Chicago Tribune

December 7, 2012

From Chicago Tribune:

More than 76,000 veterans who have served since 2001 live in Illinois, according to a new report for the Robert R. McCormick Foundation Veterans Initiative. And that number is expected to grow in coming years.

New veterans also are more likely to have physical and mental wounds, according to the report, prepared by the Social Impact Research Center.

The snapshot was undertaken to help service providers, employers and schools develop more effective strategies to support veterans as they transition to civilian life, said lead author Lindy Carrow.

Among the report’s findings:

— Illinois had the fourth-highest unemployment rate of all states for new veterans in 2010, at 13 percent.

—  Veterans in their 20s had the highest rate of unemployment among all new veterans. A third (33 percent) of the new veterans earn less than $20,000 annually; 46 percent earn less than $30,000 and 69 percent, less than $50,000.

— 67 percent have a high school degree or equivalency, while 10 percent have some college experience.

Veterans coordinators on college campuses are key to the success of those seeking a degree, said Ian Markert, 25, president of Lisle-based Benedictine University’s Veterans Club.

“When a veteran comes back from service, they were used to always being in close contact with people. On campus, you might keep to yourself and do you own thing,’ said Markert, who was in the U.S. Marine Corp. from 2005 through 2010, and was deployed to Iraq twice.

Markert, an international business major, is part of the school’s new Veterans Services Committee, exploring ways to ease the transition from military to college life.

Shaquan Gillespie, 26, said such programs helped spur her to get an associates degree at Richard J. Daley College.

The South Sider was in the Air Force from November 2004 to August 2006, entering a single mother of one and exiting seven months pregnant with her second child.

“The veterans rep there I met as soon as I got there. She was real motivating for me to go ahead and finish,” Gillespie said. “Some departments frown at veteran students. They think we just go for the money. We don’t really feel welcome.”

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Will am 580

December 4, 2012

From Will am 580 :

Nearly one out of every five children in Illinois is growing up in poverty, and in more than half of Illinois’ counties, 1 out of every 4 kids experiences food insecurity. Nationwide, childhood poverty costs the country $500 billion a year, or 4 percent of GDP. In addition to the economic costs, there are high personal costs: children growing up in poverty face ongoing psychosocial stress that affects their health and development, from high blood pressure and impaired immune functioning to deteriorated connections in the brain.

We’ll explore the effects of poverty on children, and what can be done to ameliorate those effects with Martha Wadsworth, Associate Professor of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University; and Jennifer Clary, Research Associate, Social IMPACT Research Center at Heartland Alliance in Chicago.

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Curbed Chicago

November 28, 2011

From Curbed Chicago:

All the pieces are in place for the Viceroy Hotel’s transformation to affordable housing. After six years under city protection, the former art-deco flophouse was sold to Heartland Housing in July for $1 and a pledge to bring 89 units of ultra-affordable housing to the southern edge of Union Park. An unspecified number of the units will be transitional housing for women recently released from prison. But before anyone can move in, there’s $20 million worth of renovations to be done. Michael Goldberg, executive director of Heartland Housing, tells The Tribune that, along with city TIF funds, much of the money comes from the state’s historic preservation and affordable housing project streams. Work should commence shortly and take a little more than a year.

This project restores much needed affordable housing to the area. From its inception as The Union Park Hotel in 1929 right up through its closing in 2003, the National Landmark Viceroy has met the needs of the homeless and transient, with churches sometimes renting space for the homeless and others paying as little as $20/night for lodging. Of course, do the math and nightly rate apartment hotels are suited only for short-stays— no solution to a housing crisis.

The city paid $5.1M for The Viceroy in 2005, at the height of Near West Side development and property inflation, fearing high-end market conversion. Now that gentrifying forces have receded dramatically and prices in the area have plunged, that type of use seems like fantasy. The new Viceroy will join St. Leonard’s settlement housing just a few blocks further west along Warren, as agencies providing beds and social services to ex-felons. An aside: The Tribune article credits the United Center with anchoring “a rebirth of the neighborhood since it opened in 1994”. Funny, we were getting ready to nominate it as an epic urban renewal flub

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Crain’s

November 26, 2012

Opinion by President Sid Mohn

From Crain’s:

In its recent article on City Colleges of Chicago, Crain’s asked: Is City Colleges doing the right thing (“Change of Course,” Oct. 22)? I’m struck by two alarming data points in the article: that one-third of City Colleges students live in poverty and that 90 percent of incoming students need remedial education. For these students struggling to make ends meet, the right thing to do may be to combine vocational training with actual paid work—or contextualized education and transitional jobs.

