Austin Coming Together 042121

April 21, 2021

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1

THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY PUBLISHED ITS FIRST QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN CALLED AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. (AFT) IN 2018.

THIS QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DESCRIBES HOW AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER (ACT) IS SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY TO IMPLEMENT AFT AND OTHER EFFORTS.

SEEKING EQUITY FOR

AUSTIN

How the community is tackling deep-rooted health injustices.

A PATH TO HEALTH EQUITY PAGE 3 | SUPPORTING PLAN IMPLEMENTATION YEAR THREE PAGE 4 FOOD APARTHEID: HOW AUSTIN IS RECREATING ITS FOOD ECOSYSTEM PAGE 7

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Austin Weekly News • April 21, 2021

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1

Since 2010, Austin Coming Together (ACT) has facilitated collaboration to improve education and economic development outcomes in Chicago’s Austin community.

Today, we serve 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 a stable Housing Market.

ACT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers CHAIR

Larry Williams Broker, State Farm Insurance VICE-CHAIR

Angela Waller Community & Government Relations Director, Advocate Aurora Health SECRETARY

Bradly Johnson Director of External Affairs, BUILD Inc.

TREASURER

LaDarius Curtis Senior Director of Community Engagement & Health, West Side United EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Darnell Shields Austin Coming Together

Directors Sharon Morgan Director of Graduate Support & Community Outreach, Catalyst Schools

Reverend Reginald E. Bachus

Tenisha Jones

Ruth Kimble

Senior Director of Strategy & Operations, West Side United

Founder & CEO, Austin Childcare Providers Network

Reginald Little

Jerrod Williams

Mortgage Loan Originator, Fifth Third Bank

Law Clerk, Illinois Appellate Court

Dawn Ferencak Senior Marketing Strategist, Chicago Parent

Deborah Williams Community Outreach & Engagement Specialist, Habilitative Systems, Inc.

In Memoriam BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jack Macnamara 1937–2020 FOUNDING BOARD CHAIR

Mildred Wiley 1955–2019

Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church

ACT STAFF Leadership Team Darnell Shields* Executive Director

Shavion Scott

Strategic Initiatives Team Sandra Diaz

Deputy Director

Service Delivery Enhancement Manager, Austin Community Hub

Andrew Born

Jai Jones

Research & Evaluation * Ex Officio Member of the ACT Board of Directors

Engagement Specialist, Austin Community Hub

Dollie Sherman Engagement Specialist, Austin Community Hub

Ethan Ramsay Lead Organizer, Austin Forward. Together.

Marketing & Development Team Alicia Plomin** Marketing & Development Manager

Dearra Williams

Nicole Marcus

Marketing & Development Associate

Neighborhood Network Liaison

**Also part of the ACT Leadership Team

We’re hiring! Learn more at AustinComingTogether.org

ACT MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS A House in Austin Allies for Community Business

Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures

Kids First Chicago

South Austin Neighborhood Association

KRA Westside American Job Center

St. Joseph Services

Jane Addams Resource Corporation

Austin Childcare Providers Network

Chicago Community Loan Fund

Legal Aid Chicago (fka LAF)

St. Leonard’s Ministries

City of Refuge

Manufacturing Renaissance

Austin Community Family Center

Cluster Tutoring Program

Mary Shyrese Daycare

Stone Community Development Corporation

Austin Weekly News

Erikson Institute

Maryville Academy

Be Strong Families

Friends of the Children

Mercy Housing Lakefront

Beat the Streets Chicago

Friendship Community Development Corp. of Austin

New Moms

Greater West Town Community Development Project

Oak Park Regional Housing Center

Housing Forward

PCC Community Wellness Center

I.C. Stars

Project Exploration

IFF

Renaissance Social Services, Inc.

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

Sarah’s Inn

Because I Care Bethel New Life Beyond Hunger BUILD Inc.

By The Hand Club for Kids Cara Catholic Charities

OAI, Inc. Open Books

The Catalyst Schools The Loretto Hospital The North Avenue District, Inc. UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work VOCEL Westside Health Authority West Side Forward Youth Guidance

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1

Austin Weekly News • April 21, 2021

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A path to health equity

By Darnell Shields Executive Director, Austin Coming Together

A

ustin is Chicago’s largest community area with nearly 100,000 people but it only has two grocery stores. Lincoln Park, on the other hand, has ten grocery stores for their 60,000 residents.

Unfortunately, that is just one example. Austin residents also struggle to find the same quality education, living-wage jobs, and safety that is readily available in other areas.

Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world. But life in some areas is dramatically different than others. Your zip code really determines how close to home you will find quality health care or education, healthy food, and even a well paying job.

