Mission, History and Vision

Once known for the race riots that erupted when Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. marched here in 1966 for open housing, Chicago's Southwest Side communities are now very diverse. No longer predominantly white and Catholic, there has been a dramatic increase in the Latino and African-American populations. These large and rapid demographic shifts have resulted in the breakdown of institutional and neighborhood cohesion. Families no longer know one another — the old networks are gone and new ones need to be created.

Sponsored by the Southwest Catholic Cluster Project in 1989 to strengthen connections among Southwest Chicago's increasingly diverse residents and neighborhoods, the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) was formed in 1996 and has grown to include 29 member institutions. SWOP’s mission is to build a broad-based organization of churches, mosques, schools, and other institutions in Southwest Chicago, which will enable families to exercise common values, determine their own future and connect with each other to improve life in their neighborhoods. To this end, leaders of SWOP have dedicated themselves to building relationships across racial, ethnic and faith differences and to bringing the common concerns of their institutions into the public life of the community as they act to "stand for the whole.” A multi-issue organization, SWOP is known for its work to reduce violence, its fight to end predatory lending, its efforts to win rights and protect the civil liberties of immigrants, and its commitment to achievement in public schools through the Parents-as-Mentors and Grow Your Own Teachers initiatives.

Relational & Institutional Organizing

Organizing cannot effectively produce results for a community nor be a good training ground for leaders without power. SWOP believes in organizing through relationships and community institutions to develop power that will last over the long haul.

Leadership Development

SWOP works to develop leaders through a deliberate, collective process of pre-planning, action, and evaluation.  This process focuses experiential learning in public life, which allows leaders of all levels to learn from each other.  In addition, SWOP provides training opportunities for both emerging leaders and senior leaders.

Justice Values

SWOP works with faith leaders, lay people and their institutions to act on the justice values that their varied traditions teach.  It is from these rich stories that SWOP leaders begin their work to envision and create their own story of a more just neighborhood.