Chicago Eco House
The Chicago Eco House uses sustainability to rebuild the inner city while creating socioeconomic opp
The Chicago Eco House is a nonprofit agency with the mission of using sustainsbility to alleviate inner city poverty. We do this by taking over vacant lots and turning them into solar powered flower farms that creates jobs for at risk young people in the floral industry by selling the floral arrangements from the flowers that we grow.
Check out this awesome in studio interview with CBS Chicago discussing our work with the Democratic National Convention!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK2vORxzP9Q
07/29/2024
Christianity in Business: Flower Company Mentoring At-Risk Youth (Interview w/ Quilen Blackwell) on Apple Podcasts Show Christianity in Business, Ep Flower Company Mentoring At-Risk Youth (Interview w/ Quilen Blackwell) - Jul 24, 2024
Check out our episode of Making Good featuring an indepth look at our work!
07/15/2024
Check out our founders on Nonprofit Nation by Julia Campbell!
Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell Nonprofit Nation is hosted by Julia Campbell, digital marketing and fundraising expert, nonprofit consultant, and author of Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits and How to Build and Mobilize a Social Media Community for Your Nonprofit in 90 Days. Julia helps nonprofits build movem...
05/28/2024
Check out our founder Quilen and Hannah Blackwell podcast interview on the Learning for Good podcast with Heather Burright!
Learning for Good | L&D Solutions and Leadership Development for Nonprofit Organizations: From 0 to 60 Employees in 4 Years: How this Nonprofit Onboarded and Trained Staff to Scale their Mission with Quilen Blackwell on Apple Podcasts Show Learning for Good | L&D Solutions and Leadership Development for Nonprofit Organizations, Ep From 0 to 60 Employees in 4 Years: How this Nonprofit Onboarded and Trained Staff to Scale their Mission with Quilen Blackwell - May 27, 2024
05/21/2024
Have you ever wondered what an urban flower farm is like? Now you can see for yourself!
Register today for our first our first ever farm tour on Saturday June 22nd! Tours will be led by youth participants and followed by light refreshments. Tickets are just $30 and will help us expand programming to Chicago’s West Side.
See what’s growing in the garden, learn about our sustainability practices, visit our bees, and enjoy a lively conversation with the founders of Southside Blooms and Chicago Eco House.
Register today! https://bit.ly/JuneFarmTour
04/30/2024
We made it for the #19 spot in Good Housekeeping's 26 Best Wedding Gifts for Parents of the Bride and Groom!
Everyone Needs to Get Their Mom This "Thank-You" Gift Box So sweet!
04/27/2024
NATIONAL SHIPPING OF FLOWERS STARTING MOTHERS DAY!
Southside Blooms will be delivering flowers across the country starting Mother's Day so if you always wanted our flowers but lived too far away now you will have the opportunity to buy our flowers! The best part is our flowers comes with FREE NATIONAL DELIVERY so you can feel good about supporting a mission that is changing America's inner city without breaking the bank.
To order simply go to www.southsideblooms.com/product/mother-earth-bouquet-ships-free-nationwide-on-may-10/ or click the link in our bio.
We would liek to thank act.org for their generous donation in supporting our farmer-florist workforce development program! It is the generous support of donors like act.org that help us to better serve our mission every day!
04/24/2024
Southside Blooms co-founder Quilen Blackwell shares how his family and faith inspires his work on the Our Urban Voices podcast!
#99. Bloom Where God Plants You Quilen Blackwell is the president and co-founder of the Chicago Eco House, whose mission is to train inner city youth in sustainable social enterprises ...
04/01/2024
Check out this CNN feature highlighting the impact of our work!!!
Chicago couple’s sustainable farming nonprofit helps keep youth away from guns and gangs | CNN For Chicago-based Southside Blooms owners Quilen and Hannah Bonham Blackwell, who run the nonprofit staffed by local youth and young adults, their biggest competition isn’t other flower shops.
03/26/2024
Check out our co-founders Quilen and Hannah on the Gardening Simplified podcast!
Can't-Miss Plants at the Garden Center this Year | 81 Wondering how to spend your garden budget this season? We've got you covered with our can't-miss plant lists! Plus, helpful tips on pruning and transplanting...
02/29/2024
Check out our co-founder and president Quilen Blackwell's interview on the Black to Business podcast!
🌱Feeling the entrepreneurial pull to make a difference? Quilen Blackwell, the powerhouse behind Chicago Eco House, is here to inspire your journey toward urban sustainability and economic empowerment. This isn't just about business; it's about sowing seeds of transformation and creating a legacy that matters.
In episode #189, we're diving into the profound impact of urban sustainability initiatives. From turning neglected urban landscapes into vibrant hubs of activity to empowering local youth, Quilen's insights are a game-changer for every entrepreneur. Here's a sneak peek of what you'll uncover:
🌿 The significance of urban sustainability for fostering economic empowerment
🏙️ How initiatives like Southside Blooms are revitalizing abandoned lots
💪🏿 The role of social enterprise in building resilient communities
⚡️ Strategies for overcoming challenges and scaling sustainable projects
🌍 Practical ways individuals and businesses can contribute to urban sustainability efforts
Quilen's journey is more than just a floral fairy tale; it's a testament to empowerment. Facing daunting challenges, he's emerged with unwavering determination, commitment, and a passion for making a difference.
🎧So, whether you're in tech, culinary arts, or any industry, this episode is your invitation to be part of the transformative power of planting seeds of change. Check out the full episode → https://bit.ly/3TdRGP4
—--------------
🙏🏿 Support:
This week's episode is proudly sponsored by Harvard Business School Executive Education!
