Welcome to Homan Square: A Beacon of Renewal, Justice, and Community Power in North Lawndale

Tucked within the historic North Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, Homan Square is more than a place — it’s a promise fulfilled. Once the site of one of the largest industrial complexes in the world — the Sears, Roebuck & Co. mail-order campus — this 27-acre site has been reborn as a transformative hub of healing, equity, and grassroots revitalization.

Today, Homan Square stands as a powerful example of community-led development, where a neighborhood once scarred by disinvestment is reclaiming its future — not through outside gentrification, but through local vision, faith, and resilience.

🏭 From Industrial Giant to Community Sanctuary

Built in the 1920s, the Homan Square complex once employed over 5,000 people and served as an economic engine for generations of Chicagoans — many of them African American workers who found stability and dignity in its warehouses and offices. When Sears left in the 1980s, the site fell into decay, mirroring the broader challenges faced by North Lawndale.

But in 2001, a bold vision took root.

Led by the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC), a coalition of pastors, residents, and civic leaders purchased the property with a mission: to return Homan Square to the people.

🌱 A Campus of Care, Opportunity & Justice

Today, Homan Square is home to a thriving ecosystem of community services and social innovation, including:

🔹 Lawndale Christian Health Center
Comprehensive medical, dental, behavioral health, and wellness services — all integrated with spiritual care and accessible to all, regardless of income.

🔹 Lawndale Christian Legal Center
Free legal aid, expungement clinics, youth justice advocacy, and support for returning citizens — breaking cycles of incarceration and poverty.

🔹 Lawndale Christian Fitness Center
A state-of-the-art gym offering fitness programs, youth sports leagues, mentorship, and safe space for teens in a neighborhood where such resources are scarce.

🔹 The Guild
A creative co-working space and business incubator supporting Black and brown entrepreneurs, artists, and startups with affordable desks, training, and capital access.

🔹 Affordable & Supportive Housing
Over 200 units of quality, mixed-income housing — including workforce apartments and homes for formerly homeless individuals and families.

🔹 Urban Agriculture & Green Space
Community gardens, orchards, and green roofs that provide fresh food, job training, and environmental education.

📍 A Neighborhood on the Rise

Homan Square sits at the heart of North Lawndale, a community with deep roots in Chicago’s civil rights history — home to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1966 campaign for fair housing. Today, the surrounding blocks are seeing:
✅ New home renovations and infill development
✅ Revitalization along the Roosevelt Road corridor
✅ Youth programs, block clubs, and safety initiatives
✅ Strong partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and city agencies

And with the CTA Green Line just steps away at the Central Station, residents enjoy easy access to downtown, the Loop, and beyond.

❤️ Built on Values, Not Veneer

Homan Square doesn’t chase headlines.
It doesn’t displace.
It elevates.

This is development rooted in:

• Dignity, not charity

• Ownership, not extraction

• Healing, not surveillance

It’s where a young man gets his record cleared and lands his first job.
Where a single mother receives prenatal care and parenting support.
Where a dreamer opens her first business in a space once filled with shipping crates.

🌟 A Model for the Nation

Homan Square is more than a success story — it’s a blueprint.
Cities across America are studying its model of faith-based, asset-driven community development — proving that when residents lead, transformation is sustainable, just, and lasting.

Neigborhood Experts