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AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
October 7, 2026
THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY PUBLISHED ITS FIRST QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN CALLED AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. (AFT) IN 2018. THIS QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DESCRIBES HOW AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER (ACT) IS SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY TO IMPLEMENT AFT AND OTHER EFFORTS.
POWER OF THE PLAN:
FOCAL PROJECTS New developments continue coming to Austin
FOCAL PROJECTS CONTINUE TO MOVE THE PLAN FORWARD PAGE B3 FOCAL PROJECTS TAKE CENTER STAGE PAGE B4 COMMIT TO A NEIGHBORHOOD, AUSTIN PAGE B7 Special thanks to these Austin Forward. Together. quality-of-life plan legacy investors:
B2 Austin Weekly News • October 7, 2026
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
Since 2010, Austin Coming Together (ACT) has facilitated collaboration to improve education and economic development outcomes in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Today, we serve a network of 50+ organizations committed to improving the quality of life in the Austin community. Our strategic plan is called Thrive 2025 and outlines how we will mobilize our resources to achieve four impact goals by the year 2025: Quality Early Learning, Safe Neighborhoods, Living Wage Careers, and Stable Housing Markets.
ACT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
LaDarius Curtis
Director of Community Engagement, Greater Chicago Food Depository
Officers CHAIR
Deborah Williams-Thurmond
Jack Macnamara
Austin Coming Together
VICE CHAIRMAN
Directors Sharon Morgan
Director of Graduate Support & Community Outreach, Catalyst Schools
SECRETARY
Jerrod Williams
Law Clerk, Illinois Appellate Court
Leadership Darnell Shields Executive Director
Research & Evaluation Andrew Born* Senior Director of Community Impact
Mia Almond
Research Associate
Reverend Reginald E. Bachus
Naysha Alcala
Data & Systems Analyst
Alfred Jackson Community Liaison/ receptionist
Marsha Williams Office Clerk
Operations Deirdre Bates
Director of Operations
Dollie Sherman Engagement Specialist
Ethan Ramsay*
Planning and Investment Manager, Austin Forward Together
Executive Liaison
Londen Mance
Emone Moore
Arewa EKUA
Engagement Specialist
Office Administrator
BUILD Inc.
Friends of the Children
By The Hand Club For Kids
Friendship Community Development Corp. of Austin
Bethel New Life
1955–2019
Mildred Wiley
Founder & CEO, Austin Childcare Providers Network
Natalie Goodin*
Academy of Scholastic Achievement
Beat the Streets Chicago
Ruth Kimble
Dearra Williams
Erikson Institute
Be Strong Families
FOUNDING BOARD CHAIR
Service Delivery Enhancement Manager, Hub @Aspire Center
Beyond Hunger
Austin Weekly News (Growing Community Media)
1937–2020
Founder & CEO, D.W. Provision Consulting Services
Strategic Initiatives Grace Cooper Sandra Diaz* Lead Organizer
A House in Austin
Austin Community Family Center
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church
ACT MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Austin Childcare Providers Network
Reginald Little
In Memoriam
Broker, State Farm Insurance
CEO, BUILD Inc.
Associate Principal, Lamar Johnson Collaborative
Business Development Specialist, Great Lakes Credit Union
Darnell Shields
Bradly Johnson
Max Komnenich
Executive Management Professional
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Larry Williams
ACT STAFF
Tenisha Jones
TREASURER
Cara Catholic Charities Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures Chicago Community Loan Fund City of Refuge Defy Ventures Illinois
Special Projects Manager Community Organizer
Community Resource Coordinator
Krys Cano
Community Resource Coordinator
Ariel Bland
Referral Network Coordinator
Jon Widell
Marketing and Development Specialist
Sydni Hatley
Marketing and Development Specialist * Also part of the ACT Leadership Team
Jane Addams Resource Corporation
New Moms
St. Joseph Services
West Side Forward
Kids First Chicago
OAI, Inc.
St. Leonard’s Ministries
Worldvision
Oak Park Regional Housing Center
Youth Guidance Stone Community Development Corporation District, Inc.
