ENGLEWOOD — South Side social justice artist Tonika Lewis Johnson is fundraising to boost her effort to fix family homes in Englewood and uplift the legacy of Black homeowners. 

Johnson is raising $500,000 for unBlocked Englewood, which she created last year. The arts-driven community initiative addresses decades of inequities for Black homeowners by partnering with residents of Englewood’s 65th and Aberdeen Streets and providing crucial and costly repairs to help them keep up with home expenses and build equity.

Johnson partnered with the Chicago Bungalow Association and the Englewood Arts Collective to revitalize homes and beautify vacant lots on the block. 

Her nonprofit — the Folded Map Project — and the Chicago Bungalow Association received a $250,000 grant from the city’s Together We Heal Creative Place Program in 2022 to jumpstart the work. 

Over the past year, 12 of the 25 homes at 65th and Aberdeen have received rehabilitation. Longtime homeowners — most of them older people — received upgrades such as new roofs and updated electrical and plumbing systems. 

The Englewood Arts Collective unveiled a new block club sign and a mural at one of the homes at a June party honoring the project and the neighbors who made it possible. 

Johnson now hopes to raise the $500,000 necessary to restore the remaining 13 homes on the block. Funding from the Together We Heal program ran out after completing repairs for the first 12 homes, Johnson said. 

Johnson has raised nearly $6,000 toward her goal. You can support the unBlocked Englewood project here. 

The $500,000 will help pay for “critical structural repairs” that might threaten a homeowner’s safety, Johnson said. The bungalow association will help neighbors fix roof and foundation damage and address electrical and plumbing issues. 

“Because my projects are so participatory and elevated by public involvement, I wanted to create a way for people who support my work to contribute and be part of the project,” Johnson said. 

The overall budget goal to restore homes on 65th and Aberdeen Street is about $2 million, Johnson said. 

In addition to interior repairs, Johnson hopes to help homeowners with cosmetic improvements such as new exterior paint and updates to a home’s facade — “things that are an eyesore to residents,” Johnson said. 

Johnson and the Chicago Bungalow Association are searching for private funding opportunities to cover the remaining costs of the project, Johnson said. 

But the priority is raising the money to complete integral issues in the remaining 13 homes, Johnson said. Even if forced to stop the project before they do cosmetic repairs, “the neighbors will be happy and satisfied,” Johnson said. 

“They are the engine of neighborhoods like Greater Englewood, but they’re struggling and they need help,” Johnson said. “We want to help support them and raise awareness for how you must offer some support to existing homeowners if you want to increase the rate of Black homeowners.” 

Neighbors previously told Block Club they estimated unBlocked Englewood saved them hundreds of thousands in expenses. The block has come together in a way many haven’t seen since moving to Englewood decades prior, they said. 

That collectiveness was on full display on a sunny June afternoon at the unBlocked Englewood Block Party. 

Janell Nelson, co-founder of the Englewood Arts Collective, unveiled a new block club sign and a mural on one of the homes at the June celebration. Family, friends and neighbors gathered for a day of fun as a community.

The homeowners at 65th and Aberdeen Street have become “like grandparents to me,” Johnson said. 

“It is my motivator seeing how grateful they are,” Johnson said. “Their appreciation speaks to the goal of the project, which is to uplift how legacy homeowners in Black neighborhoods are extremely valuable and need support.”

Art can be used as a creative solution to address historical problems, Johnson said. 

Designing protest signs, organizing a march and capturing images of public campaigns are all examples of “how critical the arts are in advancing movements and creating critical thinkers,” Johnson said. 

Johnson’s Folded Map, Inequity For Sale and unBlocked Englewood projects all use art to spread awareness and advocate for change.

The unBlocked Englewood documentary will further explore how discriminatory practices such as land sale contracts and redlining have harmed Black communities like Englewood.

Hopefully, others can feel encouraged to use their art for justice, Johnson said. 

“It means the world to me to be able to create art projects that hopefully educate the public about these historic disparities and issues of systemic segregation,” Johnson said. “But, more importantly, also introducing creative solutions for these historic issues and uplifting creative problem-solving instead of just highlighting the issue itself.”

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