CoreNet Global

"Over the weekend, 200 volunteers descended on the small paved park on West 26th Street and South Kolin Avenue, putting flowers and shrubs in planters, pressure-washing concrete and painting benches. 'This little project here is an example of action,' said Garcia a former Chicago alderman and state senator who lived in the neighborhood since 1969. 'This is a small example of how you can achieve things in the community.' The 200 volunteers included 100 from CoreNet Global, an association of corporate real-estate executives."

Article ran in the Chicago Tribune on May 17, 2004

Since the Board of Directors unanimously agreed to launch the Community Reinvestment Challenge, or CRC, in October 2002, CoreNet Global’s members, Chapters, and friends have helped improve the lives of those less fortunate.

Since the program launch, we have seen an incredible increase in collaboration among our Chapters which has been a focus of the CRC Core Team, led by Juan Cano of Nortel Networks.

This team which includes members from Chapters across North America have also worked closely with the various Host Chapters during our Summits to deliver some incredible projects. A Habitat House in Toronto in the spring of 2003, and a multi-home renovation project at Atlanta’s East Lake Community in the fall of 2003, and now another significant initiative in Chicago during this Summit, Little Village Community Development Corporation. More importantly, these projects are then becoming sustaining initiatives for the local Chapters to continue the community efforts and acting as catalysts in engaging the community itself.

On the City’s near southwest side, Little Village is Chicago’s largest concentration of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans. Most important, Little Village is a symbol for the Mexican immigrant community drawing thousands of visitors from surrounding states each year when it hosts the largest Mexican Independence Day parade in the Midwest. Unfortunately the plaza is deteriorating and the community has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the Chicago area and the lowest rate of educational attainment.

Our focus for the CRC Summit initiative was to revitalize the Manuel Perez, Jr. Plaza, a public space along 26th Street named in honor of a Mexican American hero in WWII. During the summit we initiated a "makeover" of sorts involving clean up and refreshment of the Plaza. Additional planned improvements include new exterior lighting and outdoor seating areas for families to enjoy. Such improvements are features of a physical master plan donated by the HOK Planning Group to help the community envision the future potential of the Plaza.

In total, the CoreNet membership pledged over $60,000, which is 120 percent above our initial goal. 100 CoreNet volunteers worked on the Plaza along side 100 local neighborhood residents to make this challenge a huge success.

Jesus Garcia stated on behalf of the Little Village Community "Through the efforts of CoreNet, the residents of Little Village now realize that we can do a project that has immediate impact and allows people to see how a community acting together can transform itself. Through creative visioning, planning and resourcing – both financial and technical – CoreNet has helped us by being a catalyst for other things to happen. We have a saying: "Si Se Puede!" that translates as 'Yes, we can!' Or 'We can do it!'" Garcia continued to express his gratitude to CoreNet members for their donations and effort.