OPRegionalHousing_081617

Investing in Integration

WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer

Oak Park Regional Housing Center leadership team outside of their Oak Park office, (left to right) Erica Page Muhammad, Michele Rodriguez Taylor, Stuart Barnes Jamieson, Rob Breymaier, Athena Williams are working together to create more viable housing options in across the Greater West Side.

This Oak Park Regional Housing Center piece was produced in partnership with Wednesday Journal Publications.

2 2017

Thanks to the Oak Park Regional Housing Center for all you do for our community!

Congratulations to the

Oak Park Regional Housing Center for continuing the conversation of strengthening our community through integration and diversity.

Senator Don Harmon President Pro Tempore 6941-B W. North Ave., Oak Park (708) 848-2002 harmon@senatedem.illinois.gov

Representative Camille Y. Lilly 6937 W. North Ave., Oak Park (708) 613-5939 staterepcamilleylilly@gmail.com

With the Housing Center, we support a vibrant, sustainable and caring community. We provide resources for you to make an impact with your giving and for nonprofits serving Oak Park and River Forest. See how at: www.oprfcf.org, on Facebook and Twitter @ oprfcf

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Austin Rising: Reinvestment

IN T ROD U CT ION

and Empowerment in Austin

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ver the past year, the Housing Center has been engaged in conversations with people and organizations across the Greater West Side. What we’ve heard is that people are ready for a change in how we live and connect with one another. We’re interested in erasing borders between city and suburbs, between races and incomes, and between issues and agendas. Whether folks live in Oak Park, Austin, Berwyn, River Forest, or Proviso Township, there is a renewed sense that we have a common destiny in which each of us is stronger when all of us have more opportunity.

That is why we are committed to Investing in Integration. Our experiences agree with the research -- integration matters. Integration is the key to welcoming diversity, building inclusive networks, and ensuring an equitable community. Integration also happens to be a great strategy for building a vibrant and prosperous community as well.

None of this will happen all by itself. The legacy of segregation and the inequity that accompanies it has too much momentum. We must create an intentional effort to promote integration in order to counter the force of segregation.

The Housing Center will always remain committed to integration across the Greater West Side. But, we can’t do it alone. We need your help and commitment too. Please consider donating to replace a legacy of inequality with a future of equity and inclusion for all. It’s as easy as following this link to donate today: http://www.oprhc. org/donate/

Rob Breymaier Executive Director Oak Park Regional Housing Center/ West Cook Homeownership Center/ Austin Ascending For as long as there is residential segregation, there will be de facto segregation in every area of life.

— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I

By Lacey Sikora

n the decade between 2000 and 2010, the community of Austin lost 20,000 people.

Studies have shown that residents want programs that help long-term owners and improve housing stock, but the community has lacked resources for these programs. Through a two-armed program, the Oak Park Regional Housing Center aims to help create housing opportunities in Austin.

Now in its third year, Austin Ascending gives owners of multi-unit buildings grants to help them bring their vacant units back into the rental market. Athena Williams, program director, notes that the program is making great strides in the community.

“It’s very impactful. We have found that there were a number of vacant properties not being utilized. With these grants, we are helping owners increase their income and at the same time rebuilding the population in Austin.”

Williams notes that the program has doubled the number of participants in the past year. Austin Ascending also benefits the community by employing local contractors, ensuring that the money used to rehabilitate the units is recycled back into the Austin community.

Austin Ascending partners with block club leaders, Austin Coming Together, The Leaders Network and the 11th and 15th District Chicago Police CAPS teams to promote greater stability for property owners within the community.

New this year, Austin Advantage is the second program aimed at improving housing opportunities in Austin. Growing out of the West Cook Advantage Program, Austin Advantage targets low- and moderateincome participants looking to purchase homes in Austin. Erica Page Muhammad, director of the West Cook Homeownership Center, says that the program, which has had success in Berwyn, Forest Park, Bellwood and Maywood, was a natural fit for Austin.

“We have a lot of clients who are not interested in leaving the city. Knowing the community will change a lot in the next five to ten years, we thought about how to get traditional residents who may be renting to transition into homeownership and stay in the community.”

Austin Advantage will offer homeownership workshops and one-on-one counseling to potential buyers and also provide eligible buyers with $10,000 in down payment assistance on fully rehabbed homes in the Austin neighborhood. This assistance is provided in the form of a forgiv-

“With these grants, we are helping owners increase their income and at the same time rebuilding the population in Austin.” able loan, recorded at closing and forgiven after five years.

Muhammad says that Austin Advantage is working with local non-profits in Austin to develop communication and identify potential clients who might be ready to take on a mortgage.

Both Williams and Muhammad note that whether it is through improvements to rental properties or single family homes for purchase, investment in the housing stock of Austin pays dividends to the neighborhood and the residents of the community.

The neighborhood benefits from rehabilitation projects which are an outward signal

ATHENA WILLIAMS

of the economic and social value of the community.

By directing funds to traditional residents of the community, the programs encourage long-lasting ties that benefit the neighborhood. Program participants often take on leadership roles to work on neighborhood solutions, and the program prepares the community to remain self-determined as it moves into the future.

Follow the Housing Center on social media! @apartmentsoakpark @LivelnOakParkIL @race_and_place @TheOakParker @livein_oakpark and use the hashtag

#diversitynow

to talk about how integrated communities matter!

4 2017

Building Bridges: On the Table

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By Lacey Sikora

n May 16, 2017 more than 170 residents of Austin and Oak Park gathered at the Columbus Park Rectory in Austin to discuss how to bridge the divide of Austin Boulevard between Oak Park and the Austin Community. The third annual On the Table event was supported by the Chicago Community Trust and organized by the Oak Park Regional Housing Center.

