August 21, 2019
AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Investing in Austin VOLUNTEERS FROM WELLS FARGO BUILDING A NEW PLAYGROUND FOR KIDZ EXPRESS
CONSTRUCTION ON AN AUSTIN PROPERTY BEING DEVELOPED BY WESTSIDE HEALTH AUTHORITY
MAY 2018 GROUNDBREAKING AT SANA’S VETERANS PEACE GARDEN
THE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR KEHREIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS AND SISTEMA RAVINIA AUDITORIUM
HARNESSING THE POWER OF COLLABORATION PAGE 3 | FUNDING AUSTIN’S QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN PAGE 4-5 | COORDINATING THE COMPLEXITY OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT PAGE 7
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Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Austin Coming Together (ACT) serves a network of 50+ organizations committed to improving the quality of life in the Austin community. Our strategic plan is called Thrive 2025 and outlines how we will mobilize our resources to achieve 4 impact goals by the year 2025: Quality Early Learning, Safe Neighborhoods, Living Wage Careers, and D Stable Housing Market.
ACT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers Larry Williams, Chair Broker, State Farm Insurance
Ruth Kimble, Vice-Chair Executive Director, Austin Childcare Provider’s Network
Deborah Williams, Treasurer
Tenisha Jones
Jack Macnamara
Community Outreach & Engagement Specialist, Habilitative Systems, Inc.
Chief Program Officer, Chicago Child Care Society
Visiting Scholar, Center for Urban Research & Learning at Loyola University
Directors
Bradly Johnson
Founders
Director of Core Programs, BUILD ,QF
Sharon Morgan
Angela Waller, Secretary
Director of Community Outreach, Catalyst Schools
Community Government Relations, Advocate Aurora
Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church
Reverend Reginald E. Bachus
Reginald Little Mortgage Loan Officer for Residential Lending, Old Second National Bank
Mildred Wiley, 1955-2019 Founding Board Chair
Dawn Ferencak Associate Publisher, Austin Weekly News
ACT STAFF Leadership Team
Service Delivery Team
Planning & Investment Team
• Darnell Shields*
• Jerome Sader
• Jose Abonce
• Shavion Scott
• Sandra Diaz
• Ethan Ramsay
• Alicia Plomin-Spitler
• Jai Jones
• Christopher Banks
• Andrew Born
• Dollie Sherman
Executive Director
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Marketing & Development Manager Research & Evaluation
Lead Organizer
Neighborhood Network Manager
Project Coordinator
Community Hub Coordinator Community Engagement Coordinator
Micro Market Recovery Program Coordinator
Youth Engagement Coordinator
)\ SJJMGMS 1IQFIV SJ XLI %'8 &SEVH SJ (MVIGXSVW
• Kaprisha Martin
Engagement Associate
ACT MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
A House in Austin Academy of Scholastic Achievement American Red Cross Austin Childcare Providers’ Network Austin Weekly News Be Strong Families Because I Care Bethel New Life BUILD Inc. By the Hand Club Cara Catholic Charities Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures Chicago Children’s Choir Chicago Community Loan Fund
Christ the King Jesuit College Prep College Mentoring Experience Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest Cluster Tutoring Erikson Institute First United Church of Oak Park Friends of The Children Friendship Baptist Church Greater West Town Community Development Project Housing Forward I.C. Stars IFF Inspiration Corporation
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago Jane Addams Resource Corporation Kids First Chicago KRA Westside American Job Center LAF Literacy Works Manufacturing Renaissance Mary Shyrese Daycare Mercy Housing Lakefront New Moms OAI, Inc. Oak Park Regional Housing Center Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry Positive Attitudes, Inc. Prevention Partnership
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Project Exploration ReDevelopment Management Resources, Inc. Sarah’s Inn South Austin Neighborhood Association St. Joseph Services St. Leonard’s Ministries The Catalyst Schools The Loretto Hospital UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work VOCEL Westside Health Authority Worldvision Youth Guidance
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019 3
Harnessing the Power of Collaboration A
By Darnell Shields Executive Director, Austin Coming Together
