Build Each Other Up (BEOU) is a not-for-profit 501c(3) charity that was started in 2015 by parishioners of Mary Seat of Wisdom in Park Ridge in order to better connect to its sister parish, Epiphany, in Little Village. Through this partnership, BEOU has created affordable housing and local labor opportunities for the families residing in the Little Village neighborhood.
In December of 2019, BEOU closed on a construction loan with First Eagle which provided financing to rehab a 3-unit in Little Village: the organization’s second rehab project. The home has since been sold to a first-time homebuyer and BEOU is now working on rehabbing a single-family home in Little Village that they also acquired with financing from FEB.
Since 2015, BEOU has assisted 89 families through home-buyer seminars and access to affordable housing. They have also reinvested over $140,000 back into the Little Village community by contracting local laborers to work on their rehab projects. BEOU plans to keep this momentum going by partnering with other parishes and continuing this model of rehabbing homes and investing in the communities where they are operating.
We are proud to to participate in these projects and to assist BEOU with creating opportunities for affordable homeownership. In doing so, they work toward a broader goal of neighborhood stabilization.
