And, um, I want to welcome everyone to the January meeting
of the Committee on Housing on Real Estate
of the City of Chicago.
The time is 1242.
And, um, today we have 10 items on the agenda.
We'll start with roll call to establish quorum.
Vice Chair Mitchell, vice Chair Mitchell,
president Alderman Ra present,
Al Alderman Robinson.
Present, um, alderman Queen
Alderman Queen President Alderman Moore.
Present, uh, Al Woman Scott Alderman.
Scott President Alden P Fuentes. Alderman Burnett.
Present, um, Aldi Woman Ro Rodriguez Sanchez.
Present, s uh, al m
wo meets present.
Um, Aldi Women Clay Present.
Aldi Women m Haworth Present. And Aldi wo Head, Manhattan.
So we got 13 members, including the chair,
which establishes quorum.
Um, we have the first item,
a Rule 59 request from all the person, uh, Harris Taylor
Anaba to participate remotely.
So moved by all the person, Rosana Rodriguez, Sanchez,
all those, all those in favor say aye.
All those opposing nay in the opinion of the chair.
The ayes have all the persons, we have all the person,
tab, tab online.
I, we also also have alderman, uh, Mosley, uh,
as a nonmember, so will recognize Alderman Mosley
as a nonmember, and we'll wait for the other members
so they can join us as they come.
Uh, alderman, we also add Alderman BGAs to the quorum,
so that makes 40 members.
Thank you Alderman BGAs. We have 10 speakers here today.
Um, each speaker will be given three minutes
to speak on all items on the agenda.
Uh, first, um,
first speaker is Antonio Ward from Blocks Together.
And thank you and welcome.
Think I come to the front. Thank you.
Hello everyone. Hello. Committee.
Um, kinda called me off guard calling me
first, but I'm ready.
My name is Antonio Ward.
I'm a lifelong resident
of West Humboldt Park in the 27th Ward.
I'm here to speak in strong, supportive blocks together,
acquiring the vacant space at 37 13 15 West Chicago Avenue.
I have watched my community change over the years, sometimes
for the better, often at the expense
of the people who actually live here.
In that time, one constant has been blocks together.
I have known and worked alongside blocks
together for over 10 years.
Uh, I come along to blocks together during the time where,
um, the participatory budget was,
um, in effect.
And actually it was the only time
that it's been used, the Tiffon.
So that's what brought me along to bring, you know, to get
with blocks together, um,
blocks together has proven their value
and their commitment to this community.
Blocks together just doesn't talk about community impact.
We actually show it through our actions, a 37 13 15 site.
Uh, we have directly confronted hunger
by distributing real food
and vegetables to residents in need
during the height of the pandemic.
When families were isolated
and students were denied important milestones, we stepped up
and we hosted graduation ceremonies for young people who
otherwise would have not had one.
And that matters in my community.
Uh, this is what community infrastructure look like.
This space has already been serving the community,
even without formal ownership.
Allowing us to, to together officially
acquired would not change our mission and our community.
It would only strengthen it by saying yes.
Uh, to this request.
The vacant lots at 37 fifth 13, uh,
15 West Chicago Avenue will be transformed into a plaza,
a safe, intentional space where residents can gather,
connect, and rebuild a sense of pride
and ownership in our neighborhood.
This will be a place
where our community finds itself rather than being
defined by outside forces.
I also want to acknowledge
and thank our former alderman Walter Burnett Jr.
For recognizing that blocks together has been monitoring,
occupying, and also taking accountability for the space,
the responsibility we've been taking it
on and holding it down.
Um, the recogni, the, the recognition matters
and reflects the trust that has already been earned.
Um, I strongly urge, I strongly urge, uh,
the committee to please to please approve this acquisition.
We've been fighting. We've
been fighting, we've been fighting.
Please, uh, saying yes.
It's not just approving the land use,
it's investing into the people, the stability
and a positive future for West Humboldt Park.
And thank you. Thank you again for your time.
Thank you. Right on time. Next, um, Mr.
Ge George Blakemore.
Good afternoon. Now I'm gonna watch my, my minutes
and see how, how quick they go.
Several years ago, I went to a community meeting. Ms.
Megan over there say, we don't have dollar lots.
We don't have dollar.
And I'm, I'm reading that these dollar lots now,
uh, over and Monique Ward, uh, honorable
Ultimate Monique said she has 3000 vacant lots,
abandoned buildings.
All the development is coming in,
the black wards, the black wards.
But they, the black people are gone.
They, I got on this 12th three bus going west and,
and empty lots.
Well, who's going develop these lots? These white folks?
The, the who's going to work when they build these illegals?
Well, well, what's left for the black men?
These LLCs or, uh,
or who owns this property, the development,
they have gentrified us out of this city,
out of it because they don't have vacant lots in these
white wards, and they don't have a lot
of these vacant locks in these Mexican ward.
So why are these vacant?
Lock in these black wards, but the black people are gone.
Some of our people voted for sanctuary
to bring another people in to displace us.
So that's why it's very important for me to come up
and tell you exactly what I think about you,
you so-called black leadership, no leadership who's going
to work and develop this property, this land.
And when the unions come, they not going
to even hire black people.
They going hire illegal immigrants.
But same, they have the legal group of union workers,
and then they have the illegal group.
So it's, uh, it's very upsetting to me.
It's very upsetting to me.
And it should be upsetting to you black people, to,
to just know that the game been played on you,
because you're not going to come back.
You don't have the number, you don't have the number.
So you won't be able to develop nothing.
You'll being gentrified out of the city of Chicago.
Poor black leadership, black faces in high faces
standing feet not long ago.
You, you'll lose us. Y'all lose us.
Did you hear me Real loud and clear.
Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next we have Lee Daniel.
Thank you. Ah,
Let me take a minute here.
Get myself together. Uh, well, I'm here to speak about the,
the land at 37 17
and 37 13 West Chicago Avenue.
Um, like I, like you said, my name is Lee Daniels.
I've been in the 27th Ward for, uh,
more than 50 years.
And, uh, keeping it real, I have been
seeing my, uh, community go from good
to bad in so many ways.
But for the last few years, the neighborhood has been
somewhat promising, especially
with programs like Blocks Together.
Uh, the first time I heard of Blocks Together, I, uh,
was walking down the street and I met two young ladies, Ms.
Catalina and Ms. Lowe.
They, uh, came to me
and said that they was looking for participants
and volunteers for their program.
And a few months later, I actually seen a couple
of flyers with Block Together on it.
And they had a full kids program of
what they wanted to start, start doing.
And, um, they also had started doing block clubs
on our blocks where they would have two
or three blocks together
and have, uh, food fun games for the kids.
So, uh, now they're trying to get this lot
and it's a fuel, a, a,
a full community participation with them getting a lot
because they came to us on the blocks.
Now we want to go to them.
So I, I hope and pray that they can
get this lot with you guys.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
And next we have, uh, Yolanda Mills. Yolanda Mills.
Thank you.
Hello, everyone. My name's Yolanda Mills. I'm a resident.
Hi. Hello. Hello everybody. My name's Yolanda Mills.
I'm a resident of Humbolt Park, the West Humbolt Park.
I am, I am here today
because I believe that Blanc Gut should helped a lot at
37 13 and 37 15 West Chicago Avenue.
This lot had become a safe space for our community.
It had been used for graduation, food giveaway,
wellness event, and Healing Gathering.
There's just, they not just a program, the moment
where people feel special, supported
and seen as the co coordinator at
Blocks Together, the Village Keeper.
We had used this lot to train resident
and trauma respond care,
and sexual har sexual Awareness
and wellness event, the kind of work
that saved lives blocks together, care for this lot.
It was before blocks Together care for this lot.
It was not safe. Now it's a place
where people can come together instead
of being pushed away at the time when our
neighborhood are being forced.
This placement, this, this space matter, blocks
of gutter have earned this lot through they hard work
and impact.
I really ask, I really respect
and ask that you support them in keeping this
lot in our community.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. Uh, would like to recognize Ali Mendo
for the purpose of the Quorum.
Um, next we have, um, Michael Mitchell. Is it Michael?
S Yeah.
Thank you. I'm gonna be very, very brief. I'm very,
One second so they can fix your mic. This
Is the, uh, the Emmett Till Vacant Lot, uh,
acquisition next to the Emmett Till Museum.
Uh, part of the city's, uh, uh, uh, lot transfer program.
Uh, I'm in support of the, uh, transfer.
Uh, this is a, uh, uh, a multi-phase development,
including the, the, uh, the, the total, um,
redevelopment of the Emmett Till Museum.
Everyone, of course, know who's who Emmett Till was, uh,
a martyr and a, um, um, a civil rights icon.
Blacks and Green has been redeveloping the, the building.
And we acquired, uh,
a lot immediately adjacent to the building.
And the city lot is adjacent to that.
And we plan to do, uh, um, some great things on those lots.
And so, uh, I'm just, uh, just in favor of the entire effort
and also I'm leading the construction efforts.
So that's why I'm speaking on behalf of the project.
My colleagues wanna speak more about some of the, um,
historical, uh, importance
and, uh, some of the things that we've been
doing, uh, there. So that's,
That's, thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Mitchell.
Next we have John Michael Johnson.
Uh, good afternoon, uh, honorable members of the council.
Uh, my name is John Michael Johnson.
I'm representing, uh, project Ion 2000
and the Ion Manor, uh, one LLC, which is developing,
uh, the projects, uh, for the missing middle lots.
And we seek your approval in reference
to the transfer of those lots.
So again, we want to be brief, uh, and to the point
and ask for your support in the development
as we collaborate with our partners, uh,
to make an effective change in the community. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Um, next we have Gonzalo Benegas.
Hello, everybody. My name is Gonzalo.
Uh, I'm born and raised in Chicago.
Uh, I'm a teaching artist that's had the opportunity to, uh,
travel throughout the US and internationally extensively,
and been able to participate in a number
of community development projects based
around arts and young people.
Um, I'm here today to stand in support, uh, blocks together
as Petition for the Land at 37 33, 37 17
West Chicago Avenue.
Um, I don't work at Blocks together,
but blocks together is my political home.
And when I say, uh, my political home, it's
because I've had the opportunity to see a lot
of different models of nonprofit work throughout my career.
And a lot of times you see, uh,
that the nonprofit world is a way to scam a lot of money
and poverty, pimp and make money off of, uh,
our community's struggles.
Um, and blocks Together represents the opposite.
What I've learned and volunteering blocks together,
what I've learned and observing their work
with young people, uh,
with formerly incarcerated people in the community, is that
it's about self-empowerment and self-determination.
And we don't often see that in a lot
of different community organizations.
Um, we've seen them clean up this lot, this lot
that was literally littered, you know, with,
with we Littered with Drugs, uh,
and been able to clean it up, um,
and been able to use it for community gatherings, been able
to use it for, uh, alternative school graduations, been able
to use it for, uh, cultural gatherings, been able to use it
for peace circles.
Um, and so what I've, I've learned, I've contributed,
but more than anything, I'm blessed
to have learned from the work that
that's being done at Blocks Together, um, as it stands out,
um, in a world where too often, um, people take advantage
of these opportunities, um, where we can get funding
for our community.
Um, at the same time where we have, you know, volunteers,
we have people from the neighborhood that come and help out.
We have every, everywhere from, from young people to elders,
uh, to construction workers that come
and support the work, uh, at blocks together and continue
and have committed to support the work
and the development, uh, of the lot at 37 13, 37 17, uh,
west Chicago at the same time.
Um, that community support brought together also has, uh,
very big institutional presence.
Uh, they are, uh, in two different schools in the area,
which means that there's support from parents, teachers, um,
different people administrating in the school.
And so there is institutional support.
There is a, a commitment from a contractor that is committed
to contributing to the work as well at a lower price,
believing in this mission.
So we hope that you all, uh, support this project
and able to grant this land to blossom together.
Thank you
Much. Next we
have Kevin Smallwood. Kevin,
Hello everyone.
My name's Kevin Smallwood.
I'm a lone life town.
I'm lone life resident community.
I've been, I'm here supporting blocks together
to purchase this lot.
I've been here involved in blocks together
for over 10 years.
First, as a village keeper, many peoples went
away a period of time
and I returned to blocks together there
for found support, stability,
and when I needed the most, I supported
them rebuilding life and today
and proud to be a team member builder,
and always help blocks, help building tables,
help building tables, stages lots
on the lots, turning into spaces where people
can come, gather and heal and celebrate.
This is just a piece of land to me.
It's a piece of
a second chance and a community, proud
and hardship and work together.
I have earned the right to purchase this lot
beside because investing in people
like me is investing in back into the community.
I strongly urge y'all to support blacks together to
purchase this lot and continue serving the neighborhood
and generations to come. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Next we have David Jonu.
Good afternoon. My name is, uh, David Yak.
I'm the director of Green Infrastructure with Blacks
and Green, and a colleague of, uh, Mike Mitchell.
Spoke, uh, just a minute ago.
And, uh, we're both here representing the acquisition
of 64 21 South St.
Lawrence. And as Mike already explained, our, uh, intent is
to have it be part of the Arrival Garden
for the future Till House Museum, uh, blacks
and Green was, um, blessed to be able to acquire the house,
uh, about three years ago
and secured Chicago Landmark status
and has since been, uh, renovating
and restoring the exterior, which is nearly complete.
And we're now in planning for the, uh, uh, for the,
for the Interior Museum.
And, and a key part of this particular parcel is to be able
to provide full, accessible, uh, access to, uh,
to the House Museum when it is completed.
And our plans right now are to, uh, to finish off the lot
and to, uh, uh, to just, uh, install, uh, lawn
and then have a, a small rain garden
to address some drainage problems.
So we've been maintaining the lot since we acquired the
home, uh, several years ago,
and, uh, are looking forward to be able
to make those improvements as soon as we're able to,
to complete the acquisition.
And Mike, Mike and I are both here to answer any, uh,
other questions that the committee may
have or, or the audience.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. And sorry I butcher your last name.
Um, next we have, uh, Carolina gte.
Um, good, good afternoon.
I'm Carolina gte, the Executive Director of Blocks Together.
Um, you've heard from most of our members
and staff, so I won't repeat the same.
But, um, as a proud, um, member of staff
of Blocks together, somebody
that has been working in solidarity, uh, with the west side
of Chicago for over 20 years.
Um, the purchase, uh, of this lot
or represents more than just, um, purchasing a piece
of land, as you've heard from many of our members
and people that have been invested, um, in this lot.
It is a place where people have come together, um, in a time
where they're being pushed out, saying
that their voice in the, in developing Chicago Avenue,
which is rapidly being displaced, as we know
as the casino comes, we become more of an obstacle, um,
in their way of developing Chicago Avenue.
So this fight, um, we've had to fight for the lot
and make sure that we were able
to keep this community control over this lot,
which has meant so, so much to so many people.
