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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

From the Chicago Tribune: Aldermen question fine print of Emanuel budget, but lift isn’t as heavy this time

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

Mayor Rahm Emanuel presents his 2017 budget to the Chicago City Council Tuesday Oct. 11, 2016 at City Hall.(Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

The following article appeared in the Chicago Tribune on October 14, 2016. While it focuses on the City Council Budget hearings, there is mention of a proposal to create a neighborhood investment fund with an advisory council consisting of 2 aldermen and 3 community members. We encourage our members to contact Alderman Scott, Treasurer Summers and Mayor Emmanuel, urging them to include the North Lawndale community as one of the targeted communities, with representation from North Lawndale on the advisory council.  That would mean either having Alderman Scott serve as one of the Aldermen, or a local North Lawndale resident or stakeholder serving as one of the committee representatives. Contact information is as follows:
Alderman Michael Scott, Jr. 773-533-2400
Treasurer Kurt Summers 312.744.3356
Mayor Rahm Emanuel 312-744-3300
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Photo of Mayor Rahm Emanuel from Chicago Tribune files.
John Byrne Contact Reporter Chicago Tribune
When aldermen gather at City Hall next week to begin the ritual flogging of MayorRahm Emanuel‘s department heads known as the annual City Council budget hearings, they’ll be in better spirits than in recent years. Unlike last fall, there’s no record property tax hike in this budget plan. They aren’t being asked to vote for a new across-the-board garbage fee or telephone tax this time either.

The mayor’s nibbling at various targeted fee increases, sure. There’s a rejiggering of the amusement tax to get more money out of people buying sports and concert tickets on the secondary market, and a couple of street parking increases that will hit drivers in loading zones in a few wards and at meters around Wrigley Field during Cubs games and other events there. Plus, he’s pitching a 7-cent tax on plastic bags provided to shoppers by stores.

He’s also proposing a thus-far-nebulous neighborhood investment program aimed at helping him shed his reputation for focusing spending on downtown rather than struggling working-class areas of Chicago. Aldermen, who fight and claw for such discretionary money to find its way into their wards, are going to try to make sure during the hearings that they have as much say as possible about how the $100 million in the Community Catalyst Fund trickles out from Emanuel’s office. More

THE WATCHDOGS: Daley aiming for $15 million green-card bonanza

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council
The following story ran in the Chicago Sun-Times on October 15, 2016. Photo of former Mayor Richard M. Daley from Sun-Times files.  Apparently, unemployment statistics from sections of North Lawndale, East Garfield and West Garfield were used to justify deep discounts for the application fees on work visas associated with a skyscraper project to be built in one of the wealthiest sections of Chicago.
Tim Novak
@tnovaksuntimes | email

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley and his son are aiming to cash in on a federal program that offers green cards to wealthy foreigners with a deal that could bring their company $15 million, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.

Tur Partners — which Daley formed with his son Patrick Daley after leaving office — is seeking permission from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to solicit $150 million from foreign investors to help finance construction of a downtown skyscraper through a controversial visa program known as EB-5. More

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Connecting Cook County: A Long Range Transportation Plan

Posted on by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

The Cook County Transportation Plan, Connecting Cook County, was released over the summer. The following post is from the Cook County website. To view the Cook County Connections Newsletter, Fall 2016, please click here.

President’s Corner

Toni Preckwinkle

Message from President Preckwinkle:

To the Residents of Cook County:

From roads and canals, to railways and airplanes, advances in transportation have shaped our nation and driven our economic presence in the world. Cook County’s economic health depends in no small part on our ability to provide systems that reduce the transportation costs for our families and businesses and improve commerce by more efficiently getting people to jobs and goods to markets. Transportation is an investment in our economic future.

In Cook County, we have the distinct advantage of being at the center of our nation’s transportation infrastructure. With two major airports, ten interstate expressways, and the largest freight hub in the nation, our transportation system is one of our region’s most important assets—key not only to our economic prosperity, but to the well-being of our residents. Yet, in the 70 years since the County’s last strategic transportation plan, the commitment and investment in our infrastructure has declined. Our transportation system has aged and fallen behind those of similar regions across the globe.

For too long, Cook County sat back while others made decisions affecting our residents and businesses. It’s time Cook County not only had a seat at the table, but also played a leadership role in creating a modern transportation system that meets changing consumer needs and responds to the demands of a twenty-first century economy.

Cook County has more than half of the metropolitan region’s population, jobs, and businesses and is uniquely vested in the health and sustainability of our transportation system. For these same reasons, we are also uniquely positioned to lead the charge.

Connecting Cook County is a call to action—a framework to promote the strategic partnerships and investments that strengthen our economy and lead to more livable communities.

Connecting Cook County includes input from the public and private sectors, issue experts, and community members who rely on our transportation system every day. It will allow us to achieve a better understanding of our current

Sincerely,

Toni Preckwinkle, President
Cook County Board of Commissioners

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REPORT

Executive Summary