In South Lawndale, Latinos Progresando has been planning for years to transform a vacant, old city library building into a community center. But when the pandemic hit, the group’s focus shifted immediately.
“We had to stop, because at that time we had to make sure the families in our community had what they needed to survive,” said Luis Gutierrez, the founder and CEO of Latinos Progresando.
On Thursday, We Rise Chicago announced it awarded the neighborhood organization a $1 million dollar grant to transform the library into the Latinos Progresando Community Center.