Jacobs Heritage Foundation
Work Force Development Proposal for Stewards of the Block Pilot Program: Training in Youth Development, job creation and to establish a Youth Leadership Council for Chicago communities and surrounding suburbs.
Content Organizational History.................................... p. 2 Introduction Target population............................................. p. 3 - 4 Population demographics Problem Statement Solution............................................................ p. 5 - 6 Who We Are Mission Statement............................................ p. 6 - 7 Our programs.................................................... p. 7 Seed Money is Needed Return on Investment for organization............. p. 7 - 8 Cost Analysis and Budget................................. p. 8 - 9
Submitted by Nathaniel Morgan/Founder 6926 S. Dorchester Chicago, IL 60637 (773)426-4304 www.jacobsheritage.org manworkin@hotmail.com Project period: March 2014 – March 2015 Project summary: The aim of the project is to develop and train a quality group of teens to be productive in their community and transition youth into members of leadership in the workforce of Culinary Arts and restaurant operations. The project also aims to train & develop adult/youth partnerships and job created atmospheres for our youth.
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Workforce development: Youth Culinary Arts Program Organizational History We are a 501 ( c ) 3 organization registered in the state of illinois since 2007. from 2007 to 2010 our initial mission was to produce and publish christian books, magazines, and devotionals. While given a three year span to organize our cause, we were learning the non profit sector and had our 501 c 3 status revoked in 2011. Jacob's Heritage Foundation was reinstated in 2013 by the IRS and our status is in good standing with the IRS database and Guidestar.com, EIN# 20-3460984. Our cause for christian books, magazines and devotionals were to small and it came to our attention that most unfortunate people dealing with economic issues may read but will close our books and depart from our products. Those people will still remain with desperation and will still have desires to be helped with the tangible necessities for life to live an be productive individuals. Since 2010 we have embraced a greater cause in Youth Development and low to no income communities with little to no work skills. Helping many youth in many communities is a battle field that are in the faces of those who live in neighborhood danger zones. We have been involve in Youth Development and helping youth for 4 years now and given those in need the experience and life skills to be successful youth. Our activities to our youth have been in the pass dedicated mentoring, etiquette workshops, resume writing, cooking class, homework matters workshops, community gardening, etc. Over 75% of organizations on a national level devote their cause into youth support, economic support , community development, and workforce development and we have found ourselves to be a part of the solution to a greater cause. Our vision is to help more youth and their families by creating jobs, offering counseling, shelter problem teens, give back and be visible in the community, raise money and investors can also inquire. Introduction The City of Chicago located in Cook County is a dense, urban population that is home to 2.7 million citizens that make up the 5.3 million in the upper northeastern section of the State of Illinois, County of Cook. In an urban area of such proportion, it is a human right to have suitable work opportunity. Suitable work is also important for care of self and families. The City of Chicago has been hard hit in job creation particularly youth age 16-21. The lack of work for our youth population has become a linchpin to the mounting violence in our urban areas. Many juvenile delinquent behaviors not only have to do with lack of parental responsibility but lack of work opportunity as a right of passage to adulthood. The City of Chicago youth have been virtually excluded from the workforce particularly African-American and Latino at risk youth. In fact, “America's young people face record unemployment, and we need to do everything we can to make sure they've got the opportunity to earn the skills and a work ethic that come with a job. It's important for their future, and for America's‌America's youth can't wait for Congress to act. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment."— President Barack Obama
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Target population Low to moderate income job seekers with low basic skill and limited to no work experience. Our components will provide career awareness and exploration, simulated work environment, resume preparation, interviewing techniques, soft-skills training, placement and retention service. Population demographics: Youth ages 14 -21 / 200 individuals Young people who were recently incarcerated and still disaffected "street youth" who survive through illicit activities such as gangs, drugs, and violence. Youth who are unemployed, bored, surrounded by negative influences and temptations but are motivated enough to enroll in programs we offer. Young people whose tenacity, resiliency, and perseverance have enabled them to succeed in school and with a permanent job. They are working in jobs with career mobility or are enrolled in postsecondary education. Problem Statement The Daily pointed out in a Friday column that more Chicago residents -- 228 -- have been killed so far this year in the city than the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan - 144 -- over the same period. The war zone-like statistics are not new. As WBEZ reports, while some 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, more than 5,000 people have been killed by gun fire in Chicago during that time, based on Department of Defense and FBI data. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/16/chicago-homicide-rate-wor_n_1602692.html
The streets of Chicago are officially more dangerous than a war zone: Homicide victims in the Windy City outnumber U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year. While 144 Americans have died in Afghanistan in 2012, a whopping 228 Chicago residents have been killed, and the murder rate is up a staggering 35 percent from last year. That’s a rash of homicides quadruple the rate of New York City’s, and police and crime experts fear it may only get worse. The move comes as Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, is under increased pressure to find a way to stem the violence. Last weekend, nine people were killed and 53 were shot, just two weeks after 10 people died and dozens more were wounded in gun-related mayhem. http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06/15/061512-news-chicago-murders-knowles-1-3/ There have been growing concerns about youth unemployment across the country. Teen unemployment is at a record high, and every summer in Chicago there is a dire concern about the raise in violence soon after the school season ends, and unemployed teens embrace their idleness of time. Besides idled time and unemployment, there are other variables that our youth are confronted with that are wounds without band-aids. Variables that consist to be etched in stone among underprivileged urban communities and socioeconomic deprivation are, low self esteem, lack of positive adult male role models, low academic achievement, high number of female-headed households and family disengagement.
