West Side NAACP Gets Major City Grant As Mayor Touts Local Investments

GARFIELD PARK — A major grant to the local chapter of a civil rights group is indicative of larger city investments being made on the West Side, officials said Friday.

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Friday presented a $250,000 grant to the West Side NAACP Chapter, the local branch of the group also known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The award was presented to Karl Brinson, NAACP Chicago West Side Branch president. He said the funding allows the chapter to have a sustained impact on West Side communities.

“It gives us an opportunity to invest right back into people,” Brinson said at the grant ceremony at the Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave. “We get a chance to give people back some hope, faith and courage.”

The award is part of the Community Convener Grant program. Launched as part of the mayor’s public safety plan in May, the grant program was introduced in Austin, Englewood, Little Village and West Garfield Park and given out based on safety, crime, health and disinvestment data.

The grant is intended for organizations to work with the city to counteract disparities and coordinate community education.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) said grants like the one given to the NAACP and other public investments are helping to combat disparities in his ward.

“We cover a large swatch of the West Side of Chicago and have the diversity and strength of the community to work with, but it’s the challenges of the least of these that we have to be most focused on in government,” Ervin said. “Without government, those individuals who live in communities like West Garfield Park, Austin, North Lawndale … will not see the prosperity that others in our city have seen.”

At the Friday event, Johnson highlighted the city’s investments of nearly $385 million in 28th Ward infrastructure, according to a Mayor’s Office press release. These investments include more than 350 trees planted, 630 vacant lots cleaned and nearly 1,200 neighborhood improvement projects completed.

The Blue Line’s Forest Park branch is also seeing a massive rebuilding project, and the Chicago Department of Water Management is leading a $5 million lead service line replacement and restoration program .

The city has also invested over $24 million towards 600 new affordable housing units in the 28th ward. A new city effort called the Missing Middle Infill Housing Initiative is looking to spur middle-class housing development in North Lawndale.

The program includes the sale of vacant lots for $1 in select areas and the city subsidizing developing affordable, middle-class housing up to $150,000 per unit.

“That program was designed for wards like the 28th Ward,” Johnson said. “Having these middle spaces, if you will, filled with opportunities — whether it’s through housing or commercial development, but also even green space — that is ultimately what translates into a better, stronger, safer community.”

Earlier in the week, Conservatory Apartments opened in Garfield Park at 14 N. Central Park Ave., offering 43 units of affordable housing for formerly unhoused residents and low-income families. Fifth City Commons , a $38 million affordable housing development in Garfield Park, is set to open in late 2024 or early 2025 and offer up to 80 housing units.

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