The Austin HOPE Center begins operations

Lurie Children’s Hospital and Stone Community Development Corporation have begun work on the Austin HOPE Center, which will offer clinical care and social services to young people on Chicago’s West Side.

More than 100 people gathered at 5046 W. Chicago Ave. on June 10 to dig the first shovels of dirt before construction begins on a new social services building for Austin teens.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during the groundbreaking for the Austin HOPE Center on Monday, June 10, 2024 | Todd Bannor

“The soon-to-be renamed Austin HOPE Center, the Austin Community Health Center, will be a healing and welcome hub for young people and families seeking care, community services and overall resources,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson, an Austin resident.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Johnson announced he would donate $5 million to the Austin HOPE Center from the city’s $1.25 billion bond that was approved earlier this year as a commitment to develop the area. The center will be the first bond-financed resource.

“I brought it to the West Side first because I know it will truly make a difference in the lives of the people of this community and this entire city,” Johnson said. “From the very beginning of my administration, it has been a priority to ensure that all residents, regardless of zip code, have access to affordable, high-quality health care. And today we are making great strides by investing in our people and lifting up our communities that are often left behind.”

“All About Community”

The Austin HOPE Center is part of a local effort to revitalize the Chicago Avenue corridor after decades of disinvestment in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.

“As I walk around the neighborhood every day, I see change. I see a new day in Chicago, right here on the West Side,” said Emma Mitts, a 37th Ward alderwoman who lives just a block from where the Austin HOPE Center will be located. “This is what we want to see, using every inch of this space to help our children, the most vulnerable.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson, 37th Ward Councilwoman Emma Mitts and State Rep. La Shawn Ford at the groundbreaking for the Austin HOPE Center on Monday, June 10, 2024 | Todd Bannor

The Austin HOPE Center will focus on children’s services, based on what Lurie’s Children has seen among its young patients.

According to data from the Healthy Communities Institute. Patrick M. Magoon for Lurie Children Between 2016 and 2018, Lurie’s Children saw over 7,000 emergency room visits and hospitalizations for young people with injuries caused by violence.

New clinical care, services and programs will help serve this demographic.

The 24,500-square-foot Austin Community Health Center will be divided among its co-developers, Lurie’s, Thresholds and Stone CDC, which was built out of Lively Stone Missionary Baptist Church.

Pastor Contrell Jenkins of Lively Stone Missionary Baptist Church speaks at the groundbreaking for the HOPE Center in Austin, Monday, June 10, 2024 | Todd Bannor

“I’m starting to imagine a place where hurting people could come and get help in healing,” said Contrell Jenkins, pastor of Lively Stone Missionary Baptist Church at the Austin HOPE Center. “I begin to imagine a place where people who have experienced conflict and chaos could come and receive compassion and care.”

The first floor of the Austin HOPE Center will house Stone CDC offices and program space, as well as a café, community meeting space and outdoor green space. It will also host a teen lounge and two community meeting spaces for training and programming run by the Magoon Institute.

On the next floor, Lurie’s Children will offer clinical trials and services for children’s behavioral and physical health. Specialty care services include help with high-risk asthma, autism, kidney disease, sickle cell disease and weight management.

The third floor will house Thresholds, which provides mental health and substance use services. Thresholds will not be seeing any patients here, instead they will have offices for their outreach teams.

The start of construction comes after years of collecting local opinions about the building’s design and the services it offers.

Lurie’s first community meeting was held in April 2023. Around the same time, two local Black-owned architectural firms were selected to design the project: Gregory Ramón Design Studio Inc. and TnS Studio. 

In late 2023, officials collected comments from clinicians and healthcare providers living and working in Austin, and then from a dozen middle school students at KIPP Academy Chicago. The middle school students chose the name Austin HOPE Center, which stands for healing, opportunity, partnership, and equity and commitment.

After obtaining the decision on development conditions at the beginning of this year, the construction of the health center officially began. The general contractor and construction management company for the project is black-owned UJAMAA Construction.

Construction will last until summer 2025 and will likely open next fall. In June, UJAAMA will organize an event to engage subcontractors. The construction management company will host a local recruitment event next month.

“This day is especially exciting for me because it’s about community,” Jenkins said. “It’s a chance for us to celebrate what the community is asking for, how they’re helping us shape the overall project, and what we’re going to do together.”

The Austin HOPE Center begins operations

By meerna

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The Austin HOPE Center begins operations

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