Community-Led Development
Through resident-led processes and cross-sector collaboration, Latinos Progresando has made a number of investments in the built environment in our community.
Latinos Progresando Community Center
LP acquired a former Marshall Square Branch of the Chicago Public Library, which sat vacant on Cermak for more than a decade, and renovated the 9,300 sq ft building into what is now the award-winning Latinos Progresando Community Center, restoring it to its community service purpose. The building features meeting and program spaces and hosts two unique onsite partners: Esperanza Health Centers and Lincoln Park Zoo.
Urban Tree Canopy
We partnered with The Nature Conservancy and City of Chicago to plant 122 street trees on the Cermak corridor and surrounding plots where there were previously none. The process involved engaging local business owners and community residents.
Hammond School Courtyard
At the request of the Hammond Elementary School principal, and with the participation of the full school community–students, teachers, and neighbors–we partnered with The Nature Conservancy of Illinois and OPEN Center for the Arts to reimagine a once concrete playlot into a courtyard with an outdoor classroom, a meditation garden, and a basketball court with a custom mural.