Lawndale Christian Development Corporation Makes An Impact On North Lawndale Community

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation was founded in 1987, with the mission to work with the community to eliminate health and wealth disparities in North Lawndale. Photo provided by Deborah Farmer.
Lawndale Christian Development Corporation was founded in 1987, with the mission to work with the community to eliminate health and wealth disparities in North Lawndale. Photo provided by Deborah Farmer.

 Lawndale Christian Development Corporation Makes An Impact On North Lawndale Community

By Tia Carol Jones

The Lawndale Christian Development Corporation continues its legacy to envision a community with affordable housing, cooperative businesses and homeowners.

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation was established in 1987 by the Lawndale Christian Community Church. The organization was founded to fulfill the call of Micah 6:8, which includes a call to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

“What that means for us is to work with the community to eliminate health and wealth disparities in North Lawndale,” said Whittney Smith, Deputy Director of Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, who has been with the organization for about eight years.

The Lawndale Christian Development Corporation eliminates health and wealth disparities in the community through developing and managing affordable and mixed-use housing, creating homeownership opportunities for working families and creating co-operative businesses. Smith said all of it is rooted in a mission to uplift the community and the desire of the people who are part of the organization, who are also part of the community, to bring resources to the community. The goal is that the collective vision the organization has for the neighborhood is realized.

Smith said it is important when it comes to the organizing work, that people know everything it does is done with the neighbors and families that live in North Lawndale. It is the strongest way the organization engages with the community. It is all about individual connections. There is an organizer on staff who hosts weekly meetings with people who are interested in working with the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation. During those meetings people can talk about their interests, what the organization is working on and how both parties can align their interests.

“We are always looking to connect with more and more residents to talk through the collective vision for the community,” Smith said.

Because of the work the organization has been doing to engage residents in the collective vision for the community, it has grown the North Lawndale Homeowners Association. There are 250 people in the organization and it is made of people who live in North Lawndale and are part of other Homeowners Associations. That collective has been able to band together and get the city of Chicago to put $2.2 million in the Chicago Public Library at Homan and 13th. It also has been able to get land for new single family homes in North Lawndale, which is part of the organization’s mission to build 1,000 single family homes in the community.

Smith said people power has made all of the things they have accomplished powerful. He added, “the only thing that overcomes organized money is organized people.”

“North Lawndale is a disinvested community, so we really have to be diligent about banding together so that we are organized people, so we can get the resources that we are due and that the neighborhood so sorely needs,” she said.

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation will host an event, “Lawndale United,” which will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, March 15th, at the Sinai Community Institute, located at 2653 W. Ogden Ave,

The aim of the event is to re-introduce people to the organization’s commitment to fostering development from within. People will be able to come into an interactive environment and will have the opportunity to ask questions and connect with other residents of North Lawndale.

Smith said in order to ensure the businesses that come into the community make a positive impact in the community is to grow homegrown businesses. The organization is doing this through a co-op incubator that is developing businesses with North Lawndale residents. The organization is working with Lifting Lawndale, the first registered Limited Worker Coop Association (LWCA) in North Lawndale.

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation has a homebuyer education course that educates people on the process of becoming a homeowner. There is also a financial coach to help people repair and improve their credit while they are on the path to homeownership. The organization has built and sold 20 homes in the last year and looking to build and sell more homes within this year.

For more information about Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, visit www.lcdc.net.

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