The Illinois Neighborhood Recovery Initiative is a comprehensive effort to strengthen and revitalize urban communities. It’s goal will be accomplished by:
- engaging young people;
- offering job training for adults and small businesses;
- providing funding for small businesses.
This public-private partnership will reach an estimated 18,000 youth through programs such as:
- Mentoring Plus-Jobs, which will provide youth with part time jobs and additional support
- Parent-Leadership Program, which will offer parents training that will help them become community leaders
- School-based counseling at k-12 schools
- Job training for adults and small businesses
Circle Family HealthCare Network is the Lead Agency in the Austin Community for the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative. Vickie Rivkin , 5002 W. Madison Street, is the Project Director. Contact information is (773) 379-1000 ext 3041.
If you are interested in being on the Advisory Committe, contact Vickie Rivkin. You may also nomiate someone else. you will need to provide reasons and qualifications for the nomination.
Funding through the Training for Tomorrow Program will help non-profit, community based organizations identify local industries having difficulty recruiting skilled, entry level workers. It will train and place more than 1,700 people into jobs over the next two years. In addition, the Departments of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and Transportation (IDOT) are working with regional business organizations to establish a new program for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises to help small contractors participate in state construction projects and other business opportunities within the public sector.
The initiative will also help provide additional funding to support small businesses. DCEO is partnering with financial institutions with strong small business lending backgrounds, including ACCION Chicago, Chicago Community Ventures and the Women’s Business Development Center, to launch the Community Business Fund. The fund will provide critical micro- and small business financing to help put more people to work.
More than 300 loans will likely be made to start-up and existing small businesses, which will lead to more than 800 jobs being created or retained over the next two years.
