Three years ago in July, Chicago’s West Side flooded after a weekend of intense rainstorms. The nonprofit A House in Austin was among the hundreds of organizations and residents that experienced flood damage, including a roof and attic that needed repairs, plus eight inches of rain and sewage in the basement that rendered its laundry facilities, refrigerators and HVAC system useless.
A House in Austin, a parent-child resource hub that serves up to 75 families a year at 533 N. Pine Ave., recently received five grants totaling $214,000 that are finally helping to fix flood damage, fund upcoming events, provide staffing support and a cushion to continue helping local families with access to early learning programs, cooking courses and free laundry.
After necessary repairs, A House in Austin plans to launch its for-profit social enterprise, according to Lynette Kelly-Bell, the nonprofit’s co-executive director. Soon, the organization’s big blue house and surrounding yard will be available for locals to rent for private events like birthday parties, baby showers and retreats.
“We love the house so much, and it’s so beautiful. We would love to be able to share that with our community,” Kelly-Bell said.
The largest of the grants that A House in Austin recently received was announced last month by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Among $42 million of citywide grants for neighborhood development projects, A House in Austin received $115,000.
Kelly-Bell said most of that will cover renovations to the building’s attic, estimated to cost around $80,000.
According to Kelly-Bell, the city required awarded organizations to raise a percentage of money themselves in order to receive a grant. Last year, A House in Austin’s Raise the Roof capital campaign garnered $45,000 to repair the roof. Now, the nonprofit plans to renovate its attic and convert it into a shopping space for families.
“The idea is that Mom, Dad and children can shop for the clothes that they need, shoes, hygiene resources, and we really wanted to feel like a private boutique. We want there to be integrity,” Kelly-Bell said.
Additionally, a $75,000 grant from Chicago-based studio Good Chaos will be used for general operations at A House in Austin. Kelly-Bell said, in its next fiscal year, the nonprofit is expecting a shortfall in funding as some of its private grant awarders shift to prioritize funding programs for school-aged children instead of early childhood ones that A House in Austin provides.
“A great portion of that covers the shortfall, and what’s left we plan on using for an extra cushion as things and expenses come up,” Kelly-Bell said of the money from Good Chaos.
For the third year in a row, the Chicago Foundation for Women, through the West Side Giving Circle, approved $15,000 for A House in Austin. The money supports the nonprofit’s staff by covering a portion of pay increases and insurance costs for their medical benefits.
The nonprofit also got $5,000 from the Chicago Funds’ 2026 Safe and Peaceful Communities grant, which will help fund a handful of community events. In addition to a staff retreat, this grant finances a beach day on July 9, since “a lot of our families have not actually been to the beach ever before, and they’re Chicago natives,” Kelly-Bell said. It will fund a mini block party on August 8, and a parent’s night out when the nonprofit provides childcare.
Finally, the Rotary Club of Chicago gave $4,000 to A House in Austin to renovate the basement laundry room damaged by 2023 floods. Local families can sign up for a three-hour timeslot to do laundry, and the nonprofit provides detergent, dryer sheets and clean laundry bags to carry clothes home in. With the $4,000, A House in Austin plans to turn part of its unfinished basement into a separate room dedicated to laundry.
“We’re going to put some drywall up, create a doorway, get some shelving, really try to make it look next-level, elevated, like a private laundry room,” Kelly-Bell said. “We took off 24 inches of the drywall from the flood, and we had to replace a couple of things, but for the most part, we’re definitely on track with bringing the house back to life.”
See A House in Austin’s regular programming and resources for local parents and children at https://www.ahouseinaustin.org/semester-schedule.html