Our Story

For more than 30 years, The Resurrection Project (TRP) has been committed to its mission of creating community ownership, building community wealth, and serving as stewards of community assets in Chicago’s southwest neighborhoods.

In 1990, Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood was blighted by neglect and violence. A small group of frustrated residents band together with the goal of restoring peace, safety, and prosperity to their community. Six local parishes contributed a total of $30,000 in seed money, and soon The Resurrection Project was established.

A small grassroots organization at the time, TRP’s first initiatives revolved around organizing other residents and transforming them into inspired leaders who advocated for clean and peaceful streets, safe and affordable housing, and quality education and community resources. With the purchase of our first property in 1991, we were able to expand our work and employ three interdependent strategies—property management, real estate development, and financial services and education—to begin helping local residents build financial security and wealth.

The organization achieved a milestone success in 1999, when TRP was named the lead agency for Pilsen in LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program, a national comprehensive community development model advocated by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. As lead agency for Pilsen, TRP convened over a dozen neighborhood organizations and agencies to form the Pilsen Planning Committee, whose Quality of Life Plan for Pilsen laid out a five-year revitalization plan for the community.

Today, our ambitions are larger and our impact extends further than ever before. Since the early 2000s, our real estate development work has scaled significantly, delivering landmark projects such as Casa Puebla, a $14.8 million development with 74 affordable homes; Casa Maravilla, a $20 million senior housing community with 72 units; Casa Durango, a 52-unit multifamily development; and Casa Yucatán, which will bring 98 affordable apartments to families in Pilsen in 2026. Together, these investments, and those still to come, have transformed long-vacant buildings and lots into thriving homes, providing hundreds of residents with safe, inclusive, and affordable places to live while strengthening the neighborhoods around them.

TRP has evolved into a statewide Social Impact Organization (SIO.) We work to improve the lives of individuals and families by creating wealth, building assets, and engaging residents to be catalysts for change. Rooted in Pilsen, TRP’s impact now extends across the City of Chicago and through the State of Illinois; we have developed and preserved more than $1 billion in community wealth.

On May 22, TRP celebrated 35 years of service and impact in the community.