This reawakening is housed in The Quarry, an event and entertainment venue honoring the best of the South Shore community’s influential past while inspiring the area’s future. The Quarry is financed by the Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) as part of its Activate Retail® initiative. CCLF is a nonprofit certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides low-cost, flexible financing to community developers for affordable housing, commercial retail development, community facility space, and social enterprises.
Yvette Moyo, Chief Executive Officer of The Quarry can be dubbed the architect of this South Shore revitalization, having nurtured The Quarry’s growth and purpose to what it is today. Moyo’s marketing background initially led her to The Quarry as a volunteer for more than three years.
“My fellow workout partners in an aerobics class at the South Side YMCA kept saying they needed my marketing expertise for something they were working on and asked me to come for a tour,” Moyo recalls.
“Their son-in-law was a chef who’d built-out the kitchen to his specifications, but he never opened as a restaurant. Th e owners asked me what to do next since everything was based on the property is a restaurant.
“I told them the first thing they had to do was open!” Moyo continued. “I called a friend and told him, ‘the struggle you’re having finding a venue for your Friday night jazz events could be resolved if you relocate to Th e Quarry.’”
“I encouraged the owners – the late Dr. Ernest Arm-strong and Suzanna Armstrong – to get the required licenses. They did and Mo’ Better Jazz opened at Th e Quarry in 2014.” She was also working on the nonprofit Real Men Char-ties, Inc., the incubator of the renowned Chicagoland staple,
Real Men Cook, which Moyo co-founded with Kofi Moyo. Real Men Cook, presented annually on Father’s Day, is the largest urban family celebration in the country. With Moyo as CEO, a social enterprise known as Real Community Investment Group (RCIG) was created by Real Men Charities, Inc. in an effort to purchase Th e Quarry. “Th ere was a need for new management, new tenants, a new mission and a new objective for Th e Quarry,” Moyo recalls. “We thought about changing the name, but there was already a beautiful statement at the front door defining The Quarry.
CCLF, in conjunction with the Chicago Neighborhood Development Fund, provided $200,000 to RCIG to acquire and renovate The Quarry as a catalyst for further economic development in the South Shore community. The building houses five office spaces, a small event space for meetings and conferences, an entertainment venue and a shared kitchen.
Today, the tenants of The Quarry make up a unique business incubator and include a sociologist, a writer, and a journalism coach. Others who benefit from the events and tenant needs are the chefs who depend on the Quarry Shared Kitchen, a Southside rarity, which is essential for caters. Visitors have come to love the variety of meals at The Quarry that Moyo insists represent the quality of the Real Men Cook brand.
One Quarry office is a small library/conference room with the nonprofit’s “Real Men Read” banner, countless business books and past issues of the South Shore Current, of which Moyo was Publisher. Th at office is shared space for private meetings, serves as the South Side Drive Magazine and Southern Shore Tourism office. Th e Quarry Gift shop, transformed from Moyo’s single large office to a co-operative space for vendors, offers birthday gift s, lotions, candles, what they call #CulturalSoul t-shirts, hats, and handcraft ed items. Guests attending Real Men Charities-sponsored events on Sunday afternoons, and Mon-day and Friday evenings, when the venue is transformed into a supper-club, are patrons, who can purchase art by Chicago artists, displayed on the Quarry “gallery” walls. Featured are area vendors and artists who pay a monthly fee to both create the rental revenue and generate revenue for themselves. Th e Quarry “supper clubs” have become destinations and are branded as #FridayJazzatTheQuarry and #MondayBluesatTheQuarry, which is now Monday Rhythm & Blues. Real Men Charities is also a tenant.
After 5 years of re-branding South Shore with the Current magazine, working from the Quarry, the newly launched South Side Drive Magazine expands the service area, reach and vigor of Chicago residents, many energized by a new mayor and talk of economic growth focus on south side communities. The re-launched magazine is now published by Real Men Charities, Inc. and was board approved for the move based on the specifics from the Articles of Incorporation, “To diff use general knowledge of literature, art, and science through the medium of lectures, publications, and dramatic performances.” Each monthly issue will reach 30,000 south-side residents and be featured at the Quarry Real Men Charities sponsored events, now attracting nearly 1,000 guests to South Shore a month.
While the new iteration of the magazine represents capacity-building for the nonprofit and was assisted by a small part of a 2019 grant from the Field Foundation, business development manager, Bruce Montgomery, says “The laser focus of Real Men Charities, Inc., with their CPA and lawyers and seasoned new board, is what impresses me. The determination to share the good news, the business incubator, focusing on economics and community growth, and commitment to providing south-side residents with ideas on how they can Invest South West, has me 100% on board.”
However, the main business of The Quarry is to rent two beautiful rooms to the south side community, previously with few choices to conduct meetings, workshops or host celebrations. The Quarry’s general manager, Angela Phillips, says “Every single week at the Quarry we are delighted by the families, the young married couples, and young men coming in to plan celebrations. I am inspired by the number of 90th birthday parties. Also, as a musician and spoken word artist, I enjoy the best music and creative material presented by our customers. In so many ways the Quarry is a hub for family, culture and community love.” Phillips estimates a total of 150 paid events, and an estimated 6,000 guests last year. Included in the Quarry business plan are also sponsored corporate rentals, which help Chicago corporations and other entities not only invest in the venue but engage with and in the community. Last year, Chicago Community Trust, City of Chicago and Monroe Foundation, the South Shore Chamber, Joyce Foundation, Alliance of the South East, and regularly the South Shore Works organization have business meetings. Attendees often stay for the Real Men Charities sponsored music events, Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays. Oak Street Health’s nearby office has sponsored a season of shows.
Millennial’s visit The Quarry for Real Men Charities’ events, from spoken word with Solace Souls to Yoga for Men and Men’s Wellness Circles on Sunday. Sundays in the Summer as many as a dozen West African Drums are out-side the venue with drummers from the Circles. One celebration brought a New Orleans second line to the Streets outside the Quarry, a pop-up parade, followed by Millennial’s and seasoned artists rocking the Quarry stage with New Orleans sounds. That will happen again at the Quarry Sunday Dinner on January 26th, at 2:30 when the Year of Chicago Music will be celebrated with a special tribute to former Chicago resident and icon Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong.)
Today the formerly incarcerated work at the Quarry, are trained and earn credentials, are leaders in Quarry food and toy giveaways, where hot food is served before Thanksgiving and Christmas to be sure that no resident is without the experience of a delicious meal, and more importantly, family, community, and generosity. “Peace Over East” has been the rallying cry and Notarized, Inc. members frequent the Quarry for stipends associated with the free Cultural Heritage Day Camp and other programs.
While the new iteration of the was assisted by a small part of a 2019 grant from the Field Foundation, business development manager, Bruce Montgomery, says “Th e laser focus of Real Men Charities, Inc., with their CPA and lawyers and seasoned new board, is what impresses me. Th e determination to share the good news, the business incubator, focusing on economics and community growth, and commitment to providing south-side residents with ideas on how they can Invest South West, has me 100% on board.
“It hurts me to hear the negative things people say about South Shore,” Moyo concludes, “but it’s a gem. At The Quarry, we’re telling the real story of what goes on in the South Shore community.”
For more information, visit www.thequarrychi.com or call 312.259.1143.
(This article was originally published in CCLF’s quarterly newsletter, “Community Blueprint,” by Pamela Graves Marketing and Communications Manage Con-tact CCLF for financing inquiries at 312.252.0440.)
