Bethel New Life, Inc. / News

McCullough has been CEO for three years at Bethel, a 25-year-old nonprofit faith-based community development corporation. Under McCullough's leadership, Bethel won the EPA National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for providing a greener community in an urban area.

We won for a building at Lake and Pulaski. That site was over a 10-year effort to really bring resources that haven't been there in over a generation.... We opened up a community savings center. ... We offer products that are cheaper than currency exchanges and payday lenders. Inner cities across the country can do the same. You don't have to wait for ...government to do it.

In the worst neighborhoods, change can happen. This block [4950 West Thomas] is a prime example. There was an abandoned hospital ... drug activity on all four corners. ... Now when you walk down the street, everybody is pitching in.

The candidates are all so passionate. But I would like to see more focus on job creation and housing domestically. Some families can't even get into the housing market because their income hasn't kept up with inflation or because the job opportunities are not there or...so far away, they can't get to them.

Despite what you hear ... these communities have ... a lot of good people. Residents in this community sometimes get so frustrated ... about how they're portrayed. We need to [reveal] what's bad, but fix it.

Our youth are underestimated and overlooked. Last spring and summer ... high school kids went out and interviewed other kids. ... They have a clear vision of how the West Side should look like. I want to convert that energy into action.

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Steven McCullough

Bethel New Life CEO | 40 | Garfield Park