|
December 2013 Welcome to our e-newsletter, which highlights LISC Chicago’s Campaign for Stronger Neighborhoods. Nearly twenty-three million dollars h
|
|
Welcome to our e-newsletter, which highlights LISC Chicago’s Campaign for Stronger Neighborhoods. Nearly twenty-three million dollars have been committed toward the $40 million campaign goal to make communities stronger and healthier, including recent awards from US Bank; Charter One/RBS Citizens Bank; Crown Family Philanthropies; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; the City of Chicago; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Perry Pero.
The stories below document the impact of our donors' investments in LISC and in Chicago communities. |
Neighborhoods apply 'civic tech' for local gains
It’s a running joke among some folks that if you need help with a technical matter, you’d best find a teenager. But as digital tools and web services become the norm, community development organizations are ramping up their tech skills and helping neighborhood residents and businesses do the same. Tech efforts are popping up all across LISC’s neighborhood network – and within LISC Chicago itself. Learn what they're doing.... |
Neighborhood network soars
LISC Chicago spent 10 years through its New Communities Program refining the process of neighborhood redevelopment. The result is a robust network of community organizations, government departments, businesses and philanthropies that now have a system for making communities better and stronger. Many of those participants gathered recently to take stock of how far they've come and where they intend to go. Read all about it... |
Outreach army connects 9,300 with health info
Health insurance “navigators” from 21 community organizations were out in force this month, doing what they’ve done nearly every day since October – informing residents of the Affordable Care Act and how they can benefit from enrolling in it. By the first week in December, the navigators – working in 24 neighborhoods through LISC Chicago’s Healthy Communities Campaign – had contacted more than 8,300 residents at 180 outreach events and 1,000 more by knocking on doors. Here are the details... |
A bold plan
In response to the Chicago Tribune's "New Plan for Chicago" series, LISC Chicago Executive Director Susana Vasquez offered a bold plan of her own. "Let’s get our neighborhoods to plan for themselves," she writes, "and then work with leaders – who cut across those neighborhoods – to see how these local plans can reinforce each other and help advance the robust set of new plans the City has already developed for the arts, economic development, housing and tech." See her other suggestions... |
Youth build paths toward safety
Reducing violence in Chicago neighborhoods will require multiple strategies, but at least one element was strengthened this year in Auburn Gresham and other neighborhoods that provided expanded programming for youth. Get In Chicago, an outgrowth of the City of Chicago’s Public Safety Action Committee, engaged thousands of youth across the city, including eight neighborhoods that partner with LISC Chicago on safety programs. Check it out... |
Near North Unity gels...looks ahead
For the last two years, LISC Chicago's Near North Unity Program has created a forum where public housing tenants can meet, problem-solve and build community alongside middle-class folks buying the condos and townhouses that replaced the Cabrini-Green high-rises. The program's succeeded beyond expectation, but as “seed” funding nears expiration organizers and stakeholders are looking high and low for the means to sustain it. Read all about it... |
Boeing honors Vasquez as ‘game changer’
Global aerospace leader Boeing named LISC Chicago Executive Director Susana Vasquez a “Game Changer” in December for her work as an innovator and driver of community development programs that benefit Chicago neighborhoods. Vasquez and LISC Chicago were recognized for building stronger neighborhoods through the NCP Neighborhood Network, which supports more than 70 community-based partners in the city's under-resourced neighborhoods. “From education to safety, housing to tech, we’re working with our neighborhood partners to mobilize new resources and advance bold strategies,” said Vasquez as she accepted the $50,000 award. See the announcement... |
Celebrate CNDA’s 20th anniversary on February 20th
On-line registration for the 20th annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards begins on January 6. The event, on Thursday, February 20, 2014, is at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, 720 S. Michigan Ave. This year's theme is "The Power of Neighborhoods." A panel discussion exploring the past, present and future of community development in Chicago begins at 3 p.m., the awards ceremony and keynote address from Mayor Rahm Emanuel (invited) at 4:30 p.m., and the reception at 6 p.m. |
Grants, loans
In the fourth quarter of 2013, LISC Chicago made grants and loans totaling nearly $2.7 million to support community rebuilding efforts, including a $1.45 million loan to The Community Builders for a proposed Mid South redevelopment and a $19,000 grant to Chicago Commons Association to help start a new Center for Working Families in Humboldt Park. See LISC's grant and loan activity for the entire year.... |
Looking for fun, free activities this winter?
Chicago youth are invited to take part in Mayor Emanuel’s Chicago City of Learning Winter Adventure Passport, which challenges youth to learn new things online and at museums, libraries and community centers across the city. Passports are available at ExploreChi.org or at local libraries. Learners ages 4 to 24 who complete activities are eligible to win prizes. On January 18 bring your completed passport to Destination: Chicago, a festival of doing and making for all ages, at the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson, on the corner of Jackson and State streets. For more information.... |
|
|
|
|
