June Update

June Update

ACT Members

Academy of Scholastic Achievement
 Austin Childcare Providers' Network
Art Resources in Teaching
 Bethel New Life, Inc.
ChildServ
Circle Family Healthcare Network
Circle Urban Ministries
Center for Labor and Community Research
Dominican University
Erikson Institute
Jump Start
KIPP
Mercy Housing Lakefront
Pathfinders Prevention Education Fund
The Peace Corner
Phalanx Family Services
Prevention Partnership
St. Joseph Services
Stand for Children
UIC College of Education
Westside Health Authority
Youth Guidance

 


ACT Champion

 


Other ACT Supporters
ABC Bank
US Bank
austin weekly news logo
Channings Childcare
Charter One Logo
CountryFinancial
CS Insurance
iafc
LISC_Chicago_logo300dpi
polkbros
SEIU-logo
ACYJ
austin-talks-screen-grab
Austinflag

 


If you have an announcement you would like to share with the ACT Network through our email updates, or at the monthly Member Circle, click here to fill out and submit the form to give us all the details. Thanks!

Check in with ACT Members!

Date: Thursday June 25th

Time: 9:30-11am

Location: Friendship Baptist Church, 5200 W. Jackson Blvd.

Purpose: To check in with ACT members and build community

Meeting Preview

Come check in with ACT members and others from our network on Thursday June 25th. Our focus this month will be UCAN and their CITY Initiative. The mission of UCAN is to build strong youth and families though compassionate healing, education and empowerment.  UCAN’s CITY initiative is a bold solution to the violence plaguing Chicago’s communities.  CITY seeks to address this crisis through a unique approach which coordinates programs and services across providers, utilizing data integration and uniform evaluation methodology.  Further, CITY includes a physical move for UCAN to a new campus in North Lawndale. Come out and learn from UCAN!

ACT’s System of Supports

Early Childhood

Resource Directory

The Austin Early Childhood Collaborative is hard at work organizing its first annual Early Childhood Symposium for this fall.  The goals of the  Symposium include creating a space for teachers, providers, parents, and other care givers to develop relationships and learn from one another; creating awareness of the social emotional needs of Austin’s young children; and providing training opportunities for all types of stakeholders on how to address social emotional needs.    The AECC meets the second Tuesday of every month from 9:00-11:00am at GoodCity, 5049 W. Harrison.  For more information, contact the AECC chairperson, Ruth Kimble, at 773.379.7627 or visit the AECC site.

Youth Development

Restorative Justice Training

The Austin Coalition for Youth Justice (ACYJ) is partnering with Community Justice for Youth Institute (CJYI) and Illinois Collaborative on Youth (ICOY) to train 30 community members, religious leaders, business owners, and social service staff as Peace Circle Keepers this month.  This training will teach community members how to keep Peace Circles, an effective method for conflict resolution and Restorative Justice  This is part of an effort to build Austin’s capacity to hold youth offenders accountable within the community to prevent deeper involvement in the justice system.  Trainees will be supported by ACYJ to incorporate circle keeping into their peace keeping and youth development work in Austin. in their communities  If you are interested in learning more about Restorative Justice, Peace Circles, or the Austin Coalition for Youth Justice, please contact Andrew Born at 773.417.8612.

Workforce Development

Empowerment Project Kicks Off

Austin Coming Together continues to work with its partners– Manufacturing Renaissance, City Colleges, Spencer, Pyramid Partnership, Safer Foundation, Westside Health Authority, Phalanx Family Services, TASC, West Humboldt Park Development Council, and Friendship Community Development Corporation of Austin– to improve the quality and connectedness of supports for residents in gaining and retaining living wage employment.  ACT’s Workforce Collaborative will be meeting to review the initial data collected on program participants and begin to make action plans for program coordination on July 16th  from  10am to 12pm at GoodCity, 5049 W. Harrison.   For more information about the Empowerment Project, contact Darnell Shields, at 773.417.8613.

Built Environment

Austin Coming Together is the new lead agency in Austin for the City of Chicago’s Micro Market Recovery Program (MMRP), a neighborhood stabilization initiative targeting small geographic areas that are experiencing higher-than-normal problems with foreclosures.  The target area for Austin lies between Chicago Ave on the north, Laramie Ave to the east, Kinzie St to the south, and Central Ave to the west.  Austin Coming Together will be working with its members, local block clubs and churches, and citywide entities to coordinate the necessary resources to reoccupy vacant and foreclosed homes and prevent future foreclosures in the target area.  Please stay tuned for further updates as the program gets off the ground.  For more information contact Andrew Born at 773.417.8612.

Announcements

Take a look at ACT’s new membership offerings:

Preview New Membership Structure

Here’s a sneak peak at ACT’s website:

Preview ACT’s new website

Check out one of our new member features:

Members can now post their own events on the ACT community calendar!

Transportation Survey

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago invite you to participate in an online survey about transit use in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.  For your your participation, you will be entered into a chance to win one of four Kindle Fire HD tablets or one of fifty $15 gift certificates from Target Store.  Participants must be 18 or older and resident of one of the following counties: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry or Wil.  To participate please go to http://survey.utc.uic.edu

For more event information and announcements, visit the ACT Exchange.