Melissa Espana

Block Club Chicago NFP

Block Club Chicago was created by former DNAinfo Chicago editors following the shutdown of DNAinfo and Gothamist in November of 2017. After hearing from people all over the city about how much they missed our truly local coverage, we knew we had to get back to work. Thanks to more than 3,000 Kickstarter backers and generous support from Civil, we were able to recruit a dedicated team of reporters ready to hit the streets. Our focus remains on telling stories that matter in the neighborhoods, and growing our coverage sustainably through reader and donor support. We decided to call ourselves the Block Club because we felt it reflected our mission: to build community through truly ground-level reporting of the city's neighborhoods.