When it comes to equity—defined as fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all people—it is simply not present in Austin.

Why? Years of disinvestment and lack of support for essential services and infrastructure.

With high unemployment, low life expectancy, and limited to no access to certain resources, families here face racial injustice on several levels.

When a community lacks basic infrastructure, it becomes more vulnerable to the effects of a disaster being detrimental in the long-term, especially a disaster of the caliber of COVID-19.

The events of 2020 exposed broken systems, oppressive policies, and layers of deeply rooted injustice. But it also showed just how strong the Austin community is.

Through riots, unrest, and much heartbreak, Austin remained resilient. And we continue to push through seemingly insurmountable challenges because we are standing together to face them.

Austin is my home, so seeing the creative and often heroic ways neighbors are helping each other fuels my passion for this work.

Austin Coming Together (ACT), alongside other stakeholders, has been dedicated to

and faith-based entities, West Side United’s ‘Live Healthy West Side’ framework brings health education, training, and services to vulnerable populations through community engagement. These and other efforts are helping West Side neighborhoods grow stronger, healthier I have never been more into and more vibrant places proud of my colleagues to live.

connecting Austin to the opportunities it needs since our inception in 2010. We leverage our network and experience in order to mobilize resource distribution and increase equitable access.

Last year, ACT joined Mayor Lightfoot’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team (RERRT) and its collective effort to address racial disparities Far beyond health in Black and Brown at the Austin clinic. care, there are many communities. In an social factors that attempt to flatten the They’ve shown we will determine a family’s COVID-19 mortality of thriving. curve, the RERRT step in and do more with chances That is why West Side partnered with local United partners like groups to launch no hesitation.

Rush University Medical an education and Center have expanded engagement strategy, DARLENE HIGHTOWER, their mission from generate and distribute VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY beyond providing expert PPE supplies, and set up HEALTH EQUITY AT RUSH health care to improving testing sites including the quality of life for five in Austin. Through people in its diverse neighboring communities, this, the foundation for future work to tackle long standing and systemic inequities was laid. like Austin.

Being part of this effort has allowed ACT to “When you have a strong economic magnify the needs of Austin and participate in foundation, the health outcomes are better,” the creation of community-centric strategies. said Darlene Hightower, Vice President of West Side United takes a similar approach seeking out community involvement in designing solutions. The group was formed through input from local residents and leaders who wanted to see tangible impact in metrics like economic vitality, housing cost burden, and violent crime rates. As a collaborative of health care institutions, residents, educators, non-profits, businesses, government agencies

Community Health Equity at Rush.

In addition to critical support of COVID-19 response, Rush has improved mental health access in schools, and served 10,000 families on the west side with food within the past year. Recently, Rush was called upon to assist with a Protect Chicago Plus initiative and to help create, set up and run two temporary vaccine clinics in Austin in a matter of a few short weeks.

“I have never been more proud of my colleagues at the Austin clinic. They’ve shown we will step in and do more with no hesitation,” said Hightower.

Although it is more common now than in years past, this level of coordination and partnership must become the standard going forward.

My faith in a beautiful future for my community has not wavered. We are on the right path, but it will take rethinking and retooling how we invest in communities to really see places like Austin thrive. n

TOP—A small group of Dominican University nursing students volunteered to assist at the clinic at Catalyst Circle Rock. Photo courtesy of Dominican University.

BOTTOM—Time-lapse photo from the clinic.

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Austin Weekly News • April 21, 2021

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1

ACT awards over $184K Supporting Plan Implementation Year Three

A

ustin’s quality-of-life plan, called Austin Forward. Together.

(AFT), is a set of goals created by and for the community designed to address 23 strategies with 84 total actions across 7 Issue Areas between 2019 and 2023: Community Narrative, Education, Housing, Youth Empowerment, Economic Development, Public Safety, and Civic Engagement.

Today, there are more than 40 dedicated volunteer members across seven Task Forces, one for each Issue Area. In partnership with ACT, these Task Forces have signed on over 40 unique organizations as Implementation Partners and together have initiated more than 30% of the plan’s total actions so far!

In 2018, ACT’s ability to apply community-driven solutions to foster economic opportunity resulted in a $1 million Vital Communities grant from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Part of that investment is being utilized to support necessary infrastructure, and the remainder

is allocated to Core Members implementing activities in the plan. In 2019, $64,000 of those funds were distributed to Implementation Partners already working to accomplish some of the AFT priority actions, while $181,848 were distributed in 2020.

This year, we are proud to announce that eight organizations have been selected to whom $184,792 total funds will be distributed.

