2,200 unemployed Chicagoans get jobs and training with help from foundations and federal stimulus package

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More than 2,000 Chicagoans will receive up to 16 weeks of combined paid work experience and job training through Chicago Neighborhood JobStart, which launched in June and captures millions of federal stimulus dollars temporarily available to states for subsidized employment programs.

JobStart is a legacy of the 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods, a philanthropic collaborative established in 2008 to support communities most impacted by the city’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games and help ensure they would benefit, regardless of the outcome.

By providing residents with immediate earned income opportunities as well as job training that will help them become more employable in the future, JobStart will benefit 2016 Fund priority neighborhoods in both the short and long term. Many of these communities – Douglas, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, Lower West Side, North Lawndale, Near South Side, Near West Side, Oakland, South Lawndale, Washington Park and Woodlawn – struggle with historically high unemployment rates.

The 2016 Fund acted quickly to create JobStart by putting forward $2 million, plus in-kind employer donations, to leverage more than $18 million from a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

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Partnership grant continues support for proven employment services for public-housing residents

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The Partnership for New Communities recently awarded a $200,000 grant to the Association House of Chicago to continue and expand its programs to help public-housing residents train for, find and keep good jobs.

Association House will provide contextualized literacy training and transitional jobs, two types of programs that have proven effective in reaching public-housing residents, along with supportive services.

The grant is part of Opportunity Chicago, an initiative co-founded by The Partnership, the Chicago Housing Authority and the City of Chicago that aims to help 5,000 public-housing residents prepare for and find quality employment over five years (2006-2010).

Through programs funded by this grant: 51 public-housing residents will complete an 8-week program focused on career preparation; 15 will participate in a transitional job (real work experience but with wages paid through the program); 25 will gain unsubsidized employment following the program; Sitter Service, in-house childcare for participants’ children funded by a previous Partnership grant, will take care of 20 children; and 20 parents will be involved in parenting classes at Sitter Service.

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Evaluation reveals that Opportunity Chicago, sites nationwide, documenting innovation in getting Americans back to work

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Opportunity Chicago and 21 other sites that comprise the National Fund for Workforce Solutions is proving that innovative, local approaches to preparing job seekers and workers for careers, built on strong partnerships with employers, can deliver results for local economies.

The National Fund has released the results from the second stage of a comprehensive evaluation. Implementing the National Fund for Workforce Solutions: 2nd Annual National Evaluation Report reveals that, in 2009, the second full year of operation, outcomes generated by the 22 National Fund sites include:

• 18,036 jobseekers and incumbent workers received training and career support, an increase of 286 percent from the year before;
• 9,735 participants received degrees or credentials, compared to 679 in 2008;
• 4,058 jobseekers secured jobs as a result of their participation, up from 893 in 2008;
• Of those who got jobs, 81 percent are working more than 35 hours per week.“

These are encouraging results for jobseekers as well as for initiatives like Opportunity Chicago that are attempting to address unemployment in a new, concerted way,” said Maria Hibbs, executive director at The Partnership for New Communities, a co-founder and lead strategist for the initiative.

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File download: NFWS_Second_Annual_Evaluation_Report_May_2010.pdf

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