Fortunately, in Chicago there are programs that do just that. Participating in contextualized education and transitional jobs programs could provide the extra boost some students need and help Reinvention meet its goals.

Contextualized education, in which lessons are drawn directly from work activities, improves academic, work-related skills and prepares individuals for training, certification or careers. Transitional jobs programs combine wage-paid work, job-skills training and supportive services. Together, these approaches increase literacy and basic skills while providing income.

Efforts at Heartland Alliance to blend these approaches have resulted in gains in math and reading skills for program participants equal to two grade levels over 12 weeks. Of the 34 people served by our Community Green Jobs program launched in August 2011, 60 percent transitioned to jobs with an average hourly wage of $11.50.�This year, Heartland Alliance is launching Chicago FarmWorks, an urban farm on Chicago’s West Side that will enable participants to gain urban agriculture, landscaping and logistics skills and earn a paycheck while building academic and career-sector knowledge. The course was developed jointly with Wilbur Wright College and local businesses.

Since 2003, Heartland Alliance has run the National Transitional Jobs Network to promote these programs because they have proven to be promising strategies for getting the most vulnerable Americans back to work. In one study, almost 98 percent of individuals who were offered a transitional job took it. These programs not only provide a stable source of income but have been shown to reduce incarceration rates; reduce reliance on public benefits and lower taxpayer costs; improve educational outcomes for dependent children; increase local demand for goods and services; and benefit employers by increasing productivity and financial well-being.

Chicago is stronger when everyone who wants to work can find a job. Doing the right thing means developing flexible, realistic strategies that can meet both the income and training needs of Chicago students.

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WBEZ Worldview

November 14, 2012

From WBEZ Worldview:

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Medill Reports

November 14, 2012

From Medill Reports:

Leo Ware spent too much of his life cultivating drug customers on Garfield Park street corners, he says. Now he’s trying to cultivate something better in his neighborhood.

The six-time convict and native of the West Side neighborhood is helping The Heartland Alliance break ground at Chicago FarmWorks, the newest urban farm in the city.

Leo Ware, a 46-year-old father of two, is one of 30 individuals with multiple barriers to employment who the nonprofit organization will assist each year by providing transitional work experience through the 2.6-acre plot of land next to the Kedzie Metra stop – an area with an unemployment rate around 35 percent.

“A lot of the individuals we work with have been formerly convicted, have been homeless or are low-income and need another opportunity to serve as a platform for them to transition from poverty to self sufficiency,” said Haydee Nascimento, Heartland Alliance’s associate director of employment and economic advancement.

She emphasized that the workers aren’t defined by their past and that there is a place for them in society, an approach that motivates Ware on a daily basis.

“Through Heartland they showed me it’s not about the convictions, it’s about what I’m willing to show and how hard I’m willing to work,” Ware said.

The workers, who earn $8.25 per hour throughout a 12-week program, are expected to grow 24,000 pounds of produce in the first year including potatoes, carrots, radishes, peppers and onions among other more durable vegetables. The majority of that produce will go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository to feed families in need.

“Rather than giving people fruits and vegetables, we teach them how to grow fruits and vegetables so that they can eat for a lifetime,” said Ald. Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th), whose ward is the site of the farm. “But not only eat for a lifetime. They can feed their families and their neighborhood.”

The city-owned plots of land, larger than two football fields combined, are located in the middle of a food desert, surrounded by corner stores and empty lots filled with trash. The area slotted for the farm would have otherwise been just another empty lot. Farm manager, Dave Snyder, worked with others to remove 400 gallons of garbage to prepare for the ceremony.

“If this was an empty lot, people would dump couches in here,” Snyder said. “We found entire bags full of garbage. By putting a garden here, people will respect the space.”

The ground isn’t quite ready, though. The dirt needs to be capped with gravel and three feet of soil to create a safe environment for the produce. Two hoop houses and rows of raised beds will be built where fresh flowers will accompany the colorful fruits and vegetables.

Snyder is expecting the first full harvest in March or April of next year, but plants are already budding in a local green house.

To start, he and one farmer’s assistant will work with six individuals in transition at a time to fill the ground. That number could grow as the farm expands for large-scale production, he said.

While training is the focus for those in the grant-funded program, Snyder says the experience offers much more.

“We make meaning in family and meaning in work,” he said. “So I see this transitional job program as an opportunity to give people meaning. I derive meaning from this work too.”

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Public News Service

November 12, 2012

From Public News Service:

CHICAGO – The state of Illinois has made the “Top Ten” list – though perhaps not a particularly desirable one to be on.

