Chicago Politics

Health Authority Avenue Apartments Grand Opening 10.20.25

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Mayor Johnson attends the Westside Health Authority Avenue Apartments Grand Opening.

Transcript

0:00 Alderman Emma Mix, State Rep LaShawn Ford, Congressman Danny Davis, and our Mayor Brandon Johnson. Thank you for your continued support and leadership in this project. And now to open today's celebration and bless our time together, please join me in welcoming Pastor Robbie Wilkerson to lead us in prayer.

0:37 Amen. As a lifetime resident of Austin, it gives me great honor to be able to do this blessing today. Can we all bow our heads for prayer? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment of divine manifestation. We thank you for this moment when vision has become a reality and hope has found a home. Today we gather here in Austin on the west side of Chicago, standing on what we claim to be holy ground.

1:11 to celebrate the grand opening of this affordable housing facility, a beacon of stability, health, and dignity for our community. Lord, we come now to bless the hands that planned it, bless the hands that built it, and bless the hands that funded this work. We ask a blessing on the leaders of the Westside Health Authority who have labored faithfully to turn compassion into construction and purpose into progress may this facility not only provide shelter but also peace healing

1:48 and opportunity to all who dwell within its walls so father let your presence fill every apartment every hallway and every heart that enters these doors may families strive children dream and elders rest in comfort lord let this place be a reminder that when communities unite under your wisdom transformation is always possible so we declare this grand opening not just as the dedication of a building but as the unveiling of a brighter future bless this space with safety

2:25 unity and prosperity and let it stand as a testimony that faith without works is dead And that through love and action, we bring heaven to earth. Lord, we thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And you ready? Oh, Justin. Justin Hill.

3:03 So I am very happy to be here today to recognize this great work that the Westside Health Authority has done. Thank you so much. I'm honored to be a part of the team. Morris Reed, his vision for this neighborhood, for the community is beautiful and a testament to the work that has been going on for the Westside Health Authority for over 37 years. And so part of my role, my small role at the Westside Health Authority is I operate two SSAs, one along the Chicago Avenue where I get the lovely pleasure of working with Alderman, Emma Mitz.

3:36 She's awesome, she's very responsive, and also Alderman Irving. and then I also we work along Madison Avenue too as well with Alderman Irving so I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for coming to join us for the celebration of this building and I hope that this is a testament to the things that we can build together in this neighborhood So next we have Ms. Rosie Dawson, who has worked for this project for nine years.

4:16 So let's give her another hand, please. Thank you all. Thank you all for the applause, but thank you all for coming. This project is near and dear to my heart. Just to be able to allow housing, which is such a hard thing to come by in the Austin area. I want to say thank you to all the people that were involved, CIC, Alderman Mintz, State

4:51 Rep LaShawn Ford, Structure, Greenwright, Kareem Brockman, my crew, my property. The community, the community, but last but not least in my heart, Morris Reed. Mr. Reed is the CEO of Westside Health Authority.

5:22 My boss, even though people say I boss him, he's my boss. We saved this building for the community. I want to be clear about that. It's for the community that we are here. I want people to understand that it costs more to tear this building down than it did to fix it up. We need to understand that vacant lots are nothing but eyesores.

5:54 No matter how we cover them up, they're eyesores. We can cover them up with a fence. We can put a swing in it. It's an eyesore to a family that's needed, that needs a house. It needs a space to live. I am in real estate. I've been in real estate over 25 years. And this has been one of my most loved projects just because it's all in one.

6:28 You get everything. This is what I call sustainable housing. I designed it to be sustainable. There's all the amenities you can have inside of a home without it being a physical home. The rent is set where you can afford to be here until you're ready to move forward into your own property. There's a refrigerator, stove, microwave, dishwasher, washer, dryer, furnace and unit, A.C., alarm system, intercom system.

7:11 There's nothing that's not here that you won't get in a home. All we ask is that Austin takes care of it. That's right. This building was formerly known as the Carter. If anybody know about New Jack City, y'all know the Carter. This is not the Carter anymore, this is Avenue Apartments. I want to be sure to thank the community.

7:44 Spill the Beans holding us down over here. Hughes Barbecue. Vanessa Stokes and all of her projects. I also want to thank the sheriff's department, our first tenants here. The sheriff's moved in when nobody else was here, when the building was vacant, when we was chasing people out of the building.

8:20 I found Tom Dart and said, I need you to be over here. So he saved us a lot of money on security, believe that. That's right. I also want to thank my family. I spend more time with this family than I do with my own family. My daughter's here. My grandson is here. I don't ask them to come to many things. You're not going to see them often because I try to keep work separate from personal.

