Report: Block clubs save tax dollars despite government hurdles

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – An Illinois policy analyst says Chicago block clubs have connected thousands of people to jobs, but city and state government requirements sometimes get in the way.

Block clubs do not receive taxpayer funding, although hundreds of the voluntary organizations have registered with the city over the last 15 years.

LyLena Estabine, senior policy analyst at the Illinois Policy Institute, said the groups are concentrated on the South and West sides of Chicago and typically focus on caring for and improving the neighborhood.

Estabine said block clubs are what the future of poverty alleviation looks like.

“No longer are people going to be sitting around and waiting for a government handout for taxpayer dollars. It’s going to look like what we’ve highlighted here, which is hyperlocal, community-led interventions that rely on personal relationships and trust,” Estabine told The Center Square.

Estabine said licensing requirements are an example of a bureaucratic hurdle that government poses for block clubs.

“Black men and women are less likely to be licensed, but that doesn’t mean that they’re less skilled. As a city and state, we have to reconcile the licensing requirements that we have in place,” Estabine said.

Estabine said block club organizers have created job opportunities to clean up vacant lots, but red tape and regulations make it hard for block club leaders to get access to the land.

Noting that Chicago’s poverty rate is 40% for unemployed individuals and 6% for those who are employed, Estabine said one block club organizer estimated that he connected more than 3,000 people to warehouse jobs over eleven years.

Although Mayor Brandon Johnson says the Chicago Youth Works program has provided more than 25,000 people with jobs this summer, Estabine said the city’s financial decisions have left the city without money to provide people with more opportunities.

“These community programs are doing something that the government, even if they put all of their resources into this, is not going to be able to do, because these arrangements rely on trust. The government can’t replicate that,” Estabine said.

Estabine said block clubs could be duplicated in cities across Illinois.

“Really, what a block club is when men and women come together and decide that they are going to take the future of their communities into their own hands,” Estabine said.