Recipients are ACT Core Members who submitted the most thorough proposals for work that is primed and ready to happen now.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The goal of the Economic Development Task Force 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 2.2*: E xpand and support local resources like bootcamps and apprenticeships in high demand economic sectors.

$25,000

will support New Moms’ job training programs to help prepare young mothers ages 16-24 for careers in high demand sectors like advanced manufacturing, health care, and building and trades. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the need for this program and its services due to the high increase of unemployment and homelessness in the Austin community. Participants will gain knowledge and skills, practice them in real time, and receive assistance locating an opportunity that will lead to lifelong employment stability.

$20,000

will be allocated to Manufacturing Renaissance (MR) for their YMA Manufacturing Bootcamp that offers residents ages 18-29 ten weeks of technical training and career development. The YMA is an innovative contribution to the broader workforce development and education landscape that systematically inspires, and prepares young people for living wage careers in manufacturing. Bootcamp participants get exposure to employer and strategic partnership development, program recruitment and orientation, technical training, professionalism training, plus job interview coordination and placement.

FUNDED ACTION 2.3*: Build a new Manufacturing Training Center in Austin.

$25,000

will aid Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) in the development and build-out of a training space at Freedman Seating.

In fall 2019, JARC was unexpectedly asked to halt their manufacturing training and support services that had been operating at the Austin College & Career Academy since 2017. A new facility for this important program means Austin residents will now have the chance to complete their training in welding and computer numerical control without leaving Austin while JARC lays the groundwork for their move into a state-of-the-art manufacturing center.

*These reference numbers coincide with the full list of Strategies and Actions in the plan.

READ THE FULL AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. PLAN ONLINE AT AustinComingTogether.org/QLP

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1

Austin Weekly News • April 21, 2021

PUBLIC SAFETY The goal of the Public Safety Task Force 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 2.2*: C reate an Austin Restorative

FUNDED ACTION 2.3*: E xpand outreach intervention programs

Justice Court.

$25,000

that break the cycle of violence.

will support BUILD Inc. in creating an Austin Restorative Justice Center as they wait for Chief Judge Evans’ approval of Austin’s first Restorative Justice Community Court (RJCC).. Restorative Justice is a philosophy that focuses on repairing the harm caused to people and relationships, aiming to humanize all those involved in a group or conflict. Value is placed on empathy, learning, collaboration, mediation, and the ability to have brave conversations.

$25,000

will allow the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago (INVC) and Hope Community Church to expand their public safety and street outreach for the Austin community. With violence increasing, creating peace-building activities and conducting training programs on conflict management will encourage greater social cohesion, creating a safer space for everyone. Funds will also be used to support joint Hope Community Church/INVC events and activities planned by peacemaker participants that will engage the community, promote peace, and bring resources to those who need them most. Collectively, these efforts will empower residents who are involved with street organizations to use their influence to change the tide on specific neighborhood blocks.

COMMUNITY NARRATIVE The goal of the Community Narrative Task Force 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 for local arts and culture.

FUNDED ACTION 3.4*: B uild a sense of community through activities such as

FUNDED ACTION 2.1*: Bridge the gap between

creating and maintaining community gardens.

$15,644

will support the South Austin Neighborhood Association (SANA) in helping the recently created Austin Veterans Community Organization (AVCO) engage with more Austin-area veterans and others to take advantage of group therapy, peace circles, and meditation at the Veterans Peace Garden.

Funding will also support members of the Austin Garden Collective who are working to maintain safe and beautiful spaces throughout Austin by volunteering in local gardens.

Plus, funds will help improve and expand physical structures in SANA’s Farm to Table Summer Community Garden, as well as support efforts to create to create new educational programming that teach residents how to maximize their financial resources while maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle so they can address food insecurity, financial strain, and worsening health.

residents’ experiences and how they are reflected by media outlets.

$24,148

will support the expansion of Westside Health Authority’s Austin Has The Mic (AHTM) youth training program. This program teaches 20 participants the basics of broadcasting, videography and photography. The main goal is to cultivate strong relationships and give Austin residents a voice on multiple mass media platforms. Funding will go towards supporting the expansion of the weekly podcast show, which will incorporate interviews from community members about current events and social injustice topics.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT The goal of the Youth Empowerment Task Force is for Austin to have healthier and more engaged youth who are able to reach their full potential.

FUNDED ACTION 3.4*: C reate paths for youth interactions with mentors and role models.

$25,000

will provide staffing for St. Joseph Services’ Youth Mentoring Program at St. Angela’s Catholic School in Austin, allowing them to increase the number of youth they serve. The program offers Austin’s young people a safe mentoring environment that promotes education, peaceful conflict resolution, and sustained healthy behavior and positive community engagement.