8:55 But I wanted them here today just so they could know where I spend my time at. So, again, I say thank you. We're going to do a walk-through once everybody gets through speaking. There's food. and queues. There's food in the apartments. There's queued at a jerk truck. So it's set up across the street because this is what the people will get in the community. PopCourse was designed so the people from here in the apartments that's coming, there are 78 units from Oak Park Regional

9:25 Housing so the community can enjoy the whole walk of the avenue. So you all have a great time today. Thank you. Appreciate you. Next, we have our general contractor from Structure Rewrite, Kareem Brown.

9:56 Good afternoon, everyone. I stand here in great humility because I remember this project when I first saw it around 2017 and I walked it and it was just depressing because it was just another building that was just not cared for and overlooked by so many different people and I had the pleasure of meeting Rosie at that time and she was very optimistic about this building saying all the ideas and anything that

10:28 you see today, she saw it then in 2017. As a contract, I didn't see it, but as we started moving along and started getting everything gutted and just started seeing the potential here, you started seeing the vision and you started seeing the community really trying to get involved, being inquisitive about what's happening here and just motivated to see a product that we see today. I'm truly thankful for being able to stand in front of you guys, given the opportunity by Morris Reed and Rosie Dawson to have our crew we had

11:02 black men working in this building. Black men from plumbers to electricians to fire sprinklers to carpenters. We had black men working in this building. We had black young men that were in a We assisted in a training program through different entities, Dawson Technical Institute as well as our own, coming in here and being provided mentorship to have a beacon of hope, a sense of identity of seeing a black man in charge, being able to provide instructions to other men, lead men into a finished product.

11:39 So I'm very proud to be able to say that we did that as well. I'm hoping that this will be one of many opportunities that we'll be able to actually show our youth and even folks coming home that just want to take a shot, say, hey, man, listen, you are important. We feel you, and we want to give you a chance. So I thank you guys again for providing me with this opportunity. I really appreciate you and Morris for having us do this. And I want you guys to walk the apartments and see the finished product because we feel very proud of what we did here today thank you very much thank you kareem

12:18 and i have the honor of introducing my congressman danny k davis all right well thank you thank you thank you very much let me first of all

12:49 I want to thank the residents, the individuals who came together under their own leadership to say that we need to do something different, that we need to make sure that this building becomes what it ought to be. But let me tell you, in order for this to happen, it takes leadership from every level of government working together.

13:20 And so one of the reasons that we're here is because we have a great mayor of the city of Chicago who provides the leadership from the top, from the top. It takes state government, local government, all of them coming together. I saw state representative LaShawn Ford. It takes money from the state.

13:53 It takes money from the federal government, often something called tax credits, low-income housing tax credits. You have to finance it. You have to figure out if you need $25 million, $40 million, whatever. You often don't get it from one place. It comes from an amalgamation.

14:23 And then to have a construction company. People who know what to do, how to do it, and how to make it happen. I want to commend this construction company. I want to commend a company that provides opportunity for young, and some old folks, but young African-American males to be trained to get a job.

15:00 To be able to take care of themselves, to take care of their families, to know what they can do, and know that they can learn to become whatever they want to be. And so it's a great celebration. It's a great day. And I end my comments with a little saying. And that is, I watched them tearing a building down. A group of men in an angry town, with a leaf hove and a lusty yell, they swung a beam and a side wall fell.

15:40 And so I asked the foreman, are these men skilled, the ones I would need if I wanted to build? He said, no indeed, unskilled labor is all that I need. Well, I can reckon a day or two what it has taken builders a lifetime to do. And so I asked myself, Westside Health Authority, as I went my way, which of these roles am

16:11 I prepared to play? Am I a builder who measures life with patience and care, or am I a wrecker who stalks the town content with the task of tearing down well we see what these people are they are builders congratulations

16:43 we are so blessed to have you on the west side thank you so much So, of course, following that beautiful speech, we have my state brat, John Horner. Thank you very much, Vanessa, and good afternoon, everyone. I tell you, I could come behind Danny in a lot of stuff that he's doing, but that voice, the voice of God,

17:19 I'm going to have some challenges trying to get to that level of, but I'm ready to try. Let me just say this today is a different hangout in this corridor. If you're from the west side, you know what was going on in this corridor. And today is a different day. The sun is shining. People are smiling. And we have cameras here not because someone overdosed, not because someone was killed,

17:52 but because someone was intentional about making life better for those on the west side of Chicago. It was so intentional that you look at that image up there. What is that thing up there that is red? I see it. The ventilation. Red, black, and green. Intentional. Everything in this building is intentional in order to make a difference in the community and in the lives of people that live here, walk past here, and even shop at Spill the Beans and the barbecues place next door.