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Centers For American Progress Young Americans today are confronted by an unemployment crisis unlike any we have seen in recent times. To say that these Americans are having a difficult time entering today’s labor market is an understatement. As recent reports have documented, the unemployment crisis facing young Americans takes many forms, including high school students who are having a harder time finding afterschool jobs, twenty-somethings who are increasingly stuck in unpaid internships instead of paying jobs, and college graduates who are settling for low-wage, low-skill jobs such as waiting tables or serving coffee.
While each of these is evidence of the troubles facing young workers, none lays out the full scope of the nation’s youth-unemployment crisis. The reality is that youth unemployment is a much bigger problem than lawmakers have acknowledged. According to our analysis, there are more than 10 million Americans under the age of 25 who are currently unable to find full-time work—a number greater than the population of New York City, a city of about 8 million people. As we have written before, America’s youth-unemployment crisis will have serious, enduring costs for individuals, society, businesses, and all levels of government. At 16.2 percent, the unemployment rate among Americans ages 16 to 24 is more than twice the unemployment rate for people of all ages. These young people are facing significantly higher rates of unemployment than any other age group, as Figure 1 below shows. https://youth.workforce3one.org/view/4011320744404177760
According to the FBI, 69% of the total homicides recorded across the nation involved a firearm. These are the top 10 US cities with the most murders in 2012. 500 murders in Chicago in 2012, up from 431 in 2011. New York reported 419 murders in 2012, down from 515 the year before. In all, 15 cities across American reported more than 100 murders in 2012. In addition to Chicago and New York, Detroit (386 murders), Philadelphia (331), Los Angeles (299), Baltimore (219), Houston (217), New Orleans (193), Dallas (154), Memphis (133), Oakland (126), Phoenix (124), St. Louis (113), Kansas City (105) and Indianapolis (101) all cracked the century mark in homicides. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/19/fbi-chicagoofficially-america-murder-capital/ 4
Solution The Culinary Arts Program primary objective is to introduce employment opportunity thereby reducing violence among youth The Chef Culinary program would prevent and/or reduce violence by: 1) conduct strategic scheduled training during after school hours and from 6pm to 10pm daily Monday through Friday. According to the Juvenile crime statistics, crimes committed by juveniles are most likely to occur on school days in the hours immediately following the end of a school day. On non-school days juvenile crimes are most likely to occur between the hours of eight and ten at night; and, 2) Give our young people the hope and opportunity to get involved in the number one fastest growing private sector in America. The Culinary Program foundation mission, goals and objective is to make the culinary experience exciting and tasteful. Many teens will grab hold of the opportunity to find a new change in life. This youth transition of change has been our past experience while operating the program. Successful program outcomes depend on the enrollments of at risk youth from our initial recruitment areas: the South Shore, Greater Grand Crossing, Woodlawn and Auburn-Gresham, and Englewood communities in Chicago. Juvenile delinquency in these areas, according to Chicago Police Department in the 3rd and 6th police district is mostly confined to misdemeanor property crimes and quality of life crimes. Many of these crimes occur after school and during the hours of 8 pm to 10 pm. We believe our program outcomes will reduce these crime statistics in both districts, as well as other districts using a hands on training curriculum, balanced restorative justice activity that focus on youth strengths/needs to transform delinquent behavior to establish positive relations within their perspective community targeted service areas. Program outcomes build project collaborations with restaurant industry corporations to use our culinary program as a pre-employment training opportunity for them to tap into an influx of youth going into the restaurant industry with experience and credentials as chefs, caterers, waiters, servers, sanitation workers, restaurant managers and more that the field has to offer. Earned Income Tax credits will be offered to employers that accept our trained youth. The Chef Culinary Training will introduce youth participants to great jobs in the following areas: Restaurants, Hotels and motels, Bed and breakfasts, Resorts and spas, Campgrounds, Cruise lines, Extended stay and retirement homes, Railroads, Amusement parks/attractions, Country clubs and Convention and Exposition centers Incentive approach According to research, American Youth Policy Forum suggests that regular participation in outof-school time programs can benefit youth in many ways. Out-of-school time program participation can spur higher academic achievement, improve school attendance and student behavior, and increase effort in and enjoyment of school, and it may deter youth from delinquency. But such benefits cannot be obtained if youth do not attend programs, or do not attend them regularly. With so many activities competing for pre-teens’ and teens’ attention (e.g., jobs, school sports, and even risky lures, such as gang involvement), it is sometimes difficult to recruit young people to participate in out-of-school time programs, but incentives offer one sure way to boost this participation.