ustin Coming Together (ACT) recently closed out our Fiscal Year 2019, also concluding our first ever Funding Cycle. What does this mean? We are executing our role as convener, connector and facilitator of collective impact on a larger scale than ever before. In addition to securing funds for Austin’s Qualityof-Life Plan (QLP), we were selected by a funder as their well-connected, community-focused leader entrusted with allocating those funds to opportunities that would jumpstart implementation of the plan! In August 2018, ACT’s ability to apply communitydriven solutions to foster economic opportunity resulted in a $1 million Vital Communities grant from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation was confident ACT
could assist in identifying Austin’s real needs due to our history of “tackling [racial and economic inequity, disinvestment and isolation] with passion, persistence, creativity, and effectiveness.” While part of that investment is being utilized to support the infrastructure for the QLP, another part has been allocated to a few of the Implementation Partners already working to accomplish some of the QLP Priority Actions. As of this publication, we have officially distributed MacArthur funds in the amount of $64,000. Congratulations to BUILD Inc., South Austin Neighborhood Association (SANA), and Austin Childcare Provider’s Network (ACPN) on being
“ACT’s role is to identify gaps -the opportunities where we can go as a community. It’s a different way of doing things, and we’re excited!” EVAN BROWN
Grants Manager at Catholic Charities
Download the full version of the Austin Quality-of-Life Plan at austincomingtogether.org/QLP
the inaugural recipients! This opportunity was possible only after years of relationship building. Partnerships like United Way of Metro Chicago and their Neighborhood Network Initiative were integral to laying the foundation that attracted this increase in support. The QLP is a clear roadmap to answering the question ‘What do the people of Austin want?’ It is already proving to be a powerful tool that highlights a collective strategy we hope will be noticed across Chicagoland and beyond. Since releasing the plan, at least one Priority Action has been identified for each of the 23 strategies across 7 Issue Areas, the first of the 84 Actions has been achieved, and an
impressive 36 unique organizations have committed to the plan as an Implementation Partner. Furthermore, ACT has garnered a total of $684,000 in investment to support existing, expanded or new programs for QLP Implementation Partners: $64,000 in ACT Managed Funding from MacArthur Foundation and $620,000 in ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo (Learn more about this on page 7). With half of the first year of Implementation now complete, we are off to a great start! The groundwork has been laid and we are gaining traction. But there is much still left ahead of us. Help us continue to mobilize resources to support Austin’s 5-year plan by spreading the word! Read the plan at austincomingtogether.org/QLP and share it with your friends, family, and coworkers. After all, the only way we can really move Austin forward together is by harnessing the power of collaboration!
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Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Funding for Austin’s Quality-of-Life Plan Austin’s Quality-of-Life Plan (QLP) is a set of strategies created by and for the community that are designed to address 7 Issue Areas over the next 5 years: Community Narrative, Education, Housing, Youth Empowerment, Economic Development, Public Safety, and Civic Engagement. Although Implementation just began in 2019, ACT is already leveraging the plan as a tool to develop resources and investment in Austin. These two pages feature 12
organizations whose work on the plan has recently received funding. Collectively, these Implementation Partners (IP)s will address 6 Issue Areas, 9 of 23 Strategies, and 10 of 84 Actions to achieve one vision for our community. For details on how you or your organization can support Austin’s QLP, contact ACT’s Lead Organizer Jose Abonce at 773-417-8615 or jabonce@austincomingtogether.org.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Local residents and patrons of both Third Unitarian Church and Boulevard Presbyterian Church volunteered to weed, plant and cultivate at Mayfield Community Garden.
