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  • Location
  • Located on the far West Side of Chicago, Austin is bordered by Oak Park on the west and flanked by railroad tracks on the east and north, making it a transportation gateway between the city and the suburbs. The neighborhood is also home to the beautiful Columbus Park, which was designed in the 1910s by famed landscape architect Jens Jensen.
  • Demographics
  • Austin is one of Chicago’s largest neighborhoods. It covers more than seven square miles and has a population of nearly 95,000. Continuous divestment and inequality in the 1960s sent real estate prices plummeting. As a result, Austin’s economy took a downturn. Today, 57% of the population is low income.
  • Looking back
  • Austin was once considered a country village. By 1950, Austin had grown into a dense urban neighborhood—featuring an advanced streetcar system, architecturally significant churches, and the noted Columbus Park. Austin’s demographic profile began shifting in the late 1960s. By the 1980s, Austin experienced housing disinvestment, vacancy, and demolition, as well as loss of jobs and commerce as its white population moved to the suburbs and to Chicago’s Northwest Side. Today, Austin is a predominantly Black community whose residents are joining forces to promote safety and trust in their neighborhood.
  • History of the Neighborhood Network
  • The Austin Neighborhood Network was formed in 2010 after a group of like-minded community leaders, identifying as Austin Coming Together (ACT), joined forces to discuss how to better coordinate efforts to create systemic change in their community. In 2016, in partnership with United Way, ACT released Thrive 2025, a strategy which sets bold “impact goals” to help Austin improve early childhood education outcomes, community revitalization efforts, and access to living wage employment opportunities for residents.

Austin Community Vision

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Developing a $10 million community hub that includes a state-of-the-art early learning, health and recreation center, and a job development incubator.

Neighborhood Network in Action

Austin is moving towards its goal of providing high-quality learning opportunities to low-income children and ensuring residents have access to living wage employment and a pathway to homeownership. The Austin Neighborhood Network, in partnership with Westside Health Authority (WHA) and By the Hand Club for Kids (BTH), launched the Aspire initiative.

Select “next” to learn more about the Aspire initiative.

Components of the Aspire Initiative

  • A new state-of-the-art early learning, health and recreation center called The Aspire Education & Wellness Campus
  • New programs and support to increase enrollment at Austin’s only neighborhood-serving public high school, the Aspire Austin College and Career Academy (ACCA)
  • Renovation of the vacant Emmet School into the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation
  • Aspire Housing, a multi-tiered approach to provide homeownership assistance, plus new or renovated units for sale

Coalition Highlights

The Austin Neighborhood Network has received the support from Foundations, the city of Chicago, and coalition partners to successfully launch and execute a number of community initiatives designed to build a stronger, more equitable Austin community.

Select “next” to read more about coalition highlights.

Foundation and Local Support

  • $10 million BMO Harris Bank investment to help deepen impact in the Chicago community with a specific focus on resident-lead efforts guided by ACT.
  • Pritzker Traubert Foundation Chicago Prize finalist.
  • INVEST South/West Community—An unprecedented community improvement initiative from Mayor Lightfoot.
  • LISC Chicago Neighborhood Development Award- 2020 recipient “Outstanding Community Plan.”

Community Initiatives

  • Since 2011, and as part of the Neighborhood Network, ACT has built an impressive network of more than 60 non-profit, faith-based, public, and private members.
  • Launched COVID-19 Rapid Response Community Hub, providing immediate and direct relief via cash assistance, food distribution, and PPE supplies.
  • In response to COVID-19, the ACT team was appointed to the City of Chicago’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team. As part of these efforts, ACT has partnered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to facilitate 11 food pop-up pantries to distribute more than 700,000 pounds of food to 10,000+ households.
  • Austin Career Connection launched the Access United program, placing nearly 50 clients in trade apprenticeship programs.

Hear from your neighbors and supporters

Olivia Santiago

BUILD community social worker

“We want to create a space for women to feel safe and [be] themselves. We want to show that violence and trauma is not normal, but also teach them how to navigate this place because they can’t leave it.”

Steve Battreall

President and CEO Commercial Distribution Finance, Wells Fargo

“Wells Fargo cares deeply about our Chicago neighborhoods and that’s why we’ve partnered with United Way for many years. We share a common goal—improve lives and build stronger communities.”

Lisa N. Johnson

Chief Operating Officer, The Lamar Johnson Collaborative

“Lamar Johnson Collaborative is focused on bringing positive change to communities through planning and design, and we are proud to partner with United Way’s Austin Neighborhood Network. United Way’s approach provides a connection to the residents who are at the forefront of bringing change to Austin, and we are excited to be a part of their efforts.”
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