Impact 100 Chicago is Accepting Letters of Inquiry through November 18, 2016

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

We thank Claude Robinson for sharing the following information.

Hi all,

The Impact 100 Chicago cycle is open and accepting Letters of Inquiry through November 18, 2016. Impact 100 Chicago recognizes that there are many organizations doing important work improving the lives of underserved individuals and communities in the Chicagoland area. To support this work and allow organizations to “dream big,” Impact 100 Chicago annually awards $100,000 grants to local nonprofit organizations. Their focus areas are culture, education, family, health and sustainability. (They should have operating budgets of at least $500,000)

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting https://impact100chicago.org/apply-for-a-grant/about-our-grant/.

Best,
Jalisa

Jalisa Hinkle
Manager, Advocate Bethany Community Health Fund
Advocate Charitable Foundation/Advocate Health Care
3075 Highland Parkway, Suite 600
Downers Grove, Illinois 60515
Office: 630-929-6914 (internal: 55-6914)
www.advocatehealth.com/bethanyfundhttps://impact100chicago.org/apply-for-a-grant/about-our-grant/

NLCCC Capacity Building Subcommittee Hosts 2-Part Parliamentary Procedure Workshop

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

The North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council’s Capacity Building Subcommittee today held the second of a two-part workshop on parliamentary procedure at the Sankofa House, located at 4041 West Roosevelt Road.  The first session was held a week earlier.

“It is very important that we develop our leadership within the organization and the community”, said Annetta Wilson, the chairperson of the NLCCC Capacity Building Subcommittee. “One of the greatest areas of impact is in running meetings, and establishing order.  You can get so much more accomplished when you understand how to run a meeting, and there’s a whole lot more to that than getting a b bunch of people in a room together”, Wilson said.

The workshop was facilitated by Elaine L. Johnson, the Vice President of the Illinois Association of Parliamentarians, and President of the Mattie Lampkins Parliamentary Unit here in Chicago. The curriculum for the first week covered the governing documents, Robert’s Rules of Order, and the various types of business meetings an organization could have. The curriculum for the second meeting went into more detail concerning the composition of the bylaws, the types of motions one makes to keep meetings on track and the importance of meeting minutes.

“I have been in a position in which I have had to use parliamentary procedure for a significant portion of my life, and I still learned something”, said Charlie Wilson, the President of Men Making a Difference, and a member of IBEW.

Learning parliamentary procedure could be useful in a number of settings, including block club meetings, church auxiliaries, corporate and nonprofit boards, elementary and high school clubs, et cetera.

To learn more about the National Association of Parliamentarians, the Illinois Association of Parliamentarians, the Mattie Lampkins Parliamentary Unit, or their upcoming meetings or events, contact Elaine Johns at eljohnson8@juno.com or 708-336.0058.

Include the West Side in the Community Catalyst Fund

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

We thank the Austin Weekly News for publishing the following letter to the editor.  Photo credit: Second City Cop Blog.

The Mayor has proposed the new $100 million Community Catalyst Fund designed to invest in businesses in communities that are most in need.  A governing board consisting of the City of Chicago CFO, City Treasurer, Commissioner of Planning and Development, and four mayoral appointees will establish investment criteria and policies with input from an advisory council consisting of two aldermen and three community representatives. The targeted communities and manner in which investment decisions will be made are yet to be determined.

We, the members of the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council (NLCCC), support the overall concept of the Community Catalyst Fund, and would encourage the team responsible for the implementation to solicit further input from local communities as the program is finalized. This will only strengthen the program.

