CHICAGO: Greater Grand Crossing Youth Center Gets $250,000 Grant To Expand Urban Farming Program

The Food Sovereignty Hub will have a greenhouse, outdoor kitchen classroom, hydroponic garden and more geared towards educating the next generation of local farmers.

by Atavia Reed

August 15, 2025

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) observe the rooftop garden at Gary Comer Youth Center, 7230 S. South Chicago Ave., in Greater Grand Crossing on Aug. 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

GREATER GRAND CROSSING — A South Side agricultural hub where young people grow food, cook healthy dishes and supply fresh produce for neighbors was one of 14 projects awarded a Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grant Thursday. 

The Gary Comer Youth Center Food Sovereignty Hub will receive $250,000 through the grant program. Mayor Brandon Johnson joined campus leaders and Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th), whose ward includes the youth center, to announce the news in Greater Grand Crossing Wednesday. 

The money will be used to expand the Food Sovereignty Hub, 7230 S. South Chicago Ave., which will include a greenhouse, an outdoor kitchen classroom, a Farmbox container farm with an indoor hydroponic garden, a newly designed commercial space for Farmers Markets and a chicken coop.

The $250,000 grant will help “push things forward” to build out the hub and share it with the community by September, said Amanda Anderson, the youth center’s associate director of urban agriculture.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) and the team at Gary Comer Youth Center pose for a photo at 7230 S. South Chicago Ave. in Greater Grand Crossing on Aug. 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

The hub will help expand the existing urban agriculture program at Gary Comer Youth Center, Anderson said. The campus boasts the largest youth-run farm in the city, with over 160 young people working each year to maintain the 1.75-acre farm, 6,000-square-foot rooftop garden and hydroponic lab.

Students in the program learn how to grow microgreens in classrooms, market fresh produce to local restaurateurs, and harvest carrots, watermelon, kale and mustard greens.

The community-focused hub will boost food production while providing a hands-on education in urban farming.

“We want to create a space that’s welcoming to everybody,” Anderson said. “We’ll have an outdoor kitchen, a classroom, really showing that everybody — teens, young adults and adults — where your food comes from and you can grow it yourself. There’s no real magic to it.”

Hazel, student, presents Mayor Brandon Johnson with flowers at Gary Comer Youth Center, 7230 S. South Chicago Ave., in Greater Grand Crossing on Aug. 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Young farmers can grow an abundance of produce year-round inside the Food Sovereignty Hub’s greenhouse and Farmbox container farm, Anderson said. 

Speciality crops that normally wouldn’t survive Chicago’s frosty climate can now thrive in the winter. The production of local fresh foods is expected to increase by up to six to eight additional tons at the hub.

Nearby big box stores, like Home Depot and Lowe’s “don’t always have the best selection of culturally appropriate plants” such as seedlings like watermelon, carrots, and mustard greens, Anderson said. A goal for the greenhouse is to grow enough seedlings to pass out to student farmers and community gardeners, Anderson said. 

Students who work in the hub’s newly designed commercial space can flex their entrepreneurial skills and witness the importance of their hard work as they help operate the hub’s market. The campus will extend the Farmers Market season by two months once the hub is open.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks to Hazel, student, at Gary Comer Youth Center, 7230 S. South Chicago Ave., in Greater Grand Crossing on Aug. 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

The city supports initiatives like the Food Sovereignty Hub to place young people “in a stronger position where they can be productive contributors to our society,” Johnson told Block Club. 

“The investments are designed to make sure that our young people can not only experience and find purpose, but while doing that, they develop skills that can also benefit the community as a whole,” Johnson said. 

As the federal government implements legislation slashing access to food assistance programs, supporting local farms that provide fresh food in historically underserved communities is critical. 

“The president of the United States of America is shifting the wealth into the hands of a few people while also cutting Medicaid, cutting SNAP programs, literally taking away food and medicine,” Johnson said. “We have a responsibility as a local government to protect as many families as we possibly can even though we have a president who is quite inimical to our interests as working people.” 

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) observe the rooftop garden at Gary Comer Youth Center, 7230 S. South Chicago Ave., in Greater Grand Crossing on Aug. 13, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Activity will be “fast and fierce” at the Food Sovereignty Hub in the coming weeks, Anderson said. 

The Gary Comer Youth Center will mark the grand opening of the hub with a ribbon cutting ceremony and Harvest Dinner on September 25.

The farm-to-table experience will include fresh food grown and harvested at the farm prepared by apprentices in the center’s culinary arts program. 

“Not a week goes by that I don’t talk to someone who has been impacted by all the work of the foundation, school and homes nearby,” Yancy said Wednesday. “When I got the call on Monday about the award, it’s proof that the work that’s happening here is so important.”

Here’s the complete list of Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grant recipients and award amounts:

• Chicago Systems & Signals: 121 E. 115th St., West Pullman

  •  $250,000 for engineering company headquarters buildout.

• DixiePura Kitchen: 325 E. Pershing Road, Grand Boulevard

  • $59,700 for Southern/Asian restaurant renovation.

• DLV Printing Service, Inc.:, 5825 W. Corcoran Place, Austin

  • $93,600 for retail area expansion.

• GCYC Food Sovereignty Hub: 7230 S. South Chicago Ave., Greater Grand Crossing

  • $250,000 for youth center greenhouse and urban farm expansion.

• Host Mart Inc.: 235 E. 35th St., Douglas

  • $88,299 for Indian grocery store buildout.

• James L. Bowers, Attorney: 5940-42 W. Chicago Ave, Austin

  • $114,900 for office space exterior improvements.

• Loncar’s Chico: 3201 E. 92nd St., South Chicago

  •  $75,000 for tavern facade and roof improvements.

• Nova Driving School: 3811 W. 26th St., South Lawndale

  • $159,750 for classroom rehabilitation and expansion.

• Pink Hats Construction & Development Inc.: 11004 S. Halsted Ave., Morgan Park

  • $250,000 engineering company office space expansion.

• ReStore South: 6057 S. Western Ave., Chicago Lawn

  • $120,765 for a Habitat for Humanity home improvement store buildout.

• Rosnogaizi Beauty Salon: 4147 W. North Ave., Humboldt Park

  •  $116,826 for workspace renovations.

• Universal Travel Service Inc.:, 4310 W. 26th St., South Lawndale

  • $126,960 for storefront improvements.

• Wagner’s Bakery Inc.: 2148 W. Cermak Road, Lower West Side

  •  $101,160 for kitchen and sales floor improvements at 107-year-old bakery.

• Xpress Auto Repair Inc.: 7820 S. Ashland Ave., Auburn Gresham

  •  $47,540 for exterior signage upgrades.