During the STEP-UP program, Fellows will be working with organizations in the communities where they are living. This allows the Fellows to create connections between their school placements, host family placements, and the surrounding community.
Below you will find descriptions of the community based organizations that the fellows will be collaborating with throughout their summer program.
STEP-UP Community Based Organizations SUMMER 2011
STEP-UP Community Based Organizations SUMMER 2011
Auburn-Gresham Organizations
 | GRANDFamilies Program of Chicago GRANDFamilies Program of Chicago was birthed out of a vision to provide housing for grandparents raising grandchildren which has evolved into a Grandparent Resource and Support Center which has a separate Housing Resource Center to serve out clients, seniors and others in need of housing. GRANDFamilies offers support groups for grandparents to interact with others that experience the same problems and develop a network for parents to gain knowledge and strength to face everyday difficulties. GRANDFamilies Program of Chicago 400 W. 76th Street, Suite 112 Chicago, IL 60620 (773) 651-9081 |
 | St. Sabina Employment Resource Center The mission of the Employment Resource Center (ERC) is to develop the employability of individuals so they may secure and retain meaningful career paths. The ERC staff supports and encourages individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and an improved overall quality of life. The vision of the ERC is that one day the unemployment rate within its targeted communities will be zero. Stable employment in a community is necessary for the economy in the community to grow and prosper. The ERC focuses on preparing people for the workplace. The ERC staff works along with employers, city colleges, and targeted skills development agencies in designing training programs and services that will prepare its clients to be stellar employees - ready to work and eager to serve. The programs are designed to provide the support and training necessary for every client to achieve meaningful employment and take advantage of future career growth opportunities. Equally as important, the program is designed to build up the confidence of each client in their own abilities so that they seek to pursue their careers of choice and not just seek employment for employment sake. St. Sabina Employment Resource Center 7909 S. Racine Ave. Chicago, IL 60620 (773) 783-3760 |
 | Boulevard Arts Center Boulevard Arts Center provides a safe-haven and alternative for youth to gangs, drugs and crime enabling them to achieve their full creative potential. The Center serves as a unique model for the development of professional arts out of a community base. Through professional instruction, production, presentation of the visual, literary and performing arts, Boulevard Arts Center enhances cultural pride, self- esteem cross-cultural understanding; which develops talents individually and collectively, while beautifying the neighborhoods. The Center empowers people to improve their community and instills a sense of community pride. Boulevard Arts Center 400 W. 76th Street Suite 204 Chicago, IL 60620 (773) 487-4251 |
 | Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation The Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) works to foster and promote revitalization of the low-to-moderate income neighborhoods of Auburn-Gresham, Englewood and West Chatham. The organization's service area runs from 67th Street to 83rd Street north to south, and the Dan Ryan Expressway to Damen Avenue east to west. GADC receives support from many sources and contributors including the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Chicago (LISC/Chicago), the MacArthur Foundation, the City of Chicago’s Departments Community Development and Environment, State of Illinois, and local private & financial institutions. GADC offers innovative strategies in improving the quality of life in Auburn Gresham including: •Community Economic Development •Housing and Senior Services •Real Estate Development •Informative and Educational Services Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) 7901 S. Racine Ave Chicago, IL 60620 (773) 483-3696 |
 | Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago Neighborhood Housing Services is a nonprofit neighborhood revitalization organization committed to helping homeowners and strengthening neighborhoods throughout Chicago and Elgin. Neighborhood Lending Services (NLS), an NHS-affiliated corporation, is Illinois’ largest nonprofit lender for homeowners and new home buyers. Neighborhood Housing Services’ mission is to create opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives, and strengthen their neighborhoods. Since 1975, they have done this by educating and preparing new homeowners for success, lending to help people buy, fix and keep their homes, sustaining homeownership through foreclosure prevention services, preserving, rehabbing and investing in housing and building powerful and enduring community partnerships. Established in 1975, NHS has helped over 182,000 families, loaned $495 Million to people to help keep, fix or buy homes and educated more than 28,000 potential new home buyers. Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago-Auburn Gresham Office 449 W. 79th Street Chicago, IL 60620 (773) 488-2004 |
