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Latina Sweat Project provides accessible yoga and exercise for underserved communities in the Southwest Side. Credit: Provided<\/p>\nPILSEN \u2014 A Southwest Side nonprofit providing low cost yoga and exercise options is looking for a new permanent home after its Pilsen studio changed ownership, disrupting classes that neighbors had come to love. <\/p>\n
The Latina Sweat Project is set to move out of its studio at 1601 S. Morgan St., on Sept. 30. The group has taught daily yoga classes and hosted community gatherings in the space for about a year. The nonprofit hopes to find a new permanent studio space at the beginning of 2027 and will hold pop-up classes with other Southwest Side nonprofits until then.<\/p>\n
The move comes after the owner of the studio building sold it earlier this year, and after construction by the new owner prevented the group from holding peaceful yoga classes and restorative sessions.<\/p>\n
The new owner added a wall that shrank studio space, and construction exposed yoga classes to disruptive noise and dusty air, Latina Sweat Project members said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a nonprofit coming from strength. I feel like it is very unfortunate that there are not parameters in place to protect not just nonprofits, but any kind of organization that brings such a benefit and service to a community,\u201d said Latina Sweat Project Founder and executive director Margarita Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a. \u201cAnd still, at the end of the day, I know that because we are such a community-led organization, we\u2019re gonna land on top.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Latina Sweat Project has offered yoga and strength training on the Southwest Side since 2022 through sliding-scale memberships, free community events and mutual aid sessions inside migrant shelters. In August 2025, the organization opened the Pilsen studio as its first brick-and-mortar space, expanding its offerings to include daily yoga classes, typically every hour from 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., a no-cost 200-hour teacher-training program, restorative sessions for local community groups and further initiatives that target migrants and low-income families.<\/p>\n
The group serves more than 5,000 students across Chicago monthly and has reached more than 100,000 since its founding. As Operation Midway Blitz tore through the city last year, Latina Sweat Project opened its studio doors to the neighborhood, including know-your-rights trainings and free classes on the \u201cICE Out\u201d day of protest in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a big deal for us to finally have a location that we can call home that people were growing into,\u201d Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cIt was very clear that from the beginning, when we first moved in, to what it looks like now, that this space was filled with so much joy for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
But about six months after the Latina Sweat Project settled into the rented space, the building\u2019s owner put it up for sale. The group initially hoped to purchase the building, Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. They worked to raise funds for a down payment and found a funder who made an offer on Latina Sweat Project\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the building\u2019s owner opted for another buyer, Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. The Latina Sweat Project\u2019s leaders signed documents handing its lease over to the new owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we were not privy to the conversation or how things were decided,\u201d Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cWe were kind of just made aware that they had decided to go with another [buyer], and at that point, the building had already been sold.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Latina Sweat Project provides accessible yoga and exercise for underserved communities in the Southwest Side. Credit: Provided<\/p>\n
As a result, the Latina Sweat Project had to slash its class sizes, Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. The nonprofit had previously hosted classes in two studio rooms: one that could fit up to 75 students, which they used for higher-impact classes like yoga sculpt, and a second 12-person space, used for restorative or trauma-sensitive sessions.<\/p>\n
But the new building owner erected a wall in the larger studio to divide the space, meaning it could fit a maximum of 20 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe irony of there being a wall in the room was more than impactful to us,\u201d Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cIt was more than a transactional wall up to divide a space. To us it was so much more meaningful than that, specifically because of the community that that wall was built in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the studio\u2019s size shrank, the demand for classes didn\u2019t. Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said some studio members reached out wanting to cancel because they felt classes always had waitlists, since the capacity was just a fraction of what it used to be. Latina Sweat Project implemented a $5 cancellation fee for the first time.<\/p>\n
As the new owner began construction on the other side of the wall, it disrupted classes, Latina Sweat Project yoga instructors said. The construction exposed classes to paint- and dust-filled air, loud noise and sometimes tools left in open spaces, they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a wellness space, and that can be very jarring for anyone that\u2019s looking for a safe space or going to just meditate or even relax,\u201d Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cAnd within our first week of sharing the space with the new landlord, our agreement was not respected.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said Latina Sweat Project convened a town hall late last month that included about 100 people, made up of the group\u2019s leaders, board, volunteers, funders and members. The town hall attendees unanimously voted to vacate the studio and return to the pop-up model, with the hope of finding a new permanent home in early 2027.<\/p>\n
Latina Sweat Project will host pop-up classes throughout the Southwest Side with other local groups, including at the Chicago Arts Department, 12 different Chicago Public Schools and three city libraries, Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said.<\/p>\n
Latina Sweat Project first shared their plans to leave the Pilsen studio on social media last month and received an outpouring of support. Community members have reached out to share available spaces, contact their local elected officials and share fundraising opportunities, Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. Ticket sales to Sweat Fest, an annual exercise festival the group hosts in the Southwest Side, quadrupled, she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur community support is what makes Latina Sweat Project,\u201d Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cWe live and die by community made. We don\u2019t take a step forward unless we\u2019re all in agreement on where we go next. And I think the community feels that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xochyl Perez, the incoming president Latina Sweat Project\u2019s junior board, which supports the group\u2019s outreach and community events, said she \u201cfell in love\u201d after taking her first class in 2025, which was a pop-up in her area. When Latina Sweat Project got its own studio, she said she felt the organization and its members were so deserving of a huge space that felt comfortable and theirs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perez, who recently completed Latina Sweat Project\u2019s teacher training program, said moving out of the space is disappointing but that there\u2019s a silver lining \u2014 pop-ups across the Southwest Side will introduce more of the city to the organization. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to get to know other neighborhoods, to meet different people from other communities and to offer to them what LSP has offered to so many of us, which is this welcoming, accessible wellness practice that feels like home, that feels like we belong,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n
Yesenia Peyret said the Latina Sweat Project\u2019s need to move brings up personal emotions, as she grew in a family that rented in Pilsen and faced similar instability. The situation reflects the larger issue of gentrification in the neighborhood, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLSP is a movement. LSP is a light, and will continue to shine the light wherever we are,\u201d Peyret said. \u201cWe turn adversity into opportunity, and so this is an opportunity for us to continue our mission of bringing the gift of free and accessible yoga, wellness, holistic wellness practices to our communities underserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said Latina Sweat Project is under consideration for various city grants and TIF funding opportunities that would support them in building a future space to become a yoga studio. She said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez\u2019s (25th) office has helped the organization find grant opportunities.<\/p>\n
She said Latina Sweat Project is hoping to find a long-term building in Pilsen with space for three studio rooms, each with the capacity for more than 25 people. The group is open to a lease, she said, but ultimately wants to own their own spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just really optimistic for this opportunity,\u201d Qui\u00f1ones-Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cWe all talk about this as a redirection and just excited for what the redirection is going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Latina Sweat Project is hosting a gala on September 25 to raise funds to support the transition and is looking for corporate sponsors. Learn more here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n ______________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n Support Local News!<\/p>\n Subscribe to Block Club Chicago<\/a>,\u00a0an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago\u2019s neighborhoods. Already subscribe?\u00a0Click here to gift a subscription<\/a>, or you can\u00a0support Block Club with a\u00a0tax-deductible donation.<\/a><\/p>\n Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PILSEN \u2014 A Southwest Side nonprofit providing low cost yoga and exercise options is looking for a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":["post-853265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}