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Austin Weekly News • April 21, 2021

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1 Education

Housing

Public Safety

TASK FORCE CHAIRS

TASK FORCE CHAIRS

TASK FORCE CHAIRS

Plan Leaders

Natasha Smith-Walker

Athena Williams

Bradly Johnson

Community Narrative

Crystal Bell

Project Exploration

Economic Development

TASK FORCE CHAIRS

TASK FORCE CHAIR

Briana Shields

Jerrod Williams

Briana Janeé Arts

Kenneth Varner Healthy Schools Campaign

STRATEGY LEADS

Lasondra Kern

Community Resident

Suzanne McBride

Community Resident, South Austin Neighborhood Association Member INTERIM TASK FORCE CO-CHAIR

Heather Sattler

Community Development Consultant

Austin Talks

STRATEGY LEADS

Michael Romain

Erica Staley

Austin Weekly News

Alicia Plomin

Austin Coming Together

Cindy Schneider Spaces-n-Places

Manufacturing Renaissance

Emily Peters

Jane Addams Resource Corporation

Tina Augustus

Ella Flagg Young Elementary School

Charles Anderson

Michele Clark High School STRATEGY LEADS

Ruth Kimble

Austin Childcare Providers Network

Madelyn James

Austin Childcare Providers Network

Pam Price

Chicago Public Schools

West Cook Homeownership Center/ OPRHC

Allison McGowan

Community Resident STRATEGY LEADS

Shirley Fields Hunters Realty

Rosie Dawson

BUILD Inc.

Marilyn Pitchford Heartland Alliance

Chris Patterson

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago STRATEGY LEADS

Adam Alonso BUILD Inc.

Westside Health Authority

Bradly Johnson

Athena Williams

Edwina Hamilton

West Cook Homeownership Center/ OPRHC

Natasha Dunn VOCEL

Cata Truss

Community Resident

Sean Schindl

Kids First Chicago

Austin Chamber of Commerce

Youth Empowerment

Civic Engagement

TASK FORCE CHAIRS

TASK FORCE CHAIR

Carmen Scott-Boria

Deborah Williams

BUILD Inc.

D’Elegance Lane Westside Health Authority

STRATEGY LEADS

Deonna Hart BUILD Inc.

Gina Young

Habilitative Systems Inc. STRATEGY LEADS

Arnold Bearden

South Austin Neighborhood Association (SANA)

Sharif Walker Bethel New Life

Catholic Charities

BUILD Inc. BUILD Inc.

Juan Villalobos BUILD Inc.

Gina Young

Catholic Charities

Bertha Purnell

Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

Jose Abonce

The Policing Project

Roxanne Charles West Side Forward

INTERESTED IN JOINING AN IMPLEMENTATION TASK FORCE?

Contact ACT’s Lead Organizer, Ethan Ramsay at 630.474.4016 or eramsay@austincomingtogether.org for more information

AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2021 QUARTER 1

Austin Weekly News • April 21, 2021

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Food apartheid:

How Austin is recreating its food ecosystem

By Alicia Plomin Marketing & Development Manager, Austin Coming Together

F

or generations, residents of Chicago’s Austin community have been challenged to find what others might consider basic resources. The neighborhood has plenty of liquor stores, mini-marts, and gas stations, but fresh food is hard to come by.

Austin is often referred to as a ‘food desert,’ but that term does not accurately describe the decades of systemic racism, neglect, and misinvestment that have created these conditions.

transportation, housing, and education before COVID-19, and now the pandemic has greatly exacerbated these difficulties.

Due to a lack of mobility or transportation options, many Austin residents who need the emergency food services of pantries and soup kitchens can’t access them.

As part of the city’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team (RERRT), Austin Coming Together (ACT) led weekly food distributions in the summer and fall of 2020. Even with nine other Austin based food pantries, the effort still served 750-1,000 families every week. ACT responded by convening the community around this growing issue.

Through that convening, the depth of the problem became even more clear.

“When you think of a desert, it’s a naturally occurring environment, so calling neighborhoods food deserts when they don’t have healthy food options is basically saying ‘this just happens in some places,’” said Liz Abunaw, owner of Forty Acres Fresh Market.

“At its core, Austin Eats addresses the inequalities in food access that drive the inequalities of health and economic outcomes for Austin,” says Abunaw. “When you have an inequitable food system, and the choice to be healthy in your diet is not readily available, that extends to unequal access for people’s health, jobs, income, and neighborhood built environment.”

Therefore, ‘food apartheid’ is a better fit. “What we see today is inequality and segregation. What we have to do is break down these barriers, and that’s why we are facing food apartheid in the Austin community,” said Abunaw.

