Bronzeville SolutionsIN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

By: Kim Swift

~Commerce was the glue to the community and diversity of income and occupation marked each neighborhood

~Ebony Magazine, Soft Sheen, The Chicago Defender, The Supreme Life Insurance Company

~Culture and Arts Flourished

~Even though public housing have all been torn down, there’s still this very established perception that this is the site of some of the worst crime and poverty in the city. The process of redevelopment has been a slow and stubborn process. It’s attractive to affluent African Americans, but it hasn’t attracted other demographic groups.

• Bronzeville began to decline in the 60’s and 70’s

• Placement of large numbers of publicly subsidized housing

• Local businesses lost many customers to well-capitalized downtown and suburban competitors that were newly opening their doors to black patrons

• Decreased access to opportunity-rich communities west of Bronzeville, due to the building of the Dan Ryan Expressway, which acted as an effective barrier

• The overall decline of the Chicago economy including, the intense difficulties of two major Southside industries, the stock yards and steel mills

Changing/Breaking the Cycle of Poverty• Prioritize school involvement

get involved in your local school council

• Family Structure (It takes a community to raise a village)

Hold your community accountable for creating less than dynamic environments.

Educate those who don’t know or understand

• Provide jobs to the community by bringing commercial development to the neighborhood

• Identify new blood and young leaders to run for elected offices and change the politics of Chicago as we know it. All systems are broken.

 Neighborhood Business Development Center as defined by the City of Chicago. We provide assistance to businesses by connecting them to:

• City Incentive Programs like the Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF), Tax Increment Financing (TIF), TIF Works and Streamlined TIF

• Financial Resources

• Networking Opportunities

• Area Wide Marketing Initiatives

• Technical Assistance for (trouble-shooting) city-related issues for small businesses

• Provider for two Special Service Areas (SSAs).

• Learn more about Chicago’s SSA Program, and click here to learn more about SSA#47 and SSA#56, both managed by QCDC.

Civic Experience

Our mission is to work together and harness the power of all to build the

quality of life in Bronzeville.

GOLDMAN PRIZE RECIPIENT

http://www.icstars.org