 | ACCESS @ Perspectives Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) is Chicagoland’s largest private primary health care provider to the underserved and the nation’s largest community health center organization. ACCESS’s mission is provide outstanding preventive and primary health care, accessible to all in their own communities. ACCESS @ Perspectives is committed to serving the unmet health needs of the middle school and high school students at Perspectives Charter School-Calumet Campus. ACCESS @ Perspectives-Calumet 8131 S. May Street Chicago, IL 60620 (773) 994-3814 |
Little Village Organizations
 | Beyond the Ball Our mission is to empower urban youth to transform their community, not escape it. We teach youth personal social responsibility through sports. Often times, you will hear someone talk about “getting out” of a community like Little Village or North Lawndale. Beyond the Ball is unique in that it stresses the importance of developing the community—not just individuals. When youth grow up and take their skills elsewhere, the community will continue to struggle. But if those youth remain in the community, helping build it up, everyone’s lives will improve. Beyond the Ball wants to see its participants become leaders right in their own community. The goal is to maintain a relationship with youth all the way through college, mentoring them at each step of the way. As kids grow, they are not only participating in different programs, they also begin to mentor those who follow. Instead of generational gaps, there becomes a generational responsibility. As much as possible, youth are given ownership of their programs, leading activities for their peers, coaching younger students, and being responsible for program structure. These elements of youth leadership, mentoring, and serving create the environment through which our mission is accomplished. Beyond the Ball 2756 S. Lawndale- 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60623 (773) 847-6207 |
 | Chicago Youth Boxing Club The Chicago Youth Boxing Club "CYBC" encourages participation in a competitive boxing atmosphere. This type of environment enables our youth to understand the value of good sportsmanship, team unity, and self-respect, instead of having them accept the negative alternatives of joining gangs, doing drugs, and ending up in prison. The CYBC was established on December 4, 2001 and moved into their home at 2300 S. Millard in the Fall of 2007. CYBC is a not-for-profit organization that is located near the border of Chicago's Little Village and North Lawndale communities. This organization is aimed at emphasizing the importance of academics and physical fitness to our inner-city youth. Chicago Youth Boxing Club 2300 South Millard Ave, basement Chicago, IL 60623-3109 (773) 521-9555 |
 | Enlace Chicago Enlace Chicago is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of the residents of the Little Village Community by fostering a physically safe and healthy environment in which to live and by championing opportunities for educational advancement and economic development. Through community organizing, youth and adult programming, innovative strategies are implemented to improve the quality of life in Little Village through the following core areas:
Enlace Chicago – Main Office 2756 S. Harding Chicago, IL 60623 (773) 542-9233 Enlace Chicago – Violence Prevention 2300 S. Millard, 3rd floor Chicago, IL 60623 (773) 823-1062 |
 | Little Village Environmental Justice Organization We work for justice at home and abroad, connecting our local struggle for democracy with the global one and live by the principle that as working and poor people globally, we have the right to control our lives and resources. Current campaigns through LVEJO include:
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization 2856 South Millard Avenue Chicago, IL 60623-4550 (773) 762-6991 |
 | Taller de José Taller de José is a non for profit resource center where people who lack the basic necessities and freedoms of life can come to be accompanied in the search for services and people who will help them. Taller de José does not duplicate already existing services in the ecclesial and civic communities of Chicago but partners with them to help alleviate human sufferings cause by, but not limited to, hunger, domestic abuse, addictions, homelessness, sickness and violence. Taller de José 3047 West Cermak Road Chicago, IL 60623 (773) 542-1019 |
 | Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital Substantial improvement...because life doesn't stop for a disability. For Schwab’s physicians, therapists, nurses and case managers, that’s not only an inspiration. It’s the bottom line. As a partner in the rehab process, they work hard to make sure that every patient gets the help they need to reach their highest functional potential. Last year, nearly three-quarters of their inpatients re-entered their communities from their newly expanded, comprehensive Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, just three miles from Chicago’s Loop. Once the patients are back home, they offer them outpatient care at the hospital. Working with a wide range of partners, Schwab provides primary, acute, subacute, and outpatient care to disabled people who live in the community. Schwab Rehab was the first accredited rehabilitation hospital in the Midwest. Today, they continue to redefine health care delivery for the life of our patients. Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital 1401 South California Boulevard Chicago, IL 60608 (773) 522-2010 |