COMMUNITY NARRATIVE Our goal is to revitalize the image and spirit of Austin by promoting assets such as our historic housing, creating a healthy community and building a more robust environment. • Funded Action: 3.4* Build a sense of community through activities such as creating and maintaining community gardens IP: South Austin Neighborhood Association (SANA) • SANA engages Chicago’s South Austin residents to join together and collectively preserve and improve the quality of life by addressing concerns and issues that are important to all. Recently, they helped form the Austin Garden Collective to generate awareness and support for community gardens. ACT Managed Funding allocated: $14,000
EDUCATION Our goal is for our local educational system and partners to provide the services, opportunities and support to help all our students stay on track, enrich their education and serve their needs, from early childhood through high school to job and career readiness. • Funded Action: 1.2* Improve the early learning environment in Austin by helping existing providers become accredited and more deeply prepared for child development IP: Austin Childcare Providers Network • Founded in 1998, Austin Childcare Provider’s Network (ACPN)’s mission is to educate and train childcare providers in underserved communities. ACT Managed Funding allocated: $25,000
Our goal is to create economic revitalization in Austin and by Austin. We will support new and existing local businesses, entrepreneurs, and the workforce; improve our commercial corridors; and attract new investment to build a stronger, more dynamic local economy. • Funded Action: 2.3* Build a new Manufacturing Training Center in Austin IP: Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) • JARC promotes strong communities, businesses and households to ensure that people who work do not live in poverty. They currently offer manufacturing training programs for welding, CNC machinist, and press brake. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $60,000 • Funded Action: 3.1* Incorporate the co-op model for local restaurants, grocery stores and housing IP: Accion • Their mission is to give people the financial tools they need to improve their lives. Accion was integral in establishing The Hatchery, a food and beverage incubator, on the West Side. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $60,000 IP: West Side Forward evolving from Bethel New Life • Their mission is to realize God’s vision of a restored society by creating opportunities for individuals and families to invest in themselves and by promoting policies and systems that help communities thrive. Currently, they are developing a food industry entrepreneurship training program with particular focus on the co-op business model. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $65,000
“We can’t achieve these big community-wide goals by ourselves. Working with others is the only way it’ll happen.”
*These reference numbers coincide with the full list of Strategies and Actions in the plan. READ THE PLAN AT austincomingtogether.org/QLP
ED COLEMAN
President & Chief Executive Officer at West Side Forward evolving from Bethel New Life
Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019 5
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Community members assembled during a mobilization of the Austin Response Team, a group who responds after violent incidents to offer support and connect residents to services
PUBLIC SAFETY Our goal is to collaborate and create programs that increase a sense of safety, community and quality of life to build a healthy and resilient neighborhood. • Funded Action: 1.1* Increase restorative justice (RJ) activities in the community IP: BUILD, Inc. • BUILD Inc.’s mission is to engage at-risk youth in the schools and on the streets so they can realize their educational and career potential and contribute to the stability, safety and well-being of our communities. They are establishing and overseeing a program in which community ambassadors do outreach around RJ and trauma informed care. ACT Managed Funding allocated: $25,000
“When locally driven networks like ACT are prioritized...they can guide place-based investments for reducing crime and violence, improving community development outcomes in the process.” RYAN LUGALIAHOLLOW AND DANIEL COOPER
The War on Neighborhoods: Policing, prison and punishment in a divided city
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT Our goal is for Austin to have healthier and more engaged youth who are able to reach their full potential. • Funded Action: 2.1* Expose youth to professionals they can relate to IP: BUILD, Inc. • Their Apprentice Mentor Program (AMP) adapts BUILD Inc.’s nationally recognized model to prepare at-risk and gang- and justice-involved youth, ages 16 to 22, to become the next generation of mentors for younger peers dealing with these issues. After completing the program, Apprentice Mentors become first in line for livingwage employment at BUILD Inc. and other allies. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $65,000 • Funded Action: 3.2* Expand the trauma support service system for youth and families IP: Catholic Charities • They fulfill the Church’s role in the mission of charity to anyone in need by providing compassionate, competent and professional services that strengthen and support individuals, families and communities based on the value and dignity of human life. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $60,000 • Funded Action: 3.4* Create paths for youth interactions with mentors and role models IP: Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago • Their mission is to enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Their Clubs offer caring mentors, avenues of opportunity and the tools youth need to prepare for great futures. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $50,000
HOUSING Our goal is to create a stabilized housing market in Austin, with support for local homeowners and a wide array of affordable housing options. • Funded Action: 4.1* Preserve and invest in vacant buildings IP: West Cook Homeownership Center • The Center works to achieve meaningful and lasting diversity throughout Oak Park and the region. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $75,000 • Funded Action: 3.2* Build new quality transitional housing for populations facing specific challenges IP: Westside Health Authority (WHA) • WHA’s mission is to use the capacity of local residents to improve the health and wellbeing of the community. They are developing 16 units of affordable housing to be available for targeted populations including youth and returning citizens. The units will also serve as housing for clients being served by WHA to be reunified with their families. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $60,000 • Funded Action: 2.4* Increase tenant-landlord/management communication and education IP: Mercy Housing Lakefront • Mercy Housing creates stable, vibrant, and healthy communities by developing, financing, and operating affordable, program-enriched housing for families, seniors, and people with special needs who lack the economic resources to access quality, safe housing opportunities. ACT Supported Funding from Wells Fargo: $50,000
KEY TERMS, DEFINED: ACT SUPPORTED FUNDING: Where ACT supports Implementation Partners in acquiring funding to be disbursed directly to the Partner ACT MANAGED FUNDING: Where ACT disburses funding to Implementation Partners from resources developed internally IP (IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER): An organization who has signed a commitment to implement a specific Action in Austin’s Quality-of-Life Plan (QLP) RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: This practice is based on three principles that aim to humanize all people involved in a group or conflict. There is value placed in empathy, learning, collaboration, mediation, and the ability to have brave conversations.