KRA Westside American Job Center Learning Edge Tutoring (fka Cluster Tutoring)
Greater West Town Legal Aid Chicago (fka Community Development LAF) Project Manufacturing Housing Forward Renaissance i.c. stars Mary Shyrese Daycare
Open Books PCC Community Wellness Center Project Exploration Renaissance Social Services, Inc. Sarah’s Inn
South Austin Neighborhood Institute for Nonviolence Mercy Housing Lakefront Association Chicago IFF
La’Shawna Bundy Marketing & Community Land Trust Development Coordinator Robbie Gorman* Mary Whiting Director of Advancement
Maryville Academy
The Catalyst Schools
The Journey Forward The North Avenue District, Inc. Towers of Excellence
Towers of Excellence UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work VOCEL
Westside Health UIC Jane Addams College Authority of Social Work West Side Forward VOCEL
Westside Health Authority
Worldvision Youth Guidance
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
Austin Weekly News • October 7, 2026
B3
Focal projects continue to move the plan forward By Darnell Shields Executive Director, Austin Coming Together
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oo often, major development projects have reshaped neighborhoods without the input of the people living in them. The built environment is rapidly shifting, and Austin Coming Together (ACT), alongside AFT leadership, are taking proactive steps to ensure these developments benefit local residents. Focal Projects, which bring significant impact to the built environment, possess a transformative ability to advance the goals of the Austin Forward. Together (AFT) quality-of-life plan. We have established a formal review and endorsement process, ensuring transparency and placing vetting power directly into the hands of the community. By allowing residents to assess potential risks, and be sought out for buy-in and direct feedback, the process assures that these development projects align with the best interests of Austin.
Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, which transformed a vacant school on Central and Madison into a state-of-the-art multi-use facility providing workforce development, job training, and wealth-building services to Austin. We have joined projects at various different stages in the development, and partnered in multiple ways to make sure hurdles are addressed and community voice is present. We seek to make sure these developments value community engagement and prioritize reaching all of the community residents.
landscape, it is about facilitating collaborative action and power in the community. Through our work with AFT, we have continued to center community voices and ensure that the revitalization continues to benefit the residents and those who call Austin home. As we continue into this next phase, we will support developments that go beyond simply occupying space, but actively invest in the people and their long term well being n
As a convener and steward of the Quality-of-Life plan first, and developer second, our goal goes beyond merely changing the physical
Over the first five years of the quality-of-life plan, we identified ten focal projects. With the ensuing launch of the Highlighted Agenda, we re-assessed our process and now have clearer steps for evaluation. These projects take on many shapes; from the POPCourts, which transformed a vacant lot at the corner of Chicago and Lockwood avenues into a place for activity, gathering, and commerce, 40 Acres Fresh Market, a black-woman owned grocery store creating local jobs, and bringing affordable and fresh produce to the westside, to the Photos courtesy of Lamar Johnson Collaborative
B4 Austin Weekly News • October 7, 2026
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
Focal Projects Take Center Stage: A Highlight of a Selection of Recent Focal Projects
OCTOBER 2024
JUNE 2025
OCTOBER 2025
Creating Space at 557 N. Central Avenue
The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation
North Austin Arts District
HIGHLIGHTED AGENDA INITIATIVE:
HIGHLIGHTED AGENDA INITIATIVE:
Build Resilient Commercial Corridors
Build Resilient Commercial Corridors
Build Lasting Youth Power
Advance the Aspire Initiative
Coordinate an Authentic Storytelling Campaign Creating Space 557 located at 557 N. Central Avenue is a project led by the youth-based Westside non-profit, Territory. The community art and gathering space is transforming a vacant lot near the iconic ‘Pink House’ in Austin and is creating space for intergenerational understanding, overcoming stigma, and healing. This space along with a community-painted shipping container, features a model of the ‘Pink House’. This project is rooted in a youth-led community driven design process including design studios, charettes, workshots, and gatherings initiated in 2020. Creating Space was voted on and endorsed by the AFT leaders.
B uild out the Austin Workforce Collaborative The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation (ACWI) located at 5500 W. Madison Street is a project co-developed by Austin Coming Together and Westside Health Authority. It transformed the shuttered Emmet Elementary School into a state-of-the-art, multi-use facility where organizations provide services to residents, community leaders, and industry employers. ACWI provides workforce development, job training, and wealth-building services to Austin, and has become a hub to revitalize Central Avenue. The four Anchor Tenants are: Austin Coming Together, BMO, Jane Addams Resource Corporation, and Westside Health Authority. Legal Aid Chicago and the Freedom Defense Center of Austin are also tenants in the building.
