[Chapter 6, page 92]
The MacArthur Foundation and Chicago Public Housing: The Detailed Version*
Recent philanthropic involvement in Chicago public housing provides an example of foundations collaborating and playing a convening and problem-solving role. When the City of Chicago assumed full control over the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) in June, 1999, it was evident that the existing public housing infrastructure was badly in need of an overhaul. Public housing residents were socially and economically isolated, and thousands of deteriorating properties needed to be demolished.[1] The city’s mayor, Richard M. Daley, undertook the Plan for Transformation, a $1.6 billion project – the largest public housing reform initiative in American history – to construct or renovate 25,000 public housing units, of which a third were mixed-income developments.[2]
The will have contributed over $55 million to the Mayor’s initiative,[3] which it characterized as “a historic opportunity to improve the quality of public housing, diminish the isolation of public housing and its residents, and support the development of well-designed mixed-income communities.”[4] To gain political as well as financial support for the plan, the Foundation created the , managed by the Chicago Community Trust, to which a dozen other foundations, banks and other businesses have contributed. [5]
The MacArthur Foundation has played a mediating role with respect to problems arising under the plan. For example, it facilitated the discussions that led to the adoption of an agreement concerning the relocation of existing tenants and recruited and funded an independent monitor to ensure that both comply with the contract.[6] The Foundation has been engaged in other ways as well, providing resources to help streamline management systems at the CHA; providing relocation assistance and improving the process by, for example, engaging tenants; and bringing together residents, community leaders, and public officials to share ideas and concerns.[7] Through the application of an innovative “gap financing” system, MacArthur enabled CHA and the City to cover anticipated gaps in the cost of building market-rate, for-sale housing in the new mixed-income communities. MacArthur funds have also supported research and evaluation of the project’s successes and failures, with an eye to producing results quickly enough to be used to improve the project’s implementation and management.
While financing, management and real estate market challenges certainly remain, the results to date have been very promising.[8] By December 31, 2007, more than 15,000 units had been demolished; 65 percent of the promised public housing units were complete; and 7,700 families had been relocated. Independent survey research revealed that 60 percent of relocatees reported their new neighborhoods were better; 65 percent reported that their living conditions were better; 83 percent were as or more satisfied with their children's new school; and 87 percent thought they were "treated fairly" in the relocation process.[9] Finally, a major effort is underway to improve the employment outcomes for residents through Opportunity Chicago, a $23 million workforce development initiative to help 3,000 residents get and retain good jobs.
* We are grateful to the MacArthur Foundation’s President, Jonathan Fanton, for providing this information.
[1] Susan Lloyd, “Public Housing Beyond the Walls,” (remarks, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago, IL, November 12, 2005), .
[2] The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, “Public Housing,” September 2006,
[3] MacArthur Foundation, “Supporting Housing Practice, Policy, and Research,” November 2007, .
[4] MacArthur Foundation, “Program-Related Investments,” September 2006,
[5] MacArthur Foundation, “Public Housing.”
[6] J. Scott Kohler, “The Plan for Transformation of Public Housing in Chicago,” in Casebook for the Foundation: A Great American Secret; How Private Wealth is Changing the World, ed. Joel L. Fleishman, J. Scott Kohler, and Steven Schindler (New York: Public Affairs, 2007).
[7] MacArthur Foundation, “MacArthur Foundation Announces Nearly $3 Million in Support of Chicago’s Plan for Public Housing Transformation,” July 18, 2002,
[8] Kohler, “The Plan for Transformation of Public Housing in Chicago;” Lloyd remarks; MacArthur Foundation, “Public Housing.”
[9] This includes residents who have relocated to other traditional public housing, the private market using a housing choice voucher or to a mixed income development. Catherine Haggerty et al., “Resident Relocation Survey: Phase II Follow-up” (Chicago: National Opinion Research Center at University of Chicago, 2004); Haggerty, “Resident Relocation Survey: Phase III Follow-up” (Chicago: NORC at University of Chicago, 2006); Haggerty, “Resident Relocation Survey: Phase II and Phase III Second Follow-Up Finding and Methodology,” (Chicago: NORC at University of Chicago, 2007).