Englewood's Own Flower Farmer Just Won 00,000 — and He's Putting It All Back Into the NeighborhoodBy Socialhood News · Il/Chicago/West Englewood ·
West Englewood has a new reason to bloom. Quilen Blackwell, the community entrepreneur behind Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms, has been awarded a
00,000 prize — and he's channeling every dollar right back into the neighborhood that inspired him.Blackwell's Chicago Eco House nonprofit has been quietly transforming idle, vacant lots on Chicago's South and West Sides into thriving flower farms, reclaiming land that might otherwise sit forgotten and turning it into green, productive community space. The crown jewel of that work is Southside Blooms, the Englewood flower shop that brings those homegrown blooms directly to neighbors — a living, fragrant symbol of what community-rooted enterprise looks like when it takes root in the right hands. With the
00,000 prize now in hand, Blackwell says he plans to expand both Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms, deepening the organization's footprint and creating even more opportunity on the blocks he calls home.It's the kind of win that ripples outward — more lots reclaimed, more flowers grown, more neighbors employed, and a neighborhood reminded, once again, that West Englewood's comeback story is very much still being written. Stop by Southside Blooms to show your support for a homegrown success story, and follow Chicago Eco House's expanding work at chicagoecohouse.org.
Sources:
1. https://chicago.suntimes.com/englewood
By Socialhood News · Il/Chicago/West Englewood ·
West Englewood has a new reason to bloom. Quilen Blackwell, the community entrepreneur behind Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms, has been awarded a
Blackwell's Chicago Eco House nonprofit has been quietly transforming idle, vacant lots on Chicago's South and West Sides into thriving flower farms, reclaiming land that might otherwise sit forgotten and turning it into green, productive community space. The crown jewel of that work is Southside Blooms, the Englewood flower shop that brings those homegrown blooms directly to neighbors — a living, fragrant symbol of what community-rooted enterprise looks like when it takes root in the right hands. With the
It's the kind of win that ripples outward — more lots reclaimed, more flowers grown, more neighbors employed, and a neighborhood reminded, once again, that West Englewood's comeback story is very much still being written. Stop by Southside Blooms to show your support for a homegrown success story, and follow Chicago Eco House's expanding work at chicagoecohouse.org.
Sources:
1. https://chicago.suntimes.com/englewood