History

Milestones 

  • 1987: LCDC is established by Lawndale Community Church and begins restoring single-family homes in Lawndale

 

  • 1989: LCDC begins the Lawndale College Opportunity Program(LCOP)

 

  • 1990: New Covenant Apartments are acquired and LCDC begins property management services; LCDC begins its first concentrated residential development on the 2200 block of South Avers Avenue

 

  • 1993: LCDC enters partnership with Neighborhood Housing Services, continuing until NHS establishes a branch in Lawndale in 1999

 

  • 1995: LCDC develops Lazarus Apartments and Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

 

  • 1996: LCDC attracts City of Chicago funds through Model Blocks and SNAP (Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan) Award to bring major infrastructure improvements to Lawndale; Neighborhood Capital Budget Group honors LCDC with “Outstanding Achievement” Award

 

  • 1997: LCDC becomes a founding member of United Power for Action and Justice; United Power’s Ezra Community Homes Trust is established; LCDC begins developing condominiums

 

  • 1999: LaSalle Bank honors LCDC Executive Director Richard Townsell with the “Tom Gobby Community Leadership Award”

 

  • 2000: LCDC opens the Lawndale Legacies Community Technology Center

 

  • 2001: LCDC develops Jubilee Family Resource Center through the Family Resource Center partnership

 

  • 2002: LCDC launches Young Legacies program for K-7 grade students; United Power breaks ground on Ezra Community Homes

 

  • 2003: LCDC breaks ground on Canaan Homes, its first single-family new construction project; LCDC selected as the lead agency in North Lawndale for the Local Initiative Support Corporation’s New Communities Program

 

  • 2004: LCDC works with more than 300 Lawndale residents and 30 organizations to develop a five-year Quality of Life Plan as part of the New Communities Program

 

Awards

  • 1994: Chicago Rehab Network honors LCDC with “Developer of the Year” Award; Lawndale Business and Local Development Corporation names LCDC “Outstanding Neighborhood Developer”

 

  • 1996: Neighborhood Capital Budget Group honors LCDC with “Outstanding Achievement” Award

 

  • 1998: The Fannie Mae Foundation honors LCDC’s Lazarus Apartments with a Maxwell Award of Excellence Honorable Mention

 

  • 1999: LaSalle Bank honors LCDC Executive Director Richard Townsell the “Tom Gobby Community Leadership Award”

 

  • 2001: The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) names LCDC “Non-Profit Community Builder of the Year”

 

  • 2002: LISC honors Jubilee Family Resource Center with the “Richard R. Driehaus Excellence in Community Design” Award; Fannie Mae honors LCDC’s Tabernacle Apartments with a Maxwell Award of Excellence Honorable Mention

 

  • 2003: The Ford Foundation, in partnership with the Advocacy Institute and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, honors LCDC Executive Director Richard Townsell with the national Leadership For a Changing World Award.

 

  • 2004: Leadership Greater Chicago honors LCDC Executive Director Richard Townsell with the 2004 Distinguished Fellows Award; LCDC receives Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Award for its technology training programs

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He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

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