Scattered-Site Development Brings Hope to Chicago’s Englewood Neighborhood

Volunteers of America Illinois continues to bring hope to Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.

“Englewood is a challenged community, but it’s a community at an inflection point. And we like to think we have contributed to that inflection point,” says Nancy Hughes Moyer, president and CEO of VOA Illinois. “We have really made a deep investment in the Hope Manor II development.”

To continue its work in the neighborhood, the nonprofit is filling in vacant lots and replacing foreclosed homes with rental opportunities in the surrounding blocks of Hope Manor II, a permanent supportive housing development for veterans.

“You have residential blocks where 60% is vacant or abandoned,” she says. “That’s a huge drag on community safety and stability.”

Completed this spring, the first phase of Hope Manor Village tackles scattered-site infill development, replacing 16 vacant lots with 36 two-bedroom apartments; 14 units serve residents at 60% of the area median income (AMI), 12 units at 50% of the AMI, five units at or below 30% of the AMI, and five units at or below 15% of the AMI. Ten units for the lowest-income households also have housing vouchers through the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund’s MAUI program.

“It has really had the impact of activating those blocks,” Hughes Moyer says.

To make the project a reality, the city of Chicago donated the 16 vacant lots. The $14.5 million development also benefited from Opportunity Zone funds.

The next two phases of VOA Illinois’ neighborhood revitalization work will be focused on rehabbing abandoned and foreclosed properties as well as the creation of Englewood 21, a learning and development center that will host after-school programs, a teen technology center, and small business enterprises.

“When all is said and done, we are talking about reactivating 30 parcels of land in an eight-block radius,” she adds.