Code in the Concrete: Mr. Grant Money & the Smart Building Boom in Chicago

🎩 Summary Notes

On Chicago’s South Side, families like Ms. Yolanda’s endured winters with failing heaters, sky-high bills, and improvised survival. Enter ChiBlocks, a resident-led coalition determined to retrofit housing without displacement—solar panels, smart thermostats, air-quality monitors, and Wi-Fi, installed and maintained by tenants themselves. With Mr. Grant Money’s strategy, the project unlocked $6.3M+ in stacked federal, private, and philanthropic funding. Today, buildings breathe easier, bills are lower, and residents like Ms. Yolanda aren’t just tenants—they’re trained energy liaisons leading the way.

☞☞ Read the full blog post here 🏚️⚡🏙️

⚜️ Key Themes

🔹 Justice as Infrastructure
Smart upgrades must reach public housing and low-income renters, not just luxury towers. Equity comes first.

🔹 Residents as Builders
Retrofits worked because tenants were trained, certified, and employed to lead them.

🔹 Stacked Funding = Strength
📌 DOE Buildings UP – $3.8M
📌 HUD GRRP – $1.4M
📌 Google.org & ComEd – $500K tech + grid match
📌 Workforce Apprenticeships – $600K

🔹 From Survival to Stability
Heating bills down. Outages buffered by solar + battery. Healthier air. And dignity restored where systems once failed.

⚜️ Discussion Questions

💬 Have you ever lived in housing where systems failed? What story could make that problem fundable?
💬 How should cities ensure climate and tech funding actually reaches renters, not just property owners?
💬 Would you trust residents—not outside vendors—to lead building upgrades in your neighborhood? Why or why not?
💬 What matters most in “smart” housing for your community: affordability, health, or local jobs?
💬 If you could modernize one block in your city tomorrow, what would it look like—and who should lead?

⚜️ Action Steps for Communities

✅ Identify aging housing stock in urgent need of retrofit
✅ Build coalitions across tradespeople, tenants, and youth organizers
✅ Frame upgrades as health + equity infrastructure, not “luxury” tech
✅ Leverage federal programs (DOE, HUD, EPA) with private co-funding
✅ Ensure community members are trained + paid to sustain the systems

⚜️ Reflection

ChiBlocks proved that “smart” doesn’t mean shiny. It means caring. When residents lead their own retrofits, the results aren’t just efficient—they’re just. The lesson? If infrastructure dollars don’t land where the boilers are broken, they aren’t infrastructure at all.

☞☞ Explore more housing justice stories at the Mr. Grant Money Blog 🛠️🏘️