(Reformation Lutheran Church, which Onyx360 plans to reuse as a community health center)
February 5, 2026
By Amber Delgado, Easements & Advocacy Associate
(This article originally appeared in our January 2025 edition of our print newsletter, The Arch. Read The Arch here.)
In October 2025, Landmarks Illinois awarded the nonprofit Onyx360 a $10,000 grant through our Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side to aid the adaptive reuse of Reformation Lutheran Church.
Located at 11310 S. Forest Ave. in Roseland, the church was designed by architect Solon S. Beman in the late 1800s and contributes to the aesthetic of the nearby historic Pullman neighborhood. The grant will go toward stabilizing the church, which has been vacant since 2018, when a water boiler in the basement failed. Before its vacancy, the church was home to a thriving congregation and to President Barack Obama’s South Side office when he was a community organizer.
Black congregations across Chicago are dwindling in size and even closing as younger generations of Black Chicago families leave the city. A lack of resources to maintain these iconic historic structures is also a factor. Landmarks Illinois is proud to assist churches across Chicago through both our advocacy efforts and grant funding.
Preservation + accessibility
Onyx360 plans to convert Reformation Lutheran Church and the adjoining school into a community health center. The organization’s mission is to reduce healthcare disparities by delivering holistic, community-centered and culturally responsive health and wellness services. In addition to making healthcare accessible to marginalized communities, it offers free educational workshops and resources to support health and wellness. It currently has one center in South Shore, and this new Pullman location will allow the organization to expand its services.
Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities across Chicago have struggled to access healthcare due to a myriad of factors. Decades-long disinvestment in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods contributes to food and pharmaceutical deserts, leading to adverse health complications for marginalized communities. Travel to receive healthcare can also be a major obstacle for disabled and elderly populations. The adaptive reuse of Reformation Lutheran Church is more than the preservation of a historic building — it exemplifies how adaptive reuse can salvage not only bricks and mortar but also community.
(Tonya Payton-Campbell, CEO of Onyx 360, speaks at an October event about their adaptive reuse project at Reformation Lutheran Church.)
Preservation + social determinants of health
“Neighborhood and the built environment” is one of the five social determinants of health identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These determinants are non-medical factors that affect health outcomes, including conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age. The other four determinants are: education access and quality; health care and quality; social and community context; and economic stability. Historic preservation and adaptive reuse can positively impact all these factors.
The closure and vacancy of Chicago churches, public schools, hospitals and locally owned businesses perpetuate the loss of community, initially ignited by urban renewal in the 1960s. Displacement followed by divestment erases the historical context of neighborhoods, and that erasure is felt in the individual lives impacted by this communal loss.
Preservation + human rights
The built environment should reflect care for people who live, work and play in a community. Having easy access to fresh food, healthcare institutions, public schools, and a sense of identity and belonging shouldn’t be relegated to specific neighborhoods or to people in a particular tax bracket. Adaptive reuse of the city’s existing built environment can significantly improve the health and well-being of all residents.