Hey there. I'm Adora Namigadde. I'm driving down Division Street in Chicago's Austin neighborhood between Cicero Avenue and Austin Boulevard.

I'm passing building after building with signs brandishing names

like Christ Resurrection Missionary Baptist Church or Old Rugged Cross Missionary Baptist Church.

We got a question from a listener who wanted to know the impact storefront churches have on neighborhoods.

Storefront churches are defined by their location.

Their houses of worship tucked into storefront or strip mall buildings that used to serve commercial purposes.

Austin has a high concentration of these storefront churches.

Division is lined with brick buildings decorated with fabric awnings.

Many of the spaces have iron bars in place of screen doors.

The churches are sandwiched between all sorts of spaces,

like barbers, chicken and fish eateries, and vacant properties.

Some of the signs have chipped paint or rusted metal,

and there's some old furniture outside a couple of shops.

It turns out that many of these churches, despite their abandoned appearances, are still in use.

This style of church was primarily started and filled by African Americans who moved here from the south during the Jim Crow era to escape brutal racist policies.

But their presence can be polarizing.

Some people view them as dignified places of worship where neighborhood residents can get their

basic needs met.

But the churches are the ones that can reach out with all their resources and get the help

that the community needs.

But others view them as blockers of neighborhood growth.

That if there weren't so many churches, more businesses could set up shop. As you can see, a church opens once a day, and it make our community look really dry all week.

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