In this Advisory Council Member Spotlight we introduce Joy Aruguete, executive director of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation. Bickerdike is a member-based non-profit community development corporation serving the communities of West Town, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, and Hermosa in Chicago.

Bickerdike puts a strong emphasis on community organizing and empowering the people who live in the community it serves. Building consensus, managing expectations, and harnessing an empowered constituency can take a tremendous amount of time, patience, and energy. How has this approach served Bickerdike over its 47 years?

Community engagement in Bickerdike’s work is a core part of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation’s mission and values. At the heart of our work is the development of our communities by and for the benefit of local residents. Over the past 47 years, Bickerdike has developed over 1,200 units of quality affordable housing, created local jobs, brought economic investment, and structured our organization to give local residents real decision making roles in our work and organization. We keep community front and center in our multi-faceted approach to community development.

In 1981, Bickerdike created Humboldt Construction Company as a wholly owned subsidiary to link job creation with affordable housing development. Bickerdike also has a property management function. What are the benefits to having these disciplines under one roof? Are there any challenges?

Bickerdike created Humboldt Construction in 1981 to link job creation to our affordable housing development work, providing access to skilled employment at a living wage for local residents. In the mid-80’s we began Bickerdike Apartments to manage the rental housing properties that we were developing to ensure our properties would be managed in a way that was consistent with our mission of community involvement and quality housing. Being the developer, owner, property manager, and general contractor gives us a unique opportunity to take in to account all perspectives from early on in the design and development phase in a project. It also helps us to ensure that, from the earliest stages of a project, the optimal conditions for the long term operation of our buildings as quality affordable housing.

This year you will complete your second term of service – a total of six years – on the Community Investment Advisory Council. Looking back, what were your biggest ‘ah ha’ moments?

The nearly six years I have served on the Community Investment Advisory Council (AC) have been both enriching and rewarding. I think the AC plays an important role in acting as the community and industry voice to the FHLBC in its administration of the community investment programs, and the Group’s activities overall. I served a term as AC vice chair and during that  time had the privilege of representing the FHLBC AC at the national meeting of the advisory councils from across the FHLBank system. During my participation in two such meetings, I felt a sense of the key role of the advisory councils in the Federal Home Loan Bank’s community investment activities, and an appreciation for the transparency of that process. I have, and continue to, look forward to each and every meeting and activity and to the partnerships throughout the district.