18:29 This place is affordable and it's safe, and it has a responsible landlord and Westside Health Authority. Why do I say safe and responsible landlord? Because Alderman Mintz and Congressman Davis, we get calls from tenants that have absent landlords that complain about not having safe conditions in their living quarters.

18:59 But we don't have that problem with our CEO from Westside Health Authority, Morris Reed. And we don't have that problem with the great, where'd she go, Rosie Dawson. Let me tell you, this is in Rosie Dawson's blood. Rosie Dawson has called Alderman Mintz and myself with the cup, there she is, giving up for Rosie. And Rosie continues to tell me that we need more money to make it even better.

19:34 So, Congressman Davis, we have to get more money from the federal government, Alderman Mitz, we have to get more money from the city, and I have the responsibility to get more money from the state for Rosie Dawson to make this project great. Now, when you talk about affordable, when you look at affordability, you have rent right now for a one-bedroom here at $1,400. $1,600. We know that rent in this neighborhood for one-bedrooms could go up to $2,000 when you have washer and dryers, gas stoves and refrigerator in the unit. A perfect unit. So thank you for caring about the community.

20:18 Then you have a two-bedroom. That could go as high as $2,500, $2,600, but here it's $1,600. That's great. And why is that great? Because all around the city, when the Alderman and I are in our places of business, we hear about affordability. It's very tough for land. Oh, the mayor. Mr. Mayor, I did not see you. Give it up for the mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for your passion and love for the people.

20:58 But when we talk about affordable housing, what's often missed is the ability for landlords to make it affordable. So we have to make sure that we have the balanced approach so that the landlords that's in this space today can make it affordable. And so I look forward to making sure that what we do make it possible for landlords to make it affordable. When you talk about inflation and what's happening in Washington, D.C., that's making it hard on landlords, making it hard on tenants, it's almost sometimes impossible for landlords to run their operations and make them affordable.

21:40 But you have done it. And I thank you, Rosie Dawson, and your boss, Morris Reed, for what you've done. And I will close by saying that we have a contractor here that also did it with love and passion to make sure that the building is safe for the people. And thank you, Kareem, for loving the community and doing the best job that you can do. Thank you. Thank you, LaShawn.

22:11 And next, we have our Alderwoman mix. You know, I would preach. I would do that, but I know somebody that can beat me doing that now, and that's the mayor. The mayor got that down pat. If you heard him get that budget address, I thought he was doing a sermon up there for a minute.

22:43 And y'all are happy. Made us a little happy around here. So let me just say thank you all. Thank you, Rose. The whole team. I just get excited to see change. I get excited to take out old things and put in new stuff. I just know that God made us so that you don't get to mention the Lord because, hey, I can't do nothing without it. I don't know who can. So everything we do, we have to give honor and praises to him.

23:15 And that's who keep us going to be able to see, not with your natural eye, but with the inner eye. See that there are changes that can be made and made possible for our neighborhood. See that we can have black contractors working in our neighborhood on projects. See that these things are possible, not only to have a mayor that are invested in the neighborhood, from the neighborhood, through our neighborhood. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We appreciate you for the work that you've done

23:47 and what you've given us over here on this west side. You know, my slogan is breaking ground and cutting ribbons. Break ground and cutting ribbons. And, you know, we just cut one Friday with Vanessa over at the Art Center. Thank you, Vanessa, for that wonderful Art Center. Art coming to the Austin community. These are things that we have not had here, and it just brightened up our community, give us a sign of hope that we can do all things.

24:18 We're taking out all this stuff that ain't right, you all. That means we're going to clear our minds up, and we're going to get together. We're going to uphold one another. We're going to uplift one another, and we're going to march this battle along together. You know, I can thank all of you, the residents, because you all show up all the time for whatever good neighbors I see my constituents over here thank you all so much for being here supporting us we can know we can't do a job alone it takes every last one of us you know

24:48 I'm getting like the soul city corridor Malcolm I can't leave you out because Malcolm is doing this thing down here on the soul city corridor I'm seeing more black business coming that I ever saw before and create new business. Why? Because we know it's our time. We've got to do something. And time is valuable and we can't waste it. So I have an opportunity now to bring to you. I don't have to bring him to you because he's already with you all the time.

