Reclaiming Chicago initiative adds 10 homes in Roseland

Neighbors and project partners gathered Friday on East 118th Street in Roseland to celebrate the newest homes built under the community-led campaign Reclaiming Chicago.

The Hope Center Foundation and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, partners in the campaign, held a ribbon-cutting for 10 homes in the Far South Side neighborhood. Four of the properties are under contract, and five potential buyers have been referred to lenders, according to the Hope Center.

With Phase 2 in Roseland complete, this brings the total number of homes built under Reclaiming Chicago to 90. The campaign’s mission is to build 2,000 homes across the South and West sides to help combat decades of disinvestment.

“What makes this effort distinct is its alignment. It brings together residents, faith institutions, developers, nonprofits, lenders, government and policymakers … around a shared goal to produce housing at scale with intention — and at a price point that working families can realistically attain,” Shenita Muse, executive director of the Hope Center, said. “This is how we rebuild and strengthen neighborhoods, and this is how we ensure that revitalization includes the very families who have remained committed to these communities.”

Reclaiming Chicago, led by the civic coalition United Power for Action and Justice, has raised $52 million to build homes and offer subsidies to buyers. Buyers of the Roseland homes are receiving about $50,000 in down payment assistance, according to Jessica Caffrey, executive director of the Cook County Land Bank Authority.

Many of the three-bedroom homes are on the same block where 11 properties from the first phase of development finished in late 2024.

Part of Reclaiming Chicago’s goal is to build homes in areas that have high vacancies to draw new investment and build community. And the effort seems to be working.

David Doig, president of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, said neighborhood reinvestment is already happening after the first phase of Roseland homes were completed.

“We have seen such a transformation of this particular block and the surrounding blocks,” Doig said. “Existing owners are now fixing up their properties, making investments in their own properties. We're seeing former vacant buildings that are being rehabbed. … When people see hope, we see investment follow.”

The 10 lots in Phase 2 were provided by the land bank. Caffrey said it has acquired more than 40 lots for the Hope Center to build Reclaiming Chicago homes, which will help families build equity and generational wealth.

Arthur Maiorella/For the Sun-Times

Keshanna Pope said homeownership felt out of reach, like it does for many other millennials and Gen Z, who can’t afford a home due to skyrocketing costs. But Pope was able to purchase one of the Roseland properties, saying Reclaiming Chicago’s strategy — which includes services and classes for potential buyers — helped her achieve that dream and feel connected to her community.

“I didn't just gain a home because I became a part of the community,” she said.

Hope Center plans to break ground in Roseland on 20 homes next fall, followed by another 50. That will bring Reclaiming Chicago’s total development in Roseland to 91 homes, according to Muse.

Reclaiming Chicago has about 200 homes at different development stages. It's targeting four neighborhoods, including Roseland, Back of the Yards, Chicago Lawn and North Lawndale. It expanded to Chicago Lawn last year thanks to a $10 million grant from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.

“We're moving. We have a vision,” Jeff Bartow, executive director of Southwest Organizing Project Illinois, said. “We recognize, though, in order to succeed, we need to move at pace and at scale. We need to take large sites, identify them, take them, build on them. We need to continue to do infill construction.”