*These reference numbers coincide with the full list of Strategies and Actions in the plan. READ THE PLAN AT austincomingtogether.org/QLP
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Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Austin Quality-of-Life Plan Leaders Community Narrative Task Force Committee Chairs: Briana Shields - Briana Janeé Arts Kenneth Varner - Healthy Schools Campaign Strategy Leads: Lasondra Kern - Resident Antonia Ruppert - Local Artist Suzanne McBride - Austin Talks Mike Romain - Austin Weekly News Cindy Schneider - Spaces-n-Places
Economic Development Task Force Committee Chairs: Jerrod Williams - Community Resident & SANA member Thomas Gary - Community Resident Strategy Leads: Yemisi Dinkins - Westside Health Authority Joshua Brooks - Manufacturing Renaissance Liz Abunaw - Forty Acres Fresh Market
Heather Sattler - Community Development Consultant Emily Peters - Jane Addams Resource Corporation Roxanne Charles - Bethel New Life
Education Task Force Committee Chairs: Natasha Smith-Walker - Project Exploration Crystal Bell - Ella Flagg Young Elementary Charles Anderson - Michele Clark High School Strategy Leads: Ruth Kimble - Austin Childcare Providers’ Network Pam Price - Chicago Public Schools Sean Schindl - Kids First Chicago Natasha Dunn - VOCEL
Interested in joining the Implementation Task Force?
Housing
Youth Empowerment
Task Force Committee Chairs: Athena Williams - West Cook Homeownership Center Allison McGowan - Community Resident Strategy Leads: Shirley Fields - Hunter’s Realty Dominique Davis - Mercy Housing Rosie Dawson Westside Health Authority Athena Williams - West Cook Homeownership Center Chris Banks - Austin Coming Together
Task Force Committee Chair: Carmen Scott-Boria - BUILD Inc. Strategy Leads: Kaprisha Martin - Community Resident, Austin Coming Together Deonna Hart - BUILD Inc. Jeramie McGill - St. Joseph Services Frederica Malone - Catholic Charities Gina Young - Catholic Charities
Public Safety Task Force Committee Chairs: Bradly Johnson - BUILD Inc. Marilyn Pitchford - Heartland Alliance Strategy Leads: Remona Sanders - Catholic Charities Edwina Hamilton - Catholic Charities Adam Alonso - BUILD Inc. Bradly Johnson - BUILD Inc. Jordan Bester - Westside Health Authority
Contact ACT’s Lead Organizer, Jose Abonce, at 773-417-8615 or jabonce@austincomingtogether.org for more information.
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Civic Engagement Task Force Committee Chair: Deborah Williams - Habilitative Systems Inc.. Strategy Leads: Arnold Bearden - South Austin Neighborhood Association (SANA) Sharif Walker - After School Matters
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019 7
“In total, this new opportunity from Wells Fargo has generated a record $620,000 in investment for Austin’s QLP.” MARVIN SPEARS Andrew Ruehl with Wells Fargo Community Relations presenting at the initial Info Session about their grant opportunity in May 2019.
