From the Chicago Sun-Times – December 28, 2018
Kiwand Brown doesn’t have a brother. But while he was locked up in the Cook County Jail for one of the dumbest things he’s ever done, he met a man who one day would be like one to him.
That day, Artimmeo Williamson talked with Brown and other young detainees about steering their lives away from crime. Before he left, Williamson, a 37-year-old outreach worker for a West Side anti-violence program, handed Brown his business card. Give me a shout when you get out, he told him.
On June 18, Brown was put on probation, and he went home after spending 263 days in jail.
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From The Cap Times – December 27, 2018
In 2014, Madison set a five-year goal to create 1,000 units of affordable housing.
With the aid of $20.3 million from the city’s Affordable Housing Fund, the city has supported 18 new affordable housing developments. Four of those projects are still in need of more funding, but if all proposed projects are completed, Madison will benefit from a total of 1,149 affordable units, meeting its goal.
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From WTTW – December 21, 2018
Garfield Park resident Larry Hills initially panicked when his wife overdosed from heroin. But then he remember his training.
“I was prepared to respond to that moment,” he said. “God trained me for that moment.”
This past March, Hills was trained to recognize and respond to opioid overdoses as part of an initiative to combat opioid addiction in some of Chicago’s hardest hit areas. He credits that training with saving his wife’s life that day in May.
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From Crain’s Chicago Business — September 21, 2018
I am a mom. Every day I sit on the same street corner in Englewood. I do it to make sure that the neighborhood kids get not only a hot meal, but a childhood—one complete with running, jumping, and playing. One without any concern of getting shot. I sit with other moms, dads, and just about anyone who cares about our city and our children. People come from far and wide to sit on that corner with us and together we have become the village that it takes to raise our children.
I’ve noticed that when we talk about the village, we never talk about where the villagers work, buy their groceries, save their money, or who builds their huts. It feels as if we’ve always had a strained relationship with the business community, but I’m convinced that it can be fixed and that business has a positive and vital role to play in our village. Unemployment remains our biggest challenge and businesses can help buy providing our youth job training, mentorships and increased employment opportunities. Give someone a reason to get up in the morning, a steady income and a place to be and you will see the positive impact almost immediately. I know this because it’s already happening on a small scale.
Read the entire article from Crain’s Chicago Business.
Learn more about the program featured in this article, READI Chicago.
