Our Co-ops
VOLTS is transforming economic opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, particularly Black women, by helping them become owners and leaders of cooperatively run businesses. Through our housing and worker cooperatives, we create pathways to dignified jobs and affordable housing, fostering financial stability and community resilience. By breaking down systemic barriers and building a supportive cooperative ecosystem, VOLTS enables members to build wealth and take control of their futures. Beyond individual success stories, our work strengthens Chicago’s broader cooperative movement, demonstrating how community-led solutions can drive lasting social and economic change.
Hear Directly from Our Members
Birandi Paschal, CrossTreats
Charlis Harris, Jumpstart Housing
Cierra Williams, CrossTreats
Worker Co-ops
The VOLTS network currently has three worker cooperatives owned by formerly incarcerated individuals, collectively employing more than 20 individuals. More than 75% of the workers in our ecosystem are also owners of their business.
Launched in 2020, ChiFresh Kitchen is a worker cooperative food service business generating $2 million in annual revenue. Operating out of its own 6,125-square-foot commercial kitchen in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, ChiFresh provides fresh, culturally relevant meals to major institutions like the YMCA and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Owned and operated primarily by formerly incarcerated individuals, ChiFresh exemplifies the power and scalability of cooperative businesses to deliver dignified jobs, build community wealth, and meet large-scale demand while staying rooted in justice.
VOLTS is working with a group of five formerly incarcerated individuals (four of whom are women) to create CrossTreats, a cooperatively owned food manufacturing business that will offer pre-packaged snacks and breakfasts to food service companies, grocery stores, and more. The first product CrossTreats plans to launch is Mo’Mo Bites, a soft, crustless stuffed snack filled with sun butter and fruit spreads, designed to be allergen-friendly for school and youth-serving settings. The cooperative aims to scale production and distribution across regional markets, generating sustainable employment for its worker-owners.
We're building a property management worker cooperative that provides high-quality, community-rooted services while creating dignified, well-paying jobs for people who have been excluded from stable employment—particularly formerly incarcerated individuals. Most workers will come in without prior experience, so the co-op is designed with robust training, shared ownership, and democratic decision-making at its core. Our goal is to not only manage properties effectively, but to shift the balance of power in the real estate sector by centering care, accountability, and community wealth.
Housing
Cooperatives
In 2023, Jumpstart acquired and renovated its first property, the Michigan House—a 6,000+ sq. ft. building in Bronzeville—creating cooperative housing for three first-time homeowners. Building on that success, we acquired a second property in January 2025—a six-unit building in South Chicago—expanding our model to support six more first-time homeowners. Our members not only enjoy below-market housing costs but also foster a strong sense of community through shared meals, childcare, and collective living.
MICHIGAN
BRONZEVILLE - 3 units
SAGINAW
SOUTH CHICAGO - 6 units
Upside Down Consulting is working to grow a solidarity economy by supporting the launch and long-term success of justice-oriented cooperatives. Through hands-on consulting, capacity building, and ecosystem development, we partner with communities—especially working class and poor people of color—to build democratic enterprises that replace extractive systems with ones rooted in care, cooperation, and collective power. We are currently supporting the launch of VOLTS as a cooperative development nonprofit that will expand local capacity to incubate, support, and sustain cooperatives in Chicago. UDC is structured as a worker cooperative.