“We see this area right around the train station as a magnet and access point to jobs, education and economic opportunity,” said Melvin Thompson, executive director of The Endeleo Institute. It’s the community development arm of Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood.
Thompson walks the block pointing to a row of empty lots that are adjacent to well-kept homes. The Endeleo Institute is developing foreclosed homes through the Cook County Land Bank.