Our History

The Center’s mission builds on the long-standing work and coalition-style approach of the York Road Initiative (YRI). Loyola's York Road Initiative established the University’s institutional commitment to hyper-local place-based justice after the 2008-2013 strategic plan to “take a leadership role in the development of a multi-dimensional plan to improve the quality of life for all persons living, working, and learning in the York Road corridor.” What started as a series of listening sessions and an intensive needs assessment grew into a formal office.

Loyola leaders supported the development of the city-approved 2015 York Road Vision and Action Plan. Several signature programs and partnerships were also developed over the course of a decade, including the Govans Farmers Market. The YRI provided support for the York Road Partnership (YRP) and worked with YRP on several neighborhood campaigns over the years. The coalition-style approach to address community needs stems from these earlier efforts.

In 2016, YRI merged with the Center for Community, Service, and Justice under a common Director (to establish a CCSJ+YRI structure) and co-created service, community-based learning, and place-based community engagement programming.

In recent years, YRI’s portfolio has grown in complexity. In 2022, Loyola was awarded a $675,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration. This provided seed funding for several projects, including startup funds for the York Corridor Business Improvement District Management Authority (YRID). Loyola has a seat on the YRID board of directors and remains involved in collaborative work along the commercial corridor.

Loyola’s latest strategic plan, Together We Rise, calls for deeper investments in place-based justice and integral ecology. Plans for an over $1.2 million community-university center space in Loyola’s Public Safety building and an emerging food and environmental hub in the original YRI office on the same lot add more physical infrastructure for community-university partnerships. 

The move to create the Loyola Center for Neighborhood Resilience reflects a natural evolution of YRI’s deeply rooted partnerships and expanding capacity, and coordination while advancing Loyola’s commitment to integral ecology.