Coordinating the complexity of community investment O
By Alicia Plomin-Spitler Marketing & Development Manager, Austin Coming Together
pen your mind, then open your eyes. That’s how you’ll find the truth. Whether it is a solution or just a path forward you are looking for, remaining receptive is key. It has been Austin Coming Together’s strategy for years, and has served as our recommendation to anyone seeking guidance on how to help our community. So when Wells Fargo came to us earlier this year seeking a different approach to assessing neighborhood investment, we were thrilled to see they were open minded. For some time, Wells Fargo invested in many Chicago neighborhoods to support specific interests. While that support successfully addressed critical needs, the bank was not seeing the deeprooted impact they were hoping for. Beginning in 2015, Wells Fargo partnered with United Way of Metro Chicago to introduce a new place-based community involvement strategy in the Chicagoland area, aligning significant philanthropic and volunteer resources to a specific Chicago neighborhood. The results? More intimate connections with nonprofits and residents of the community they support, plus greater impact through targeted community investments. The Austin community was ultimately selected
due to its demonstrated need, nonprofits willing to collaborate, and ACT, a convening agency with the capacity to unify organizations under common goals. In 2018, Wells Fargo committed an outstanding investment of more than $300,000 in financial and in-kind support to United Way’s Neighborhood Network Initiative, adding to the $300,000 commitment announced in 2016. This brought the bank’s total six year investment in Austin to $600,000. As the Austin partner for this Initiative, ACT was able to leverage part of that investment to continue creating access and awareness of resources through our Austin Community Hub. And ACT’s ability to mobilize resources was showcased again when Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) selected ACT as the lead agency for Austin’s first ever Quality-of-Life Plan (QLP), a set of strategies for a neighborhood renaissance. Support from these partners provided the foundation that allowed us to grow our capacity and assist the community in cultivating its roadmap to success. Plus, the Wells Fargo investment is one that will continue to be a driving force behind actualizing the plan as it progresses. “It is imperative to Wells Fargo to make significant contributions to the communities and neighborhoods that surround us every day. After all, we truly believe that together, we’ll go far,” said Marvin Spears, Global Commercial Excellence Leader
for Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance and member of the Chicago Leadership Council. At the plan’s December 2018 release celebration, Wells Fargo showcased their deepened commitment by highlighting the total $100,000 investment given throughout 2018 to develop the infrastructure necessary to manage this large scale implementation. Just recently, the Wells Fargo team approached ACT with the desire to expand their support of the QLP. But where would this new investment make the largest impact? The plan is a massive body of work to sift through: 84 actions at various stages of progress and over 35 Implementation Partners actively involved in carrying out an initial selection of 23 strategies. Fortunately, ACT’s experience convening over 500 Austin stakeholders during plan creation then identifying key players best suited to carry out change has set us up to create a process for assisting Wells Fargo. Through several strategy sessions, ACT was able to harness our intimate knowledge of Austin and the QLP to align the bank’s interests with where their dollars could be utilized most effectively. This process produced a list of organizations who are primed and ready to incorporate a QLP action into their existing work. ACT was able to convene those organizations, identify their alignment, assist with clearly envisioning next steps, and get grant applications completed -- all in under 30 days.
Due to the infrastructure already in place and the willingness of our partners to be open, we were able to take advantage of the valuable chance to offer strategic guidance. We are proud to announce that in total, this new opportunity from Wells Fargo has generated a record $620k in investment for Austin’s QLP implementation! Visit pages 4-5 for details on these grantees and the actions to which they have committed. By working with ACT, Wells Fargo will receive a unique perspective on the comprehensive effects of their investment not available if they had funded these organizations directly. For the majority of the grantees, this gift marked the largest received from Wells Fargo at once; and for all of them, it means a new relationship with a dedicated partner who truly listens. Not only is this an example of how we at ACT are achieving our imperative of attracting investment in Austin, but it shows how funding partners are finding value in a new approach: working with a communitybased organization to make decisions collaboratively. “It is really amazing to see so many people come together with one common goal: making a difference and transforming the lives of this community. The best part is, we’re just getting started,” said Spears. We look forward to having Wells Fargo walk alongside us in this journey to improve well-being for all Austin residents!
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Austin Weekly News August 21, 2019
THRIVE 2025: 2019 QUARTER 3
