Serving the CommunityPatrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities Austin HOPE Center
Austin HOPE Center
The Austin HOPE Center is being co-developed by Stone Community Development Corporation (Stone CDC), Community Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) and Lurie Children’s. Together, we envision a healing, welcoming space where youth and families can access both clinical care and community-based supports. The center will offer:
- High-quality pediatric specialty physical and behavioral health services
- Community-responsive health education and training
- Inviting gathering space for youth development and other local organizations
Our Work In Community
Since 2023, we have partnered with Austin youth, families, residents and community organizations to shape the vision, design and future impact of the Austin HOPE Center. Below is a timeline of major engagement activities to date.
2025
November 2025 — Beam Raising Ceremony
We celebrated the official beam-raising of the Austin HOPE Center, marking a major milestone in construction of the new site.
May–June 2025 — Evaluation Planning with Youth & Community Partners
Youth and community partners joined us in conversations about how to best measure the HOPE Center’s impact, helping guide the development of our evaluation framework.
2024
September 2024 — Youth Progress Update Session
We met with Austin youth met to review project updates and share feedback on design considerations and next steps.
July 2024 — Contractor Outreach Event
UJAAMA Construction hosted a Contractor Outreach Event for local contractors to learn about upcoming bid opportunities for the HOPE Center and other community projects.
June 2024 — Groundbreaking
June marked the groundbreaking for the Austin HOPE Center, an exciting event attended by Mayor Brandon Johnson. Watch our groundbreaking video:
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has broken ground for the three-story, 25,000 square foot Austin HOPE Center at 5044 W. Chicago Ave. The center will offer youth and families the opportunity to seek community-based services and pediatric clinical and behavioral healthcare.
May 2024 — Neighborhood Meeting on Construction
We met with residents living near the future site to discuss construction plans, set expectations and address questions.
April 2024 — Community Coffee Chats
Leadership from Lurie Children’s and Stone CDC held a series of informal coffee chats at Urban Essentials Coffee Café. Community members were invited to stop by, ask questions and learn more about the project in a relaxed, drop-in setting.
March 2024 — Austin Youth Visit Lurie Children's & Workforce Tours Austin with Dilla
Austin youth visited Lurie Children’s and met with Senator Dick Durbin, followed by a hands-on color theory workshop with Alt Space Chicago. In turn, Lurie Children’s employees joined a walking tour of Austin led by local historian Dilla to learn more about the neighborhood’s rich cultural history.
2023
November 2023 — Creative Youth Workshop
Young people from Austin participated in a creative workshop to share early ideas about the HOPE Center’s design and spaces. Here's what they shared with us.
August 2023 — Design Feedback Meeting
We hosted a follow-up community meeting to present design updates and gather additional input.
Meeting Slides
May 2023 — Input from Local Clinicians & Providers
Local healthcare providers from Austin shared their insights on the types of services most needed for children and adolescents.
Meeting Slides
April 2023 — First Community Input Meeting
Our first community meeting introduced the vision for a new health and wellness facility in Austin. Residents provided early feedback and shared their priorities for services and spaces.
Meeting Slides · Recording · Follow-Up Survey Results
The Space
Two local Black-owned architectural firms are leading the design of the Austin HOPE Center. Their work is grounded in extensive, ongoing input from Austin residents — a process that will continue throughout construction to ensure the building feels welcoming, comfortable, and truly rooted in the community.
The center will be a 24,500-square-foot, three-story facility owned by Stone CDC and leased to Lurie Children’s and Thresholds. Located in the heart of Austin, it will serve as a hub for specialty pediatric clinical and community services.
On the first floor, you'll find a welcoming, community-driven space including:
- Spaces for community gatherings and meetings, including a cafe
- A Teen Lounge designed by youth for youth
The second floor will house Lurie Children's clinical and supportive services carefully selected through community engagement and patient data analysis, such as:
- Behavioral health offices and group therapy rooms
- Clinical exam rooms to support chronic health conditions, adolescent medicine and other specialty pediatric care services
The third-floor will include office space, including:
- Workspaces for Thresholds West Side community-based outreach teams
- Additional spaces for Thresholds community engagement activities and conferences
Collaborating Partners
The Austin HOPE Center is a collaborative effort led by the following partners:
Stone CDC is dedicated to improving the quality of life in Chicago's Austin neighborhood by building pathways of opportunity aimed to address the academic, economic, social-emotional, and spiritual well-being of families through academic enrichment; art appreciation and instruction; health and wellness; and financial literacy and wealth building programming.
Lurie Children's is consistently ranked as the top children’s hospital in the state and one of the best in the nation. We care for more than 200,000 children and adolescents each year, and serve more youth insured by Medicaid than any other hospital in Illinois.
Thresholds is one of the oldest and largest providers of recovery services for people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in Illinois. Thresholds’ staff meets people where they are – out in the community. Offering services in a community-based setting makes them more accessible and effective and lessens social isolation. Thresholds efforts include assertive outreach, case management, housing, employment, education, psychiatry, primary care, substance use treatment and research.
Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) is a non-profit community development organization focused on real estate development and financing activities in neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West Sides. CNI works alongside community stakeholders to coordinate investment in neighborhoods through construction of new commercial, industrial, residential, and recreational properties and deployment of loans to small businesses. Since inception in 2010, CNI has created 7,800 jobs resulting in over $600 million in earnings for South and West Side residents.
Gregory R. Williams, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, NCARB is the President and Principal Architect of Gregory Ramón Design Studios. A self-certified architect in Chicago and a registered interior designer in Illinois, Gregory has over 20 years of experience in new construction and renovation in residential, commercial, healthcare, municipal and institutional spaces.
Taylor Staten, LEED AP, is the Design Principal at TnS Studio, a Chicago-based, Black-owned, woman-powered design firm that prioritizes equity-focused work with underserved communities on the city's South Side.
UJAMAA Construction is a general contracting and construction management company. Since its founding in 2002, UJAMAA Construction has supported the Midwest and Southeast regions through exceptional construction services and community outreach. A Black-owned company, UJAMAA is Kiswahili for the Tanzanian concept of people working together and means unity in supporting one another by any means available.