Public Newsroom 147: How Can TIF Funds Support Families?

6407 South Honore Street,Chicago IL 60636

04 August, 2022

Description

How different would the city development process be if taxpayers had financial power to create the infrastructure they need to thrive? Join City Bureau and Cecile De Mello of Teamwork Englewood at this month’s Public Newsroom to discuss how TIF funds can be used to support holistic community development, especially in relation to families, women, the re-entry population and unemployed folks. Teamwork Englewood was part of the neighborhood coalition that negotiated with Whole Foods to ensure the development, which received $10.7 million in TIF dollars, would be accountable to the community. This year, the grocery chain owned by Amazon left the neighborhood. Can these huge taxpayer subsidies be used to directly benefit community residents, rather than powerful developers and corporations? Cecile will share her experience with the city’s development process, and talk about barriers that community members face when they are looking to develop their own commercial corridors. We’ll also discuss how attendees can access city dollars when it comes to planning and development in their own neighborhoods. How can city funding be used to support small business owners and build capacity within communities to help us survive and thrive? Bring a friend, and bring your own development ideas! Featuring: Cecile De Mello is a community organizer and developer, and policy maker. De Mello is the current Executive Director of Teamwork Englewood, a community-based organization that works to improve the quality of life for Englewood residents. The organization offers youth programming, job support for residents, public safety programming as well as a number of collaborative initiatives through the Englewood Quality of Life Plan.