Green Era, a CCLF financed project, has done it again winning the prestigious Climate Challenge Cup. The Climate Challenge Cup is a new international competition to celebrate transformative civic research partnerships in the UK and US between research bodies, civic organizations and local communities to combat climate change. Only two awards were given during the… Read more »

The Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) and the Chicago Rehab Network (CRN) created the Center for Shared Ownership (CSO) to provide training and technical assistance necessary for the successful governance and operation of shared ownership housing associations including cooperatives, condominiums, and townhouses by resident owners to preserve or create affordable housing throughout Chicagoland. In order… Read more »

Continuing to persevere in a challenging year, CCLF ended 2021 with continued growth and community impact. CCLF ended 2021 with $90,248,498 in loans outstanding to 154 customers. CCLF provided 32 loans totaling $27.7 million which created or retained 294 housing units and developed or retained 230,681 square feet of commercial real estate and community facility… Read more »

The long-awaited Pullman Culver’s held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony November 8 with much celebration. Ba-Ron Chicago Burgers LLC/Bar-Pull LLC principals Baron Waller and Ronald Wells welcomed U.S. Representative Robin Kelly, Illinois State Representative Nicholas Smith (34th District), 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale, Rick Silva, Culver’s CEO, Kevin Goldsmith, CCLF Board Member and Program… Read more »

Mott Smith and Brian Albert are founders of Amped Kitchens in Los Angeles, and they opened their third facility in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago on October 14, 2021. Amped Kitchens was created to give a competitive advantage to food and beverage entrepreneurs ready to expand but who can use shared resources to maneuver… Read more »

Chicago Community Loan Fund celebrated 30 years of providing access to capital in underserved communities throughout metropolitan Chicago virtually October 28. The event lauded the accomplishments of CCLF’s customers and partners engaged in community transformation through community development and also honored the recipients of the 2021 Fannie Lou Hamer Awards for Grassroots Community Development. (from… Read more »

Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF), along with key investors, has created a $25 million loan fund to support African American, Latino and other business developers of color. The Communities of Color Fund was added to CCLF’s lending capabilities as another tool to address racial equity in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods throughout Chicagoland with a strong… Read more »

July 12 brought the Kick-Off/Demo Day for a property under the Chicago Neighborhood Rebuild program. Located at 7222 S. Vernon in Chicago’s Park Manor neighborhood, the site is the first rehab of a CCLF-acquired property then sold to a developer participating in the Chicago Neighborhood Rebuild Program. Originally built in 1914, the 1,914 square foot,… Read more »

Rains held off long enough on June 23 to brighten Celadon Partners, LLC groundbreaking celebration of Maywood Supportive Living. Celebrated in tandem with COVID-19 precautions, the festive outdoor event recognized the major historic redevelopment of a five-story, 133,000-square-foot supportive living facility for seniors located at 316 Randolph Street in Maywood, Illinois. In attendance were state… Read more »

On June 17, CCLF held its Annual Stakeholders Meeting virtually for the second consecutive year. Funders, investors, borrowers and supporters joined to learn how their funding and partnership increased CCLF’s social impact in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods during the COVID-19 pandemic and the fund’s plans post-pandemic. The program included live reports and presentations of borrower… Read more »

In 1966, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. turned his attention toward Northern cities to expose the social injustices presumed to only exist in the South. His focus settled on Chicago. Bringing the movement to Chicago, Dr. King and his family relocated into an apartment on Chicago’s… Read more »

Takeisha Washington, President of RPT Development Group, Inc. (RPT), has a strong relationship with CCLF and together the work of rebuilding Chicago’s neighborhoods continues. RPT is a 14-year-old corporation engaged in acquiring, rehabbing, and sales or lease of often-neglected properties in low- to moderate-income communities. The corporation focuses on residential single-family homes and multi­-unit properties,… Read more »

On December 15, 2020, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced $4.1 billion in donations to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. Scott and her team undertook a rigorous, data-driven due diligence process to select the 384 donation recipients from 6,490 organizations considered. The organizations were selected based on data analysis on community… Read more »

CCLF’s Wendell Harris, Vice President of Lending Operations, engaged in discussion with The Chicago Citizen newspaper’s Tia Jones for a 30-minute podcast discussing CCLF and our initiatives in Chicagoland’s low- to moderate-income communities. In addition to the podcast, The Chicago Citizen also featured CCLF in a print and online article entitled “Neighborhoods Feel Financial Institution’s… Read more »

On December 15, 2020, MacKenzie Scott announced $4.1 billion in donations to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. Chicago Community Loan Fund is honored to be named among the not-for-profits selected for a grant to help people suffering the economic effects of COVID-19, racial inequity, high poverty rates, and limited… Read more »

Wendell Harris, Vice President of Lending Operations at Chicago Community Loan Fund appeared on FOX-32 Chicago December 14, 2020. Harris joined anchors Anita Padilla and Scott Schneider at the 7:30 hour of FOX’s Good Day Chicago morning program. In the segment, Harris explained CCLF’s efforts to support low-income residents struggling to stay afloat during the… Read more »