Rob Breymaier, executive director of the Housing Center, remarks that the event was meant to address a long-standing divide between the two communities. “The conversations from the May event were intended to answer some essential questions, such as: how do we build one community and find our common destiny? Our metropolitan areas are segregated in such a way that we feel some neighborhoods or people are better, and other neighborhoods or people are worse. This event was intended to start the conversation on how to break that mindset.”

In the months leading up to the May event, the Housing Center facilitated several smaller group dinners throughout the Greater West Side – the identity of the area

PHOTO BY BOB MEAD

Rob Breymaier, executive director of the Housing Center speaks during the third annual On the Table event on May 16. including Austin and west suburban Cook County -- to get the dialogue started. River Forest resident Doug Dixon hosted two of these dinners and then facilitated a table at the On the Table event.

He says his table of eight included people of diverse backgrounds including women, men, old, young, black, white and brown people. He says of his group, “I think all of them had an interest in a dialogue about ra-

cial equity and inclusion. We need to be a more whole community. Austin Boulevard is a dysfunctional border that we should dissolve.”

For Dixon, a key goal of the evening was making personal connections at his table.

He says, “My belief is that the only thing that dissolves that barrier is relationships.

To the extent that we can bring people together who have a lot in common, we can dissolve the perception of ‘other’ that exists just because we live a few blocks away from each other on opposite sides of a street.”

At the end of the meeting, the table paired off, with each participant making plans to meet one-on-one with another participant to keep the conversation going. Dixon says his entire group got together for more conversation at his house in July.

Ana Garcia Doyle, a board member of Green Community Connections and executive director of the One Earth Film Festival, also participated in the On the Table event.

At her table, she says an array of residents of Austin and Oak Park discussed ways to erase the line between the two communities in a way that would preserve the benefits of each community.

“We talked about the best ways to blend

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“We have work to do.

This means we need to reach out beyond our community for friendship, colleagues, hiring and other needs.”

ANA GARCIA DOYLE the communities and how to maintain their individual strengths. These kind of changes start with us. We have work to do.

This means we need to reach out beyond our community for friendship, colleagues, hiring and other needs.”

For Garcia-Doyle, the connections she made and the issues discussed at On the Table continue to resonate in her work and personal life. “I’ve been going through my work with a phrase in my head: ‘the greater west side.’ Could we ever see ourselves as one community? What would it take to get there?”

Breymaier adds, “Austin and Oak Park are alike in many ways. Both communities have long histories of strong leadership and active participation by residents. Both are full of opportunity and both have great housing stock. If we look to our commonalities, we can build one community where all of us prosper.”

PHOTO BY BOB MEAD

Doug Dixon (Second from the left) helps facilitate a table to discuss how to bridge the divide betweem the Austin and Oak Park community at the On the Table event on May 16.

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6 2017

Why we need the Oak Park Regional Housing Center The Housing Center Integrates Oak Park’s Neighborhoods

The Housing Center Integrates Oak Park’s Social Networks

The Housing Center Ensures Oak Park’s Prosperity

In the Oak Park rental market, at least one-third of all renters move each year. This means that the geography and demographics of the housing market can change quickly and dramatically. Studies in the American Journal of Sociology and other research publications have found that the involvement of the Housing Center ensures that we overcome implicit biases, stereotypes, and racial blind spots that would result in segregation when no proactive effort is in place. Integration of our neighborhoods is the origin of our community’s values and prosperity.

Because our neighborhoods and schools are integrated, our social networks are better integrated too. Communities gather on their blocks, at their schools, and in nearby parks and businesses. Unlike in most communities, Oak Park’s integration means that these neighborhood gatherings are more likely to be integrated as well. Our integrated housing market means that we have the ability to interact in diverse settings and develop a more inclusive worldview by simply living out our daily lives.

Our integration also plays a key role in our economy.

The Housing Center’s integration strategy for Oak Park ensures that people of every racial group seek out Oak Park as a place to live. That builds strong demand for housing here, which contributes to strong property values.

That value allows us to gain wealth through homeownership and provides stability for renters. It also provides the demand needed for economic development as well — a strong business community in Oak Park is reliant on local patronage for success. The demand generated by the Housing Center’s marketing keeps our economy moving.

The Housing Center Integrates Oak Park’s Schools Our housing integration allows us to enjoy the luxury of neighborhood schools in Oak Park. Many of us enjoy having our schools double as a community resource and a place to connect with neighbors. Because our schools are neighborhood-based, the level of integration in our schools is dependent on the integration of our housing market. Research has shown that children who are educated in a diverse environment are more likely to succeed as adults. Moreover, the integration of our schools ensures that we spend our resources and provide for our children in a more equitable manner.

The Housing Center Protects Oak Park’s Social Values Oak Parkers are proud to live in a community that has a real sense of place and core values. Chief among these values is our belief in diversity. It is through the Housing Center’s integration strategy that we live out this value. By interacting with one another, we can also learn from one another and build empathy. That interaction makes our community more welcoming, inclusive, and equitable over time.

The Housing Center is the Key to a Welcoming, Vibrant, and Prosperous Oak Park Of course, while we have achieved a great deal, we still have much left to accomplish if we are to reach our community’s aspirations. None of our goals can be attained without sustaining our racial integration. As the community’s only institution with a mission to achieve integration, the Housing Center is at the heart of these efforts.

Sustaining integration requires constant intentionality.

Support for the Housing Center ensures that intentionality will continue in Oak Park.

THE BRIGHTEST FUTURES ARE BUILT TOGETHER Great things happen when we work together for the good of Oak Park and Austin Communities. That’s why Thrivent Financial is proud to join with all of you to support the Oak Park Regional Housing Center.

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CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

INVESTING IN

INTEGRATION INVESTING IN CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

INTEGRATION INVESTING IN

INTEGRATION