Two Chicago nonprofits have teamed to bring integrated housing for low-income and formerly homeless families and a wealth of services to Chicago’s Brainerd Park neighborhood.
Christian Community Health Center (CCHC), a Federally Qualified Health Center, and developer Full Circle Communities combined their strengths to create the 36-unit Brainerd Park Apartments.
“CCHC came to realize that it’s difficult to place large families with a supportive housing need in the private rental market. They had a hard time finding units large enough for families,” says Lindsey Haines, vice president at Full Circle Communities.
The CCHC, which is active on the South Side of Chicago with a health-care clinic 1 mile from the development and running transitional housing and scattered-site permanent supportive housing, tried to figure out how to build housing on its own but then realized it made more sense to partner with an experienced nonprofit focused on affordable housing development.
The pairing was a good fit for Full Circle Communities, which dedicates 75% of its cash flow and developer fee to pay for services.
“We could deploy our service funds with a sophisticated service provider, and they could focus on the service provision and neighborhood outreach,” says Haines.
Brainerd Park Apartments includes one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom units, with a quarter of the units set aside for formerly homeless families. The CCHC delivers a wide range of services on site. The on-site resident services coordinator and youth activities, such as art therapy, are funded by a social purpose grant from Capital One.
In addition, the $11.7 million, LEED Gold-certified development revitalizes a blighted site, which sits on 12 contiguous parcels formerly owned and donated by the city.
“We have located this development on a prime corner in a stable neighborhood with great transit access, a nice library, and a grocery store,” adds Haines. “We found a great community to develop in.”
