As Chicago neighborhoods continue to expand with newly built businesses and homes, new opportunities emerge for residents to shape their communities. Yet, traditional development often leaves residents with little to no say on – or stake in - what gets built in their neighborhoods. Shared ownership flips the traditional development script by allowing residents to help improve their communities while also benefiting from new investment. Community members can take a stake in housing, business, and land, ensuring long-term community control, preserving affordability, and building community wealth. 

In this episode of Trust Talks, host Mariah Van Ermen, the Trust’s program manager for neighborhood impact and shared ownership, is joined by Linda Lutton, co-founder and project manager for expansion at Pilsen Housing Cooperative; Kimberly Britt, co-owner of Jumpstart Housing & Worker Cooperative and co-owner of ChiFresh Kitchen; and David Feinberg, director of coaching and knowledge transfer at Chicago Community Loan Fund. Together, they explore how shared ownership can be a powerful tool for advancing community-led development. Shared ownership approaches are community-specific and can be tools to build generational wealth, combat displacement, and enable community self-determination.  They also share resources and funding strategies to help others explore shared ownership in their own communities.

This episode was produced by Juneteenth Productions and recorded at WBEZ Chicago.