Chicago's 'Invest South/West' program will fund housing, businesses

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was in North Lawndale on Monday to promote the next phase of the city's INVEST South/West program.

The city is helping fund projects on the South and West sides that include affordable housing, gardens, restaurants and a museum.

"For many Black and Brown folks, homeownership has become an elusive pipe dream due to decades of discriminatory practices such as predatory loans, redlining, segregation and more," Lightfoot said in a statement. "It is crucial that we address the modern-day manifestations of these practices by providing our residents with what they need to achieve homeownership—which has time and time again proven to be a key indicator of future financial stability and generational wealth. Through 'Reclaiming Chicago,' we will be able to create a new wave of Black and Brown homeowners and as a result, improve our communities from the inside out for years to come."

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Alderman Michael Scott (24th Ward) also talked about the importance of investing in communities instead of expecting people to leave those communities.

"When I was about 9-years-old my father got shot in Douglas Park and when he got shot, I said to him ‘why are we living here?’" Scott said. "My father said to me, ‘hey if we were to leave now, we would rob this community of all the things they have given to us and we would be part of the problem and not part of the solution.’"

The sites to be developed include the former Laramie State Bank in Austin, vacant land on 79th Street in Auburn Gresham and vacant land along West 63rd Parkway in Englewood.