Neighborhood Housing Services Chicago Oral History Project

2022-Ongoing

CURL is developing an oral history of the origins of Neighborhood Housing Services Chicago (NHS) and of the unique contributions of key early leaders. NHS Chicago promotes home ownership in neighborhoods that have long experienced disinvestment. NHS’s 50-year history in Chicago has reflected a sophisticated view of the social, political, economic, and cultural factors that lead to neighborhood decline, as well as novel approaches to fostering uncommon partnerships to promote neighborhood revitalization. This oral history aims to capture the early stages of organizational and program development, partly through the stories of key leaders, to illustrate the continuities and discontinuities shaping neighborhood community development over the last 50 years while also offering lessons for contemporary practitioners.

Research Team:

• S. Young, CURL

• M. Falkenholm, CURL Urban Studies Student

• G. Gury, CURL Urban Studies Student

Community Partner:

• Neighborhood Housing Services Chicago

Evaluation of the Transforming Places Pilot Program

(2024-Ongoing)

Project description: CURL is conducting a process evaluation of the implementation of a network model of community capacity-building with United Way Metro Chicago (UWMC) and the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development (BED). UWMC and the County BED are partnering to expand UWMC’s Neighborhood Network Initiative (NNI) into several south suburban Cook County communities through a new program called Transforming Places. The NNI develops the capacity of communities to meet their needs by supporting the formation of networks of local nonprofit, business, and public sector organizations and community members. United Way supports the formation of the networks, and the network members then coordinate their activities to identify the needs of the communities and potential resources and then organize themselves to implement shared programming to meet those needs. At the same time, the County’s BED offers its support and expertise to further strengthen the network formation processes and promote successful outcomes for the south suburban communities. CURL's evaluation aims to examine the implementation of the new partnership between UWMC and the County BED as well as the process of network formation in these communities, providing actionable feedback to strengthen the process and identify short-term outcomes. 

Research Team:

• S. Young, CURL

• T. Roberts, CURL Graduate Fellow

• C. Etuk, CURL Undergraduate Fellow

• C. Samuels, CURL Urban Studies Student

• M. Karaoglan, CURL Urban Studies Student

• C. Roos, CURL Urban Studies Student

• A. Klinich, CURL Urban Studies Student

• T. Crabtree, CURL Urban Studies Student

• C. Cozzi, CURL Urban Studies Student

• S. Khyari, CURL Urban Studies Student

Community Partners:

• United Way Metro Chicago

• Cook County Bureau of Economic Development

Chicago Public Schools: Sustainable Community Schools

(2025-Ongoing)

Providing training for school personnel, parents and students on participatory action research to evaluate the Sustainable Community Schools initiative (SCS). By leveraging community assets, resources, and external partnerships to provide comprehensive community care, SCS brings students, parents, educators, school staff, community members, and service providers together in a coordinated effort to promote neighborhood health and well-being. It is a community-led, community-driven approach to educational justice and equity.

Research Team:

• B. Coleman, CURL

• D. Van Zytveld, CURL

• A. Ali, Loyola Faculty

• A. Graham, CURL Graduate Fellow

Community Partners:

• Chicago Public Schools