found Chicago Eco House in 2014.

The mission of Chicago Eco House is to use sustainability to alleviate inner city poverty. Chicago Eco House has 10 acres of farmland throughout the city in Englewood, West Woodlawn,
West Garfield Park, Washington Park. It has been able to provide jobs for young people. Last year, it opened a farm in Gary, and they just got a site on Cook County Jail’s campus. They are looking to expand outside of Chicago and Illinois. Chicago Eco House also has opened a flower shop, Southside Blooms, on 63rd and Morgan.

For more information about Chicago Eco House, visit
www.chicagoecohouse.org.

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