It hasn't been blocked together that says, oh,
this is a good lot, let's get it.
It was because of the community coming together
and saying, we need a space.
So many of our families are leaving when we come back.
This feels like home. This is a space
where they've learned about, um, the processes in the city,
how to obtain land, what is necessary, um, to,
to have one development.
So it's also been a, a tool to increase capacity
and knowledge in our community, um, when we, uh, screaming
that we need our voices, um, involved
and part of this development,
but it's also important that our people are also aware
of the processes and the policies that it takes
to obtain these properties, right?
So, um, I think a lot has been said already.
This has been a, a, a space that's been controlled
and there is community ownership.
Um, people need to know more blocks together.
Um, it is really one of those organizations that is rooted
and guided, um, through community knowledge.
Um, as the executive director, I'm a servant
and not want to come and dictate, um,
but rather, um, be available
and make sure that the people that are directly impacted
have the tools and the resources to lead in the fight.
So, um, approving the purchase of this lot, um,
is more than just, here's a sale,
but it's really, uh, supporting community control
development, uh, community voices
and shaping what comes in, uh, to our community.
And a space where, uh, youth elders come together,
um, to really work through, to, uh, reinforce
and reinforce and state
and say, we're here and we're not leaving.
Um, we may be an obstacle to you,
but our voices are gonna be heard.
Nobody is silent.
We creating voice, we're creating spaces
for the voiceless to be heard.
Thank you.
Thank you so much. This concludes, um,
the in-person part of it.
The committee also received one written public comment
that speaks to the subject matter hearing later on today.
That's our last item. Uh, written comments were emailed
and included in your packets today.
Thank you so much for everybody who came
and participated during public comment.
Uh, our first order of business is the Rule for excuse
Chairman. Hi,
Alman Harris just wants to let you know she's here.
Oh, thank you. We also like
to recognize al the Women Harris, for the purpose
of the, uh, quorum.
We received your rule, uh, 59 request.
Thank you Alderwoman Harris.
Um, going back on the first business, uh, fi,
first order business, the Rule 45 report from December 3rd,
which was email and handed out
to committee members gonna get a motion to approve design.
So move Alman, ada. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed na in
opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The Rule 45 report has been approved.
Now we will move on on the items before the committee item.
Uh, number one is ordinance 2025 dash 0 0 25 18.
Second Amendment to right of entry use agreement
with Columbia Yatch Club for renewed access
to city owned parking lot located under the northbound lanes
of South SVO Lake Sho Lake Shore Drive, north
or East Randolph Street.
In the 42nd Ward, Mary Solis is here for the Department
of Fleet and Facility Management
to testify on behalf of this ordinance.
Thank you. Merit.
Thank you chairman, and good afternoon.
Uh, members of the committee for the record,
my name is Mari Solis.
On behalf of the Department of Fleet
and Facility Management,
the department is requesting authorization
to extend the current right of entry agreement
with Columbia Yacht Club for the use
of the city owned parking lot,
located under the northbound lanes
of De Sabel Lake Shore Drive, immediately north
of Randolph Street.
The city of Chicago entered into a lease agreement
with the Columbia Yacht Club on September 18th, 2006
for the use of this, uh, parking lot
and have occupied, uh, since, uh, with us today.
Here is their treasurer, Alan Blum
and, uh, rear Commodore David Barrick, who are also prepared
to respond to any questions specific to their organization.
Um, and the parking lot is located in the 42nd Ward.
And we do have a letter of support from Alderman Riley.
This proposed extension would give the Columbia Yacht Club
access to parking amenities near
their ship on Lake Michigan.
The entire, um, city Lot consists
of approximately 16,320, uh, square feet,
of which 8,160 square feet, um,
is being utilized by the Columbia Yacht Club.
And the remaining is in municipal use
by the Chicago Fire Department
to accommodate their operations
at the Chicago Safety Stations Marine Unit,
which is located nearby.
The proposed use fee would be
for $26,683
and 56 cents for the entire year, which is the duration
of the proposed, um, extension.
And I'm requesting your most favorable consideration in the
renewal of this right of entry.
And that concludes my presentation, um, on this item.
Thank you chairman, and I have, um,
happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. Uh, any questions from committee
members? Ultimate Cassela.
Thank you. Uh, was there any change of the rate of rental?
Like what was the cost before
and compared to the costs today?
It, it has stayed the same since last year.
It was initially when we did the right of entry renewal, um,
last year, it did increase, um,
because it hadn't increased for quite some time.
So we brought it to modern day numbers and, um,
and the rate has stayed the same.
The goal is to enter into a long-term lease agreement.
Um, this right of entry will kind
of hold us over in interim. Okay.
Thank you. Mm-hmm. Any other questions?
No, all the women, uh, Taylor is not here,
but last time she had some, some questions about this item.
Was that information that she requested had been, uh,
submitted to her office?
Yes, it was submitted and, um,
and I believe she was, um, she was okay with the responses.
Thank you very much. Are there any additional questions?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move? So, move Al, admit.
All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed a nay in the opinion of the chair?
The do, um, the Dupa recommendation will be reported out
and the next city council meeting on January 21st, 2026.
The ayes have it. Um,
Thanks so much. The
remaining voting items on the agenda are from the
Department of Planning
and Development, beginning with this land sales through
DPDs, missing middle infield initiative.
Item number two is Ordinance 20 25 0 0, 21 6 8 6.
Sale of city owned property at 5 1 4 5, uh,
5 14 5 1 5 0 4, 5 0 6,
and 5 0 8 West 81st Street to s Manor,
LLC in the sixth Ward.
Brandon, a Johnson from the Department of Planning
and Development is here to present on this item.
Thank you, Brandon.
Good afternoon, uh, chairman Ci Lopez,
all members of the committee.
My name is Brandon A. Johnson.
I'm a city planner for the southeast region
of the Department of Planning Development.
I'm here today seeking housing
and real estate approval to proceed with a land sale
of four city owned parcels to Simeon Manor one LLC
for Missy Manor Cluster B.
The developer, Donny Brown
and his team are Intendance as well.
This project is located on the corner of 81st Street
and normal in the Chatham community area represented
by Alderman William Hall.
Proposal was awarded a $1.8 million housing
and economic development bond
and now, uh, proceeding with the accompanying land sale.
In support of this project, the market value
of the land is been written down for a value of $24,155
to $1 per pen of total of $4 total.
The development, uh, represents
$3.8 million total investment.
Um, this, uh,
this project will create 12 total housing units
among four buildings on site.
Also, alderman Hall has
provided his letter of support for the project dating back
to November 18th, 2025,
and he intends to organize a community meeting
after City Council passage.
This slide just shows the context
of nearby developments involving City, city owned, uh, land,
uh, showing the Red circle on this slide, including semi
academy, one block east of the site,
the Auburn Park Metro Station
that's under construction currently.
And proposed mental health and fitness facility.
Blue, a Azure on the off of Halstead and 80 Street.
This site illustrates, uh, the current vacant
and unimproved condition of the site from the corner
of 81st Street and Normal Avenue.
The block currently has several single family homes, swaths
of vacant land, and an underutilized tennis
and basketball court immediately across the
street to the east of the site.
Reactivating this block will, with new housing,
will improve 81st Street overall
and increase the overall high housing
supply of this community area.
The project developer is semi Manor one LLC.
The proposal is for four three story, three flat buildings
for a total of 12 new developing units.
Developer intends to begin construction of spring of 2026
with anticipated construction completion in the
fall of 2027.
Donny Brown is the manager of Simeon Manor, one LLC.
He's an experienced developer
that has completed current several projects throughout the
city, including multiple housing developments.
His team includes George Marsh,
who is the construction manager, John Michael Johnson,
who is the, uh, who is the community liaison and founder
and CEO of Project Ion 2000.
And here's just a brief list of several of the projects
that have been completed in the past,
which includes new construction and as well as rehabs.
This project will include four city owned pens, um, each
of 3000 square feet in size.
All parcels are zoned to RT four.
The proposed plans, which you'll see shortly, um,
include a ground floor type, a accessible unit
for each building on that street to not include,
not be included any required FAR
calculation via an exemption.
And here's the proposed project budget, uh, highlighted
as mentioned before by the Housing Oun development bond
awarded with a total project cost of almost $3.9 million.
Proposal includes a breakdown
of $950,987 per building,
as well as, uh, 316,996 per unit
POCA typical proposed front side and rear elevations.
Um, on the left side of the screen, along
with the street view rendering, uh,
looking from 81st street on the right side.
As you'll see, the ground floor units will be accessible
directly from 81st Street.
And the second and third floor units
of each building will be accessible from the left side
elevation respectively.
And here's a brief typical floor
plan for each of the buildings.
We see the ground floor entrance located on the front
of the building, and the second
and third floors accessible from the sides.
Um, each unit will be three bedroom,
two bathrooms respectively.
So in summary, um, in addition
to bringing more than $3.8 million of needed investment
to historically divested Chatham community, uh,
the project will create approximately six 50
to 60 construction jobs.
It'll also, uh, redevelop four vacant city owned pens,
returning them to the tax roll.
And further, uh, furthering the real
legislation of 81st Street.
Uh, DPT and developer are here
to answer any questions you may have,
and we appreciate your time and touch today.
Thank you. I also like to recognize Ulu Manhattan
for the purpose of the quorum.
Uh, and we're gonna start with ulu myths.
I had a question in terms
of when you were reading the statement.
Did I hear, um, and by the way, this is a great project,
but I thought I heard you say that, uh,
the community will review it
after their passes, uh,
community meeting would be held after pass,
Yeah, after city council passage.
Um, the alderman wants to have a community meeting
with the community on
The project and it haven't been done before.
That's his, that was his, um,
I am a little confused.
Well, I'm, I'll stay in my lane in my ward,
but I would think that we represent all of Chicago
and the community voice should have seen
such a beautiful plan.
Is this so that any recommendation
or anything that they want to say,
what are they gonna do after passes?
I, that's just my, I just thought I,
and I'm sorry, the Ottoman's not here to answer
that question for me,
but I wish he was, so I let him know in case he don't,
the community always, uh, come first.
Thank you. And you all should have told him that too,
you know, you know how this go.
Thanks.
Thank you. Other Mets? Um, other member.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, you said
that the property comes back on a tax roll.
What's that? What's that projected amount
of tax revenue to the city?
Um, it was an investment of
$3.8 million.
Total investment. Right.
So, but, um, the, the, the property,
the property tax revenue to the city,
you said it's coming back on the roll.
What's the projected revenue for the city?
Um, revenue
for the city or just total?
Yeah, I'm not, if you can get that, if you can get that
through the chair, uh, I'm glad
to see it coming back on a tax roll.
Just wanted to see what that dollar amount was. Thank you
Units.
Any, any, uh, any other questions?
Are there any other questions by committee members?
Um, I just communicated with Alderman Hall,
so he'll make sure that of course he communicates
to the constituents and, um, let him know about some
of the Yeah.
Yes. So any other questions?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move on this item?
And I get a motion for move by Alderman BGAs.
All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed an A in opinion of the chair.
The ayes having the do pass recommendation
of this ordinance will be reported out in the next city
council meeting on January 21st, 2026.
Um, item number three is Ordinance
20 25 0 0 2 1 6 87.
Sale of city owned property at 30 23
and 30 25 East 80th Street,
30 16 29, 29 57,
and 30 0 7 East 80 80th place
to NHS Millhouse Partners joined Venture
LLC in the seventh ward.
Tamara Fu from the Department of Planning
and Development is here to testify on this ordinance.
Thank you chairman, and good afternoon to you
and members of the committee.
My name is Tamara Fu.
I am a planner for the far south planning region of the City
of Chicago Planning and Development Department.
I'm here to present and seeking approval, um,
and city council passage for the land sales, um,
for clusters, sorry,
I'm putting all the ordinances together.
Clusters, FIJ,
and K from the second round
of the Missing Middle Housing Initiative in the South
Chicago and Morgan Park community areas.
Excellent. Um, to start, uh, for the site overview,
cluster F is located in the seventh ward
with Alderman Mitchell in the South Chicago community area
clusters, IJ
and K are located in the 21st Ward
with Alderman Moseley in the Morgan Park community area.
And all clusters being presented today are in the
far south planning region.
Um, To provide a quick, um, program
overview, the Missing Middle Housing initiative is a
multi-year program offering vacant city owned parcels
for redevelopment as missing middle infill housing in the
south and the west side of Chicago.
Um, DPD offers a land right down for $1 per parcel
and up to $150,000 per unit subsidy through the housing
and economic development bond.
Um, DPD piloted this program in October
of 2024 in North Lawndale,
and we opened applications for the second round
of this program, um, in West Chatham, south Chicago
and Morgan Park in April of 2025.
Um, so the first cluster cluster F um, we are working
with NHS Millhouse Partners, joint Venture LLC.
Um, so the, the developer team as NHS Millhouse Partners,
joint Venture LLC, they're working
with Torah Construction Corporation
as the general contractor,
Andrick Sexton partners as the architect.
Um, in cluster f uh, which is shown in the orange box, um,
uh, there are five city-owned parcels.
All of the parcels are zoned RT dash four.
The total market valuation
for the five parcels is $39,988.70.
And the total square footage
of the five parcels is 19,995 square feet.
With each parcel having a dimension of 25 by 132 feet,
DPD is selling each parcel for $1,
totaling $5 for the purchase price.
Uh, next slide, NHS Millhouse Partners is proposing six two
flat buildings, um, building a total of 12 dwelling units.
Um, each building will consist a rental unit on the ground
floor, and the second and third floors being
the owner occupied unit.
The total project cost is $4.7 million.
Um, the developer is requesting $1.8 million from
the HUD bond.
And again, the total project budget, um,
for cluster F is $4.7 million.
We've received a letter of support from Alderman Mitchell's
office in December, 2025.
This concludes my presentation for Cluster F. Thank you.
And I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you, alderman Gue.
And I also wanna recognize Alderwoman Jen, uh, Taylor
for the purpose of the quorum, she's, uh,
peer remote means alderman gue.
Thank you. Thank you Mr.
Chairman, supportive of the project.
Just have a quick couple of quick questions.
Um, the projected,
this is bringing 'em back on the roll as well.
Do you have that number as well,
or no? Get through the chair.
Uh, I won't give it to You. Okay.
And then, um, the 3 97 per unit, um,
390, 90 7,000 per unit for the construction
of these properties.
It was on, it was on your slide. Yeah,
Sorry. Uh,
yes.
Each, um, no, it's the last yes. Right there. Yes.
Each, um, unit will cost 397,000. Yeah.
And the reason I'm asking, um, why is it
so inexpensive when we've seen other projects?
Uh, is it because of the affordability portion that
that's making it a lot less?
