housing

Over the course of his long career, 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis has risen from ragtag community activist to one of the most powerful and senior aldermen in the Chicago City Council. During that time, he’s managed to expertly leverage power and city funds to help transform his ward.

Father Charles Dahm is a dyed-in-the-wool activist, following in the footsteps of a long line of old-school, firebrand Catholic priests. He’s been pastor or associate pastor at St. Pius V in Pilsen since 1986 and says he has no intention of ever leaving. “I felt, and still feel, totally enriched just living in this neighborhood,” says Dahm.

Few people have played a larger role in Pilsen’s transformation during the past 27 years than Raul Raymundo, CEO of The Resurrection Project. He is now expanding his organization’s model to other neighborhoods, while he continues to struggle to preserve Pilsen’s identity and affordability.

During the past twenty years, Guacolda Reyes went from intern to VP of The Resurrection Project. In the process, she’s helped develop more than 550 affordable housing units in the Pilsen neighborhood alone.

“When you build a house,” says Raul Hernandez, “you build a community.” With a coalition of church and community leaders, Hernandez co-founded an organization that has created of hundreds of affordable, dignified homes in Pilsen and, in the process, transformed the neighborhood.

In recent decades, the demographics of Pilsen have changed: the Latino population has declined, and the community has become attractive to developers. But Pilsen residents are developing new tools with which to challenge their elected leaders, preserve affordability, and protect the neighborhood’s character.