On June 7th 2010 the Organization of the NorthEast will bring together over 1000 people representing our 80+ member organizations. We will come together with a sense of purpose and commitment to address critical issues impacting the north lakefront communities of Chicago. The action will highlight political leadership’s inability to address budget problems and the related impacts in the areas of education, housing, immigrant rights and other community issues. We also will celebrate our recent victories and the strategic reorganization of ONE’s mission and structure. The Convention will take place at St. Augustine College at 1333 W. Argyle in the Uptown Community and will begin at 7pm. Doors open at 6:30!
In preparation for this large scale action, ONE members across Uptown, Edgewater, Ravenswood, West Ridge and Rogers Park are hosting “Community Parties” to discuss the pressing issues impacting our lives. Print out a copy of the attached flier and mark your calendars now. For more information call the ONE office at 773-769-3232. See you there!
On April, 2010, a group of Uplift Community High School sat impatiently and watched the clock. Waiting on exactly 8:46, the second period bell rang and we simply walked. Not to class or to the washrooms but instead we walked out of the building. All of the "secret" meetings during advisory and talks at lunch led to this one moment. Being affected by the budget cuts were the reason we walked out. We walked out to save our after school sports & stop our peers from hanging out on street corners. We walked so that our younger brothers and sisters’ didn’t have to fight for an education in a class of 37 students. We walked to make change, and that’s exactly what we did.
Arriving downtown to hundreds of students showed CPS that we as students care a lot more about our education than they give us credit for. Marching around the CPS headquarters drawing attention from everyone around downtown, boosted our momentum. Hopefully CPS takes us seriously and notices that they are affecting our futures.
By Georgina Sandifer
April 9th was an awesome day, not only did I get the opportunity to do my part in the fight for justice and equity but I was also able to create a learning opportunity for my son. When we arrived downtown, the crowd was small at first, but we were mighty and determined, we started things off by introducing ourselves and talking about why we were here, how we heard about the protest and how important this action was, we then began to march in a small circle in front of CPS headquarters, chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, budget cuts have got to go”. Not too long after, the other buses began to arrive, and so did the news vans, and other supporters. The feeling was almost electric, we marched, and shouted, and chanted, about what these budget cuts would mean to us all and as we walked around the blocks cars blew their horns, and people their shouted support, newspaper reporters stopped to do interviews, camera men moved throughout the crowed to get a real feel for the movement. Not only was this a very moving and wonderful experience for me, it was a great experience for my son he is now part of a movement for education equity and reform. Although we were many, on that day, at that moment, we were one, united for a common purpose.
On Tuesday March 23rd over 150 community residents attended an informational session on how to apply for jobs at the Wilson Yard Target store. People of different ages, abilities, interests and backgrounds came together to hear from ONE leaders, Alderman Shiller and representatives from Target and Holsten Development.
The basics are clear. ONE members have worked with Alderman Shiller, Holsten Development and other stakeholders for years to ensure that the Wilson Yard Development benefits the community. The things that ONE members prioritized as important are affordable housing for families and seniors as well as economic development and employment opportunities for our community. To see what ONE leader Shawn Bryant had to say about it click here.
Target plans to open at the end of July. Before they open they will hire between 250-300 employees to fill a variety of shifts and positions. They have committed to prioritize people who live within a mile of the store. They are looking for people who are fast, fun, and friendly; will take pride in the store; and can work a variety of hours. They tend to have a higher need for people who can work on evenings and weekends. For more specific information about the jobs check out the questions that ONE members asked Target.
After a presentation from the Human Resources representatives from Target, a panel of experts answered questions from the community members gathered. The panel included Jackie Holsten of Holsten Development; Angela Morrison of Inspiration Corporation; Orit Vardi from Alternatives Inc.; Nancy Kramer, Truman College; Alderman Helen Shiller; Megan Wszalek and Yovi Escorcia from Target.
Click here for more information on how to apply for jobs at the Wilson Yard Target online. If you live in the community let us know that you have submitted your application – email your name, address and phone number to cory@onechicago.org.
For more information on what community youth are doing to ensure that Target hires young people from the community call Angela or Frankiem at 773-769-3232 x17.
Nicholas Senn High School’s VLT (VOYCE Leadership Team) successfully campaigned to create a school-wide tutoring program for the students of Senn. The proposal to add tutors was presented to Principal Richard Norman and Assistant Principal Carter Carey, and was approved after a meeting held between Mr. Norman and a sophomore at Senn.
Effective immediately, soon-to-be teachers from Universities around Chicago including DePaul, Loyola, and Northeastern will volunteer as tutors to aid Senn students who need extra help. In exchange the tutors will receive hands on experience working with students and a certificate of completion that will help them when applying for teaching positions in the future.
