The Lawndale Miracle: 8 Community Development Lessons From Chicago's West Side

It’s been called the Lawndale Miracle. But it’s really the patient and persistent commitment to responsive community development by a church and its real estate development affiliate. The co-construction of a new future together stands in contrast to other neighborhoods where new development displaced residents. 

After college more than 40 years ago, Wayne Gordon moved into North Lawndale, a low income predominantly African American neighborhood west of downtown Chicago. He served as a basketball coach at the local high school and started what became the Lawndale Church.

By “loving in a holistic way” and seeking to meet local needs, the church prioritized its place-based ministry and formed a real estate development affiliate. Over the last few decades, Lawndale Christian Community Development has supported the development of a youth center, learning center, pizza parlor, urgent care clinic, health center, eye clinic, recovery center, senior daycare center, social services, cafe, and fitness center and more. LCDC and the impact organizations they incubated employ more than 700 people. L

Over 30 years ago, Gordon met John Perkins, a Baptist minister from Mississippi. They formed the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) to share the Lawndale success and spark transformation in communities across the country.

Gordon and Perkins wrote Making Neighborhoods Whole: A Handbook for Christian Community Development. It lays out the eight guiding principles of CCDA including reconciliation, redistribution, listening to the community, leadership development, and a holistic approach.

In March, we visited North Lawndale with a group of Kansas City civic and faith leaders called the Education Fellows, a program sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation with a goal of cultivating community leaders who are advocates for education. (Listen to Lia McIntosh discuss the EdFellows program and our visit to Lawndale.)

Together we observed eight important lessons for inclusive community development—the responsive co-construction of a new future together in contrast to other Chicago neighborhoods where new development displaced residents. 

1. Start with asset mapping. Forty-four years ago Gordon started by mapping deficits. His work in Lawndale and then nationally, taught him to start with assets, “When you don’t have money get creative, you use whatever assets you have.”  

2. Values-based leadership. Loving in a holistic way, explains Gordon, means listening to the community and responding to real needs. “Better together is one of our core values.”  

Gordon acknowledges that we still live in a racist society and that he, after four decades in a black neighborhood struggled with his own white privilege. As an example of the continued need to fight systemic racism, Gordon noted that the day we visited there were six-hour-long poll lines that were denying African Americans the right to vote. 

3. Empowerment. LCDA has incubated many businesses and community services and in each case, they put a business model behind it. At the health clinic, they charge for services on a sliding scale. It’s about impact sustainability but it’s also about cultivating human dignity rather than dependency. 

4. Ownership. The old proverb is that you can give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. John Perkins pointed out that it matters who owns the pond. In communities where there has been little asset accumulation for generations, spurring ownership is important. 

To date, LCDC has re-invested more than $82 million worth of commercial and residential development within the North Lawndale neighborhood, adding more than 360 units of both rental and home-ownership affordable housing to the neighborhood. 

5. Leadership. Lawndale Church, LCDC, and all their affiliates that have empowered hundreds of youth and adults to take on leadership roles in North Lawndale and beyond.

Their national partner CCDA offers a Leadership Cohort that develops a web of support and shares best practices. 

6. Leverage. LCDC is an adept fundraiser. Their health clinic was “shovel ready” when the Great Recession stimulus flowed. They received $10 million for the health center (below) and $5 million for apartments. About private and philanthropic funding, Gordon tells visitors, “Don’t let grants dictate your vision.” 

7. Strategic. Gordon and his team are strategic about allocating resources for greatest impact—and that includes where he spends his time. The ministry team has a commitment to visit every member of the congregation in the hospital every day. That may not be Gordon, but if someone from the community is in court, he’s likely to be there—in suit and tie—to advocate for them. “I’ve learned to use my white privilege to the community’s advantage,” said Gordon. 

8. Persistent. Gordon’s ministry of community development is well into its fourth decade. His calling and identity are rooted in North Lawndale. Through years of gun violence where Gordon said he cried every day, he and his teams have persisted to “be salt and light” where it’s most needed.

In response to COVID-19, Gordon and his colleagues are busier than ever. Lawndale Christian Health Center is on the front lines and is working with the City of Chicago officials in an effort to help the homeless. “That includes putting the COVID-19-positive people up in a hotel where our doctors are giving them quality health care,” said Gordon.  

Visit North Lawndale and you’ll see evidence of creative and collaborative development that empowers a community. Instead of gentrification, you’ll see people serving each other with love and a sense of abundance. You’ll see a community working together to build a better place to live and work.