The result of lack of food resources? Austin residents spend 85% of their disposable income in Oak Park and other neighboring areas. This trend must change if we are to revitalize the community. The time is now, and the work has already begun.

Access to healthy food options should be the right of every single American; unfortunately, it has become more of a privilege. This is evidenced by the fact that nearly 4 out of 10 households were making stressful tradeoff decisions between food, healthcare,

A diverse group of stakeholders have come together with an holistic approach to address the entire food ecosystem with the goal of achieving long-term sustainable change.

AUSTIN EATS

“Food apartheid” describes Austin’s lack of food access caused by years of systemic issues.

THE PROBLEM

55.4% of Austin’s residents report having easy access to fruits and vegetables.

Source: chicagohealthatlas.org

This effort, called Austin Eats, will synergize the organizations already working to promote healthier food choices across Austin and create an infrastructure geared toward food access. To accomplish this, Austin’s entire food continuum needs to be considered, from community gardens, food pantries, and grocery stores, to food cooperatives, culinary entrepreneurs and restaurants.

These funders came together to form the Austin Fresh Fund in an effort to explore what it would mean to support greater access to healthy food in the Austin community on Chicago’s West Side—a key strategy of Austin’s Quality of Life Plan. They pooled a pledged $1 million in grant funds and have awarded resources to several of the organizations involved in the Austin Eats Initiative.

Austin Eats is “a collaborative action that brings the ideas of individual organizations, residents, and faith-based leaders together to scale a more cohesive, robust and strong food system that covers the needs of everything in Austin. We came to the understanding that alone, we will not solve the problem,” says Abunaw.

While the Austin Eats plan spans a five year timeline, organizers are concentrating the first year’s efforts on uniting the various groups already touching parts of this work; crafting a cohesive plan that will stand the test of time; and implementing strategies for successful execution.

Ways to address these problems are outlined in the Austin Forward. Together. plan, a set of goals created by and for the community designed to utilize 23 strategies with 84 total actions to improve seven issue areas by the year 2023: Community Narrative, Education, Housing, Youth Empowerment, Economic Development, Public Safety, and Civic Engagement.

The Austin Eats initiative was born out of the Community Narrative (CN) issue area in Austin Forward. Together., which describes the community’s desire to revitalize the image and spirit of Austin by creating environments that foster health and wellness and promote healthier food choices across Austin. This community led effort was made possible through the collaboration of the Christopher Family Foundation, Lumpkin Family Foundation and The Builder’s Initiative.

REAL SOLUTIONS The Austin community is slowly moving towards a more equitable food ecosystem with a future grocery store and food co-op at different stages of development.

Austin’s food co-op educates residents on the significance of integrating healthy food choices in a daily diet. They will teach food literacy, mental and physical wellness, as well as cultural empowerment.

Furthermore, Austin Eats will support a pilot program for culinary entrepreneurs that provides 250 meals per month to Austin families.

To date, twenty two organizations are now working together to support and lead the implementation of the Austin Eats initiative.

THE PLAN Austin Eats outlines plans to change the food landscape and rewrite the narrative around food in Austin by focusing on: •G rocery Access & Culinary Entrepreneurship: Last year’s Farmers Market as managed

by Forty Acres through the city’s Dept. of Cultural Affairs & Special Events was a valuable resource for residents. Over the next two years, Austin Eats aims to increase the number of market customers from 50 to as many as 150, and to double the number of vendors.

•G ardens & Farms: A new community garden will be built in northeast Austin, while efforts to support a year-round hydroponic farm and 20+ existing community gardens is also a focus.

• Marketing: Increasing awareness of Austin Eats and the work it involves will be a challenge, but it is essential in helping this initiative succeed. n

We We We

about AUSTIN. about OUR CITY. about EQUITY.

Chicago’s Austin community is full of incredibly passionate individuals and groups who truly care for one another. It has beautiful architecture, housing stock, and an immense potential for growth. But it is also struggling now more than ever. From job loss to food insecurity, existing problems have recently gotten worse.

Austin Coming Together (ACT) has worked alongside our 50+ member network to serve and care for Austin families since 2010. Since COVID-19 began, we have connected thousands of residents to critical resources, but the need is still growing.

2

COVID-19 temporary Vaccine Clinics

$158K

support for communitybuilding efforts

200

Wellness Kits distributed

$210K+ direct financial assistance to families

Show how much you Join the #AustinCares campaign today!

In order to continue supporting Austin families right now, we need your help.

Make an impact where it’s needed most!

DONATE ONLINE AT

AustinComingTogether.org/AustinCares