Bill > HR0640

This resolution commends Quilen Blackwell, Hannah Blackwell, and the entire team at Southside Blooms for their significant contributions to social impact, economic development, and environmental sustainability. Southside Blooms, a project of the nonprofit Chicago Eco House, transforms abandoned urban lots into thriving flower farms using sustainable, pesticide-free methods, a model that has earned national recognition, including Quilen Blackwell being named CNN Hero of the Year. The organization provides crucial workforce development and employment opportunities for at-risk youth, ages 16 to 24, offering them essential life and professional skills, a living wage, and a path to management, while also helping formerly incarcerated young people reintegrate into society through merit-based jobs. Furthermore, Southside Blooms is celebrated for its environmental stewardship through regenerative farming practices, avoiding floral foam, and using compostable packaging to offer sustainable alternatives within the U.S. floral industry, and its recent opening of a brick-and-mortar shop in Englewood is noted as a milestone in neighborhood revitalization.

https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=640&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HR&SessionID=114&GA=104