'cause in some cases we've seen projects where there was,
uh, the affordable portion of it that would double,
um, what was here.
And because this is a market, this is a market rate,
I take it, um, that's why that is,
that's why it's half the cost.
Um, best.
Hi, uh, Justin Peterson.
Uh, for the record, uh, supervising planner
for the southeast region, uh, the three flats are,
are really the most efficient
construction method that we've seen.
This is pretty comparable to market rate. Yeah. Development.
Um, if you're comparing it to the larger
multifamily affordable buildings, those have a higher, uh,
per unit cost, usually four 50 to 600,000.
Okay. So, okay. Thank you. Appreciate.
Are there, are there any other questions?
Oliver Mutual? Mitchell, do you have a question or no?
Yeah, otherwise, um, yeah, we, uh,
Alma Mosley is on the call.
He's, uh, um, he's on the, on the call,
but he's gonna speak at the, he has the next four items.
He's gonna speak at the end for any questions.
So any, um, any additional questions,
otherwise gonna have a motion to move on this item.
So move by Alman Casada. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed na
and depending on the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation of these, um,
ordinance will be reported out at the next city council
meeting on January 21st, 2026.
Uh, item number four, um,
item ordinance 20 25 0 0 2 1 6 8 9.
Sale of city owned property at
14 29, 14 27, 14 25, 13 38, 13 22,
and 1320 West 109 place to Superior source,
capital LLC in the 21st Ward.
Tamara, again from, um, DPD to present on this item.
Thank you Chairman. Um,
Uh, cluster I is, um, a sale, um,
to Superior Source Capital LLC.
Um, the developer team consists of, uh,
superior Source Capital as the lead developer.
Uh, they're working with
and associates collaborative as the architect, um,
and ENS development.
And, um, as the general contractor, um,
superiors, sorry, cluster I consists of six parcels,
which are shown in the dotted bo box on the map.
All of the parcels are zoned RT dash four.
The total market valuation
for the six parcels if is
$55,689.36.
The total square footage of the six parcels is
18,562 square feet.
With each parcel having a dimension of 25
by a hundred twenty five five feet.
DPD is selling each parcel for $1, totaling $6
for the purchase price.
Superior Source capital is proposing six three flat
buildings proposing a total of 18 dwelling units.
The total project costs is $6.7 million.
The developer is requesting $2.7 million from the HED bond.
And again, the total project budget is $6.7 million, um,
with each unit, um,
costing $376,000 to construct.
Um, we've received a letter
of support from Alderman Mosley's office in
November of 2025.
This concludes my presentation for Cluster.
I thank you and I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you. Any questions by committee members?
I some and have a motion to move. So move all Alder women.
Had all those in favor say aye. All those opposed na.
Any opinion of the chair? The ayes have it.
The du Pass recommendation
of these ordinances will be reported out at the next City
council meeting on January 21st, 2026.
Item five is Ordinance 20 25 0 0 29 7 7.
Sale of city owned property at 14 0 9 13 35.
1333 West, a hundred ninth Place, a hundred, uh,
1435 west hundred 10th place, and 1456
and 1454 west hundred
and 11th Street to Farer, LLC in the 21st Ward.
Uh, again, Tamara Fu from DPD, uh, to present on this item.
Thank you, chairman. Cluster J
is a proposing sale of six city owned parcels to fame.
Moore, LLC. Uh,
the developer team consists of fame Moore,
LLC as the developer.
They're working with Qlik development
as the general contractor and Pavlovich architecture.
Um, for the architect cluster,
J consists of six city owned parcels,
which are shown in the dotted box on the map.
All of the parcels are zoned RT dash four.
The total market valuation
for the six parcels is
$59,452.62.
The total square footage
of the six parcels is 18,774 square feet.
And each parcel has a dimension of 25 by 125 feet.
CPD is selling each parcel for $1, totaling $6 for the sale.
Famor, LLC is proposing six four flat buildings totaling
24 dwelling units.
Um, each building, um, consists
of two units on the ground floor
and one unit each on the second
and third floors respectively.
The total project cost is $8.8 million.
Um, the,
the developer is requesting $3.6 million from the HED bond,
and once again, the project budget is $8.8 million.
We have received a letter
of support from Alderman Mosley's office in October, 2025.
This concludes my presentation for Cluster J. Thank you.
And again, I'm happy to, uh, take any questions.
Thank you. Are there any questions by committee
members? Al Ma'am? Hapworth,
Thank you for the presentation.
I was curious, why do you think that this development is
so four flat and the others were only three flat?
What was the reasoning for that?
Um, the developers during the, um, request
for application process, they, um, you know,
we encouraged in this program for developers
to think about density.
Um, but it was, you know, ultimately up
to the developer team to, um, you know, identify what,
you know, how many numbers of units, um,
they wanted to build for their project.
Got it. Um, and,
and there haven't been any missing middle projects
that we've heard so far beyond four, four floors, right?
That's correct. So yeah,
We'd love to see more density in
that area too. Thank you. Thank
You.
Um, Alder, alderman al women, uh, Hadden,
and then Alderman, um, alderman.
And then we're gonna accommodate, um,
we're gonna accommodate, uh, the, um, applicant as well.
Um, so for any questions as well,
this is Al Alderman Hadden. This
Is just a clarifying question.
Um, so as a point of clarification, it's four units,
but still three stories, isn't it?
As you mentioned, two units on the first floor
and then a unit each on the second and the third floor.
So it's still a three flat, it just happens
to be four units that, yeah. Okay. That's
Correct. Um, just,
I'm Latrice Williams with the,
with the developer
and just to address why we did four units as opposed
to three, um, just based off of the, uh, square footage
of the site and what zoning would allow, again, wanting
to maximize the density,
but also with having, um, the two units on the ground level,
both of those units are accessible.
So then there's an addition
of having additional accessible units in the area.
So we're really trying to, we're trying
to be thoughtful about how a family could live there.
The thought would be the end buyer would be,
it could be a family building.
And as people get older
and they have issues with accessibility, being able
to maximize that space for that,
I, I appreciate your thoughtfulness towards accessibility.
Thank you.
No worries. Uh,
or are you done it? Yep.
Yeah. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I was just wondering, um,
moving forward if DPD
or housing when they're putting these projects back on a
roll, if they could just give us the tax dollars.
Okay. It's good news. So we wanna be able to highlight that.
Yeah, that's good. We can, through the chair,
we can provide that information.
Are there any additional questions?
Otherwise, can I have a motion to move?
So move wo Ms. Scott. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed a and the opinion of the chair,
the ayes have the due pass recommendation
of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on January 21st, 2026.
This is the last item in the 21st ward.
Item six is ordinance 2025 dash dash 0 0 21 6 8 8.
Sale of city owned property at
twelve thirty five, twelve forty twelve twenty two, twelve hundred and eleven eleven
west hundred 10th place to Vasquez Housing Development LLC,
again in the 21st Ward.
Tamara full from Department
of Planning again to present on this item.
Thank you chairman. Um, cluster K is, um, the sale
of five city owned parcels
to Vasquez Housing Development, LLC.
Uh, um, this is cluster K's, uh, team, the dev,
the developer is Vasquez Housing Development, LLC.
They are working with Toro Construction Corporation
as the general contractor
and JP architects as the architect.
Again, cluster K consists of five city-owned parcels,
which are shown in the dotted box on the map.
All of the parcels are zoned RT dash four.
The total market valuation
for the five parcels is
$58,224.42.
The total square footage
of the five parcels is 19,408 square feet.
And each parcel has a dimension of 25 by 125 feet.
TP D's selling each parcel for $1,
totaling $5 for the purchase price.
Vasquez Housing Development LLCs proposing five three flat
buildings totaling 15 dwelling units.
The total project cost is $6.7 million.
The developer is requesting $2.25 million from the HED
bond we have.
And the total project budget is again 6.7 million.
We have received a letter
of support from Alderman Mosley's office in November
of 2025.
This concludes my presentation for cluster K. Thank you.
And again, I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Otherwise?
Um, alderman Hall? I don't know.
I mean, Derman, Mosley,
I don't know if you can hear us. Alderman Mosley
And Chair, Go ahead.
Thank you so much, chair.
And thank you to my colleagues
for your support of this initiative.
Uh, this helps strengthen the, the market of the far south
and particularly the Morgan Park neighborhood
where we are looking to have more vibrant corridors.
Um, we are trying to balance the density of all of this.
Uh, we are a predominantly single family home
and actually residents prefer that.
And so we're trying to figure out
how we can reactivate those vacant lots.
Um, by providing space for generational wealth building.
Um, like similar projects like the, the four Units
of Fame more will allow for something where I think, uh,
that intergenerational housing, thinking of aging parents
and family members, loved ones
that could all be in one space.
Um, again, thank you for your favorable consideration.
Appreciate the passage of the other items
and hope to have your support going forward.
Thanks so much. Thank
You all. Mosley.
Uh, any additional questions?
Otherwise can have a motion on this item.
So moved to by Alderman bga. All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed nay in the opinion of the chair.
The ayes have it. The due pass recommendation
of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on January 21st.
Um, 2026, item seven, um, ordinance 2027,
uh, 20 25 0 0 2 1 6 8 4 sale
of city owned property at 64 21 South South Lawrence Avenue
to blacks in green.
Big NFP in the 20th ward.
Beck Gusten from the Department of Planning
and Development is present to testify
on behalf of this ordinance.
And I also wanna recognize Alman Clay
for the purpose of the quorum.
Okay, great. Thank you, Meg.
Great, thanks. Uh, for the record, Meg Gustafson,
department of Planning and Development.
Um, my first project today is the Till House Museum Garden.
This is a shy block builder open space land sale in the,
um, 20th ward.
And we have a support letter from Alder Woman Taylor.
Um, the address here is 64 21 South St. Lawrence.
Uh, it's a typical city lot 25 by 125 feet.
Um, this is in the Woodlawn community area.
Uh, because this is an open space land sale, um,
it is eligible for 10% of market rate,
which is $1,223.
Um, here is the zoning map.
Uh, you'll see the till Moley house, mu
and Mamie till House Museum on the map there.
It's, uh, a landmark. There is one lot in between.
That was a, um, a, a Cook County Land Bank lot
that the, um, that blacks and greens bought.
Um, and then the lot in question here is in orange.
Um, so the open space will be two city lots.
Um, next slide please.
Uh, here's an aerial view
and the um, uh,
house museum under construction on the right.
Next slide. Thank you.
Uh, there's Naomi, um, and blacks
and greens, uh, budget for the, um, two city lots.
Um, the garden will cost about $90,000.
They have raised the funds.
Um, and then a second phase will include a Richard.
Uh, can you go to the next slide please?
Um, a Richard Hunt sculpture in the second phase.
So here is the landscape plan
and the location of the museum.
Um, it includes a lawn and performance center,
and then the sculpture, sculpture garden.
Uh, it will also include, uh, accessibility to the house.
Uh, I believe that's my last slide.
Uh, happy to take any questions.
We also have two representatives from blacks
and greens here with us today.
Thank you. Are there any questions by committee members?
So move. I don't know. Aldi women.
Taylor, if you can hear us,
I'm not sure if you wanna add anything.
Absolutely. Good afternoon.
Uh, committee members.
Um, a lot of us hear the story about
what happened to Emmett and Mamie teal.
And the sad part about this is,
while he might have been the first to go on a national lens,
he was not the last.
Too often this happens.
And so this was actually the block that they lived on.
A lot of their neighbors remember growing up with Emmetts.
Um, the school named
after him, um, is literally up the street and blacks
and greens is also doing some gardening
with the school as well.
And so this is,
and they also want to develop housing in
that same neighborhood.
And so this is just the piece of a puzzle about
how we right the wrongs of what has happened in the past,
but it's also honoring what has what actually that rich, um,
history in the community of Woodlawn.
And so I supported this without looking,
without thinking about it.
Um, the picture that they're showing you of the house,
the house has come a very long way.
So it looks nothing like that.
Um, definitely in a different space.
But I ask you all for your support around this.
'cause too often organizations
who develop in our community don't come from our community.
And blacks and greens is right in the heart
of, uh, Woodlawn.
It built one of its first community gardens there a couple
of blocks away for the community to actually,
um, use and see.
And if you don't know the history,
somebody had bought the house previous to, um, blacks
and greens getting it and what they were proposing.
And I was like, that has nothing to do with the history
of Mamie and Emmett Till.
And so we actually want this to be a stop on the tours.
We all know that the Obama Presidential Center is a year
now into being open and built
and through, um, community organizations
and historians that we want this
to be a stop in our community.
And so I ask the committee for be committee
for its favorable, um, vote on this.
Um, thank you chairman.
Thank you Alwin Taylor.
And I wanna also thank you for your leadership in a moment
in our communities and in our city like this.
Uh, remember history
and doing justice by this history is very important.
So I wanna thank you all the women
Taylor, for your leadership.
It is, um, an important recognition of the suffering
and the ways of the future by learning the past.
So if anybody has a motion to move on this item.
So move by Alman Casada. All those in favor say aye.
Those opposed the name in opinion of the chair.
The ayes have it. The do pass recommendation
of this ordinance will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on January 21st, 2026.
Thank you so much. Um, also, um, can I get a, um,
a rule 15 hour request for alder men, uh, Burnett
to finish the meeting via remote means he had to step up.
He was present, he just wants to finish.
So move by Aldi, Alde person, Fuentes.
All those in favor say aye. All those opposed a opinion.
The chair, the ayes have it now.
We have Alde person Burnett, um,
be remote means the next item is in fact in his ward.
Um, item number eight,
ordinance 20 25 0 0, 21 6 9 0 sale of city owned property.
Uh, 37 17
and 37 13 West Chicago Avenue
to blocks together NFP in the 27 world.
Meg Gibson, again from DPD, um,
to testify on these ordinance.
Thank you very much. Um, Meg Gustafson,
department of Planning and Development.
Um, as you heard earlier today,
this is a very exciting project.
In the 27th Ward. We have the Alderman support.
Uh, this is a land sale
of two city owned lots, two blocks together.
The address is 37 13 through 17 West Chicago Avenue.
Uh, it's approximately 8,700 square feet.
Um, and it is in the West Humboldt Park community area.
This is an open space sale.
So 10% of the market value is $7,012.
Uh, for context, here's the zoning map.
Uh, blocks together's office is directly adjacent
to the site, uh, zoned B three two.
Um, and the blocks together group would like to,
um, build a community plaza.
Um, here for context is, um, the aerial.
Uh, next slide please. And here is the landscape plan.
Um, this will include an asphalt plaza,
also a play area, solar lighting, um,
seatings furnishings, picnic tables
and benches, uh, landscaping, um,
a new fence, uh, and gate.
Uh, here's a rendering from the team.
Uh, we met with them many times
and we've refined the, uh, the landscape plan to be
what this is now as a phase one.
