New Capital Grant Program Seeks to Empower Communities

Ja’Net Defell is the is the President and CEO of Community Desk Chicago. Photo provided by Rudd Resources.
Ja’Net Defell is the is the President and CEO of Community Desk Chicago. Photo provided by Rudd Resources.

New Capital Grant Program Seeks to Empower Communities

By Tia Carol Jones

A new program seeks to provide capital grants to low and moderate-income neighborhoods in Chicago so that they can have more economic control. The Wealth Our Way (W.O.W.) program will provide funding for projects that will empower residents to create shared-ownership models.

Ja’Net Defell is the President and CEO of Community Desk Chicago, which was launched in March 2023. Prior to that, it incubated at the Chicago Community Trust on the basis of research that was conducted around challenges communities faced while in the process of developing real estate projects in an effort to revitalize their neighborhoods.

The Community Desk Chicago helps projects navigate access to funding for development projects, access resources for technical assistance and what’s happening on the ground in the communities as it relates to economic development.

“It really is about supporting community centered, community driven development projects,” Defell said. She added that the reason why Community Desk Chicago launched as a separate entity was because it wanted to go deeper into neighborhoods, helping projects navigate the development space and support projects through structured programs.

Defell said the mission of Community Desk Chicago is to shift power dynamics and to support communities in building their economic prosperity – wanting those communities to control their assets, improve their quality of life through local ownership, and create paths to create community wealth building.

The Wealth Our Way (W.O.W.) program is a continuation of the work that the Community Desk Chicago has been doing. The program will provide direct capital to workers, cooperatives, people owning businesses and storefronts; and Community Investment Vehicles (CIVs), for example, a mixed-use property where residents co-invest in it.

The program will offer up to $500,000 in funding per project, covering up to 75% of total real estate development costs. Defell estimates the $4.1 million, which was seeded through the City of Chicago, can support up to 10 projects. She said the money will vary based on what funding needs exist. Those who receive the grant will also receive robust technical assistance, business coaching, and access to financial tools and networks for 15 months to16 months.

Defell said that with W.O.W., the Community Desk Chicago said it would leverage the city’s money two to three times. She said depending on how the projects show up and what the funding gaps are, the Community Desk Chicago will be working with the project to get additional funding through its philanthropic partners and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) partners. Defell gave the example of Community Desk Chicago’s Neighborhood Developers Initiative, a $3 million program that focused on capacity building and neighborhood based real estate development in South Shore, Englewood and Humboldt Park. She said they started with $3 million and are on track to leverage that to bring in at least a $20 million investment into those neighborhoods.

Defell said the funding benefits the recipients and the communities where they place their projects because reactivation of once blighted buildings can result in property values increasing. She said it is really a tool to shift power dynamics in neighborhoods and change how people are impacted by the assets that are in their neighborhoods.

“We also really believe that this could be the future for community development. So, it’s no longer a passive approach of residents waiting for developers to come into their neighborhoods to do development,” she said. “We’re really hoping that Wealth Our Way is providing a path and structure for residents to directly own and take control of the economic and community development in their neighborhood.”

There is a two-step process to confirm that the project is a commercial shared ownership model. Another important component is an informational session applicants must review to understand the requirements of the programs. The deadline for applications is July 31st with an anticipated awardee announcement in September. For more information about the https://communitydeskchicago.org/wealth-our-way.


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