A new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities ranks Illinois ninth in the nation for highest income gap. Over the last decade, the study says, the poorest 20 percent of the state’s population lost more than 15 percent of their income while the wealthiest realized gains of 22 percent.

Amy Rynell, director of research and policy at the Heartland Alliance, says jobs in Illinois just don’t pay enough.

“We’ve seen a tremendous growth in service sector jobs. So, people are thankful to have a job. But they pay very poorly and they often don’t guarantee people 40 hours a week of work, which makes it very hard to make ends meet.”

And she says wealthier Illinoisans have the advantage right from the start. Because schools are funded by property taxes, many children in low-income neighborhoods start out with inferior educations, so they can’t always get the good jobs. She says education funding and the the tax code need updating so that those at the top don’t get all the breaks.

Rynell’s group found the deck stacked against low-income minorities in many ways. For example, she says . . .

“The higher the share of minority population in the area, the lower the share of banks, the lower the share of people with bank accounts, and the higher the prevalence of predatory lending.”

Illinois is not alone. When the researchers crunched the numbers, the story turned out the same in most of the states, as Elizabeth McNichol, with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, points out.

“When the economy has grown, the lion’s share of that has gone to households at the top.”

Over a 30-year period the gap looked even worse. The top five percent in Illinois realized an average 123 percent gain, while those with the lowest income stagnated.

Economists stress that rising inequality is not inevitable, that the gap between rich and poor actually fell between World War II and 1970. And they say it also fell for a brief period during the economic growth of the late ’90s. They say part of that was due to Clinton-era tax policies and a rise in the minimum wage.

The report is at www.cbpp.org.

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WNDU.com

November 9, 2012

From WNDU.com:

Opportunity farm is a project put on by students from the Opportunity Center in Benton Harbor. But these students, many thought, wouldn’t have a future.

“I really had a hard life. I’ve been doing things I ain’t supposed to, I really had a rough life coming up, but right now this program meant a lot. Because at first I saw no future, but now I see a future. So, it really meant a lot to me,” said Lamar Moody, a graduate from the program.

Six graduated from the program today, but over 20 have completed the program in its yearlong existence. Those graduates spent their time learning about agriculture and landscaping, while getting hands-on skills at an actual farm they created.

“My favorite part of the program was really basically just working on the land and really coming up with a business goal. We finna propose a grant and trying to come up with a business so we can do something for the community,” said Moody.

Another student, Adam Marsee said, “To beautify land, and to bring a community together,” is why he participated. “The garden is for the community it’s not just for us, we want to bring people in as an advisory board, just to help the community that’s also a big part of what we do here.”

Thanks to community donations, students and faculty cleared plots of land to create 4X16 raised beds with fruit and vegetable seeds that they say will be given back to their community.

“All of the fruits and vegetables that are grown out of all of these boxes can be sold at the farmer’s market in Benton Harbor. And all of the students have decided to form a co-op, an entrepreneurial business of their own so that when they grow the fruits and vegetables here, they can sell it at the Benton harbor farmer’s market,” said Andrea Grabemeyer, a teacher in the program.

Everyone has high hopes for the graduates, including themselves.

“Graduating from this class and that’s put a bright light in my future,” said Marsee.

“I feel like I make a difference because things, because people just walk around and there’s a lot of lands in Benton Harbor that ain’t really getting used and I seen like we trying to do something for the community and try to show love towards the community,” said Moody.

Another student says he plans to stay with the community project. “My future hold is staying in this program and making it a big business, big business,” said Ivory Ward, another graduate.

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The Herald-Palladium

November 9, 2012

From The Herald-Palladium:

BENTON HARBOR – With guidance and a lot of hard work, a group of students have converted a weed-choked lot into a productive urban farm.

Graduates of the agricultural technology course at The Opportunity Center in Benton Harbor gathered Friday to help dedicate their handiwork.

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The Business Journal

November 8, 2012

From The Business Journal:

Six affordable housing projects will receive a combined $830,390 from the city of Milwaukee after the grants gained Common Council approval Thursday.

The projects represent a combined $19.3 million in construction spending over the next year. The grant money comes from the city’s Housing Trust Fund, created in 2006 to fill gaps in budgets for housing developments.

Projects receiving awards include the estimated $6.8 million rehab of 80 duplex apartment units in the Florist Gardens neighborhood near the intersection of North Teutonia and West Florist avenues. CommonBond Communities, St. Paul, Minn., is the developer. Heartland Housing Inc., Chicago, is to receive almost $207,600 to develop a $10 million, 37-unit building with housing for the homeless. Four different nonprofit companies would receive a combined $372,800 to rehab or build about 20 single-family houses.

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