Um, here's a little bit more about blocks Together.
They've been using the site.
Um, there's a stage and movie nights.
They have already built a fence
and plan to now build, uh, an improved new fence,
uh, and landscaping.
Uh, here's a little bit more about the group.
They've been around for longer than 10 years.
Uh, next slide please.
And here is their budget for the first phase,
which is about $128,000.
Um, that concludes my presentation.
I have, uh, members from blocks together here,
if there's any specific questions
about programming or budget.
Um, but we are here, um,
to ask your approval of this land sale.
Thank you very much.
Thank You, chair. Um, I just wanted
to say I'm excited about this project.
Um, so I see, uh, Cato
and other friends from blocks together here.
Um, they're a fantastic community organization that have,
I mean, been community building for,
is it 30 years you guys?
Um, and, uh, uh, alderman Burnett Burnett.
That's actually the first time I met your father,
was working with Blocks Together, um, oh man,
more than a decade ago on, uh, just fantastic work.
So it's great to see such a
powerful community rooted organization, um, be able to, uh,
get ownership of the space so that they can continue
to be stewards for the community as they have been doing.
So appreciate this
and, um, definitely supporting this project.
Thank you. Cle followed by wo. Happy with.
Thank you so much, chair.
I just wanted to give blocks together an opportunity
to talk about what acquiring this space will actually mean
for you and the program and moving forward.
This is my first time hearing about you.
Don't judge me,
but I think that people should, uh, get
to learn a little bit more about your mission
and how they can further support you.
Yep. So we, we are gonna, we're gonna let, um, if,
if there's two percenters you can come to the front.
We, we will accommodate you here. Yep. Come on.
And then for the record, if you can just, again, oh,
so it's just, just Carolina.
Well, just Carol. Yeah.
You can come both to the front. So, yeah. So we'll, um,
Good afternoon. Uh, thank you for the
Director of your name and name and title. Thank you.
Um, Carolina Galle, executive Director of Blocks Together.
Um, earlier, uh, during the public, uh, comments,
we had our members speak a little bit about the impact
and what, um, the sale
of the lot is more than just a piece of land.
It's really around, um,
as Antonio had talked earlier about participating in the pb,
um, and how you had helped us, other, other women, uh,
hadn't had helped us in the process when we utilized TIF
funds, uh, to have participatory budgeting in our community.
Um, so it's really about blocks.
Together's mission is really to, uh,
provide tools and resources.
So that directly impacted our leading the fight.
Uh, myself as the executive director, I grew up, um,
in the 22nd World Little Village.
So I'm very clear that I'm in solidarity, uh,
working in the West BLE Park community.
There's, uh, it's changing,
but comprised mostly of black residents.
So it has been a place
where we really talk about community control development.
And I'm gonna let, um,
Antonio Ward talk a little bit about it.
He's the organizer.
And what does that mean to us in a community
that is rapidly changing
and that a lot of our voices are not heard?
And the new development, um, the obtaining
of the lot is really a, a victory, a community victory,
because we had to fight to obtain that lot.
Um, there was other plans for that lot,
doing further research, um, which people that know us know
that we like to do a lot of research.
We follow the money 'cause the story always unfolds.
Um, there was no permit, there was no RFP.
Um, there was a no bid project.
So, um, it had, it had been a long time
that we have been fighting to be able to take control of
that lot because it means more than just that piece of land.
It's a place where people could come back.
It's been a healing space.
It's been a community organizing space.
It's been a space where the community really, um,
not just in theory,
but indeed, um, has been part of shaping,
uh, controlling it.
Um, directing the fight and like I said, uh, myself
and have been more of a resource and support.
Not somebody that comes and dictates
what happens in a community that I'm in solidarity
and not from,
Uh, good afternoon.
Council committee. How you guys doing?
Um, for me, what it means,
I've been in the community all practically all my life.
Um, I've seen places that I can go in
and two disappear, just completely close up
and no more access.
Uh, so with this vacant lot, I,
since my time in the community, I've come, uh,
to start my own business.
I'm t-shirt Tony in my community now.
And I've been that LA since about 20 years.
So, um, with the opportunity,
still been able to stay in my community.
I see. I see the, the, that the, the,
it's just diminishing.
We don't have any entrepreneurial, uh, portals, places
to go, places to learn.
It's a lot of people in our community
that want to start businesses.
I promise you. They do not want the streets.
They don't want the guns.
They wanna start, um, taking care of their family.
So what, the acquisition of this lot will bring a, a place
to where people can, can come learn, um,
and get along with each other and,
and further see our community grow.
That's what the biggest part is.
Thank you for that. State your name
for the record. 'cause they gonna ask you
Anyway. Act Antonio Award.
Sorry. Uh,
Can I just ask one other thing?
I think the biggest, um, lesson for us
was when the community organizes
and stands up, there's nothing they can take away from us.
'cause everything was almost ready for them
to take that law from us.
And we said no, we stood together, organized,
and made sure that the community voice was heard with this.
So that's really the, the impact of, of
what this signifies for us.
The acquisition of this lot is when a community comes
together and really shows their power, what can happen.
Well, thank you so much for sharing, um,
from one fellow organizer to another.
I think that this is a beautiful testimony of the power
of people in the city of Chicago for too long.
We hear about how we can't do,
how we can't have control in our communities,
how we don't know what's best for our people.
And so to see this project come together across boundaries,
across neighborhoods, across communities,
to ensure a safe space like that happens is beautiful.
So, I'm so proud to support this project. Congratulations.
Thank you. Thank you.
Uh, we have all the women and happy with fall,
but all Fuentes.
Thank you. I I also support this project.
I echo everything that Alder Clay just said.
I was curious about the design of the park.
You have so many things that you're gonna use this park for,
and I just wanted to clarify that you,
you have a space already.
You have a space where you already organize and
Yes, we've been using the lot.
We cleaned it up eight years ago.
Um, and as you heard earlier, it has been used to do,
we did the, uh, poor people's campaign revival,
10 revival there during COVID.
One of the main things we heard from our young members was
that they felt unseen and being talked about.
So they actually spoke to Alderman Burnett
and current mayor, uh, Brandon Johnson,
who was a Cook County commissioner,
both sponsored the community, um,
graduation from kindergarten all the way to, uh, college.
Um, we've had, uh, trainings.
I think Alderman Jesse Fuentes participated last summer
with our, um, students, um, organized the last summer bash.
So it's already been, um, like I,
we become created and resourceful.
We know how to make a dollar out of 25 cents,
not even 55 cents.
Right? So, um,
because of, as you heard, uh, Kevin Wood, when he came back,
um, from being away a little bit, uh, he came back
with all this energy and helping.
So he started building benches out of donated wood.
Um, we had basketball courts donated, so we've been able to,
in the earlier too, as you, um, Mr. Lee,
also another builder in our community.
So there's a lot of resources and excitement.
We are not the richest organization around,
but we are very rich and, um, support from the community,
and we will, we will make it happen.
So part of it is we are working with designers.
We have like, uh, uh, architects that are working pro bono,
uh, different general contractors that have worked with us,
and then also, uh, working, uh, fundraising
and, uh, working on grants to be able to develop all that.
But yes, the space is multi-use.
You know, when you're in a poor community, lack
of resources, you have
to make the little space, um, you have work.
So, like I said, we've done everything from Halloween,
safe Halloween in the lot.
But do you have a physical storage space in
the building? They have the
Buildings, right? Yeah, we
Right there, the buildings right next
door. Okay. Yeah. That's
What I was, yeah. And it has
the, uh, and it's very
respected by the community.
We have, we built a stage.
People thought there was gonna be everything
because, um, the work, there's a lot of community ownership,
not just buy-in in this lot.
We've been able, um, the, a lot of the community has helped
and clean it up, maintaining it clean, building the stage.
So our, our youth had a place to perform one of the ways,
uh, in a community that's real with violence, we have
to find alternative spaces.
So we have the BT Hip Hop Academy, um,
where we brought that space.
So we wanted to also have a space where our children
and our youth can actually showcase their talent.
So, like I said, I, I grew up poor, so we learned how
to be resourceful with what we have, right?
So that's been the same within this, uh, lot.
We've working with everybody.
Um, a lot of, like I said,
architects have offered their support contractors
and, um, funders have actually interested in working with us
to make sure that the project does get off the ground.
Yeah, I, I think that's a, a beautiful project.
And your organization is incredible.
In this moment where we are getting news about federal cuts
to nonprofits, I see
that you are really locally driven, grassroots driven.
And the person who spoke earlier, talking about
how it's his political home, you know, versus a, a nonprofit
that is, what was the word?
Um, poverty pimping, you know, um,
it's, it's, and, and that you have space for everybody,
and especially young people.
And those formerly incarcerated, it's a model for, uh,
third spaces across Chicago.
And so congratulations on this acquisition. Thank
You. Thank you. Um, we are
gonna have Alderman Burnett go next
because, uh, he has a community meeting.
Then we're gonna have Alder person Fuentes, followed
by Alderman Bega.
Alderman Burnett. Can you hear us?
I can hear you. Can you hear me? Yes.
Thank you, alderman. Uh, as noted by my colleagues,
super excited to have this project, um, get
through this committee
and further the execution of a more open green space.
As noted, they've been utilizing the space
for a very long time, uh,
and super important that we fight
for green space all over the city, uh, especially in black
and brown communities, um,
because we know what that means for both our sanity,
our mental health, but also our ability
to develop skills and community together.
Uh, and as noted, I'm, I'm at another community meeting
where I'm fighting for green space
and, uh, figuring out how the community could work together.
So, apologies for my urgency and, um, briefness here,
but super excited to work with you all.
Uh, they did it the right way, worked
with the community groups and made sure that everyone, uh,
was on board for what, what should be here.
So, uh, excited and super supportive of this one.
Given that I am, uh, and I don't wanna steal that thunder,
but seeing that I have to head to this community meeting,
I'm also supportive of the next project.
Uh, it's an opportunity to provide more power
and easier power for, uh, the west side of Chicago,
not just the 27th Ward.
Um, and we have these resources
and tools in order to make life easier, um,
for our constituents, we should really support it.
So, um, both projects that are up for housing for sale,
I'm super excited about, uh,
and I hope that my colleagues can support. Thank you all.
Thank you. Oliver Burnett, uh, Fuentes.
Thank you, chairman. Uh, look, I've,
I've known Cato since I was 16 years old.
Um, I was born and raised in Humbold Park,
and I know the work that Gado has done
to provide safe spaces for young people who, uh, need to be
among other young people who have similar lived experiences.
So they don't feel isolated and alone.
Uh, because I was one of those young people
that benefited from the spaces that Gado and blocks together
provided, uh, one of those first projects was East Meets
West Humboldt Park, where young people from the west side
of Humboldt Park got together
with young people from the east side of Humboldt Park.
And for those of you all who are not similar,
the West side predominantly has black young people.
The East side predominantly has Latino young people,
and they brought those two groups of young people together
to truly build community
and be able to roll out
what safe communities look like for us together.
Right? Um, and that was important for me.
I mean, I think a lot of those spaces, uh, is
what allowed me to be the older person of the 26th Ward.
Imagine all the other young people who get
to benefit from spaces like this,
who can be future elected officials,
who could be future executive directors
and nonprofits who can be leaders in our community
that ultimately build, build a city that we all deserve.
Um, I think that this is timely,
given the political moment that we are in.
Uh, but I think that the young people on the west side
of Hum Park deserve this more than anything.
They deserve to have outdoor spaces
where they can be authentically themselves and be safe.
Um, I was in this space with you all this past summer.
I know how proud those young people are of that space.
I also remember what that space looked like eight years ago.
Yeah. Uh, so thank you for the amount
of labor you put in just getting that space
to look the way it looks now, uh,
the least the city can do is to put in, uh, some money so
that we can give you the space that you deserve.
Kado, thank you for your work and everyone at blocks
together for the spaces that you give young people, uh,
because it's life changing.
It certainly changed mine. Thank you. Thank
You. Thank you, Fuentes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And not being familiar
with the organization, um, but love the, the Grind.
I could hear it. I could hear it.
And in your voice executive director
and all the other members of the organization,
how you're just grinding to do good for the city.
Uh, and I have the adjacent war just east of Chicago,
which right, the, the, the railroad tracks kind
of divide and looking.
Um, glad to see that, uh, alderman Burnett, uh, Jr.
Uh, was able to get that land for you.
Uh, 'cause it is, it is important that those folks
that have created that community have the ability
to enjoy that community.
Uh, and this type of anchor, uh,
and the services that you provide
for the community are very important.
So looking forward to continuing
to learn more about the organization, looking forward
to learning more about your organization.
And a, a question for DPD, is this a dollar lot
or is this 10,000?
See, these are the type of, these are the type of lots that,
you know, uh, should be a dollar and not 10%.
And so, uh, maybe there's an opportunity for us
as Legislative Branch to take a look at, um, uh,
changing these types of programs.
Uh, 'cause I mean, we do want development, um,
but we also wanna make sure that we have these,
these core organizations that can least afford, uh, to pay
for, uh, 10% of a price.
Um, we should be making sure that it's super affordable
and looking forward to working
with my colleagues to see if there's a way to do that.
But thank you. Congratulations.
Good luck and looking forward to
learning more from your, thank you so much. Yes,
Thank you. Thank you.
Any other questions?
Otherwise, um, I just wanna thank the, uh,
27th Ward Alderman Burnett for his leadership on this.
Being familiar with blocks together
and the great work that you do.
I think that this is al as Alderman BGAs
and the rest of the alderman have said, perhaps a model of
how we can have self-determination on organizations guiding,
um, the future of communities that today are struggling.
And I'm very thankful for the leadership of Cato
and all the leadership of Blocks Together.
The fact that you brought all your team here shows the
commitment and the love for a city.
So I would like to ask for a, for an enthusiastic, uh,
motion to move on this item.
So move by multiple members.
Alman per al, the person Fuentes, move.
Be all those in favor, say aye.
All the opposed say nay in opinion of the chair.
The a abbo, the Due pass recommendation
of this ordinance will be reported out the next city council
meeting on January 21st, 2026.
Congratulations. Thank you.
Item, uh, number nine, ordinance 20 25, 0 0, 21 6 8 5.
Sale of city owned property at 25 0 3 dash, uh,
through 25 63 West Lake Street.
And 25 22 through 25 68 West Maple Avenue
to Commonwealth Addison Company.
In also in the 27th Ward,
Taylor Thompson from Department Planning
and Development is here to testify on these ordinance.
Good afternoon, chairman and members
of the committee for the record.
My name is Taylor Thompson
and I'm representing the
Department of Planning and Development.
The proposed project before you is a public notice market
rate, land sale to comment for the construction
of a new electrical substation.