Senn’s VLT is now developing workshops to build strong teacher-student relationships in hopes to raise the overall academic progress of the school as well as lower the unnecessary disciplinary action such as suspensions and detentions.
Members of ONE have worked for over ten years to ensure that the Wilson Yards are developed in a way that improves our community for everyone and construction on the development is almost complete. Soon, a once desolate, burnt-out bus barn will be home to 178 families and seniors, and Chicago 's newest Target retail store. This is the largest development built in our community for many years. It is also the clearest example of a developer working with the community to address our needs. In the past high-end housing development dominated the market along the north lakefront and our communities increasingly face rising unemployment. Ensuring employment opportunities and affordable rental housing for families and seniors in our communities were and continue to be priorities for ONE. Congratulations to Holsten Chicago, Target, Aldi and Alderman Shiller for delivering an impressive development that provides economic opportunities to our community during a recession.
On Tuesday March 23rd, ONE is hosting an informational session with Alderman Shiller and representatives from Target to inform our members how to apply for jobs at the Target. Target expects to hire 250-300 people to fully staff their store that opens in July. JUMP Up (ONE, Uptown United and many of our collective member organizations, especially Inspiration Corporation) has worked to ensure that local people are prepared to access jobs created by the Wilson Yard development. More than 15 of our neighbors who were previously unemployed help build the Wilson Yard! Now JUMP Up and Target have initiated the community hiring process to make sure that local residents know how to access the jobs at the Target. We expect over 5000 people to apply for these jobs. Come out on Tuesday night to learn what you need to know to navigate the application and hiring process!
The informational meeting will take place at 1207 Leland at 6pm on Tuesday March 23rd. If you have any questions call Cory Muldoon at 773-769-3232 x13.
(Youth participating in Ceasefire basketball programs at Senn High School and Willie Whyte Park)
In a city many of the youth are left to fend for themselves and resources are becoming non-existent; the Organization of the Northeast and CeaseFire make the difference.
To help curve the violence in our communities Ceasefire has initiated programs that provide mentorship, recreational activities, as well as weekend and after-school programming to help keep youth in the community from engaging in negative activities.
Currently, Ceasefire is thankful to be working with Senn High School, as it is a strategic location that encompasses Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers Park. Principal Norman and Assistant Principal Carey of Senn have been very helpful in allowing Ceasefire the time and space to advertise the opportunities to students and providing space for activities. On any given day Ceasefire is able to engage between 35-45 students through various programs.
At the moment, Ceasefire is providing youth with teambuilding skills as well as building community awareness through a basketball tournament that has 80 to 115 youth every Saturday for two hours. Youth leaders are identified at these tournaments and assigned responsibilities to ensure positive outcomes. It is our hope that over the course of time we will be able to build some great youth leadership among our participants.
If you have any questions about ceasefire please contact Anthony Boatman at anthonyboatman@ymail.com.
The vigil held on Monday March 8th has garnered a significant amount of press coverage to highlight the issues surrounding the closing of the Somerset Homes, please use the links below to read the stories:
CHICAGO – Pastoral leaders from Organization of the NorthEast (ONE) including Pastor Monte Johnson, Immanuel Lutheran Church; Pastor Doug Harris, North Shore Baptist Church; Father Dom Grassi and Pastoral Associate Peter Buttitta, St. Gertrude Catholic Church; and Pastor Barbara Cathey, Edgewater Presbyterian Church; held a candlelight prayer vigil on March 8th to highlight the need for better treatment of long-term residents of the Somerset Nursing Home in Chicago’s Uptown community, and to release a set of policy recommendations addressing the underlying issues of insufficient transition time to prepare residents moving from skilled care to community living.
“It is extremely unfortunate and disturbing that the haste of the Somerset closing prevented both the implementation of existing procedures established by the Division of Mental Health and the opportunity to enhance these procedures as called for in Governor Quinn’s recent report on Nursing Home Safety,” said Janet Hasz, Supportive Housing Providers Association. “The bottom line is more time was needed to put a plan in place, provide options to residents, and enabled providers to work with residents to prepare them for the transition.”
One of the state’s largest nursing facilities for people living with mental illness, Somerset Place was home to nearly 300 residents, many of whom lived there for more than 20 years. While Illinois officials stated in previous media coverage that there was “plenty of space in other nearby institutions for residents who want to move,” a majority of residents were ineligible for those beds and forced to move out of the community.