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Incentives are the various methods used to motivate and/or reward children and youth to participate in out-of-school time programs. Incentives may be in the form of activities (such as special field trips, food, or recreation) or in the form of rewards (such as gift certificates). Youth Culinary Arts seeks to engage youth in a variety of design and capacity contexts, including Employee Cooks incentive- ECI were new employees learn a dish and stick to the preparation and mastering that dish for restaurant supply and customer demand. Once mastered the dish, youth can move on to other dish challenges. Employees enrolled in ECI will benefit from the capacity of percentages earned from each dish sold. Our Youth Management Team -YMT is another incentive that will Develop capacity in participants that is transferrable from one job to another because to survive this initiative youth will learn and be able to function with experience in restaurant management: food & safety, sanitation, inventory, payroll, food prep, scheduling, which youth will need these skills in the restaurant industry for those want us to exploit them to venders and restaurants as experienced available placement workers for their companies. Regarding ECI and YMT, these two initiatives creates a sense of belonging, a sense of autonomy and power, helps youth develop needed social and decision-making skills, builds their sense of competence, and also motivates them to persist. As youth prepare to become adults, their roles change: Instead of always being taken care of, they increasingly take care of themselves. While not all youth will assume traditional leadership roles as they grow older (e.g. positions of authority, political titles, etc.), they will all become the leaders of their own lives, a job that demands leadership ability. To be successful as adults, all youth will be required to demonstrate self-sufficiency and initiative, which includes making the right decisions that lead to success. Furthermore, youth leadership opportunities can give youth the skills that employers most want for their emergent workforce: self motivation, time management, oral and written communication, team work, influencing people, salesmanship, leadership, solving problems, physical skills related to health, and gathering, evaluating, and/or analyzing information. Regardless of the future aspirations of youth, leadership opportunities can help all youth develop the skills they will need in the workforce and for a lifetime of making good decisions.
We will exercise the program goal which is to help youth gain the skills they need to secure, retain and advance in economically self-sustaining jobs and contribute to the economic vitality of the Chicago region. Give continuous work-related counsel and mentoring workshops to low-income job seekers who are prepared for jobs in growth industries and given long-term support to obtain and keep jobs with good pay and exploit placement for youth because of advancement potential.
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Who We Are We are a registered 501 (C)3 community organization in Chicago and officially given nonprofit status in 2007 by the state of Illinois. Mission Statement To produce violence reduction strategies and prevent a repeated relapse into criminal or delinquent behavior in at risk youth through the five aspects of positive youth development: learning, connecting, thriving, working, and leading To create and mentor a Youth Leadership Counsel for selected underprivileged communities To recruit and train available parents as mentors To mentor teens from adolescent to adulthood Our purpose is to teach youth through individual empowerment toward self-improvement in personal, social, academic, vocational and economic skills which would nurture a positive growth in morality, responsibility, education, work relations, and family structure Our goals is to effectively modify behavior patterns, increase young adult’s ability to create jobs and increase young adult’s wiliness to serve their communities collectively; to observe and document the strengths and positive attributes in our youth through case-management; to direct those strengths and attributes toward youth leadership in our network of activities Our objective is to establish an active presents in underprivileged communities for our programs to function and be self-sufficient. Our programs Community Gardening -Horticulture, Culinary Arts program, Dedicated Mentoring, Youth Leadership council, Vacant Building Rehab program, Paid Amature Sports Series – PASS League Seed Money is Needed We are requesting seed money of $247,300 for our pilot programming. Start-up funding is $100,000
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