25:21 He lives right out here with us. But I will say to the preacher, but, you know, we'll take that out of another day. But the mayor that stands for no Trump cuts, let me say that much, Steve, no Trump cuts. And we need to see that we need to not have Trump cuts here. We need to be able to keep this money coming so that we can invest in all of our children, all of our city.

25:51 And not only just take care of rich, but also help those who are poor. You know what? The Bible says, if you can do it to the least of these, then you done it unto me. And we ain't trying to go that route. So let me bring up to you our Mayor, Mayor Bramman Johnson. One more time, evangelist, older woman in my midst.

26:23 You know, we have plenty of elected leaders and faith leaders and business leaders and community leaders on what I like to call the best side, which is the... So I was just saying on my way here, I know there's a few Southsiders. We're going to let you just enjoy yourself while you're here. Go shop on Soul City Corridor, spend your money. But I'm grateful to all the elected leaders. Of course, Congressman Davis, thank you.

26:55 Representative LaShawn Ford, thank you both for your leadership. and, of course, Alderwoman, him amidst. And it's so good to be home in Austin, let me just say. So I'm coming from downtown, and on the way in, I'm like, boy, I wish my day could just end right over here. But I have a few more things to get to today, but what an incredible celebration. You know, there are some organizations that are just, When you think about Chicago, you think about the great community institutions, and there's no institution that has a stronger reputation and standard for standing up for our people, and that's the Westside Health Authority.

27:45 You know, I think once upon a time, I'm sure everybody probably worked or volunteered with the Westside Health Authority one time or another. But really to all of the partners that are present today, this is a great celebration, the Avenue Apartments and the continued revitalization of our community. You know, Austin is a community of vision and resilience where we as neighbors have long advocated for community development and employment opportunities, housing, and of course to be able to experience Chicago's prosperity.

28:18 Aren't you glad that downtown investments have finally made it to the west side of Chicago? And so today's opening of the Avenue Apartments, it really reflects this community's history of organizing and strategizing in such a critical way. We all know that housing in particular, this is just more than shelter. It is about stabilizing our communities, but it's also about making sure that we provide dignity for our people.

28:49 It's the foundation for opportunity. Affordable, fair housing is the cornerstone of really what makes communities safer and it allows them to thrive. And this is why this project is so deeply important to us, especially for here, right here in Austin, but really for the entire city of Chicago. Because remember you all, it was Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that said, whatever affects one directly, it affects all of us indirectly. And so what affects my family and neighbors in Austin, it affects the people downtown.

29:22 What affects the people in Rogers Park, it affects the people in Inglewood. So when the people of Austin are hurting because they don't have affordable homes and safe streets, all of Chicago hurts. But aren't you glad that Chicago is being healed? Because Austin is getting its healing right now. So my administration is committed to building and preserving affordable housing across the entire city of Chicago. But you know what also makes this assignment so critical?

29:53 As Alderwoman Mitch has alluded to, I did release my fiscal year 2026 budget proposal. City Council, and what I made absolutely clear, no cuts to services, and we're not raising property taxes to balance this budget, because we have to stabilize our communities. So that's why my administration is committed to continuous this investment to demonstrate that we can build better together. We put forth the $1.25 billion housing economic development bond, which is the largest investment

30:29 for housing and economic development in the history of Chicago. And this is going to fuel construction and rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing right here on the west side and throughout Chicago. To date, you all, over 4,000 units have been built, rehab, preserved, with over 10,000 units to be advanced overall. Just in the summer of 2025 alone, we built 440, I'm sorry, 422 new units, and we are in the process of completing 1,600 more, you all.

31:03 We are going to build the safest, most affordable, big city in America, and as all the women have indicated, we're going to do that together. Isn't that right, Austin? And so, in closing, the Department of Housing supported the Avenue Project, the apartments, with this project with over $950,000 funding through our TIF Purchase Rehab Program by CIC. With the goal of preserving affordable rental units in this building and the Department of Planning and Development, we issued another $93,000 for a Small Business Improvement Fund grant.

31:40 This space in 2022 already received over $250,000 in the Equitable Transit Oriented Development Grant in 2023. And of course, this project is being led by the Westside Health Authority, so I want to thank you all, everyone who has made this project possible. The last thing that I'll say is, you know, there's a lot of people that try to put their mouth on Austin on the west side of Chicago. But today is living proof, you all, that we continue to show up for the rest of this city to demonstrate how powerful our unity is.

32:14 And check this out, you all. This past summer, not only did we build more affordable homes, we hired over 1,800 young people for summer jobs right here out of Austin, you all. So these investments are real all along Chicago Avenue, all along Madison, you all, because we are building the safest, most affordable big city. This past summer, the fewest amount of homicides in the summer in Chicago since 1965.

