Chicago Eco House

What Chicago Eco House does

Chicago Eco House (legally Nehemiah Group DBA Chicago Eco House) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization founded in 2014 by Quilen Blackwell and headquartered at 6439 S Peoria St, Unit 2, Chicago, IL 60621. The organization operates solar-powered commercial flower farms on repurposed vacant lots in underserved neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side (Englewood, West Garfield Park, West Woodlawn) and Detroit, using rainwater catchment systems to minimize ecological footprint. Its primary mission is to create employment and entrepreneurial training pathways for at-risk youth ages 16-24 in neighborhoods where Black youth unemployment reaches 50% and poverty rates exceed 44%, while converting blighted vacant land into productive green community spaces.

The organization operates a vertically integrated social enterprise model spanning urban agriculture, workforce development, and community development. Its core product, the off-grid flower farm, is commercialized through Southside Blooms, an in-house e-commerce flower shop (southsideblooms.com), supplemented by Eco Works (youth-produced products) and Eco Lifestyle (sustainable lifestyle goods) sub-brands. The go-to-market motion is community-led, relying on direct engagement with schools, community organizations, word-of-mouth, and earned media coverage from outlets including ABC 7 Chicago, NBC, Univision, Chicago Sun Times, and Block Club Chicago.

Revenue is generated through three channels: charitable donations (tax-deductible contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations via the website, donor advised funds, IRA rollovers, and corporate matching gifts), competitive grants and institutional awards (including the $100K UL Innovative Education Award Grand Prize in 2017 and $50K+ from UChicago Medicine in 2018), and commercial sales of flowers and eco-products through Southside Blooms, farm-site retail, and e-commerce. The organization has 11-50 employees and is expanding from five to seven farm sites via 2020 partnerships with Providence Englewood Charter School, Dunnes STEM Academy, and Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative.

Name

Chicago Eco House

Legal name

Nehemiah Group DBA Chicago Eco House

Website

https://chicagoecohouse.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chicago Eco House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates solar-powered flower farms on Chicago's South Side and Detroit to provide jobs, training, and entrepreneurial opportunities for at-risk youth ages 16-24, commercializing flowers through its Southside Blooms social enterprise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Enterprise Urban Agriculture and Youth Workforce Development

NAICS

Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)

akta.pro primary industry

Horticulture, Nursery & Greenhouse Operations (EDAOAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Native, Pollinator & Drought-Tolerant Garden Installations (HSAIAFAL), Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping Systems (EUABABAD)

Keywords

• Urban agriculture programs
• Youth employment services
• Community development
• Eco-friendly flower farming
• Social enterprise nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Chicago Eco House relies on charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The organization is tax-exempt (Tax ID: 46-5737246) and accepts various donation types including in-kind donations, donor advised funds, corporate matching gifts, IRA charitable rollovers, and appreciated securities.
2. Southside Blooms Flower Shop: Social enterprise flower shop that processes flowers grown on Eco House farms and sells bouquets and floral products to sustain long-term employment for youth. Revenue generated from direct flower sales.
3. Grant Funding: The organization receives grant funding from institutions like UChicago Medicine ($50,000+) and wins competitive awards such as the $100K UL Innovative Education Award Grand Prize and Delta BOOST Award.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Chicago Eco House is a nonprofit organization that operates solar-powered off-grid commercial flower farms on vacant urban lots in Chicago's South Side neighborhoods. The organization creates jobs and job training for at-risk youth ages 16-24 through sustainable urban agriculture, while selling flowers and floral products through its social enterprise flower shop, Southside Blooms.