In terms of the project location,
this site is located at 25 0 3
through 25 63 West Lake Street in 25 22
through 25 64 West Mapo Avenue, located in the 27th Ward.
Within the, with the support
of Ottoman Burnett within the near West side community area,
comprised of a total of 38 city owned lots
with a total market valuation of $2,051,784,
which is also the purchase price.
You can, in terms of the project overview.
Combat proposes to acquire the site
and improve the property with a new electrical substation
to support development, growth, and existing
and future electrical power infrastructure.
The facility will feature two equipment, enclosures,
transformers, and other electrical equipment.
In terms of project cost acquisition is
$2,051,784.
The hard cost, approximately 47 million.
Soft cost, approximately 10 million.
Other cost, 75.2 million, including equipment
and labor bringing the total investment, uh,
based on early information to $135 million.
Uh, the project timeline anticipates permitting
and closing in Q1 of this year.
The first six to nine months will include excavation
and site remediation, followed by storm water and,
and electrical and infrastructure work while build building
construction anticipated in late 2026.
Thanks. In terms of the need
for the new electrical substation, the project
addresses rising electricity demand driven
by continued redevelopment
and institutional growth within the Illinois Medical
District, uh, and surrounding near West side corridors.
This site receives transmission supply from the west
and transforms it to distribution voltage.
This will also free up capacity constraints at existing
area substations.
This will also make the area more attractive
for new investment by entities with
significant electrical needs.
This will also support economic growth within equity
investment communities, and also increases grid resiliency
and operational flexibility.
So why mapo? Why this location?
Um, this site is located adjacent to com transmission right
of way within a nearby railroad corridor, allowing
for direct connection to the transmission grid
and avoiding the need for new
above ground infrastructure through the neighborhood.
The site is also 2.6 acres,
and all parcels are ideally situated for this type
of intru infrastructure use.
Next slide. In terms of zoning,
the site is zoned PMD four A,
which allows the proposed improvements
to be permitted as of right.
So, key points related to the site plans and renderings.
Two main structures with a total footprint
of 41,000 square feet.
The South enclosure 24,000 square feet
with two stores at 12,000 North enclosure,
17,600 square feet.
Both buildings will be 45 feet in height.
And architectural materials, uh, precast materials,
similar looking enclosed comment substation at the West Loop
and South Loop, uh, 12 foot brick walls along map pole
and Lake Street, and 24 brick wall along Lake Street,
which was a security measure.
Uh, this project also includes a public alley vacation,
an alley return to avoid the creation of a dead end alley.
Next few slides are the site plan
in an area view diagram of the project area.
The next few slides are contextual rendering views
and previous development sites, south Loop Substation
and the West Loop substation.
And that concludes my presentation, Corey Foster from com,
ed External affairs team, Scott Safe, CommEd attorney,
myself, are here to answer any questions.
Thank you for consideration.
Thank you. Are there any questions by committee members?
Alderman s
Thank Thank you, Mr.
Mr. Chairman. Um, so is this from ComEd?
Is this energy already spoken for
or is this gonna be new energy that's on the grid?
Or is, is everybody somebody who's
Yeah, we have a representative from come.
I think they can, they can come and, uh, and share details.
And if you can, of course, uh,
name and titles for the record.
Thanks, chairman, this is Corey Foster, senior manager
with External Affairs.
Appreciate the question there. Alderman.
Vigas, this would, um,
actually satisfy two pronged approach, um,
based on our current capacity as well
as our future growth within the west side.
This would be able to kind of satisfy both of those needs
as well as relieve additional, um,
capacity at our current substations on here.
And as part of our ongoing commitment
to investing in the city of Chicago. And
We appreciate the investment. So
the energy, it, it's not,
it's not being built specifically for anything.
It's just gonna be the ability
to relieve some pressure off the grid.
Yeah. Relieve pressure as well as address some
of the economic development growth
that we're seeing on the west side. Appreciate
It. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman.
Chu? Yeah. Hey. Hey there, Corey. Hey.
Um, who typically builds the substation?
So we actually contract it out
so we follow not only the city's procurement
and diverse supply, um, initiatives,
but we also have a really commitment
to diverse supply as well.
So we're gonna contract this out,
So, so be more detailed.
I, if you've been around, you know, especially BX
and I, we always talk about MB participation in Absolutely.
So who, who have, has that piece already
Been? That piece hasn't
not bid it out yet,
but we could certainly share that opportunity.
Okay. Yeah. And I, I would like to keep track of that.
Um, um, I don't think there's some things that I don't think
we pay attention to when we, uh, sell land
and look at the development.
Mm-hmm. Once you guys purchase this land,
that land is gonna be contaminated.
That's just what's gonna happen.
And I think there's, as a trade off,
and hopefully if you got Bill, you be there forever.
But when, when, when, in this particular, in this kind
of investment development, it's gonna contaminate that lamb.
'cause I have substation in my ward that's contaminated.
I have another one outside the ward's contaminated, um,
because of the electricity and everything, I bought that up
because that, that we, we have
to consider those kind of tradeoffs.
I don't anticipate you guys being gone in five years,
but in five years if that were to happen, we got how many,
how many lots were that, was that
38 city owned Lots?
38 city owned lots. That's potentially contaminated that.
Right. And you being a d
you already know what that means to it.
I don't wanna speak to that as well, but
I'm not gonna let you finish.
Sure. Well, I, you know, I got a couple question.
I welcome. Go ahead and speak to that.
No, I wanted to, um, the site is already contaminated.
Oh, really? And though they are, uh,
they did a phase one in phase two.
Okay. So they know the extent
of what they're gonna have to remediate.
Okay. So we gotta clean it, But
They're contaminate again.
Okay. All right. So that, that's one.
Number two, um,
and I'm gonna stop saying jobs.
I wanna say careers. Mm-hmm.
Um, I know you guys on 35th you do training and everything.
Is there gonna be a deliberate approach to kind
of bringing our youth from these schools that aren't going
to college, that want to get into trades,
teach them about come ed, teach them, get on those polls?
Absolutely. You've been, I seen
we've been out there many times.
Yeah. Um, something like that,
because we gotta think, we gotta be thoughtful on the
future, uh, on our future of Chicago.
Yeah. And just to address that concern there, in terms
of the workforce development comment has very,
been very intentional in terms of making sure
that we offer career opportunities to our communities
that look just like me
and you, um, as well as the, particularly on the west side
as well as Alderman Viegas and the team look
Like Vegas too.
Absolutely. But in terms of, um, we have a number
of programs that are penetrating not only young adults,
but also getting, getting deeper in terms
of the STEM initiatives in grade school
and getting them involved and thinking about careers
and utilities that far.
And then of course, we partner with the, um, city colleges
as it relates to Dawson Tech
for our overhead lineman program in addition
to our twos of the trade program.
Okay. That I know you guys are fully keenly aware of,
but we're gonna be very thoughtful
and intentional about this opportunity.
Okay. So in, in short, our, our student,
we will have an opportunity to see guys, uh,
cut their teeth on particular
development on this development.
I would absolutely. Yeah.
And I, I, you keep us abreast on that, uh, through the chair
and in your relationships.
I, I wanna make sure we, we, we stay on top of that.
Uh, so you, one of clarity clarifying question.
This, this is to relieve.
So the, the other two subsets that you showed on the,
on the, on the, uh, slide, they're gonna still exist.
They're just going to get some form
of relief, but they're still gonna exist.
That's correct. Okay. Okay. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Are there any additi additional questions?
Yeah. The total cost of the project,
Uh, the total cost is approximately one
35 million, one 35 million,
135 million.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Thank you.
And, uh, I'll just say, I know there's all the questions
that are outside the preview of this committee.
Uh, a lot of, uh, members throughout the city are
worry about utility costs.
That is of course, under the preview of the economic,
uh, and development committee.
And I, we like to see how we can discuss that as well.
I know there's a lot of concern about the rising cost
of utilities in across the cities.
Not only come and that's okay, no preview of this committee,
but I understand the comments from some my colleagues
around the benefits
to community members as well as the cost.
So I like to maybe work with Alderman BGAs
as we get more details on, um, on those previews.
Maybe we can discuss some things that are not a preview
of this committee, but of course I understand are, are
of course, first
and forefront of many people, especially with their,
uh, rising living costs.
So, uh, with that, um, I'd like to, as
for a motion to move on this item.
So move al uh, Aldo in Manhattan.
All those in favor say aye.
All those opposed in opinion of the chair? The ayes have it.
Thank you so much. And, um, thanks.
This item will be reported out at the next city council
meeting on January 21st, 2026.
We are going to take a five minute break.
I know we had a long meeting
and we have the subject matter hearing, um,
with the Chief Homelessness officer.
So we're gonna take a little break
and then we'll resume until we get ready.
Thank you so much.
Most of the city council members,
and, uh, I think the panel is ready, right?
Sandy, are you, are we good? Yes, we're ready. All right.
Excellent. So we are gonna resume our, um, our meeting.
So we have, the last part
of the meeting is a subject matter hearing.
Uh, we will now move, um,
official in the subject matter hearing for today.
We have with us, um, chief Homelessness Officer Sandy Soto,
uh, to present on the city's five year blueprint to end
and prevent homelessness.
There will be no votes taken on this matter.
All city council members received a copy of the draft,
the blueprint plan via email earlier on the week.
And in your packets today, you'll find seven pages
and the PowerPoint presentation that you will hear today.
Um, so right now we maybe start with, uh, uh,
chief Homelessness Officer,
and then we can do down the line so
that you can say your name and title
and then we can start a presentation.
Thank you so much, Sandy
and your team for being with us today.
Sounds great. Thank you so much. Good afternoon.
My name is Sandy Soto.
I'm the Chief Homelessness Officer for the City of Chicago.
Good afternoon. I'm Barbara Otto.
I was one of the lead consultants on the blueprint analysis
or blueprint on homelessness.
And I'm with Smart PolicyWorks.
Can you just speak in good a Oh,
Sorry. Good afternoon
everyone.
My name is Courtney Nunley
and we were a consultant on advising, uh,
Cindy Soto on the five-year homelessness plan.
Good afternoon, Carmelo Barbara, uh, with the University
of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab.
We are the, uh, lead data
and research partner for this effort.
Thank you. In addition, Cindy, I think you have a few, uh,
members of the community, some community partners. That's
Correct, yes.
So if they're here, they can also introduce themselves
or through the presentation, however you,
however you find fit.
Yes. If you don't mind, I will call you just a short bit.
Um, uh, I'll introduce also other people
that are in the audience as well.
Fantastic. Okay. Mm-hmm. Hello, everybody.
Uh, so as you heard, uh, I am here joined
by the wonderful consultant team
that helped bring the blueprint to life.
Um, at the speaker table are Barbara Otto from Smart
PolicyWorks, Carmela Barto from the Inclusive Economy Lab,
and Courtney Langley from RU Resources.
We're also joined in the audience by additional members
of the consultant team whose contributions were essential
to this work, including Kim Rudd from Road Resources,
Jess Lynch, and Edlin from the Illinois
Public Health Institute.
And Carrie McGill from the Inclusive Economy Lab.
I also wanna recognize my incredible team at the Mayor's
Office of Homelessness, a team
of three mighty three people here doing the public service
work, Melanie Ada
and Elizabeth Reyes, who worked tirelessly
to help bring this important body of work to life.
Before we get started, I would like to invite a few partners
who are part of this work to join us at the microphone.
Susan Rena from Covenant House, who is a service rep
for service provider for youth experiencing homelessness.
Mark Angelini from Mercy Lakefront,
an affordable housing developer.
And Princess Shaw from LightUp Lawndale, uh,
who is an advocate and also a person with lived experience.
If we can start with Susan, uh,
so they can share their experience of the process.
Thank you, Susan. You can, you can use the mic over there,
or you also do you also have a mic over here?
Right.
Thank you.
Hello. Oh, uh, good afternoon everyone.
Um, thank you very much for letting me speak.
Um, as Sandy said, my name is Susan Rena G**o.
I serve as CEO of Covenant House, Illinois,
a homeless youth service provider located
in Alderman Burnett's Ward.
Not sure if he's still on here.
Uh, I serve on the State's Community Advisory
Council on homelessness.
I also represent the Service Providers Commission, uh,
on the continuum of care on Chicago board, as well
as fortunate to be able to serve as a member
of the Strategic advisory Council ex committee, uh,
that helped inform the creation of the five-year blueprint,
um, on homelessness.
I do see this blueprint
as a comprehensive Chicago based approach
to addressing housing instability.
One that strengthens the full housing continuum
and enables lasting scalable solutions rather than
short-term fixes operationalized and monitored.
It will be a powerful
and valuable response to ongoing challenges
that Chicago is facing
and one that we are committed to address.
I do feel that this plan really was informed both by,
you know, boots on the ground experiences, as well
as really response to the need that our, we know,
our city departments really need
to coordinate their resources.
One thing that I always find, um,
very compelling in my 30 years in doing this work is
how often people don't realize
that they come across people that are unhoused.
And particularly working with young people who are unhoused
and families that are unhoused.
Uh, we really need to get a handle on it early on,
and particularly when you recognize, um, prior to the work
that I'm doing now, working with young people that are 18
and 24 that are unhoused, we really need to get a handle on
how do we respond to the younger people that are unhoused
because they become the adults that are unhoused.
And unless we respond to the, you know, population
that are five and under, we respond
to young people that are in schools.
It's just gonna perpetuate the system.
So the earlier we're able to respond to young people
and families, the more likely we're able to impact families
and long-term generational ho homelessness.
Thank you very much. I appreciate this opportunity
and I'm really excited to see
how this plan can be operationalized going forward.
Thank you, Susan. Thank you.
I'll turn it over to Mark Angelini, we can hear you.
Thank you. Uh, to the chair
and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity
to comment on the city
of Chicago's five year blueprint on homelessness.
I'm Mark Angelini, president of Mercy Housing Lakefront.
We're the city's largest owner operator
of permanent supportive housing.
Uh, we serve the formerly homeless in over 1200 units in
numerous communities across Chicago, uptown Edgewater,
Lakeview, near North Side, south Loop,
Englewood, and Roseland.
In addition, uh, our permanence support
of housing portfolio will be growing this year
by nearly 275 units
as we begin constructing 150 units at our Prairie District
Apartments on 18th
and Wabash, expanding our Bel Ray community in Lakeview
and preserving 107 units.
As the new owner of the Leland Apartments in Uptown, uh,
our approach to permanent supportive housing is long term.
It begins by providing safe, high quality housing
that is structured to remain affordable
to very low income earners, uh, all
of whom have experienced homelessness.
However, it doesn't end there.
Housing is just the first step to ensuring
that homelessness is not reoccurring.
After coming into a Mercy housing community,
residents have access to a range of services coordinated
by our onsite case management team
that holistically addresses an individual
or family's critical needs, physical
and mental health, access to good food,
enhancing economic security,
and feeling connections
with the community in which they live.