HIGHLIGHTED AGENDA INITIATIVE: Build Resilient Commercial Corridors Coordinate an Authentic Storytelling Campaign North Austin Arts District is located on the 5500 block of West North Avenue. The arts district officially debuted with the opening of the anchor space of Third City Studio (5538 W. North Ave) in October of 2025, which is an art gallery, event space, and classroom. The space is focused on highlighting local artists, and is the first of in the multiphase plan to overhaul the mixed-use complex. The next phase, Third City Cafe, a coffee shop dedicated to becoming a “third place” for networking, social events, live performances and more, is set to open early next year. The North Austin Arts District is a collaboration of multiple organizations including Third City NFP, Third City Cafe, Third City Properties, and 5544 West North LLC. North Austin Arts District was voted on and endorsed by the AFT leaders.
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
Austin Weekly News • October 7, 2026
JUNE 2026
AUGUST 2026
SEPTEMBER 2026
Walser House
Austin HOPE Center
Laramie State Bank
HIGHLIGHTED AGENDA INITIATIVE:
HIGHLIGHTED AGENDA INITIATIVE:
HIGHLIGHTED AGENDA INITIATIVE:
Build Resilient Commercial Corridors
Build Resilient Commercial Corridors
Coordinate an Authentic Storytelling Campaign
Build Lasting Youth Power Develop a Mental Health Initiative
The Grace and Joseph Walser House is located at 42 N. Central Avenue and was acquired by Austin Coming Together in late June 2026. The Walser House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed residence from 1903 that has sat empty since 2019, with the passing of the longtime family that lived there. The acquisition marks a major preservation milestone for the West Side and places the landmark property in the hands of a community-based organization committed to responsible stewardship. The Walser house is one of five surviving Wright-designed Prairie-style homes in Chicago.
Austin HOPE Center located at 5036 W. Chicago Avenue was co-developed by Lurie Children’s Hospital, Stone Community Development Corporation, and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) is a health and wellness facility in Austin providing high-quality medical care for neighborhood children and is the first pediatric specialty and behavioral health facility on the West Side, offering community-responsive health education and training, and inviting space for youth development and other local organizations. Austin HOPE Center was voted on and endorsed by the AFT leaders.
B5
Build Resilient Commercial Corridors Laramie State Bank located at 5200 W. Chicago Avenue is transforming the historic bank building. The new sixstory residential building will offer 78 affordable rental apartments. Alongside the public courtyard and open community room space, this is the first ne w multi-unit residential construction in the 37th Ward in more than fifty years. On September 10th, 2026, Oak Park Regional Housing Center (OPRHC) along with the Austin United Alliance (AUA) hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony of the residential building, which launched Phase II of the project with the restoration of the 1929 Laramie State Bank building. The bank building will feature a financial institution, a street-level cafe, gathering spaces, small business incubator, and lots of community programming.
B6 Austin Weekly News • October 7, 2026
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
With the release of the AFT Highlighted Agenda, ACT is going “on the road!” Our team will be on tour and available to co-host discussions about the new phase of Austin’s AFT quality-of-life plan and its vision and strategy, with block clubs, churches, community organizations, coalitions, etc. Other ways we’ll ensure to update the community on the progress of implementing the Highlighted Agenda are through newspaper sections like this, emails, and social media.