Product overview

Chicago Eco House is a nonprofit organization that operates as a platform combining urban agriculture, youth employment, and community development. The core offering consists of solar-powered flower farms that repurpose vacant lots, with flowers processed and sold through the in-house social enterprise Southside Blooms. Supporting product lines include Eco Works (youth-produced products) and Eco Lifestyle (sustainable lifestyle offerings). Together, these programs convert vacant lots into productive community spaces while creating jobs for at-risk youth and building a greener city through sustainable farming practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Southside Blooms: In-house flower shop social enterprise of Chicago Eco House that processes flowers grown on Eco House farms and sells bouquets and floral products to sustain long-term employment for youth.
• Eco Works
• Eco Lifestyle

Products and services

• Southside Blooms The in-house flower shop social enterprise of Chicago Eco House. Flowers grown on Eco House farms are processed and sold as bouquets and other floral products online through southsideblooms.com and at farm locations to sustain long-term employment for youth. Targets individual consumers and small businesses seeking sustainable, locally-grown flowers.
• Eco Works Products designed and produced exclusively by youth participants in the Chicago Eco House program. Sold through the Eco Works shop on the Chicago Eco House website.
• Eco Lifestyle A sustainable lifestyle offering that helps individuals reduce their carbon footprint through eco-friendly products and practices. Sold through the Eco Lifestyle shop on the Chicago Eco House website.
• Flower Farms Vacant land repurposed into solar powered flower farms that create jobs for local young people. Uses rainwater catchment systems and solar power generation to minimize ecological footprint. Operates four farms in Chicago (Englewood, West Garfield Park, West Woodlawn) and one in Detroit, with expansion planned to seven sites including Providence Englewood Charter School, Dunnes STEM Academy, and Washington Park.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saves thousands of gallons of water per season through rainwater catchment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Providence Englewood Charter SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with Providence Englewood Charter School in West Englewood to build an Eco House flower farm site to provide more access to their student body for urban agriculture education and employment opportunities.
• Dunnes STEM AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with Dunnes STEM Academy in Roseland to build out a 1.25 acre flower farm site for their student body and local community, expanding urban agriculture to a new neighborhood.
• Emerald South Economic Development CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership with Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative to build out a new Eco House flower farm site in Washington Park neighborhood, expanding the organization's footprint.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Urban Roots: Austin-based nonprofit that uses food and urban agriculture to engage youth and adults, providing paid internships on a working farm. Directly comparable social-enterprise youth farm model with similar nonprofit structure and workforce-development mission.
• Keep Growing Detroit: Detroit nonprofit dedicated to cultivating food sovereignty through urban gardening, agriculture training, and resource distribution to residents. Directly comparable as a Detroit-based urban agriculture nonprofit with a comparable mission where Chicago Eco House also operates.
• Soul Fire Farm: Black-led farm in upstate New York focused on food justice, youth training programs, and training farmers of color. Comparable in its explicit equity-and-agriculture mission overlap with Chicago Eco House's youth-employment and urban-revitalization focus.
• Windy City Harvest (Chicago Botanic Garden): Chicago Botanic Garden's urban agriculture program that trains youth and adults in sustainable growing and food systems across the city. Highly comparable to Chicago Eco House given shared Chicago footprint, urban farming focus, and youth workforce-development mission.
• The Food Project: Northeast U.S. nonprofit operating urban and suburban farms that employ youth to grow food, with a strong focus on social enterprise and food justice. Directly comparable operating model of paid youth agriculture programs with community development outcomes.
• Detroit Black Community Food Security Network: Detroit-based organization operating D-Town Farm and advocacy programs for food security and sovereignty in Black communities. Comparable urban farm and food-justice nonprofit in the same Detroit geography where Chicago Eco House operates.

Broad incumbents

• Love & Carrots: DC-area urban agriculture services company that designs, installs, and maintains urban farms and edible landscapes. Comparable urban-agriculture operating activity and sustainability ethos, though operates as a for-profit services business.
• Big Green: National nonprofit that builds gardens and food-education infrastructure in schools and communities, including youth programming. Comparable mission around food education, community gardens, and youth engagement, though Big Green operates at significantly larger national scale.

Regional players

• The Greening of Detroit: Detroit nonprofit focused on urban forestry, vacant-lot restoration, and community green-space development in Detroit. Comparable urban green-space and vacant-lot revitalization model, with regional overlap given Chicago Eco House's Detroit farm site.
• Garfield Park Conservatory: Chicago West Side horticultural institution offering education, urban gardening programs, and community green-space initiatives. Comparable Chicago footprint, horticultural focus, and youth/community education programs in the same neighborhoods where Chicago Eco House operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ChicagoEcoHouse
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChicagoEcoHouse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chicago-eco-house

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Eco House