And because of our approach, I applaud
and appreciate the five-year blueprint
because it takes a comprehensive
and systemic approach working to unite the focus
of key city departments
and sister agencies across the city, cook County,
and state of Illinois.
It lays out a roadmap across seven strategy areas,
coordinating public policy, public health,
finance, and budgeting.
The blueprint underscores the need to think of housing
as a continuum so that policy
and funding align with creating a range of housing types
that fit with the normal lifecycle, a person
or family moved through.
And that can catch those who experience a financial
or health shock before they end up homeless.
I feel that the blueprint provides a vision grounded in a
comprehensive community-based approach
to addressing housing instability
by strengthening the continuum of housing types
and service supports needed
to create scalable solutions that will endure.
The ultimate goal is to achieve, I think both what we
as an organization and what this blueprints strive for,
that homelessness becomes rare, is endured briefly
and does not recur so
that all Chicagoans can live productive lives
and dignity. Thank you.
Thank you. And last but not least, princess Shaw.
Mm-hmm. Um,
good afternoon everyone.
My name is Princess Shaw.
I am the executive director for Light Up Lawndale
that is based in Lawndale.
And I just wanna thank Cindy Soto, the city and her team.
Um, Rudd, uh, as well as I-I-I-E-P-H-I.
Correct me if I'm wrong,
IEL and IPHI.
Thank you. That was a good duo. Thank you. Thank you. I
Was trying to, um,
but the reason why I wanna thank them is
because myself, um, I don't have a PhD like some
of these beautiful people do, but they,
my my input was very, very well, um, embraced.
It was actually appreciated,
and people with lived experiences were actually at this
table with making this five year plan.
So for me, the five year plan is really near
and dear to my heart, where I was able
to go out into the community
and actually be able to actually get, um, for lack
of better words, hands-on experience
with actual lived experiences from people that look like me
and may not look like me.
Where those institutionalized ideas were then be able to
crumble down and actually have a real comprehensive plan,
which you have before you today, which
is the five year plan.
Um, I would say that I am in full support
of this actual plan
because of the way that our communities that are lacking
and don't have the home homes that there are needed, um,
that are lack of, in our communities, were heard,
we were actually heard, we're actually going head on
and, um, put at the table.
We were not looked, looked upon as less than.
And I think that's most importantly
because in years past with the institution, that's
how we've been looked at upon, especially
with being a person with lived experience
where I have three kids and
because I'm not on certain dependencies, I don't drink,
I don't smoke, I'm not, um, addicted to any particular drug.
It's not too throw shade on them.
But then that put me in a very small box
where I was not able to get any help
for my homelessness prevention concerns.
So I just appreciate that they included me,
that my voice was heard, which is most importantly.
And on top of that, that you guys have a plan
that I believe in, and
that I can go into the actual community
and say, Hey, this is something that we all need
to get on board with in order to make sure
that we make a different change.
And, um, live in the greatest freaking
city as our mayor says.
Thank you.
Thank you, princess. Thank you everybody.
Thank you Princess. The individuals I've named today
represent us a portion of the much larger coalition
of residents, service providers, advocates, researchers,
and partners whose insights
and lived experiences inform this blueprint.
We will be highlighting many
of those voices throughout today's presentation.
At its core, the blueprint serves as a five-year framework
to better align existing resources,
strengthen coordination across systems,
and improve overall performances
rather than a single spending proposal.
It outlines a mix of policy
and process changes that can be implemented now
alongside phase strategies that advance
as resources become available.
This approach is intentionally designed
to manage fiscal risk by increasing efficiency,
reducing fragmentation,
and preparing the city
to navigate potential shifts in federal funding.
The goal of today's subject matter hearing is to walk you
through the process we followed in developing the blueprint
and to formally present this draft for public comment.
As you, your constituents
and members of the public review the blueprint,
we encourage you to think about
how we can collectively strengthen it
and make thoughtful refinements.
The public comment period will run from January 14th
through January 30th.
Members of the public can visit chicago.gov/moh
and select get involved to submit comments.
With that, let's dive right into our presentation.
Thank you.
We'll try to be quick.
I know there's a lot, um, that everybody has to get to, uh,
so I appreciate your patience and appreciate you being here.
Uh, we'll go through the vision, the seven pillars as, uh,
mark noted, uh, what those are the coordinated actions
that took place across sectors, uh,
the housing continuum framework that we worked from,
what we learned citywide through our engagement,
the action plans from city departments
and sister agencies that we'll be working on together.
The process for public comment, just one more time,
and then I can take your questions.
Um, and also your reflections Wanted to start here with
what was really critical in grounding this work.
Um, two important milestones were reached.
One, the mayor signed an executive order in October of 2023
that brought this office to life.
And in that executive order, he, uh, made it a requirement
that we work on a five-year blueprint.
Um, as the chief homelessness officer was coming online,
we were able, once I joined the office officially, um,
as the Chief homelessness officer, I was able to dive into
what a good start, how to dream big in terms of
how we can really incorporate all of our city, um,
really all of our city residents,
but all the city resources to this plan and this effort.
Um, through the help of the Civic Consulting Alliance,
which also was very critical in getting this off the ground,
we put together this vision that really spoke to a variety
of different, um, experiences
that people face when their housing insecure.
Uh, we wanted families
and individuals to know where to go for help
to prevent homelessness
and access what they need that makes homelessness, rare,
brief, and non-recurring.
Essentially functional zero, uh,
which is a model nationwide.
Um, the, the services would be accessible no matter where,
where they are in the system,
they get appropriate and dignified help.
We also wanted to ensure that we have a Chicago
where families and individuals
who have historically been underserved have pathways
to build generational wealth.
It's not just about serving their immediate need in crisis,
but really ensuring that over a course of many generations,
they do not see themselves falling back
into housing insecurity.
And this one, which, which really spoke
to our public engagement process, was that we wanted
Chicagoans all across every ward, every community area,
every zip code to embrace a sustainable, equitable solution
or solutions that ensure every resident has access
to safe and stable housing.
And this is important because as much
as we wanna push these solutions, these proposals forward,
we do need neighbors all across the city
to support these efforts.
Um, and we'll get into some of that, um,
in our presentation, but it's really spelled out
throughout the blueprint.
We wanted to also note, um, that when we talk about people
who are experiencing homelessness,
we're not just talking about one, uh,
particular group of the population.
Homelessness really affects everybody from various, um,
ethnicities race, uh,
whether it's also an older adult population
or youth, whether it's people fleeing gender-based violence,
uh, people who are chronically homeless, uh, you know,
that also has a larger impact towards our black
older adult population.
Uh, and also our, our youth just as much.
Um, we wanted to also look at people coming out
of complex care systems like the car carceral system
or hospitals, um,
or other institutions
that perhaps lead them to homelessness.
So in other words, there's not just one persona
that we can share with you that, uh,
we can tell you this is the person
who experiences homelessness.
It's really any one of us, our neighbors, um,
whether it's somebody who is also, uh,
living in a permanent home, uh,
and they're facing foreclosure or eviction
or somebody sleeping out in the streets or in a shelter.
If we go to the next slide, it's a,
this is probably not the latest,
but I wanted to share with you, um, additional data,
but this is, this is just as good.
Um, this is our point in time data from 2025, um,
that outlines the number
of people experiencing homelessness, chronically homeless,
literal homelessness, um, in the point in time count
that took place last year on the 23rd, 23rd of January.
And in that point in time count, they were close to 1300
or just over 1300 individuals who were sleeping unsheltered.
This could have been in their car,
CTA in parks on the on streets, um,
and then those who were sleeping in shelters,
whether at a family shelter, uh, uh, individual shelter
or shelter for women, or just for men.
Uh, and all in that point in time count, uh,
we identified a number of people that
as many Chicagoans would recognize as being homeless.
But what we wanted to make sure that we incorporated in our,
maybe it's the next slide actually, um, in our studies, is
that it's not just the point in time count
that we can focus on when it comes to homelessness.
The point in time count is a subset of the totality
of people in need of housing, uh,
and homelessness resources.
In this process, we dove into the data from city colleges,
from CPS, the doubled up data from our coalition
to end homelessness partners.
Um, and we really took into account the broader community
that's in need of services that mattered just as much
as those who are considered literal homeless, uh,
during the point in time count.
Um, and this was really important for us
because to put these strategies together, we had to look far
and beyond just your typical, you know, um,
conventional emergency service, like a shelter or whatnot,
but also think about rental assistance for those
who are housed,
but at the risk of at the brink of being evicted, um,
or even property tax increases.
And what does that do to, you know, homeowners
who are at the risk of losing their home.
So this is, um, you know, a, a mirage
of different data points,
but we really wanted to, you know, demonstrate in
what you'll see in the report is
that we dove into various components, uh,
to better understand the rate of homelessness
and the various, uh, needs that we need
to be addressing when it comes to preventing
and end ending homelessness citywide
out of this study, which, um, you know, it was,
it was a pretty long timeline,
but I will say that I, out of all of the reports
and studies, studies that I've been a part of for the city,
it's pretty much, you know, on par with how long it takes
to study a social issue As, as complex as this one,
it took us just about a year.
Um, and from this study, we were able
to do extensive outreach,
which you'll hear about more in a sec.
But the seven strategies,
or seven pillars more so that, uh, have come out
of this study are broken up in,
in the following, uh, fashion.
It's emergency services, housing, health education,
employment, community cohesion, and systems alignment.
Our, our goals,
our strategic efforts will be based under
these seven pillars.
Um, these seven pillars, uh, will involve, um, all
of our agencies in one way or another.
And, and you'll see it throughout the blueprint
where we have clusters of organizations, sister agencies,
and city departments coming together
for a certain cause or theme.
The next slide, please. I'm gonna turn it over
to Barbara Otto who's gonna go over our coordinated
action work.
Thank you. Thank you, chief Soto.
Uh, one thing that was really important
as we were developing this plan is to make sure that we were
engaging across sector of Chicagoans.
And, and really I think you heard from Princess Shaw
how important it was to us
that we were valuing the experience of people
with lived expertise.
We really put that at the center
of everything we were doing, including engaging people
with lived expertise on our strategic advisory committee,
and including having them provide technical assistance
to the consulting team as we were moving forward.
Um, chief Soto uh, mentioned the involvement of sister
agencies and city agencies.
We had 34 agencies through the shy collaborative working
with us, uh, day in
and day out, look, looking at their programs
and services, helping us work through delegate agencies
to get their input.
During our focus group and information gathering
and qualitative data gathering, uh,
we worked across all 77 Chicago communities.
We had a public survey,
which my colleague Courtney Nunley will speak about,
but we engaged people not only through surveys,
but I worked quite a bit
with the shy collaborative members in making sure
that each agency engaged their constituency.
Um, one of the things
that was most exciting about the acro all across the city is
engaging businesses.
Businesses have long talked about this as an issue, um,
but they were actually engaged by BACP
and involved in focus groups.
We had an excellent strategic advisory committee
that represented all sectors, providers,
social services providers, housing developers.
We had a public sector roundtable, which some
of you participated on as we worked forward.
It included federal representatives, state, county,
and city, and then philanthropic partners.
It was really important to us that philanthropic partners
who often invest in strategic solutions
were a part of this process.
And finally, all of us, these consulting partners
that you will hear from, we heard Mark and,
and Princess and Susan talk about a housing
continuum framework.
And, and this really became something
where we organized a lot of our work around.
We heard a lot from providers, from people
with lived expertise
and even from the city agencies, how important it was
to have pathways to the next housing
stop on the continuum.
Instead of having a series of one off
or one size fits all the, the community,
the housing providers, social service providers,
everyone talked about the importance of having a continuum
where people can progress forward
and move backwards if needed.
But each step of the way we were aligning that
with social services and solutions.
Courtney?
Thank you, Barbara. So now we'll talk about
what we learned through our engagement efforts.
So you've heard the, um,
everyone mention about our collaborative work.
We really use the market focus approach
to prioritize outreach
and nine Chicago communities facing the greatest impacts
from homelessness and economic instability.
That focus was guided
by key data points including unemployment, low,
medium income, and Chicago public school indicators,
showing high rates of student housing instability
and temporary living situations.
We took a collaborative approach, as I mentioned
before, to conduct to conducting outreach, working
with the SAC and our other consultant team members.
We engaged both residents with lived experience
and the network of organizations supporting them,
like service providers, nonprofit partners,
and community advocates.
Next slide. So here is just kind of a, a preview of all
of the work that we did.
In total, we gathered over 280,000 direct community inputs
through survey focus groups
and interviews with strong participation in both
English and Spanish.
And we generated over 127 thou
thousand online, um, engagements.
So visits to the website, um, clicking
to learn more about the information that we shared.
All of this together really helped us ensure
that this strategic plan was grounded in real community
voices and real community needs.
And now I'll pass it over to Carlo with ieo.
Thank you. Um, as a compliment
to the community engagement, um,
and input that, uh, was just outlined,
the Inclusive Economy Lab also pulled together, uh,
existing data and research to ensure
that we had both a comprehensive view of view of
who in our city experiences homelessness,
including populations that might not be as visible day
to day, um, and also an understanding
of the structural factors that contribute
to our city's homelessness crisis.
So, just as one example here,
we present some data on the number of Chicagoans
who are experiencing homelessness while living doubled up.
Um, these are members of our community
who are temporary living, temporarily living with friends
or family due to economic circumstances.
According to an, an analysis conducted, uh, about annually
by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, about 40 to
between 40 and 70,000 Chicagoans experience homelessness
while living doubled up each year.
And this population is heavily over overrepresented
among CPS students who are experiencing homelessness.
Um, on the next slide, um, we, uh, share data on,
um, rental costs and rent burden.
Homelessness is, um, ultimately a downstream impact of,
of housing market
that does not serve everyone in our community,
and in, in particular is very challenging
for low income households.
So according to the traditional definitions of rent burden,
um, which means that you're spending more than 30%
of your income on housing, more than half
of Chicago renters are rent burdened today.
Um, and, uh, many of the communities with the highest rates
of low income households are the communities
with the highest rates of rent burden.
Um, in particular historically disinvested communities on
the south and west sides, um,
experience rent burden at very, very high rates.
Um, and on the next slide,
we think it's also really important to note, uh,
wealth inequality and the racial wealth gap as contributors,
uh, to homelessness in our city and as sort of root causes.
Um, there are enormous, uh, wealth disparities in our city
that are the, the long term, uh, result of structural racism
and, um, government policies that were discriminatory.
Um, and, uh, the rates
of homelessness are highest in communities
that have been most affected by, uh,
those historic policy decisions.
And so we see that, um, communities on the south
and west sides, um, are the communities where, uh, sort
of net worth, um, there, there isn't sort of a cushion
of wealth that people can rely on either of their own
or of their community members when, um,
facing economic challenges.