NLCCC is a group of North Lawndale stakeholders, including nearly 300 community-based organizations, business owners, elected officials and individuals that have come together to guide our community’s first comprehensive planning and implementation process since 1958.  We believe that there should be representation from Chicago’s West Side on the Community Catalyst Fund (“the Fund”) governing board as well as the advisory council. In times past, the West Side has been excluded from a number of the City’s innovative economic development programs, and we are under-represented on the governing boards for various City commissions. It is important that communities that are in most need also have a voice at the policy level to ensure that programs are responsive and deliver the maximum impact.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to small business development, and every establishment is different. The Fund should take a comprehensive approach that will tap into a variety of public and private resources to provide a broad array of financial products and services to small businesses that are at varying stages of development, from start-up to mature.  Examples include low interest micro-loans, New Markets Tax Credits, mezzanine debt and equity investments with longer investment horizons. At the same time, the Fund should provide funding for community-based CDFI’s (community development financial institutions), SBA-certified Small Business Development Centers and other intermediaries to provide technical assistance to small businesses seeking funding in order to minimize investment risk.

The Fund’s board should develop investment criteria that are more flexible than conventional financing while safeguarding investor capital, and prioritize projects that will create jobs and provide incentives for hiring residents of the communities in which the projects are located. There should also be accountability to ensure that jobs that are promised materialize. Finally, the Fund should consider clustering public works projects to enhance its investments and spur additional private investment in high need areas.

We look forward to an investment fund that will catalyze investment on the West Side, and high-need communities around the City of Chicago.

— North Lawndale Coordinating Committee Exec. Subcommittee

Valerie F. Leonard, Rodney Brown and Dr. Dennis Deer, Members

NLCCC Selected as Lead Partner for 5-Year Participatory Research Study Surrounding Occupational Health

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

NLCCC, led by our Health and Wellness Subcommittee, will be partnering with the Center for Healthy Work at the UIC School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences to engage residents of North Lawndale in a 5-year participatory research study through the Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Center for Healthy Work will focus on the rapidly-growing number of vulnerable workers experiencing significant occupational health disparities in precarious jobs that impact health at and away from work.  Precarious work is unstable and uncertain, with irregular, unpredictable schedules, a high risk of unemployment, few economic and social benefits (e.g. a living wage and health or retirement benefits), few protections from labor laws and right, no collective voice in the marketplace a enjoyed by unionized workers, no opportunity or expectation for ongoing employment or advancement to a better job, and low or  no compensation for injuries and illnesses. The study will take place in North Lawndale and Little Village.  NLCCC will be the lead North Lawndale partner, while Enlace is the lead partner in Little Village.

Community stakeholders will be trained in research methods and will identify and prioritize health issues and develop community-based interventions.

We are still in the process of fleshing out the details, and will keep you posted of our progress, and let you know how you may get involved. There may be potential overlap with other subcommittees on this project.  The subcommittees that immediately come to mind include Workforce Development, Economic Development, Education and Youth Development and Capacity Building. There may also be opportunities to leverage the Quality of Life Planning and CMAP comprehensive planning process, depending on the finalized scopes of each process. We thank Debra Wesley and Tameeka Christian for their leadership in this process. We thank the UIC School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences for this wonderful opportunity.

NLCCC Members Advocate for Resources to Come to North Lawndale During the City’s Budget Process

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

Alderwoman Emma Mitts and Alderman Michael Scott, Jr. recently hosted a budget meeting so that representatives from West Side businesses, clergy and nonprofit organizations could weigh in on the City’s 2017 Budget. The panel included Andrea Zopp, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development; Chief Barbara West with Chicago Police Department; Commissioner Lisa Butler with the Department of Family and Support Services; Chief Medical Officer Allison Arwady with the Chicago Department of Public Health and Mary Bonome, Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Development. North Lawndale’s own Vance Henry, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor, was also in attendance.

Panelists highlighted community investments in businesses, public safety and youth. While residents were generally pleased that the City will be making more investments in local communities, participants raised concerns about the need for the investments to more directly impact local emerging businesses, as opposed to only focusing on luring large companies to locate businesses in under-served communities. Participants were also concerned about public safety issues, including greater police coverage in hot areas.