32:45 And so we're breaking ground, we're cutting ribbons, and we're doing that right here in Austin on the Great West Side. God bless you all. God bless the greatest city in the world, the city of Chicago. This next person that we're bringing up does not need just fanfare, but we're going to give it to him because I'm inviting AAA BNA's executive director, Malcolm Crawford, to him.

33:23 Quickly, when I say so, you say city. One time. When I say so, you say city. Sears! Sears! Sears! All right. Did I get it right this time? Did I redeem myself? All right. So I'll say this quickly. The city of Chicago is known for its cultural enclaves. And if we can have Greek town, Chinatown, Boys Town, Little Italy, the Ukrainian village, then we can have what?

33:56 Sears! All right. That's this one-mile stretch on Chicago Avenue that's functioning as an economic driver. and we're continuously bringing in new businesses. We are excited about all the businesses that are coming to the west side. We're excited about 40 Acres Fresh Food Market that opened up. We're excited about Spear the Beans Coffee Shop. We're excited about all of the businesses that continue to be on Chicago Avenue. And I always say, what better street in the city of Chicago to have a focus on than Chicago Avenue?

34:30 We focus on Michigan Street and everybody else. Let's focus on Chicago Avenue. So I'm just excited to be here. I'm excited about all that's coming. And don't get weary, y'all, because there's more to come. As Alderman Mitt say, we're going to cut more ribbons and we're going to break more ground. I needed that, Mayor, because you know I almost messed it up like I did before. But all right, I got it. And let me just say to my brother who's not here. Who I love very much, Morris Reed, he is my friend and I enjoy everything that we talk about and what he's doing.

35:11 So now we are going to do our ribbon cuttings. Okay, so we'll be doing the ribbon cutting outside the gate. After the ribbon cutting, we'll also be having tours of the apartment so you guys can see what the apartment layouts look like. We also have food. There's some sandwiches in the apartment. We have food at the Avenue barbecue. And if you have any questions, please talk to Rosie Dawson.

35:42 Thank you so much.

36:32 I don't know if they're going to move to the podium or whether they're just trying to move their mics. Here to ask about the lawsuit.

37:03 You're a camera guy grabbed the mic. Yeah, I know. Can you grab the rake? Yes.

38:09 right here keep how far the the mic go down a little bit more good that's right and let's lower it a little bit you don't want that blowing on top of them be a YouTube moment you don't want Thank you.

39:12 You

43:59 Greg, here. All right, should we turn this around? Is it fine? No, is it fine? Okay. Well, you know, here's another example of how the president of the United States is attacking the city of Chicago. We know that he has declared war on our city and cities across this country, and this action is baseless, right?

44:39 There's a clear separation of powers here. The president does not have the authority to dictate spending. I taught the Constitution to seventh graders, even they know that, that only Congress can dictate spending here. This is yet another egregious attempt of this president to undermine the work that we're doing, and particularly in black and brown communities. Yeah. Well, look, first of all, you know, the whole point of this, you know, lawsuit really is to prevent the president from withholding these funds.

45:16 We know that he's acting outside of the Constitution. And, look, these are emergency funds in particular that help us respond to emergency crises, right, whether it's getting portable generators in or making sure that we can provide medical equipment, certain technology that allows for us to keep people safe. And so that's why my budget that I put forward is so critical, because my job is to protect all of Chicago against Trump's cuts.

45:47 But again, these acts by this president is working well outside the bounds of the Constitution, and I'm going to use every single tool that's available to me to ensure that every single dollar that belongs to the people of Chicago that we're able to hold those dollars. Yeah, look, the whole purpose of us taking action into the courts

46:20 is to provide some check to this administration because Congress clearly is not doing it. And that's why I said that if Congress is not going to step up to provide check and balance to this administration, the city of Chicago most certainly will. Of course, these are concerns. Chicagoans all over the city are concerned about, you know, will we be able to maintain the level of investments that have created opportunities for more young people, that have expanded mental health, that has put forth, you know, more investments to build more affordable housing.

46:51 And then the fact that these investments have lowered crime in Chicago. These are critical investments that we cannot afford to take a step backwards. So are there concerns? Absolutely. But here's the other thing that's important. Every single lawsuit that we have taken to the court on behalf of the people of Chicago, we've won. And so we fully expect that the courts will understand their authority to make sure that there's some check and some balance to this president that is clearly working outside of the bounds of his constitutional authority.

47:25 Okay, thank you all very much.

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