Four anchor tenants in the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation will provide services tailored to the Austin community, including workforce training and job readiness programs, banking and financial coaching, legal services, and small business development.
Chicago, IL – On Thursday, June 19th (Juneteenth), leaders from Austin Coming Together (ACT) and the Westside Health Authority (WHA), will celebrate the grand opening of the new Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, located in the revitalized former Emmet Elementary School building—one of 50 Chicago Public Schools closed in 2013—at 5500 W. Madison St. on Chicago’s West Side. They will be joined by elected officials, including Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatwright, and representatives from partner organizations Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC), BMO U.S., and United Way of Metro Chicago, and local community members.
The grand opening ceremony will begin with a press conference at 10 a.m. and a ribbon cutting at 11:45 a.m., followed by a community celebration including tours of the center, workforce technology demonstrations, food trucks, wellness activities, and a “Freedom Village,” where families and residents can reflect on the past, present and future of Austin through interactive experiences as they celebrate Juneteenth.
Conceived as a hub for workforce training, education, and economic empowerment, the Aspire Center’s opening is the culmination of a seven-year campaign to reclaim and repurpose the shuttered school building under a community-led vision.
The state-of-the-art space fulfills key components of Austin’s quality-of-life plan, “Austin Forward. Together,” serving as a catalyst for both economic mobility among residents and for economic development and revitalization in the Austin neighborhood. The center is projected to create 50 new jobs in its first five years, help increase the incomes of more than 500 Austin households and facilitate financing for new businesses or property for more than 250 residents by 2030.
“Through the Aspire Center, we are creating a place where Austin residents can be empowered, imagine beyond barriers, and aspire to the future they deserve and have long envisioned for themselves,” said Darnell Shields, Executive Director of ACT. “The Aspire Center is a model for what’s possible when a community rallies to take ownership of its destiny, charting a path towards an innovative and prosperous future.”
The Aspire Center is a joint project of Austin Coming Together and the West Side Health Authority. The 76,000-square-foot property, purchased by WHA in 2018, will now house four anchor tenants, each providing services and resources tailored to the Austin community. The anchor tenants include:
● Austin Coming Together: Austin Coming Together is a network of over 50 member organizations working together to improve education, economic development, and community narrative in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. ACT will establish the Austin Community Hub at the center, where residents will access services such as financial coaching, job readiness training, and employment resources. ACT will also oversee the overall coordination of services at the center.
● Westside Health Authority: Westside Health Authority, a community-based organization committed to improving the health and well-being of West Side residents, will house its executive offices at the Aspire Center and lead comprehensive workforce development programs designed to equip residents with the skills, training, and support needed to secure meaningful employment and achieve long-term career success.
● Jane Addams Resource Corporation: JARC promotes the economic advancement of low-income workers by providing industry-specific skills training and support services and will operate a state-of-the-art training facility focused on high-demand sectors like manufacturing, robotics, CNC machining, forklift operation, and laser cutting. These offerings are designed to provide residents with hands-on experience and industry-recognized credentials that lead to stable, living-wage careers in today’s evolving job market.
● BMO U.S.: As a founding partner of United Way of Metro Chicago’s Neighborhood Network Initiative, BMO is the lead philanthropic investor in the Aspire Center and a long-time supporter of the Austin Neighborhood Network. As a committed community partner, BMO is supporting the mission of the Aspire Center and will be opening a branch within the facility, providing financial education, coaching, and banking services to help residents make real financial progress. The BMO branch is scheduled to open in late summer.
The reimagined building is also a success story of adaptive reuse and historic preservation. Original features were thoughtfully restored—from the terrazzo staircases and oak trim to the 1913-era windows—while former classrooms and the auditorium were repurposed into tenant spaces, preserving the school’s historic footprint and character. The project honored the building’s details, including the restored brick façade, carved lintels reading “Robert Emmet Elementary,” and salvaged elements like auditorium seating, wooden lockers, and gym flooring creatively reused throughout the space. The renovation also includes a new glass addition that houses a triple-height lobby and mezzanine, introducing new public-use space and establishing a new main entrance off Madison Street and Central Avenue corridors. The Lamar Johnson Collaborative (LJC), a strategic partner in the Aspire Center project, brought not only architectural expertise but also a long-term, community-first approach to this adaptive reuse project. LJC played a key role in transforming the historic school into a vibrant community asset.
Additionally, as part of the renovation, the Aspire Center will be home to art installations by renowned artists, including Austin native Shawn Michael Warren, whose mural is a piece of living history, immortalizing some of the most important contributors to both scientific and social innovations in the Austin neighborhood. A permanent exhibit, fabricated by local interdisciplinary design shop Borderless Studios, will tell the history of the former Robert Emmet Elementary School and the story of the Austin neighborhood, spanning over a century, while celebrating its ongoing, community-led renaissance.
