The LEO Center. Built for the South Side.
The Robert R. McCormick Leadership & Economic Opportunity Center — 90,000 sq ft on S. King Drive, opening Fall 2026. Every Project H.O.O.D. program, one permanent address.
🏗 Construction is underway — the LEO Center opens Fall 2026.
6620 S. Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60637 · The heart of Woodlawn
$45M goal. Almost there.
$7M remaining · Every dollar goes directly to the build
From rooftop to ribbon cutting.
Pastor Brooks sat on a rooftop for 100 days in winter to raise the first dollars. Now steel is going up on King Drive. Here's where we stand.
Rooftop Campaign
Pastor Brooks camped on a Woodlawn rooftop for 100 days — raising awareness and the first major capital dollars. The city took notice.
Groundbreaking
Official groundbreaking at 6620 S. King Drive. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation named the building. Land owned by Project H.O.O.D.
Foundation & Steel
Foundation poured. Steel erected. Construction training crews — Project H.O.O.D. program graduates — worked the site. The walk from Chicago to New York raised final capital.
Interior Buildout
Classrooms, health suites, community kitchen, multipurpose hall — every space being finished for fall opening. Final $13.5M is the last mile.
Ribbon Cutting
The LEO Center opens its doors to Woodlawn. Programming begins. The Walkway of Destiny carries the names of everyone who helped make it real.
Watch the LEO Center come to life.
One building. Five pillars. One neighborhood.
The LEO Center brings every Project H.O.O.D. program under one roof — workforce training classrooms, a youth enrichment hub, health and wellness suites, a business incubator, re-entry services, outreach team offices, a community kitchen, and a 400-seat multipurpose hall.
It's being built on land owned by Project H.O.O.D., directly on S. King Drive — a deliberate statement that serious investment belongs on the South Side.
What 90,000 sq ft makes possible.
Workforce Training Wing
Construction trades, tech skills, OSHA certification, and direct-hire employer partners — where real careers begin. Average starting wage: $19/hr.
Youth Enrichment Hub
Entrepreneurship training, after-school programs, tutoring, mentorship, and college and career readiness — all under one roof.
Health & Wellness Center
Access to care for the whole community — counseling suites, senior services, recovery navigation, and crisis response. No insurance required.
Business Incubator
Co-working space for Woodlawn entrepreneurs, grant writing support, and legal and financial clinic — growing local ownership.
Community Kitchen
Food distribution, community dinners, culinary training, and event catering — the table is always set for the neighborhood.
400-Seat Multipurpose Hall
Town halls, graduations, community events, concerts — a venue built for Woodlawn, by Woodlawn.
"The LEO Center isn't a building. It's proof that investment belongs here too. When it opens, we stop having to ask for permission."— Pastor Corey B. Brooks, Executive Director, Project H.O.O.D.
6620 S. Martin Luther King Dr.
The LEO Center sits at the heart of Woodlawn — on land Project H.O.O.D. owns, on a block we've served for over a decade. This is intentional.
- Address: 6620 S. Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60637
- Neighborhood: Woodlawn, Chicago's South Side
- Transit: CTA Green Line — Cottage Grove stop · Multiple bus routes
- Parking: On-site and street parking available
Leave your name in the foundation.
Every brick in the LEO Center's Walkway of Destiny carries the name of someone who believed in Chicago's South Side — before the rest of the world caught up.
Long after the ribbon is cut, families will walk across these names. Young people will step into new futures because of the foundation you helped build. This is your chance to leave more than a donation — it's a legacy engraved in stone.
- Cornerstone
Name a program room$100K+ - Builder
Walkway of Destiny — large brick$25K - Foundation
Walkway of Destiny — brick$5K - Block by Block
Recognition in LEO honor wallAny amount
Opening Fall 2026. Help close the last mile.
The building is rising. The finish line is in sight. Every gift — at every level — gets us there. Don't let someone else write this part of the story without you.