FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Daniel Hatch; 773.896.5919
Email: dan@groundeddesignstudio.com
Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility Announce
2009 Lewis Mumford Award Winners
Growing Home, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and
Fuller Park Community Development to Be Honored for Outstanding Work
in Social Responsibility
Awards Program—Saturday June 13th, 2009, 6:00 PM
Archeworks Studio, Chicago
(Chicago, IL, May 19th, 2009) – Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility
(ADPSR), a non-profit organization of design professionals committed to peace, environmental
protection, ecological building, social justice, and community development announced
today the recipients of the 2009 Lewis Mumford Awards. Growing Home, a job
training and organic gardening non-profit, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization,
a non-profit citizen action group, and Fuller Park Community Development, a nonprofit
community development association were awarded the Mumford for their outstanding
contributions to world peace, environmental preservation, and socially responsible
development, respectively.
A reception and party to honor the three winners will take place on Saturday, June 13th
from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Archeworks, 625 North Kingsbury St. (at Ontario), Chicago,
IL, 60654 <www.archeworks.org>. The event is free and open to the public. Students are
encouraged to attend.
In 1992, ADPSR instituted the annual Lewis Mumford Awards to honor people and organizations
that exemplify ADPSR’s goals of peace, preservation of the natural and built
environment, and socially responsible development. The awards were named after Lewis
Mumford (1895-1990) an American historian of technology and science, noted for his
study of cities and urban architecture. “Lewis Mumford’s writings continue to inspire and
remind us that architecture, design, and planning must respond to human needs, harmonize
with its surroundings, and reflect the aspirations and social context of our civilization,”
says Lynne Elizabeth, President of ADPSR.
Growing Home was named for the 2009 Mumford Award for outstanding efforts in
Peace. Their organization promotes and uses organic agriculture as a vehicle for job
training, employment and community development. They focus on transitional employment
(pro-active re-incorporation into the workforce for individuals who may be/have
been homeless, previously incarcerated, or have substance abuse issues), green jobs for
underrepresented communities, stimulating local economies and advocacy for local food
systems. Growing Home has an urban garden facility, a market garden, a rural farm 75
miles south of Chicago, and they run a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.
www.growinghomeinc.org
The 2009 Mumford Award for Environment is awarded to the Little Village Environmental
Justice Organization. In 1994, community members in the largely Hispanic
neighborhoods of Little Village and Pilsen, banded together to move an elementary
school to a safer environmental location. Little Village has since expanded to projects
covering much of the Chicago metropolitan area. Some of their projects include teaching
residents how to effectively weatherize their houses, campaigning for open space, youth
programs and other environmental advocacy. Find out more about Little Village on their
website – www.lvejo.org
For excellent work in the area of Community Development, the 2009 Lewis Mumford
Award is given to Fuller Park Community Development. Fuller Park operates a
Housing Resource Center that creates and manages affordable housing, provides technical
assistance to area residents and intervenes in predatory land practices. They run the
Southpoint Academy, which trains people in property maintenance techniques, and they
also maintain a food pantry. Fuller Park created the Eden Place Nature Center, a public
park center, from abandoned lots. www.fullerpark.com