Uh, and that contributes to the disparities that we see in
who experiences homelessness in our community.
I'll pass the mic back to Chief Soto.
Thank you. So ultimately, thank you so much everybody.
Um, this is just a snapshot.
We, we have so much information in the blueprint
for you to, to read.
Um, but we are walking away
with in this draft blueprint right now
with seven key pillars, 22 goals, and 102 strategies.
It is quite a number of strategies, um,
but it is a five year blueprint.
Uh, so we are going to be aiming high,
it's a bit aspirational as well as pragmatic.
And so we have a lot of different, um, opportunities for us
to redesign some of the services that we're providing.
Um, starting with pillar one.
Um, and we have one pagers on our web, on our website,
and hopefully you have copies of these one pagers as well.
Um, just gonna read what the goals for pillar one are.
Uh, it will be to strengthen coordinated emergency response,
expand and modernize Chicago's emergency shelter system
to ensure safety, dignity,
and accessibility for all residents.
Strengthen community-based emergency supports
and outreach to ensure residents can access safe,
can access safety, stabilization
and services in their local neighborhoods.
Reduce barriers to stability
for residents facing housing insecurity
and basic needs through education
and cross system coordination.
Um, I should note that these goals, these strategies,
the pillars were put together were designed based on the
data, the community feedback,
also the feedback from our city departments
and sister agencies.
Um, as was noted, the shy collaborative,
it's an inter-agency task force that also came, uh,
came online under am Mayor Johnson's leadership.
Uh, when I joined the Office of Homelessness,
we brought together all of our city agencies,
and we now have an inter-agency task force
that operates outta the mayor's office, known
as the Chicago Homelessness Inter-Agency
Collaborative Shy CoLab.
So these, uh, these strategies,
these goals are really indicative of all of this information
that we looked at that we, uh, sent out to city agencies
for their feedback that we refined
that we're now putting in front
of you today for public comment.
Pillar two is housing, uh, which is to expand
and preserve deeply affordable housing
to ensure all Chicagoans can access a safe, stable home
and achieve lasting housing stability,
prevent future evictions
and strengthen housing stability
to ensure residents can remain safely
and permanently housed, protect for housing rights
to keep Chicagoans housed
and ensure equal access to housing protections
for all Chicagoans, strengthen housing stability
for homeowners to protect communities
and provide pathways for generational wealth building.
Pillar three is health
and health was a really important component to this process.
Uh, we took the framework of not only
a racial equity impact assessment, um, which some of you,
uh, have worked with me on these in the past,
but also a community health needs assessment, uh,
which is looking at what are the health outcomes
of individuals in our neighborhoods.
And we know that housing is a social determinant of health.
That's why it was also very critical
to have the Illinois Public Health Institute with us.
Uh, but goal three of this pillar is integrate health
and housing to stabilize people experiencing homelessness
or people with complex needs,
reciting and subsidized housing.
Goal three, two is to increase support
for street outreach programs
and other crisis response services
to serve people experiencing unsheltered homelessness
during extreme weather.
Goal three, three is
to implement workforce cross training on health
and safety topics.
And then lastly, in this pillar is enhance cross-agency care
coordination to improve health and wellness outcomes.
For pillar four, um,
we looked at our education, uh, components.
Uh, this was also, again, very important
for us when we think about students
with temporary living situations,
or in the case of city colleges, people
who self-identify as homeless.
Uh, goal one is to advance public school programs
to deliver consistent, comprehensive supports
that promote educational stability
and achievement for students experiencing homelessness.
Increase access to affordable high value community college
credentials for housing insecure students.
Uphold public spaces as welcoming inclusive spaces
by ensuring equitable access to learning
and digital resources for people without proof of residence.
Strengthen cross-agency coordinated outreach
and partnerships to improve education
and workforce access for people experiencing homelessness.
I should note that we are putting forward strategies
that work, that are going to be, uh, worked on citywide.
A lot of these agencies, if not all, already do a lot
of this important work, and we're either enhancing
what they're doing or working to expand
what they're doing to the next level.
But we do have to give credit to all of our city agencies.
As we know, the Chicago Public Library Cares program
is an incredible program.
We noted as one that we wanted want
to continue, continue to grow.
Um, there are tons of programs outta city colleges.
Um, so there you'll see that we've tried
to outline also existing models,
but compliment those by what we wanna see
for the next five years.
For Pillar five, employment came out, um, you know,
quite a bit in our conversations with people
with lived experience.
It wasn't so much that emergency, you know,
shelter rather than people wanting to seek, uh, uh,
employment opportunities across the city.
And so we have, you know, quite a number
of strategies under this pillar.
But goal one is to strengthen employment opportunities
to promote housing stability.
And goal two is to expand cross agency outreach
and workforce opportunities
for people experiencing homelessness.
For these, we also worked pretty closely
with the Chicago Land Workforce Funders Alliance.
Um, and they brought together a few working groups,
and they also spoke with people coming out
of the Carceral system
and what it would mean for them to not return
to homelessness, post-incarceration.
So you'll see a lot of that under this pillar.
Pillar six is community cohesion.
Going back to our vision of embracing, uh, these solutions,
we wanna make sure that community is coming along
with us in these responses.
And so we are hoping to activate trusted community hubs
as one stop access points, um, for
that hyper-local access of services.
And then build resilient communities that embrace the,
embrace the needs of the city's homeless population.
And this is also combating a lot of the narrative
that exists that stigmatize our homeless neighbors.
Lastly, and one really important one that, uh, involves all
of us and our colleagues in the county, state
and federal is to have systems alignment.
We wanna make sure that we're working
with our partners all across, um, each of our jurisdictions.
And so as, uh, a continuation
of the Public Sector Roundtable, we wanna continue
to work closely with our partners at the county,
at the state, and the federal level, as well
as other partners like the Continuum of Care, um, managed
by all Chicago and other critical stakeholders, um,
in this ecosystem.
Uh, so goal one for systems alignment is
to advance governance, accountability,
and best practices to support systems integrity
and build a data-driven network
to navigate real time updates to service delivery
and community health indicators.
And just as a reminder, as we close, this is, uh, going
to be available for a period of close
to two weeks for public comment.
Uh, hopefully we've made it as user-friendly as possible.
We were at close to 200 pages.
We've trimmed it down to 114,
and we've created one pagers for each of the pillars.
If that's what you wanna read through first.
Um, public comments will be available, uh, will be, uh,
can be provided through our website at chicago.gov/moh
mayor's office of homelessness.
You go to the get involved tab
and then you submit your comment.
We'll take it in, take it back to the agencies, continue
to operate through this collective impact model, um,
and then we hope to have a final product, uh, by the end
of February, if not earlier than that.
And with that, I conclude the presentation.
We conclude the presentation.
Uh, we'll take any questions
or comments that you have. Thank you.
Thank you, Cindy.
Um, are there any committee, uh,
before I do that, I know we have all the person Fuentes is
requested to, uh, to continue the meeting via remote means.
Can I have a rule 51 motion to allow her to go remote?
So move. The person may have all those in favor, say aye.
All the opposed nay opinion of the chair. The eyes have it.
Uh, Alder person, Fuentes.
We have all the women Harris and all the women.
Jeanette, uh, Janet Taylor, uh, on Zoom.
And, um, we have still committee members in person.
Any questions from, uh, uh,
chief Homelessness Officer and her team?
We start with Alder person, uh, Hadden, followed
by, uh, alderman.
Depa.
Fantastic. Thank you Chair. Um, thank you Chief Soto.
Um, I know this has been a lot
of work and a long time coming.
I just wanna know, just 114 pages on January 14th.
Was this like a goal? Yeah. Interesting.
An alignment. That's a right.
Quite the coincidence.
Sand, you know, if you had done this tomorrow,
you could have added a whole other page.
Wow. You could have, yeah.
Um, uh, so I wanna thank, um, everyone who, um,
put their efforts and their input into, um,
into this product and into this blueprint.
Um, I look forward to spending some time going through it.
Um, my question for you is, um,
does the blueprint come with suggested price tags, um,
as we are looking at,
or will we maybe see that in a final version?
Um, after the public comment piece?
And, you know, a lot of that is, um, with the mindset of
you guys have made a blueprint, um, you a lot of time,
effort, energy and,
and just, you know, kind
of going over the presentation here.
I'm excited to see some, like, actionable things,
some recommendations on interventions.
So I'm excited to start doing stuff. Mm-hmm.
Um, and also to understand what are some
of the things we're, we're we are doing.
'cause I know some of these things we're doing in
different ways, shapes or form.
Um, and, um, outside of the dollar amount piece mm-hmm.
You know, will there be kind of policy recommendations
for, for council?
So thinking about either legislative or budgetary action.
Yeah, that's a really good question.
And we did work very closely with the budget office
and our finance team as well to determine one,
what are our current investments and what are the gaps
and what are some opportunities
on the side of opportunities.
It's a little, it's a little dim, uh,
but we're gonna be working through what each
of these various pillars with their corresponding goals
and strategies would mean in terms of cost
and policy change.
Uh, some of what we're putting forward won't cost anything,
won't necessarily involve policy, but a lot will.
Uh, what we do hope is that we now have this blueprint,
this vision of what we need to do to really end
and prevent homelessness in the city of Chicago.
And as we move forward to what this means
to either building more affordable housing
or social services
or community partners, we will be ensuring that we have
that cost analysis tied to it.
Uh, what we're hoping to do with the chairman
and his team is have annual updates, uh,
and working through what each of these mean.
Uh, once this is final,
we'll be convening the shy collaborative
and breaking up into those seven pillars
and really teasing out what it means to get to goal one,
goal two, and so on.
Uh, we have identified funding into the degree
that there's some funding for existing programs,
and you'll see there's a section that we, uh, noted in,
in towards the end the budget section.
Um, and we've identified funding
that maybe some people might not have considered in the
past, like the cost that OEMC puts into this
for their services for cost to 3 1 1.
And for the first time ever we've been able
to really tease that out.
Uh, so we wanted to continue to do that to demonstrate what,
where we are as a city.
But to be quite honest with you, without a shared definition
of homelessness and a, a blueprint where all
of us are responding to it, it's very hard
to break down our investments in what we need when some
of the work still needs to be built in structurally.
So we will be doing that moving forward
and you'll see a breakdown of what we've put together
so far based on the, the feedback
that we received from agencies.
We have a few more agencies
to incorporate their budgetary components,
their funding components there.
I will say also along the way, and this,
and I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the
philanthropic community as, as Barb noted,
but they have been integral to not only the, this work
but my office, and they are also at the table when it comes
to these solutions that we want to see come to life.
One example is Protect Chicago initiative.
Uh, when we were trying to move folks out
of public encampments, uh, you know, just afraid of, of,
or even individuals themselves choosing to go indoors,
if they fear that maybe they would get, you know, involved
with some sort of confrontation with the federal government.
Um, we were able to stand up 600 additional shelter beds.
Um, in September.
We were able to move up an existing program that we have
for winter beds from a starting point
in November to September.
It didn't necessarily cost us more money more than at,
it will cost us more money,
but we have found different ways to kind of go about it.
But we were able to also partner with the state
and philanthropy to support with that effort as well
as the partners on the ground
that were doing the services as well.
And it took the partners on the ground to volunteer
that they had these additional beds and spaces available.
It took the city, the, the responsibility
to administer these grants in a very quick fashion.
It took all of us. So we will continue to work through
that very complex at the moment.
Little bit of, you know, um,
various compartments to have to sift through.
But this will come with funding asks throughout the process.
It's not necessarily spelled out here
because I think even if I give you a billion dollars,
we've had a billion dollars in affordable housing in the
past and it's only gotten us so far.
Um, so we will be coming to city council members
for funding requests in the future. Thank you Elder women.
Um, thank you for that. Um, another question I'll have,
and this is just a bit more open-ended
and can be for any of our, of our panel up here.
Um, was there anything that surprised you
right from the report?
I, I, it might be hard for things
to surprise you knowing the, the level of kind
of involvement that you've all had in this sector,
but I'm wondering, um, anything that you wanna highlight
that surprised you or think might surprise us?
I can just share from the survey results
and even the in-person interviews and focus groups.
People really do care about homelessness
and they don't know what to do to help them.
And if they had the solutions
or places to point them to, they would,
you know, they would do it.
So people do want to help.
And I don't think it's a matter
of feeling like homelessness isn't a everybody's issue.
They don't know how to help people.
So I thought that was really interesting
that if they had the resources to help people,
they would provide them to them.
I would concur with that. I sat in with a lot
of BACP focus groups
and businesses in particular wanted to know
what they could do to help.
We even have a chamber of commerce on the northwest side
that has a housing liaison.
Yeah. So businesses are very committed to this.
And I think the plan speaks a lot,
especially under community cohesion about
how we can have more local based resources.
That's what communities ask for
and that's what businesses ask for.
I would note for me what stood out in, uh,
in our public engagement campaign,
we used our public resources to get to
as many people as we could.
I mean, to be able to hear from at least one resident,
if not more from every zip code in the city
of Chicago is incredible.
I mean, I, we have heard from all 77 community areas,
and you'll see it in the appendix, we shared all
of our notes of the engagement process.
And surprisingly, uh, believe it
or not, over 70 pe 70% of the respondents,
I think it's 1,972, approve
that the city should build more affordable housing,
which combats the narrative
that people don't want affordable
housing in their community.
And you'll see this, you can, you know, we have it here,
please make use of this data.
You can share it as far and wide as you like.
Um, but a lot of people agree that housing is the solution
to solve homelessness.
Great. Thank you. And thank you Chair.
Thank you. Uh,
thank you so much.
Um, chief Homelessness Officer, that it's a, it's a lot
of syllables to speak to.
Um, uh, CHO Soto, thank you so much for being with us today
with the whole team that worked on this.
It's really meaningful. It's a lot to,
like the presentation itself.
A lot to digest I'll have digesting to do on the 114.
There were a few questions that felt very top
of mind for me.
Number one, when we look at the, the point in time count
in particular, there's, there's the trend line
of the overall number.
I was curious though, in the midst of that, are there
changing trends in the how
and where of homelessness?
Which is to say, like,
I remember in the first ward previously there were a number
of people who were homeless in our alleys,
or we had larger encampments in various places.
I would, I anecdotally witnessed that less now than folks
who were homeless on the CTA
at the point in time count,
which again is coming up very soon.
Um mm-hmm. What did we witness?
Did we parse the data in that way?
Yeah, we did look at the point in time count
and where people had been at the moment of homelessness at
that, at that moment.
One, one area that stood out
where we also put a proposal together is CTA.
Right? Um, and CTA, as you noted, being a really critical,
um, space.
And, and to be honest with you, one
of our also other recommendations, our community hubs and,
and places that people can be in where it's de-stigmatized.
