Quilen Blackwell said he was not expecting to see his name announced as the 2025 CNN Hero of the Year.
"When I found out I was absolutely stunned," he said. "This is a tremendous honor for not just Englewood and the Southwest Side, but really for Chicago."
WBBM last spoke with Blackwell in February at his flower shop and social enterprise Southside Blooms in Englewood. The nonprofit transforms vacant lots on the South Side into flower farms that employ at-risk young people to grow, arrange and sell the flowers.
It's clear that his mission resonates with others, as he was selected by online voters from this year's Top 5 CNN Heroes.
"I think it just shows we have a compelling vision and I think it goes to highlight how there's a big need for solutions in our society," he said.
Since being announced as CNN's Hero of the Year, Blackwell said he's received emails from people across the country, in states such as Kansas, from people saying that they're facing some of the same issues Blackwell is addressing in Chicago.
"It's actually been very surprising just how broad these issues are across the country and some of the places that you least expect," he said. "I think because of that, a lot of people can really identify with what we're trying to do."
Blackwell, grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, started Southside Blooms in 2021 with his wife Hannah. It's a project of the nonprofit Chicago Eco House.
He has 10 acres of flower farms across both the South and West Sides of Chicago, as well as two flower shops, one in Englewood and one in North Lawndale.
The shops employ young people ages 16-25, helping them grow and reach their full potential, just like the flowers they sell.
"In Englewood, you'd never really expect that there would be a flower shop here," 17 year old Armani Hopkins, one of the flower shop's employees told WBBM back in February. "It's nice to do something positive, talking to other young people, and actually doing some work and making some money," she said.
As part of the honor, Blackwell will receive $100,000 to expand his work. He said the first thing on this to-do list is purchase more land to build more flower farms in order to meet the increasing demand for flowers.
"We're looking forward to being able to create more jobs for our youth and return more vacant lots to flower farms so our communities can be filled with beauty and flowers and light instead of death and destruction," he said.
He said the award allows him to continue to give back to a city that he said has given him so much.
"Chicago's really what's given us the bandwidth to experiment and innovate so we can create Southside Blooms," he said. "Now we have a gift we can give not only to other neighborhoods across Chicago but potentially to neighborhoods across the country."