Media Room

Press Release: Wealth Building Webinar

​

For Immediate Release

AUSTIN UNITED ALLIANCE SPONSORS WEALTH-BUILDING WEBINAR

How Austin Residents Can Bridge the Racial Wealth Gap

CHICAGO (June 10, 2021) – Seeking to help  bridge the racial wealth gap, the Austin United Alliance will sponsor a wealth-building webinar – “A Blueprint for Accessing the Capital We’ve Been Waiting For” – at 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday, June 16.

Austin United Alliance, consisting of Oak Park Regional Housing Center and Heartland Housing, has been chosen by the City of Chicago to redevelop the former Laramie State Bank building at 5200 W. Chicago Ave. and about 20,000 feet of adjacent land in Austin. Construction on the project, which is expected to generate up to 150 construction jobs and more than 20 full-time positions, will begin in 2022. As part of the INVEST South/West initiative, the project’s ultimate goals are to build wealth and strengthen the business network as well as the Austin community as a whole.

Webinar participants are scheduled to include State Rep. Camille Lilly (D-78th District); Rev. Ira Acree, Pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church and Founding Member of The Leaders Network; Athena Williams, Executive Director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center; and Earl Chase, Executive Director of Heartland Housing. CBS2 Investigative Reporter Dorothy Tucker is set to moderate the event.

Also participating will be representatives of the Chicago Community Loan Fund, Omega Psi Phi Federal Credit Union, the South Side Community Federal Credit Union and the Faith-Based Credit Union Alliance. Additionally, this event is being supported by the creation of a community-led West Side Credit Union in Austin by The Leaders Network, a collaborative of faith and community leaders working together to organize, strategize and mobilize to improve the quality of the life for the West Side communities and Greater Chicago. 

This event will focus on the racial wealth gap impacting Austin and other Chicago communities on Chicago's West Side. Panelists will address questions such as: How does someone start today to build generational wealth? How should someone get started as an investor? What role does credit management play in wealth building? 

The racial wealth gap means that the net worth of a typical white family is nearly eight times greater than that of a Black family, studies have shown. Gaps in wealth between Black and white households reveal the effects of accumulated inequality and discrimination, as well as limited access to economic opportunities that have existed throughout America’s history. 

Austin United Alliance, consisting of Oak Park Regional Housing Center and Heartland Housing, has been chosen by the City of Chicago to redevelop the former Laramie State Bank building and approximately 20,000 square feet of adjacent land at 5200 W. Chicago Ave. in Austin. The $37.5 million project along the Soul City Corridor, which is expected to generate up to 150 construction jobs and more than 20 full-time positions, will include  commercial uses such as a blues museum, bank branch, café and business incubator. The adjacent land will be redeveloped with a mixed-income, multi-story rental building that includes a green roof, public plaza, social spaces and outdoor art. Construction will begin in 2022.

# # #