Inaugural 'Wealth Our Way' Grants Provide More Than $2 Million for Shared-Ownership Businesses
Chicago, Illinois, Nov. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025
CONTACT:
Community Desk Chicago
mjoseph@ruddresources.net
Department of Planning and Development
312.744.9267
Inaugural ‘Wealth Our Way’ Grants Provide More Than $2 Million for Shared-Ownership Businesses
Six shared-ownership business projects across Chicago will be supported by more than $2 million in grant awards announced today by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and Community Desk Chicago.
The projects are the first selected through the collaborative Wealth Our Way (WOW) initiative, which is intended to support community wealth-building goals through worker cooperatives, community investment vehicles and other shared-ownership business models. The funding will enable workplace buildouts for a food manufacturer, an artist collective, a health care provider and other neighborhood-oriented business enterprises.
“These brick-and-mortar projects will help activate a variety of underutilized spaces as part of a national movement toward community-driven investment through shared-ownership models,” DPD Commissioner Ciere Boatright said.
The awardees were selected from 28 applicants by the Community Desk Chicago, which is the City’s technical assistance provider for the WOW program. Grant funding is being provided through Housing and Economic Development Bond proceeds.
“The Wealth Our Way initiative demonstrates the power of local communities to define and drive their own futures,” Community Desk Chicago President and CEO Ja’Net Defell said. “By investing in shared ownership and collective action, we’re ensuring that wealth and resources stay rooted in neighborhoods where they are needed most.”
The grantees include:
Bennett Place, 7051 S. Bennett Ave., South Shore
Bennett Place will use a $500,000 WOW grant to buildout of a 5,000-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor of the collectively owned building. Total project cost is $5.4 million.
CrossTreats, 7920 S. Greenwood Ave., Avalon Park
CrossTreats worker cooperative will use a $500,000 WOW grant to acquire and rehabilitate a 12,500-square-foot building for nut-free snack food manufacturing. Total project cost is $2 million.
E.G. Woode, 1116 W. 63rd St., Englewood
E.G. Woode real estate cooperative will use a $345,533 WOW grant to acquire and rehab a 1,860-square-foot commercial building for pop-up business opportunities for local vendors. Total project cost is $460,710.
Five Point Holistic Health, 2864 N. Milwaukee Ave., Avondale
Five Point Holistic Health will use a $116,553 WOW grant to rehabilitate part of a commercial building to support expansion of the cooperative’s holistic health services. Total project cost is $155,404.
HAZ Cooperative, 1706 S. Halsted St., Lower West Side
HAZ worker-owner/artist-owner cooperative will use a $200,000 WOW grant to rehabilitate its collectively owned building to expand its studio, event and e-commerce spaces. Total project cost is $266,667.
Quilombo Chicago, 173 E. 79th St., South Shore
Quilombo Chicago will use a $500,000 WOW grant to acquire and rehabilitate a mixed-use building as affordable rental housing and community-focused retail and office space using a shared ownership model. Total project cost is $3.5 million.
Grant terms and project details will be finalized in coming months with construction expected to start for most projects in 2026. An additional application round managed by the Community Desk is also anticipated in 2026.
About Community Desk Chicago
Community Desk Chicago (the Desk) works with nonprofits, entrepreneurs and community developers in Chicago’s under-resourced communities to assemble the necessary capital, expertise and other resources to develop brick-and-mortar projects. Since launching in 2023, the Desk has supported more than 60 projects in 19 communities.
Malik Joseph Community Desk Chicago 2166475704 mjoseph@ruddresources.net
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