Note: Story updated on April 29. Just west of the Loop is Chicago’s North Lawndale community, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Once a refuge for survivors of the great Chicago fire, it was later a hub for Chicago’s industrial age and eventually one of the places that Martin Luther King Jr. called home. North Lawndale has re-invented itself many times and faced its share of challenges throughout the years, but it remains a vibrant community.

Over the last five years, North Lawndale has been battling a surge in violence, mostly among young African American males. Since 2006, United Way has been working through the African American Initiative (AAI) to develop new, sustainable approaches that will improve the future of at-risk African American young men in five Chicago neighborhoods, including North Lawndale. The strategy behind the AAI is to not only invest money and launch new programs, but to harness communities’ strengths in an effort to fortify their most valuable assets—their youth.

In North Lawndale, United Way is working with the Young Men’s Educational Network (YMEN) and the Lawndale Christian Center to convene social service and government agencies, schools, law enforcement, residents and, more importantly, its young people to work cohesively in devising workable solutions.

In Lawndale, youth in the AAI identified safety as a major hurdle on their path to success. To address this, United Way sponsored a public breakfast dialogue on April 8 with more than 50 health and human service experts, community residents, business leaders, educators and other stakeholders to share their expertise and ideas on how to decrease the violence in North Lawndale.

At the breakfast, a panel discussion, was moderated by Norman Baldwin, former program director at YMEN, addressed the importance of collaborations, best practices, systemic change and resources and invited audience members express their views on these and other issues. Participants included Phil Jackson from the Lawndale Christian Church, John Henry from North Lawndale College Prep., Mariame Kaba of the Steans Foundation and Francis Wooley at the North Lawndale Juvenile Justice Collaborative.

“The input of young people is crucial,” said Jackson. “There is a void in those kinds of opportunities, so our young people begin to lose confidence in us. But by us listening to them, they know their voice exists and that it matters.”

Participants also agreed that collaborations among the various social service providers create the best approach to ensuring that young people receive the most holistic care.

“One of our biggest challenges is the constant re-invention of the wheel,” said Kaba. “If we don’t connect the dots with each other, we will never realize the strength there is in numbers. We must find a way to continue to work together.”

Panelists also cited what they felt were critical elements in the formula to keeping youth safe. These included viable employment opportunities, assistance from the federal government, alternatives to college and the presence of fathers and positive male mentors in the lives of young people. The panel also suggested having community centers and schools open until at least 9 p.m.

“Our goal is that everyone involved be truly vested in ensuring that young African American males grow up safe and able to lead successful and productive lives,” said Wendy DuBoe, United Way Chief Community Investment Officer. “Thanks to programs like YMEN, initiatives like the African American Initiative and community discussions like this one, we can also begin to develop a plan for hope.”

The United Way African American Initiative is also currently active in Bronzeville, Englewood, Roseland and Rogers Park.

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Tocqueville Society co-chairs Deborah L. DeHaas, Ray McCaskey and Pam Strobel hosted the 14th annual United Way Tocqueville Society Recognition Dinner on March 6 at the Adler Planetarium. Honored at the event were United Way Challenge Grant sponsors National City, ComEd and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

On behalf of National City, Joseph Gregoire accepted an award for the half-million dollar challenge grant, which matches dollar-for-dollar every new or increased contribution of $1,000 or more to the 2007-2008 campaign.

Ray McCaskey from BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois accepted the award for sponsoring the African American Initiative grant, matching, 2-to-1 all new and increased contributions to the African American Initiative.

Frank Clark accepted an award on behalf of ComEd for their sponsorship of the Latino Initiative Challenge Grant, which matched, 2-to-1 all new and increased contributions to the United Way Latino Initiative.

In the early 1990s Chicago experienced a recurrence of measles. Many parents in the city’s Austin neighborhood were unaware of the importance of immunizing their children by the age of two—which meant they were often not vaccinated until they enrolled in school. Others were aware of the importance of vaccinations, but lacked the resources and access to healthcare that were necessary to have their children properly immunized.

United Way launched the Austin Immunization Initiative to educate parents and guardians on the value of immunizations, as well as to provide accessible healthcare so parents can stay up-to-date on their children’s vaccines. The Austin Immunization Initiative works by communicating to parents why their children should be immunized, assessing the needs of children and their families, and providing training and resources to day care providers and license-exempt home day care providers. Committee members strategize around efforts to increase immunization rates among children 0-6 in Austin, identify local community partners, conduct assessments, facilitate training and host resource fairs.

The work of United Way in Austin continues. The Austin Immunization Assessment is conducted with school nurses, parents and day care providers to measure the effectiveness of the Austin Immunization Initiative and identify strategies and resources to sustain the Initiative as a model for other communities. United Way is conducting the assessments through the end of March.

Also, to commemorate National Immunization Awareness Week, April 19-26, United Way will host immunization fairs for home day care providers and an Immunization Day at a local church in Austin.

Last summer, United Way launched the implementation phase of the African American Initiative (AAI), a program designed to help young African American males transition successfully to adulthood. United Way is investing $1.9 million in the implementation of these community activities.

Since their selection, the five agency partners who are participating in the initiative have been hard at work implementing their programs. In Englewood, Team Englewood is working on conflict resolution programs and student achievement. In Grand Boulevard, Centers for New Horizons is organizing youth to become leaders in their community. In Greater Roseland, Metropolitan Family Services is working on a unique family group mentoring initiative. In North Lawndale, Lawndale Christian Health Center and Young Men’s Educational Network (YMEN) are working on a comprehensive mentoring program for young men. In Rogers Park, Organization of the Northeast is mobilizing community stakeholders around specific issues that affect youth.

All five agency partners will conduct mid-year reports early this spring. Volunteers will evaluate the progress that programs are making and how well they are meeting their goals. The final phase of the Initiative, scheduled for 2009, is to evaluate and measure the outcomes for all participating young boys in the program, as well as the development of a sustainability plan to continue these community-wide activities through partnerships and corporate support.

View the newest AAI video on Google Videos.
Read more about AAI here.