Re-investing in North Lawndale

Arnez Kilgore graduated from Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School and grew up in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago. He’s currently in his senior year studying Business with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and a minor in Marketing at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights. Arnez takes great pride in his community and mentions how that shaped him into who he is today. 

Arnez plans to give back to his community in many ways and one way he’s doing that is through mentorship. “The main reason [I mentor] is because growing up in a fatherless home, I had my grandfather, but the absence of a stronger younger male figure within the house was missing for me. It played a huge role for me to attend my youth organization and to gain mentors to learn valuable lessons that I couldn’t learn from my grandfather because he’s a part of the older generation. So I know what it’s like to not have a father in the house, and the steps and the rules the mentors played in my life, I feel like it’s huge to do in younger generations.”

Just as Arnez has a passion for mentorship, he also has a deep passion for learning and understanding how a business works. “The main reason [I chose to study business] is for profit, I’m a money man and I try not to let money rule me but of course coming from a poverty-stricken neighborhood all you desire is to have a little cash in your pocket to do whatever you want to do. The second reason is that I like to stay busy. You can be busy and not productive but I like to say that I want to be productive while I’m busy. Another reason is the investment within the community needs to be higher, and when I say the investment I mean economic standing. We don’t have any stores, any fresh fruit, grocery stores, or Black-owned businesses within North Lawndale. My passion is to get that going within my community. Another reason is when I go into wholesaling, I love the chain of supply so it goes from the manufacturer to the wholesaler to the retailer. I always fell in love with that chain and how business works especially when it comes to creating and selling products," said Kilgore. 

Arnez plans to use his degree and his passion for business to re-invest in his community to open up a wholesale store in the North Lawndale area similar to a mini Costco or Sam’s Club. “[This would benefit my community] because of employment, we lack employment and our employment numbers are low. So bringing a business like that would easily bring 50-100 jobs within the first five years of opening. That’s a big thing for me to allow a chance for individuals, especially the ones with a criminal background, to come in and work for me to help raise those unemployment numbers. We also have a food desert, diabetes, etc from a health standpoint is a problem within my community," said Kilgore

With Arnez’s goal to open up multiple businesses, he wanted to pursue higher education for that and many more reasons including his love and desire for football and his mentor Mike Trout. “My mentor Mike Trout pushed me to go and kept asking questions like; Are you going to college? What are you doing after high school? So, I had to sit down and think about these questions. His brother also had an opportunity to help me go to college, and with both of their help, I was able to go. It’s always been a passion of mine to go to college, I never wanted to stop my education at high school, but they just gave me the extra push,” said Kilgore. 

Throughout his college journey, Arnez appreciates the support system and motivation he receives. “I gained help in many ways from Pursue Scholars, not just financially but having someone to talk to. You all are great with responding although I should do better. But just reaching out consistently to me and making sure I’m on top of what I am supposed to be on top of is the biggest help for me, although I have that in multiple ways, having those extra couple of people has helped. I also have to mention the financial part because coming from where I come from, going to college isn’t easy when you don’t have the money. I am blessed for you guys giving me this scholarship and it’s one of the things I would forever be grateful for,” said Kilgore. 

As Arnez is navigating his last year, he encourages the next generation of scholars to have an open mind. “The advice I would give is to be honest with yourself and don’t overload your schedule. When you go, it’s always better for you to work your way around things don’t go in thinking you know everything in the world. Be humble when you go in,” said Kilgore.

Stories like Arnez are the reason we are grateful for Pursue partners like you. Your gift to Pursue Scholars today will be actively investing in young Chicago leaders and help them embark on a journey that will truly lead to change.