As the COVID-19 pandemic pervaded the country in early 2020, comingled with social unrest in the wake of civic injustices, CCLF resolved to persevere and continue providing financing and technical assistance that benefit low- to moderate-income communities throughout metropolitan Chicago. Thanks to the extra efforts of its funders and investors CCLF has been able to… Read more »

In September, Landmarks Illinois announced nine recipients of the 2020 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards, which included two CCLF borrowers. The annual awards program honors exceptional historic preservation projects and the people working to save important locations throughout Illinois. Among the winners, the CCLF-funded Aurora Arts Center in Aurora, Illinois, earned the… Read more »

While stay-at-home orders were in place and the city of Chicago’s neighborhoods saw social upheaval following the death of George Floyd, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the launch of Together Now: Chicago’s Fund to Rebuild Our Neighborhoods. In collaboration with The Chicago Community Trust and the city of Chicago, Together Now fund raised money from… Read more »

Watch the virtual meeting here:CCLF’s 2020 Annual Stakeholders Meeting Embracing the digital culture to share its message, CCLF hosted its 2020 Annual Stakeholders Meeting on Tuesday, September 15, in a virtual platform. The production included live reports and video presentations of projects that represent the diverse breadth of CCLF’s financing in 2019. They included: Growing… Read more »

RPT Development Group, Inc. and Takeisha Washington are working hard to reshape Chicago’s affordable housing landscape. Washington, President of RPT Development, has a strong relationship with CCLF and has played an integral role in helping to rebuild and restructure Chicago’s neglected neighborhoods. Established in 2007, RPT Development is dedicated to the identification, acquisition, rehabilitation and… Read more »

The Mark Twain Hotel, a landmark property in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, reopened with much celebration March 6. Hosted by The NHP Foundation, the property’s reopening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., 48th Ward Alderman and Chairman of the city’s Committee of Housing… Read more »

On a frosty day in February, the Village of Maywood was the site of renewal as local dignitaries, investors, developers and area residents gathered for a “Start of Construction” celebration of the forthcoming Fifth Avenue Apartments. Hosted by developer Interfaith Housing Development Corporation (IHDC), the event lauded the transformation of a long-vacant lot located at… Read more »

As 2019 came to a close, CCLF reflected on a very successful year that saw milestone growth in its operations and social impact. In June, CCLF reached $100 million in total assets and ended the year with $79 million in loans outstanding to 145 customers working to create communities where people thrive. In 2019, CCLF… Read more »

CCLF, in partnership with Chicago TREND, hosted a special event on October 24, 2019, to announce a new investment from Fifth Third Bank designed to finance strategic catalytic commercial development in Chicago. The first borrower supported by this funding is the Lillian Marcie Center for the Performing Arts, a new performing arts center and ancillary… Read more »

Starbucks Coffee Company announced its plans to invest $10 million in four community lenders—CCLF, Accion Chicago, IFF and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)—to drive economic opportunity in Chicago. Starbucks’ investment is expected to help finance more than 500 loans to foster growth in small business, support community development projects and create more jobs in Chicago’s… Read more »

Despite changing trends and preferences, the science of printing and print production has endured since Gutenberg first introduced the printing press in 1436. The industry continues to flourish in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood at Salsedo Press, Inc. Established in 1969, Salsedo Press is a minority-owned worker cooperative firm that offers core printing and finishing services… Read more »

Greater Chicagoland Fellowship (GCF) has a mission to provide affordable housing for low- to moderate-income individuals and families and help in revitalization efforts in Lake, DuPage, McHenry, Cook and Will counties. On a balmy morning in September, GCF put the finishing touches on a rehabbed, single-family home in Streamwood, Illinois, sold to a family of… Read more »

Emma’s House celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 28, 2019, announcing the opening of a new resource for women suffering from drug and alcohol abuse in the Austin community of Chicago. Named after Alderman Emma Smith, a staunch supporter of Emma’s House, the facility is a three-story mansion with 7 bedrooms and 5 baths… Read more »

Los Angeles-based CED Food LLC broke ground on its Chicago Prep project in July 2019, bringing Amped Kitchens to Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin neighborhood. Amped Kitchens, located at the former Zenith Electronics site in Belmont-Cragin, will be CED Food’s first location outside California. When completed, Amped Kitchens will offer 7,500 square feet of space with 64 kitchens… Read more »

“Serving Woodlawn for over a century,” Daley’s Restaurant—Chicago’s oldest restaurant—has moved into its new, 21st century home in CCLF/Chicago TREND-financed retail space in Woodlawn Station. A mainstay for 126 years at 809 E. 63rd Street in the Woodlawn neighborhood, Daley’s moved across the street to its 5,900-square-foot space this summer in Woodlawn Station, located at… Read more »

On September 26, 2019, CCLF opened its newly redesigned office and welcomed investors, borrowers, industry colleagues, supporters and friends to join in an Open House and $100 Million Asset Milestone Celebration. The evening included music, food, and engagement inaugurating CCLF’s expanded office space, redesigned to better serve Chicagoland’s communities. Nearly 200 guests joined CCLF’s staff… Read more »