February 16, 2022
Chicago Eco House was founded by Quilen Blackwell as a way to provide employment opportunities for young people on the South and West sides by turning vacant lots into farms that produce flowers. Photo provided by Quilen Blackwell.
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The Chicago Eco House Founder creates agrarian society from vacant lots
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 and 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.