Just under a mile away from the grand $800 million Obama Presidential Center emerging over Jackson Park in Chicago’s rugged South Side, a local pastor is creating his own $47 million center for change—without any financial backing from the city’s Democrat establishment, BLM, or the Obama Foundation.

Reverend Corey Brooks is constructing the Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center via his organization, Project HOOD, in the city’s notorious ‘O Block,’ which has long been regarded as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the nation.

A conservative Republican in a predominantly Democratic city, Brooks gained the nickname ‘Rooftop Pastor’ after spending 94 days in the harsh Chicago winter of 2021-2022 living atop his construction site to gather funds for the center.

Brooks’s goal is to mentor and elevate young individuals out of poverty. Unlike Obama’s contentious legacy project, he plans to achieve this without resorting to ‘woke’ ideology or reliance on government support for success.

For his most recent fundraising endeavor, the 56-year-old grandfather humorously admitting he could shed a few pounds, will embark on a year-long, 3,000-mile ‘Walk Across America.’ Starting from New York City’s Times Square on September 1, he hopes to garner funds and awareness for both his initiative and his belief that people of color do not need to be perceived as oppressed victims.

However, Brooks’s vision for the 84,000-square-foot center, situated across from his New Beginnings Church where he has guided troubled youth and gang members away from crime for more than 25 years, has not been warmly received by Chicago’s political leadership.

‘It’s partly because of my conservative philosophy,’ he told Daily Mail. ‘I believe in the American dream. I’m a patriot. I tell people we are not victims, and we don’t have to wait on government. 

‘That way of thinking is totally different from the victim-oriented mindset of the Obama Center or BLM — that America has damaged us so badly we can’t succeed without white guilt. I reject that outright.’

Brooks says he’s reached out repeatedly to both the Obama Foundation and Black Lives Matter — ‘we’ve made requests, we’ve written letters’ — but has never heard back from anyone in either organization.

Not that it has ever deterred Brooks, who says he understands why he’s shunned by the city’s black elite – especially the powerhouse Obama Foundation.

The nonprofit organization is funding the former president’s $830million project in Chicago, along with donations from billionaire friends including Oprah Winfrey and George Soros, but has been mired in controversy since its inception. 

As Daily Mail revealed this week, the 19-acre facility, due to open in next year, has come under fire from residents, community leaders, and even onetime supporters who now say the massive development is gentrifying the neighborhood, increasing rent, and displacing the very people it was meant to serve. 

The center was initially slated to open in 2021, was pushed back to 2024 and is now set to open in April 2026. Workers at the center have blamed policies and lengthy DEI sessions for the delay.

‘It’s a philosophy difference,’ Brooks told the Daily Mail while showing off the three-story construction site. 

‘They’re focusing on outcomes. We’re focusing on opportunity.’

Pressed to explain, Brooks was blunt.

‘They think everything has to be equal,’ he said. ‘We know things are never equal. But we can create opportunities for people to live the American dream. 

‘We focus on character content — they focus more on color and being woke. That’s not what we do. 

‘I guarantee you this center will transform more lives than the Obama Center ever could.’

In the meantime, Brooks is taking to the road next month on a trip he knows will be arduous – but necessary, since money from big sponsors or donors don’t go to black conservatives like him.

‘Millions of dollars went to organizations like Black Lives Matter and the Obama center but organizations like ours, we have to be creative, because we don’t depend on government,’ Brooks said. 

‘We’re not depending on woke philosophies and white guilt. We have to work hard and roll up our sleeves.’

‘I’m walking across America to raise awareness about what’s going on here and to raise the funds we need to finish this center debt-free,’ he said. 

‘Also to build a private school for boys from single-parent homes below the poverty line, and to create an endowment so we never have to depend on government.’

He hopes to plant similar Project HOOD centers across the country. 

The original launched in 2000 when Brooks and his team found a torn-up skating rink called Route 66 that had been used for skating and raves. They bought the building and renovated it for $5million.

‘Just because you’re Black, you don’t have to be a victim,’ Brooks said. ‘You can create opportunities for yourself, your family, your neighborhood. 

‘You don’t have to wait on government or some politician to save the day — because they’re not going to.’

Project HOOD already employs more than 150 people, including locals learning trades. 

It has a charter school for 15 to 21-year-olds who have been kicked out of Chicago public schools and offers mentoring and counseling, a wellness component and a violence prevention team.

Unlike at the Obama Presidential Center construction site, there is no focus on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) anywhere at Project HOOD.

‘We judge people by their character and work ethic,’ he said. ‘We’re not interested in your gender or your color. Will you work? Will you do it with excellence? That’s what matters.’

Brooks says his crusade is personal.

‘I don’t want another generation to be lost and left behind,’ he said. ‘I want my grandkids to love America, not hate it. 

‘I want them judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. And I want them to know they can accomplish absolutely anything in this country.’

‘We’re creating a movement,’ he said. ‘This is what urban America needs — not another monument.’