The Pritzker Traubert Foundation named six finalists for the 2022 Chicago Prize award.
The prize provides capital to initiatives that focus on creating lasting change in historically disinvested neighborhoods. Of the six finalists, one project will receive the Chicago Prize of $10 million, while the other five get $500,000 matching fund grants.
Established in 2019, the prize aims to help accelerate investment-ready projects, offering technical assistance and creating economic opportunity for residents on the South and West sides of Chicago. The two-year process involves a team of advisors comprising civic leaders and development experts.
This year’s finalists include:
- Bringing Communities Back Initiative, a comprehensive strategy led by Far South Community Development Corp., or Far South CDC, to draw residents back to Greater Roseland by repurposing nearly 1 million square feet of space for residential and retail uses.
- Cultivate Collective, led by the Academy for Global Citizenship and Greater Southwest Development Corp. to catalyze economic development and generate local wealth through durable green economy pathways for job training, business incubation, homeownership assistance, employment and prosperity.
- Exchange Health Innovation Partners, a multifaceted development initiative led by DL3 Realty Advisors, Chicago Family Health Center, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and Revere Properties, focused on improving public health outcomes in South Shore and South Chicago.
- Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative, a mission to address spiritual, socioeconomic, political and physical needs of Garfield Park through engaged, cooperative participation among all residents and stakeholders, including investments in housing, physical and mental health services, workforce development for health care and other professions, a business incubator and maker space, and a community-owned grocery store.
- Health to Work, Wealth and Wellness, or H2W), is an innovative workforce strategy led by Comer Education Campus, Bitwise Industries, Millennial Beacon and leading local organizations to bring community health, digital innovation, workforce development and drug discovery initiatives under one roof to connect the Greater Grand Crossing community to transformational health and economic opportunities.
- 4630 S. Ashland/4615 S. Marshfield is a complementary and strategic set of investments led by the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council in partnership with a diverse team of Latino-led firms, including Park Row Development, JGMA, Walling-Gomez Architects and All Construction Group, to provide critically needed affordable housing and resident-oriented commercial amenities that respond to the community’s quality-of-life plan.
Always Growing, Auburn Gresham was selected from among six finalists as the inaugural recipient of the Chicago Prize in August 2020. The initiative is led by the Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp., Urban Growers Collective and Green Era Partners and includes a first-of-its-kind natural renewable gas project on Always Growing’s campus at 650 W. 83rd St.
“The very big picture is that these great ideas are out there, and they’re out there in the communities to try to determine what the communities need. Once these ideas come forward and we’re able to focus on a number of them, then we can do additional support to help these ideas develop further,” said Bryan Traubert, co-founder and chairman of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.
Foundation President Cindy Moelis said each of the finalists are awarded $135,000 in resources to devise a business plan. Then, they move to the second phase, where they are to give a more detailed plan by the end of the summer, leading to the announcement of the grand prize winner in the fall.
The $10 million grand prize is awarded by the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, while smaller grants come from funders such as JPMorgan Chase, BMO Harris Bank and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. The Pritzker Traubert Foundation also committed $5 million in capacity and planning awards to help build a pipeline of impactful community-led projects.
Moelis said of the 35 proposals they received for this year’s prize, a big chunk of applicants were repeats of 2020, showing that the program is rooted in bringing innovative projects to the forefront and supports resiliency.
“What we’re thinking about is that there’s momentum here that needs to keep growing; there’s momentum from the city, from other philanthropy, and from us around a commitment to the South and West sides, investment and development that we continue to want to build up momentum. This has got to be more than just a one time, one-off thing. It’s got to be all of us working together and continuously building support,” said Moelis.
Traubert said many of these projects are ready for investment now: “We have these great projects and, right now, we just want to help them develop and further flesh out these ideas and see which ones rise to the top.”
Source: chicagobusiness.com