“BMO believed in the vision for the Aspire Center and its promise for the Austin community from the beginning, which is why we became a cornerstone philanthropic funder to the project,” said Darrel Hackett, CEO, BMO U.S. “Witnessing its journey from concept to groundbreaking to grand opening has been truly inspiring and is a shining example of neighborhood-led transformation that aligns with our purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. We look forward to deepening our commitment to the Aspire Center and driving progress for the people of Austin with the opening of our BMO branch.”
In addition to the commitment of its tenant anchors, the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation was made possible by collaborative funding from multiple partners, including several contributing investments of $250,000 or more to the ASPIRE campaign. These large investors include: the City of Chicago, The State of Illinois, United Way of Metro Chicago, BMO, the Chicago Community Trust, We Rise Together: for an Equitable and Just Recovery, the Pritzker-Traubert Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Other strategic investment partners include JP Morgan Chase, Enterprise, IFF, the Chicago Community Loan Fund, Cinnaire, Comcast, and Deloitte.
“For too long, the West Side of Chicago has been disinvested and under-resourced, often neglected by the government. The Aspire Center changes that and brings hope for the West Side of Chicago,” said IL State Rep. La Shawn Ford. “This center represents a watershed moment for Austin, the West Side, our city, and our state. I take great pride in partnering with the West Side Health Authority to uplift the corner of Madison and Central. This investment not only enhances property values but also brings hope and support for generations to come. It exemplifies the transformative power of investment in a community, and it marks the continuation of efforts to revitalize the West Side of Chicago. I remain committed to fighting for resources that will empower families, businesses, and non-profits in our community.”
Austin’s population has long struggled with unemployment and under-education, especially among young, Black, male residents. Twenty-eight percent of Austin’s population is between ages 15-34, and many lack a high school diploma and are unemployed, according to data from the Chicago Metropolitan Planning Agency. Nearly half of Chicago’s young Black men are both out of school and out of work, according to research from the Great Cities Institute. Older adults in Austin also struggle with workforce displacement, as rising living costs, stagnant wages and rapid shifts in technology make it harder for residents to adapt and thrive, according to research conducted as part of Austin’s Quality of Life Plan. The Aspire Center is a core part of the Austin community’s answer to these pressing challenges.
“The opening of the Aspire Center marks a new chapter in the story of Austin,” said Westside Health Authority CEO Morris Reed. Our event theme, ‘Freedom to Aspire,’ represents our core belief in the potential of our community when people are given the tools, capacity, and encouragement and that’s what the Aspire Center represents today and will do so for years to come.”
To learn more about the Aspire Center, its anchor tenants, and the services and resources it will offer, visit the Aspire Center website at www.acwichi.org.
About the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation
The Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation is a joint venture between Westside Health Authority and Austin Coming Together, created to operate independently of—but in service to—its anchor tenants and the broader Austin community. The Center will serve as a seamless and collaborative hub for high-performing workforce training and wealth-building programs.
About Austin Coming Together
Austin Coming Together (ACT) provides backbone support for a network of over 50 member organizations working together to improve the quality of life in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. ACT coordinates collaborative initiatives and provides capacity-building support to community-based organizations. ACT will relocate its offices to the Aspire Center, allowing the organization to expand its workforce development efforts and coordinate between partners in the center, ensuring residents can access integrated services such as financial coaching, job readiness training, and employment resources, helping them achieve financial stability and connect them to economic opportunities. Learn more at austincomingtogether.org.
About Westside Health Authority
Westside Health Authority (WHA) is a community-based organization committed to improving the health and well-being of West Side residents through holistic approaches to community development. WHA acquired the Aspire Center building in 2018 to ensure it would reflect the priorities and vision of the community. As a key anchor tenant, WHA will house its executive offices at the Aspire Center and lead comprehensive workforce development programs designed to equip residents with the skills, training, and support needed to secure meaningful employment and achieve long-term career success. Learn more at www.healthauthority.org
About BMO U.S.
Helping communities thrive by supporting the organizations that sustain them and encouraging employee giving and volunteerism is at the heart of BMO’s Purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life.
In 2024, we directed more than $80 million USD to drive progress for communities, which included $74.3 million USD in philanthropic contributions to hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations across North America.
Our colleagues spent over 54,000 hours volunteering in the community and contributed more than $28.7 million USD of donations through employee-driven giving in our annual campaigns. Learn more at www.bmo.com.
About Jane Addams Resource Corporation Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) is a 40-year-old non-profit community-based organization dedicated to stemming the loss of manufacturing jobs in Chicago. Rooted in the work of one of the first settlement houses in the nation, JARC offers skills training and support services to help Chicago’s low-income and unemployed workers achieve self-sufficiency. Specializing in the metal and plastics manufacturing sectors, JARC has built its own training center featuring the most current machinery for these industries.
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Photos and renderings of the Aspire Center can be accessed here.