Harambee Citybuilders Tuckpointing

Teen and Young Adult Apprentices providing:

Subsidized tuckpointing for neighborhood homeowners.

Market rate work for community partners.

SERVICES OFFERED

track+two.jpg

$200 dollar tuckpointing

Tuckpointing provided for low-income homeowners for just the cost of the city permit- GREATLY subsidized by generous support from donors and grants.

track+one.jpg

sliding scale tuckpointing

Greatly discounted tuckpointing services determined by homeowner income for homeowners on Chicago's west side.

track+three.jpg

for a cause tuckpointing

Tuckpointing services for businesses, landlords, or homeowners able to pay market rate. Every "For A Cause" project keeps the Harambee Citybuilders program growing.

ABOUT HARAMBEE CITYBUILDERS

Harambee is an apprentice program working with YOUTH ages 12-18. The tuckpointing and grouting will be done by our youth with adult supervisors. If you project is chosen, we require the use of your water and electricity for our power tools.

HOW DO I QUALIFY for assistance?

  • Do you own and live in your brick home?

  • Do you live in Humboldt Park, Austin or East & West Garfield Park?

  • Length of time on the waitlist is based on location, urgency, income and our ability to handle each job.

APPLICATION PROCESS

  • An application is required for all tuckpointing projects. 

  • Fill out the online application completely and as accurately as possible.

  • Qualifying homeowners remain on our wait list until we are able to work on their home.

The Harambee Model

Harambee Citybuilders is modeled after a successful ministry in St. Louis, Missouri which began in 1996 to provide work experience, mentoring and basic job training to inner city youth focusing on the construction trade of tuckpointing (replacing worn-out mortar in brick homes).

“Harambee” is a Swahili word that means “let’s push together to get this thing done!” Today, many people from Chicago and beyond “push together” to make a difference in our target neighborhood of Humboldt Park in Chicago’s West Side. During 2017,  the Harambee model was adopted as part of River City Community Development Center’s Citybuilders Apprenticeships as the final stretch of our cradle to career path for community youth. Michelle and Anthony Johnson co-founded Harambee in Chicago and R CITY is thrilled that the program is now coordinated by Lance Harris.