✨Transformation requires a catalyst. For thousands of business leaders, Harvard Business School Executive Education has been that catalyst. Here, senior leaders join in a transformational learning experience, networking with executives from around the world.
During the day, participants take part in dynamic lectures led by distinguished faculty. In the evening, the learning continues in unique on-campus living groups. And a wide range of virtual leadership programs offer the types of interactivity and connectivity formerly reserved for in-person engagements.
Prepare for the next step in your career. Learn more → https://bit.ly/3T5tDlm
02/20/2024
Thank you SEE Change Magazine for interviewing our co-founder Quilen and giving us the opportunity to share our work!
Making Flowers Bloom on Chicago’s South Side: Quilen Blackwell of Southside Blooms - SEE Change Magazine Fighting poverty and its effects by turning flowers into opportunities for inner-city youth
02/14/2024
Check out our founders Quilen and Hannah Blackwell on the Be Love Do Good podcast!
Be Love. Do Good. with Kristi Hayes: Blooming Love: Cultivating Community and Compassion with Southside Blooms Founders on Apple Podcasts Show Be Love. Do Good. with Kristi Hayes, Ep Blooming Love: Cultivating Community and Compassion with Southside Blooms Founders - Feb 13, 2024
08/08/2023
This month is our 10 year anniversary! Many don't know that our organization's legal name is Nehemiah Group and it started in 2013 at then TEAM Englewood High School in the Englewood neighborhood on the southside. Watch our 10 year anniversary video to see the story behind the organization that brought you the Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms!
Nehemiah Group 10 Year Anniversary Video This video celebrates the 10 year history of the Nehemiah Group!
12/02/2022
Southside Blooms hosting ribbon-cutting ceremony A flower shop months in the making will have an official ribbon cutting Friday.
08/20/2022
Look for these custom-designed Southside Blooms Zipcars around Chicago! For every hour these cars are booked, Zipcar will donate $1 to our organization. And our goal is $20,000! Learn more at
zipcar.com/southsideblooms
08/09/2022
Check out this wonderful interview covering our work on The Flower Podcast!
The Flower Podcast Guests of Season 2
07/28/2022
Rain or shine our farm team is out finding creative ways to bring in the blooms!
We are partnering with Zipcar in an effort to raise money for us by having a Southside Blooms branded Zipcar! How cool is that! You can rent a Zipcar with the flowers branding and for every hour you drive a dollar is donated to us! Read below for more details!
https://fb.watch/ettHBuJmMv/
THANK YOU to The Christian Broadcasting Network for covering our story and how we are making a difference in Chicago!
05/31/2022
Our co-founder Quilen Blackwell was featured on the Ellen Show and interviewed by guest host Leslie Jones of SNL!
The Non-Profit Founder Helping His Community Bloom Through Gardening Guest host Leslie Jones welcomed Quilen Blackwell, the founder of non-profit Southside Blooms, which transforms vacant lots in Chicago into solar-powered, su...
Congrats to our president and co-founder Quilen Blackwell for being named the 2022 Red Cross Social Justice Hero!
https://www.facebook.com/11751460282/posts/10159176289225283/
04/16/2022
It's almost time to harvest tulips!
03/19/2022
First sign of spring! Thousands of our tulips are peeking through on our farms. It's almost time to get to work!
02/27/2022
02/03/2022
Thank you so much New City for the write up!
https://design.newcity.com/2022/02/02/beyond-a-bouquet-at-southside-blooms-flowers-are-a-lifeline/
Beyond a Bouquet: At Southside Blooms, Flowers Are a Lifeline Flowers as more than a perishable product.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Our Story
The Chicago Eco House was birthed in 2014 when the founder, Quilen Blackwell, was tutoring at a high school in the South Side of Chicago neighborhood of Englewood. Through this experience, he encountered the challenges of hardcore inner city poverty and how it directly affects the young people who live there. In Englewood, there are hundreds of vacant and blighted properties and the unemployment rate is 22 percent and the poverty rate is 44 percent. Furthermore, the unemployment rate amongst black youth ages 16-24 is 50 percent. It became obvious that developing a new economic solution to stem some of these economic problems was a huge need in the community.
After spending months of organizing local residents and community groups, we successfully launched the Stewart Street Farm, which provided 32 high school students with stipends to learn about urban agriculture. The farm occupies over two city blocks, and includes vegetables, flowers, and a fruit orchard. The Eco House worked with the local alderman’s office (Willie B. Cochran), TEAM Englewood and Urban Prep Academy high schools, and neighborhood advocates to secure the vacant land from the city in order to build this farm that benefits the local community.
However, we learned some valuable lessons in building out this first farm. The most important lesson is that we need to incorporate a more entrepreneurial model as the funding that pays the high school students stipends came from a local foundation’s grant and is not a long term sustainable solution. So, we decided to focus on building a flower farm business where the youth could be the business leaders. They would learn business skills in building and maintaining the farm operation and it would be able to grow more organically. In 2017, we built a second flower farm (shed, rainwater irrigation, flower beds, etc.) in the neighborhood and we partnered with Windy City Harvest (a nonprofit that trains urban farmers) to rent out our flower farm space to their urban farmer graduates. We recently secured our first urban farmer tenant and we are on track to generate $20,000 for the 2018 season with an agreed upon 70/30 revenue split (we would get 30 percent).
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Address
S Stewart Avenue
Chicago, IL
60621
Opening Hours
| Monday | 7am - 7pm |
| Tuesday | 9am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 7pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 7pm |
| Friday | 9am - 7pm |
| Saturday | 11am - 4pm |
| Sunday | 11am - 5pm |
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