Who We Are
Urban Habitat Chicago is an all volunteer organization that focuses on human life support with emphasis on material reuse and recycling, urban agriculture and green infrastructure.
larry asimow — board president
As the owner of a landscaping company for over two decades, Larry offers his invaluable knowledge in business and landscaping when UHC tackles various seemingly impossible projects. With his background in Sociology and Special Education, Larry is also extremely interested in the social aspects and how the built environment affects individuals. On top of all of that, Larry makes some of the most amazing latkes.
Michael repkin — Executive director
One of Urban Habitat Chicago’s founders in 2004, and became Executive Director in October 2011.
He served as President for the organization’s first five years, then stepped down to concentrate on his leadership roles in UHC’s environmental restoration and urban agriculture projects, and education programs.
Andrew Arbetter — treasurer
Served as UHC’s Acting Treasurer in 2009, and was promoted to Treasurer of the Board of Directors due to his active involvement in the management of the bank account and financial transactions for UHC for several years.
cathy chung — Board member
An architect and a regular at UHC, usually found digging pits, building chunk-walls or under a mound of comfrey. She is also interested in teaching people how to live in ways that use less resources.
brian lutey — board member
Brian joined UHC as a volunteer in 2008 and became a member in 2009. He is a strong proponent of the sustainable concrete industry and is currently consulting clients with technical issues related to concrete. He is indispensable for UHC’s pervious concrete projects and brings a valuable perspective from the industrial sector. Brian is also known to be pit-roasting some delicious animal proteins at UHC events.
amanda raeburn — board member
Amanda originally joined UHC to fulfill her Master of Psychology curriculum, and UHC is fortunate to have her as a permanent figure! During her time in UHC, she has lead countless teen education sessions, camping trips, and last-minute supplies runs that UHC is also forever grateful for.
alex barnes — board member
Alex Barnes started volunteering with UHC at 10 years old, playing in the Jerusalem artichokes and planting arugula. She became a board member at 17 after many years of mulch moving, went on to study soil science at SIU, and is now a restoration ecologist. While her weekdays are for prairies, her weekends are for vegetables, and she is especially excited about repurposing trash into gardens, winter gardening, urban foraging, and biochar.
ariel basora — board member
Ariel is also one of the original Dirt Actualizers at Northside Preparatory and a solid UHC member ever since. Along with extensive knowledge of computer and plants, he can also make movie recommendation of almost every genre.
LAUREN HUNDLEY - BOARD MEMBER
Lauren began volunteering with UHC in 2020 and became a board member in 2022. She is interested in finding ways to reconcile with the nonliving parts of our built environment, and transform the discarded or overlooked into something of value for people. She is studying to become a licensed Landscape Architect.