We were proud to see a number of NLCCC members in attendance, including Dr. Dennis Deer, Kevin Sutton, Brenda Palms Barber, Richard Jackson, Vincent Guider, Valerie F. Leonard, Richard Townsell and Jesse Green. NLCCC submitted a written request for the proposed Community Catalyst Fund to include representation from the West Side on its investment (governing) board, as well as its advisory committee. We also advocated that the Fund include North Lawndale as a targeted community and that investment policies be written in a manner that would also encourage investment for businesses from the community and hold businesess that receive funds accountable for hiring local residents. Other requests included CDBG funding for affordable housing and expansion of community-based mental health alternatives and for the City to replicate the 606 Bike Trail in North Lawndale.

We will be meeting with representatives from the City to discuss our proposal in further detail in upcoming days. We will be amending our proposal to include youth mentoring and employment. If we need to expand our proposal in any other way to focus on issues you deem important, please contact Valerie F. Leonard at consulting@valeriefleonard.com; Dennis Deer at drdeer@deerehabservices.com or Rodney Brown at rodney@new-covenantcdc.org.

The Social Enterprise Experience Comes to North Lawndale

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

The Chicago Chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance to Provide Technical Assistance, Recognize Valerie F. Leonard at Sankofa House

The Chicago Chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance will be providing a technical assistance session and recognizing Valerie F. Leonard for her work in social enterprise on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, from 9:00 am – 11:00 am at the Sankofa House, 4041 West Roosevelt Road.  Annetta Wilson is the Executive Director.  This session is free, and is intended for small businesses, nonprofits and anyone who is interested in social enterprise. Outlined below is a project description.

Do you want to learn how to grow your organization or community using existing resources? Do you want to learn more about resources that are available to you?

Come join us and find out how social entrepreneurship can work for you. The session is brought to you by Social Enterprise Alliance-Chicago Chapter (SEA) and Cook County Commission on Social Innovation

  • Jesus “Chuy” Garcia gives the opening remarks as a charismatic public figure who has advocated for social justice all throughout his career.
  • Mark Mulroe leads off with his extensive experience and talent running a nonprofit/for-profit hybrid with the module “Missions and Models.”
  • Marc J. Lane brings his brilliance in social enterprise law to the second module “Legal Design and Structure.”
  • We will be honoring Valerie F. Leonard for her excellence in social enterprise work!

SEA will close with questions from the audience and time to network and get to know each other.

Michael Hyzy will be moderating the event and taking any questions beforehand.

Refreshments will be provided. We thank Ms. Annetta Wilson, Executive Director of the Sankofa Safe Child Initiative for hosting the event. We also thank the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council for providing promotional support.

Modules:
Module #1 – Missions and Models 

The missions and models module will survey basic principles of social enterprise, with particular attention to social enterprise missions and models. The module will examine strategic elements that strong missions and robust operational models contribute to the operational unity of fee-based revenue and social purpose. Participants will learn: (1) a framework for conceptualizing social enterprise and differentiating it from purely for-profit and non-profit realms, and (2) lessons instrumental to pivoting toward social enterprise operations and strategies in their own projects.

Module #2 – Legal Design and Structure 

The legal design and structure module will include the key legal, tax and financial considerations in launching and scaling a social enterprise, examining in specific: the selection of the optimal non-profit, for-profit, or hybrid legal structure; Benefit Corporations and L3Cs; mission-related, program-related and other impact investment models; and the maintenance of charitable status for non-profit social ventures.

 

Chicago Police Department’s New Use of Force Policy

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

Photo of Superintendent Eddie Johnson from the Washington Post.

 

We thank Andrew Born and Leroy Duncan for forwarding a link to the new CPD Use of Force Policy. http://policy.chicagopolice.org/policyorder-review-regarding-use-of-force-draft/

Root for the Home Team!

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

Photo of DRW Cheetahs versus East Aurora Tomcats from Chicago Tribune files.

We thank Claude Robinson, the Sports and Recreation Subcommittee Chair, for sharing these schedules for Chicago Public Schools’ Boys Basketball games for the 2016-2017 season.  The NLCCC Sports and Recreation Subcommittee encourages the North Lawndale Community to root for our home teams.  Stay tuned for more details regarding NLCCC nights at our local schools.

Citywide Schedule

West Side Schools Only