“While advocates acknowledge the well-publicized challenges facing Somerset, the timeline was not sufficient to support the special needs of the residents living with mental illness to transition to appropriate supportive-living facilities,” said Jamiko Rose, executive director of Organization of the NorthEast. “As a result, many residents have been forced to move away from their families and from a community which they have called home for decades.”
By: Savitha Kowligy Parent Volunteer Daniel Boone Community School
Daniel Boone Community School collaboratively works with the parents, students and the Organization of the Northeast to provide a fulfilling educational experience for our students and parents. Our school welcomes parents to volunteer and participate in classroom activities that allow them to connect with their children to enhance the learning experience. Also, our students participate in fun and educational extracurricular activities that go beyond the classroom to teach them new and exciting skills.
Parent and community member involvement is an important feature of Boone Community School. The Parent Mentor Program assigns parents to different classrooms to assist the teachers and children. In ESL classes, the parent mentors speak Spanish, Urdu, Assyrian and Arabic, which help students feel comfortable. Among the classes for our adults, Boone Community School offers ESL as well as an exclusive class for parents of Burmese origin. Community members also enjoy Yoga for physical fitness and stress relief and this year we plan to introduce Basics to Computers classes.
Our school also offers a variety of programs after school for our students. For example, we have activities for students in kindergarten such as Stretch ‘N’ Grow, and Clap, Sing, and Read where kids learn while doing physical activities. For 1st through 8th grade students we offer a number of programs such as Homework Club and Hip Hop Yoga, a class where students spend time learning mind-body exercises to center and relax them and hip hop choreography to prepare them for an end of the year ensemble performance. In addition to the above programs we also offer Broadway Kids, Gymnastics and Volleyball for Girls. For our diverse community we have a language program involves Arabic, Assyrian, and Arabic ESL.
By providing these classes for students, parents, and adults we believe the entire community can grow and achieve together. If you have any questions about the programs at Daniel Boone Community School please e-mail Sandra@onechicago.org.
(Justin West, ONE leader and GYO Candidate, testifies at Grow Your Own Rally in Springfield, IL)
Reflections from Grow Your Own Rally in Springfield
Feb 25, 2010
by Georgina Sandifer
Grow Your Own day in Springfield was truly an awesome and sobering experience, the reception we received by our elected officials ranged from eager and open to lukewarm and annoyed. There were families there, neighbors and friends, to see community organizing in action was really something; there were people of every age, race, creed and color gathered together for a common cause. On Tuesday, every GYO Consortia from across Illinois, came to Springfield to rally for continued funding for GYO, we came with our feet to walk to every elected officials office to make sure that we were seen and our presence felt. We used our voices to cheer and be heard that GYO must continue to be funded at the same level; Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, $3.5 for GYO, we came with the faith that organized people have power and together we can make a difference.
There were fantastic speeches, haunting chants and melodious songs booming in the rotunda of the State Capital but were we effective, did it do any good? Only time will tell. I am proud to be apart of the work that was done yesterday, and to those of us who were able to make the sacrifice of getting up before 5 am (in some cases), leaving our warm beds and our families behind, traveling for hours to Springfield, to make heartfelt appeals and giving our testimonies for a program we all believe in, bravo! For those who believe in this work and move behind the scenes to make it happen daily, (Hina and everyone at ONE) you rock!
In addition, for those of us who could not be there, there is still much work to be done, and there is still time to play a part in this. We must bombard, our local officials, call them, email them, stop by their offices, and ask your family, friends and neighbors to help. We must ensure that our voice is heard and GYO remains funded at the same level.
Reflections from Grow Your Own Rally
by Curtis Smyles
There are times during your life when you know what you want and what believe in. GYO Day at the state capital was one of those times. The day was challenging from the start, but I was determined to be with my fellow candidates to let our legislators know that GYO was not going away without a fight. We are the future teacher’s for Chicago Public Schools and other struggling school districts across the state. The three hour bus ride was very informative Cohort Coordinators Hina Mahmood and Bridget Murphy provided instructions about how to engage with our elected officials as well as the importance of why we were going to Springfield. I was assigned as a leader of my group which included Hialma Westby and Andrea Lewis. These two ladies helped me stay focused on all the activities of the day. The rally was full of positive energy and enthusiastic speakers who all helped me see the depth of GYO and how many communities it positively effected. Even though this was my second time attending the rally in Springfield, it felt brand new. Hearing all of the speakers and representatives made my heart fill with pride and knowledge that I'm doing the right thing for the community and children of Rogers Park. This day was one of the most inspiring days of my life and I just pray that all candidates involved will continue to work hard to keep our dream alive to have quality educators of color in our communities. GYO will change lives and make the children of the future leaders themselves.