WE CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF AUSTIN RESIDENTS. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Plan Leaders Community Narrative TASK FORCE CHAIRS
Kenneth Varner
Healthy Schools Campaign
Dearra Williams
Austin Coming Together
Reesheda Nicole Berry The Kindred Civic Arts Forum STRATEGY LEADS
Cindy Gray Schneider Spaces-n-Places
Maria Sorrell
Community Resident
Megan Hinchy
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Andraya Yousfi
By the Hand Club for Kids
Jai Jones
Economic Development
Adrienne Otkins
TASK FORCE CHAIR
United Way and Community Resident Community Resident
Roxanne Charles
Michael Romain
West Side Forward
The Culture
STRATEGY LEADS
Keli Stewart
Emily Peters
Front Porch Arts Center
Imani Lewis
Civic Researcher
Kenn Cook
Westside Historical Collective
Jane Addams Resource Corporation
Tina Augustus
Community Resident
Melissa O’Dell Defy Ventures
Fanya Buford-Berry
Community Resident
Education
Housing
Public Safety
TASK FORCE CHAIR
TASK FORCE CHAIRS
TASK FORCE CHAIRS
Charles Anderson
Athena Williams
Langston Harris
Michele Clark High School
Oak Park Regional Housing Center
Allison McGowan
Project Exploration
Deondre Rutues
Community Resident
Rutues Center for Business & People Development
Director of Parent University
STRATEGY LEADS
STRATEGY LEADS
Shirley Fields
Ruth Kimble
Community Resident
Edwina Hamilton
STRATEGY LEADS
Pam Price
Austin Childcare Providers Network
Cata Truss
Community Resident
Rosie Dawson Westside Health Authority
BUILD Inc.
Jose Abonce
The Policing Project
Ruby Taylor Taproots, Inc.
Youth Empowerment TASK FORCE CHAIR
Kenya Hawkins
Community Stakeholder STRATEGY LEADS
Aisha Oliver Root2Fruit
Helen Slade Territory NFP
Dollie Sherman
Austin Coming Together
Chris Thomas YourPassion1st
Baxter Swilley
Civic Engagement
Ed Coleman
TASK FORCE CHAIR
Community Stakeholder Austin Chamber of Commerce
Nikea Banks Community Resident
INTERESTED IN JOINING AN IMPLEMENTATION TASK FORCE? Contact ACT’s Lead Organizer Grace Cooper at gcooper@austincomingtogether.org
Deborah Williams-Thurmond D.W. Provision Consulting Services
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2026 QUARTER 3
Austin Weekly News • October 7, 2026
B7
Commit to a Neighborhood, Austin Living wage jobs are coming to the community
By Jonathan Widell Austin Coming Together
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rue commitment to Austin requires sustained investment in our people, organizations, and community-led plan, AFT. That principle is at the heart of ITW and United Way of Metro Chicago’s Commit to a Neighborhood initiative. Launched in 2022, Commit to a Neighborhood —a 5-year, $2.5 million investment plan in support of the Austin and Belmon-Cragin communities, brings together business, nonprofit organizations, and workforce training providers with a shared goal of creating livingwage employment opportunities and ensuring West Side residents can access them. Nonprofit partners including Cara, West Side Forward, Manufacturing Renaissance, Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC), and Austin Coming Together (ACT) each bring different resources and expertise to the collaborative.
workforce development, and economic growth for the Austin community. From the beginning, the initiative has focused on both individual opportunity and broader systems change. Creating jobs is important, but so is building the community infrastructure that connects residents to those jobs and supports continued economic investment. This is the larger goal of Commit to a Neighborhood: not simply bringing jobs into Austin, but building the connections that allow Austin residents to benefit from that investment. Workforce training, community infrastructure, employer investment, and access to living-wage jobs are being strengthened together rather than in isolation.
That approach is taking shape through two major investments: ITW’s acquisition and redevelopment of a major industrial property in Austin and the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation (ACWI). ITW’s redevelopment is bringing new employment opportunities into Austin Coming Together (ACT) serves as the the neighborhood, while ACWI is strengthening lead agency partner in the Austin Neighborhood the workforce infrastructure that helps residents Network for United Way. This partnership prepare for, connect to, and succeed in those between public and private, and nonprofit opportunities. organizations, has brought living wage jobs,
In the past year, 14 Austin residents have been hired by ITW through the Commit to a Neighborhood initiative. Those hires are an early, tangible result of this coordinated approach between industry, philanthropy, and community and a sign of how sustained investment creates change. n
Since 2010, ACT has harnessed the power of collective impact to improve education and economic development outcomes in Chicago’s Austin community. We are the backbone support agency for a network of 50+ member organizations, and we stewarded the creation and implementation of Austin’s first-ever quality-ofplife plan called Austin Foward. Together (AFT) due to our support of large community devleopment projects.
Austin families deserve to thrive.
Show them how you care.
Your support helps Austin by sustaining ACT and our AFT Initiatives Donate or learn more: AustinComingTogether.org/AustinCares