And sometimes these public spaces
are better than going into a space that they feel,
you know, stigmatize them.
Um, so we're putting together a plan, uh,
or, you know, a goal to support working really closely
with CTA to support the individuals that UCTA, uh,
for overnight stays.
Um, and also in the loop area.
So we looked at the central business district, um,
the converging of all of the train systems
and what does it mean in an area that might be, um, at, uh,
in a space that has a lot of people coming in
and out throughout the day, but maybe not the
resources that we need mm-hmm.
To support people experiencing chronic homelessness.
And so we're putting together an effort where we can expand,
uh, the resources and opportunities in the loop area
and actually already started on this, uh,
with some private sector partners.
Um, and also building off of what libraries
and dks already have.
Um, and working with CTA, so that data out
of the point in time count people staying on trains, people,
um, you know, in the loop area,
the central business district is, was one
of the high concentrated areas
during the point in time count last year.
Um, I think over time, I'm not entirely positive how it,
you know, how it showed up, um, over the last,
you know, 10 years or so.
But it was a very high concentrated area last year.
And then we, we know too is post pandemic.
A lot of encampments came online, um,
or during the pandemic at public parks.
So we have different ways
that we wanna address the encampment population at
public parks as well.
I really appreciate that
because when I, when I witness CTA slash
CPDs current engagement with our unhoused residents
on the train, the most charitable word would be irrelevant.
And there are other words that I could bring to mind.
Um, I did wanna ask at some point, if
you could provide, I saw that Westtown was one
of the nine particular community areas.
If there's a way at some point
that you could provide the westtown specific data to me,
I would find that really interesting to get to look at.
I I will do a lot of digging into the various pillars.
I had one more question
and then unfortunately I need to depart myself.
It was on the continuum of housing,
which I felt really interesting and I really appreciated it.
Seeing it laid out the way that it was.
The one question I had was
having home ownership as what, what appears
as the ultimate goal.
And I understand that from a wealth building perspective
and from a social and economic perspective.
And I appreciate the clarity of it is okay to be doing
and moving back and forth.
I was curious about why the, the lifting of up of that item,
because I think home ownership is great as a homeowner.
I also know that it comes with its own set of challenges
and may not
be attainable or most appropriate for all.
And I wondered if you could speak more to that.
Yeah, no, thank you for asking that question.
'cause it gives me a chance to clarify.
So what we put forward is not necessarily how
to become a homeowner, but how to keep your home.
Um, 'cause we find that to be just as critical
to prevent gentrification is just as important
to prevent families, you know, who are working class,
who have a home from going into foreclosure
or being displaced because of property taxes.
So it's a very, you know,
it is an important component of the continuum.
Um, and if people so choose to find wealth
through home ownership, we wanna make sure
that we think about that for families
and individuals that have maybe a lower income bracket
or that are trying to not go back into homelessness.
So it's not so much how to
help everybody become a homeowner,
but rather how do people that are in their homes,
particularly in areas that might be seeing, you know, a wave
of gentrification or other issues,
how do we help them stay in their homes
to build generational wealth if they so choose,
or just housing stability.
I really appreciate that. And to to be clear, like,
'cause I know I know who I am
and I know that, uh, I, I think how some folks
and how they carry privilege can come across in our
words as condescension.
And to be clear, like
that was not my intent If it
could have been perceived that way.
I, I remember my parents as homeowners
and I remember how
that home became an albatross around their necks
and how that home felt
increasingly destructive to our lives
and to their marriage conversation
for a coffee at a later time.
Um, thank you for all of this work
and I really look forward
to digging into it more deeply with you
and your team. Thank you. Thank
You. Thank you, alderman.
Thank you.
All the person happen with, and then whoever is in line
Thank you Chair.
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's here
to give testimony
and to all the work that you do every day to take care
of people, especially those on the margins.
And, uh, in, in the 48th ward houselessness
and housing instability, that's like 30% of our work, maybe
especially on the lakefront, along with others,
um, 46 Ward as well.
We just did a drive around
and looking to see where the encampments are,
not just on the lakefront underneath the l And
and you're right, people want to know how to help.
I wanna know how to help. I wanna understand
where the gaps are and where the bottlenecks are.
You know, why is it that we, I, I wanna know more, you know,
I wanna know the how about how we're going
to achieve these things
and to alter Hadden's point, what, what is the funding?
What does that look like? What I appreciated about this, uh,
was there was one graphic where it said alignment.
And I think that speaks to what you were talking about.
We have to have a shared vision.
We, but first we have to define what the problem is.
And and not everybody defines the problem the same way.
So I'm, I'm also looking forward to digging in.
This is a lot of information, a lot of, a lot of data.
I, I know that we are moving forward.
Mm-hmm. And I also know that the federal administration
has proposed cuts to nonprofits.
So my question is, I know you started this
before the, the new federal administration came on and,
and I worked with you
because there was an a MI that was scheduled last year,
and somehow you are, you were able to get it together so
that we could get those, um,
50 people housed on the lakefront.
So what, what other challenges do you foresee
that would change what you have worked on?
This is deep stuff anyway, so, but,
but with the federal government changes to, um,
nonprofit grants, you know, what, what do you see
that you need to do differently?
Yes. I mean, it's gonna really take all of us
and it will take our community partners to, you know,
join us in this effort.
And we need to join them in their effort
and in their struggles.
And so we see ourselves as being part of the same struggle,
whether it's through advocacy, it's through funding
or convening partners
that can provide these resources
throughout this entire process.
As, as Susan Rena noted, you know,
we have had service providers, also service providers
that are caught in the whole continuum of care, tobacco
or just, you know, today's announcement on SAMHSA awards
and what that means, uh,
with healthcare providers to the homeless.
Um, it's gonna be challenging, but what we wanna do
and what, you know, we had also envisioned a opportunity
where we can increase support for our, our service providers
where we're doing this, you know, in tandem
with our outreach workers
where neighbors are coming together,
but more so that our community partners
to service the frontline folks have the resources
that they need to be able to do the work as well.
So we are gonna be looking at what we need to do with them
and for them and with them, um, as much as, as I know
that they're going to be continuing
to reach out to the city.
Um, what we really wanted to emphasize here,
however, is what the city resources are
and what is at our disposal and our authority today,
and what is it that we can move forward.
Um, and, you know, hopefully we can weather what happens
on the federal level together.
I mean, the beauty about having the five-year plan is
that maybe there's a, you know, a kind of like a nice ending
to this in terms of what happens on a national scale
that we, we see a different outcome in five years
that works entirely in our favor of people who are unhoused
and uns stably housed.
Um, so we're gonna continue to be optimistic,
but we are in the fight with our partners.
And we do know that if our partners don't get access
to information, don't get access to us.
If we're not working with the right folks on the ground,
if we're not helping the homeless response system continue
to, you know, be strong
and responsive, then we're going
to miss out on the opportunities to have a greater impact.
So this isn't to take away
where the city does its own thing,
but this is to compliment what our partners are doing,
knowing that we're also working under different
jurisdictions at times,
but trying to ensure that we can find
synergy as much as possible.
And, and this means also being on boards.
You know, we have, uh, quarterly meetings
with our all Chicago COC team now with our DC office,
where our DC office,
our advocacy efforts can also support their efforts,
especially if some capacity needs are there from the all
Chicago team, the mayor's DC office is fully aware,
completely on board
and able to connect with congressional members when
these issues come online.
So we'll continue to find creative ways
to stay abreast and work together.
Funding is, I mean, I'm not gonna sit here
and tell you that this is going to be easy to do.
It's going to be hard, it's gonna take a lot of funding
and it might be new creative ways that we look at funding.
Right. And, and I hope when the moment comes
that our council members are open to these conversations
because we will need a tremendous amount of funding,
not only for development efforts, but for social services.
Thank you. Yeah. And, and thank you also
for mentioning the business community.
I'm a small business owner too, and part of the chamber
before I came here on council and,
and people wanna help Chambers, wanna help.
And, um, I do have a question about the Shy collaborative.
If you could send me a link Yes.
That has more information about it
or through the chair, the listing
of all the agencies you mentioned, 34, including departments
and sister agencies.
Um, I'd be, I just wanna, I,
I wanna see the landscape, you know?
Yeah. I wanna see it on paper.
I, it's, it's such a, it's such a big task
and we can't just throw money at it.
Like you said, it's gotta be a coordinated effort.
It, and we can't do it alone.
Happy to share more about the Shy collaborative.
It's one of my favorite, um, responsibilities.
You know, I, I often can hear everything else that happens
that doesn't get mentioned.
Like animal control provides crates
for our homeless animals, right?
At encampments, we connected them to the Spark
to give the opportunity for people going into the spark,
a way to stay with their pets or their service animals.
Um, and giving credit to all of these individuals
that are in city roles that represent our city government,
um, and are behind the scenes.
So happy, happy to talk about the Shy collaborative.
We talked about it briefly in the blueprint,
but certainly, um, it is a tremendous group of people that,
that meet monthly and during the blueprint, um,
landscape scans, we were meeting like two,
three times a month and, and people, people were coming.
So I owe a lot of gratitude to them. Thank you. Alderwoman.
Thank you all for your work. Thanks chair.
Thank you Elder Woman. Um,
I don't know if Elder person Fuentes
or Al Lumen Taylor have any questions
otherwise my, um, my question, and thank you again.
Uh, again, all the council members are not this being a long
meeting and I appreciate the, um,
Darien, can we just make sure that we get the,
this all woman Taylor, can we make sure we the presentation
and is there a space for us to kinda have some briefings
around some of the stuff that they, um,
are proposing or that they see?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you. The person.
Yes, we, we'll definitely have the
copy representation for you.
And we have been, um, planning to do these briefings.
There's, if you can remind, remind us
until when we have some time
to provide some feedback. Um, Sandy,
Yes. Uh, feedback,
public comment will be through the website,
Chicago DACA slash moh.
But I can work with our IGA city team
to coordinate briefings
and talk through the different pillars
and what that may mean for your community area or citywide,
or also who we spoke to.
Um, it, you know, we can share the,
the public engagement response was tremendous.
I think it was close to 2000.
Uh, we have it in the blueprint who, from what zip code
or how many people responded more so, um, so happy
to share additional details
and coordinate with Matteo, uh, in terms of briefings
to Alderman specifically.
Mm-hmm. Does that sound good?
Al Alman, Taylor, any anything
Else? Yes, thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Thank you all the women, Taylor.
Um, yes, I think the last, um, last thing I'd like
to say I think is just, um, we really appreciate the efforts
of the team to address this issue that I think, uh,
we see in every, every corner of the city, uh, the need
for investment in people.
And we also have seen unfortunately, that this has coincided
with a federal government that criminalizes, uh,
unhoused residents.
I'm really concerned about the, uh, announcements as
of yesterday to withhold funding from sanctuary cities.
So my question would be, of course, on the conversations
with the state, I think in a time like this we rely on local
government, state and city as well as county government
to work to the together
and identify potential funding options.
So my question will be how can the city council
and everybody here I will say, um, has the same goal
to address, um, these issues that are inhumane,
allowing people to die in the cold.
Uh, and we talk about CHI, public schools', children as well
as, as in your presentation.
So how can the council help?
I know that you being in conversations with state officials,
I'm thankful for the state to partner on
the one system initiative.
I do think is there step in the right direction?
And now we have a, a tremendous challenge when funding
becomes even harder.
Uh, and I don't know if we have a lot
of partnership when it comes to address addressing, um,
these issues, um, without public investment.
So that will be my one question.
How can city Council help you address some of these issues
and helping these pillars?
You know, employment, you mentioned, uh, a number of pillars
and I think they work also
between delegate agencies from Chicago Public Schools, see,
um, community colleges I saw in the presentation as well
as CHA and other institutions.
We do truly need the full weight of government mm-hmm.
To help us. So how can we help you?
And I'm thankful for all the community partners,
all the panelists, and your team, Sandy.
So that will be my one question.
How can we help and what could be the next steps?
Thank you. And I, I think we can all agree
that it's gonna take all of us, um, to address these issues.
And certainly we are gonna be leaning on our city council
members as we have, uh, not only
to address the immediate needs,
but the long-term vision that we hope everybody can embrace.
Right. Let us know if you think this vision is not the right
vision and you want to see more.
Um, what we've been able to do outta the mayor's office
of homelessness is build, uh, relationships, you know,
across various jurisdictions as well.
As we mentioned, the public sector Roundtable also
included members of our congressional delegation,
particularly, uh, representative Deli Ramirez
for her work in the housing space.
And then congresswoman Tammy Dupre's office
for her work with veterans.
Um, and we are gonna continue to build on that as well.
We've been, uh, really close with a lot
of our state officials and I think our state officials are
our allies that are, um, uh, uh, at Springfield
or getting ready to go to Springfield are on the same page
with us, that they also want to see more funding.
They also want to see easier access to zoning changes
or other things that may not necessarily
involve the federal government.
And so we're gonna tease out where we can
and work with my peers, my counterparts at the state
and also with the county.
We work with them pretty closely.
They, you know, they reach out to us, you know, regularly,
whether it was the impact of federal agents coming
to Chicago and what does that mean, not only
for encampments in the Chicago area,
but also in Suburban Cook.
And we look to try to manage
how is it looking, what are the trends?
We met every morning for the first two months, along
with our state, uh, colleagues to find out
what are you looking at, what are, what are you hearing,
what are we seeing and things like that.
And where do we need to, uh, provide some reinforcement?
So we'll continue to do that.
Certainly the systems alignment pillar gives us a chance
to codify these partnerships and strengthen them.
Um, because you know, right now
and as we kind of grow this office, it's kind of,
it's been in development
and then also we've had the
blueprint and a lot of other things.
Um, but we will ensure
that we have these various mechanisms in place
so we can continue to work with each other
to find these solutions.
Well, thank you again. Once again, Sandy and your team.
We are looking forward to these, uh, hearings
and also how we can partner together
with a different levels of government.
I appreciate all the council members for the feedback.
Looking forward to continue giving you the feedback
and more important than anything else
implementing these changes on the ground.
But I do wanna thank your team
and commend you for your efforts, is the time
where we all gotta work together.
Um, so without, um, any more questions, I wanna
conclude the hearing of the five year plan
to prevent and end homelessness.
And as I mentioned, the public coming period will be
open for the next two weeks.
Uh, and any questions on how
to submit your comments can be directed
to our team in the housing committee office
and we'll work on the hearings
and anything else that we can do to incorporate council
members' feedback into this report.
Thank you. So there will be not be
further business be in front of the committee.
Can I get a motion to adjourn?
So move all the person hackworth.
All those in favor say aye. All opposed.
And name and opinion of the chairs
that I have at the meeting on committee, on the committee,
on house, on receipt is officially adjourned.
Thank you all for coming and you have a great day. Thank.