May 27, 2020
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY PUBLISHED ITS FIRST QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN CALLED AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER (AFT) IN 2019. THIS QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DESCRIBES HOW AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER (ACT) IS SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY TO IMPLEMENT AFT AND OTHER EFFORTS.
AUSTIN
ASPIRES FOR MORE How a set of redevelopment projects will catalyze growth
EMPOWERING RESIDENTS PAGE 3 | THE ASPIRE INITIATIVE PAGE 4 | FROM ASPIRATIONS TO ACTIONS PAGE 7
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Austin Weekly News • May 27, 2020
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
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 of all residents. Our strategic plan is called Thrive 2025 and outlines how we will mobilize our resources to achieve four impact goals by the year 2025: Quality Early Learning, Safe Neighborhoods, Living Wage Careers, and Stable Housing Markets. Learn more at AustinComingTogether.org.
ACT BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers CHAIR
Larry Williams Broker, State Farm Insurance VICE-CHAIR
Ruth Kimble Founder & CEO, Austin Childcare Providers’ Network SECRETARY
Angela Waller Community & Government Relations Director, Advocate Aurora Health
TREASURER
Deborah Williams Community Outreach & Engagement Specialist, Habilitative Systems, Inc.
Directors
Tenisha Jones
Jack Macnamara
Senior Director of Strategy and Operations, West Side United
Visiting Scholar, Center for Urban Research & Learning at Loyola University
Bradly Johnson Director of Core Programs, BUILD Inc.
Founders
Reginald Little
FOUNDING BOARD CHAIR
Director of Graduate Support & Community Outreach, Catalyst Schools
Mortgage Loan Officer for Residential Lending, Old Second National Bank
1955-2019
Reverend Reginald E. Bachus
Senior Marketing Strategist, Zoe Communications Group
Sharon Morgan
Mildred Wiley
Dawn Ferencak
Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church
ACT STAFF Leadership Team
Service Delivery Team
Darnell Shields*
Jerome Sader
Executive Director
Neighborhood Network Manager
Shavion Scott
Sandra Diaz
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Community Hub Coordinator
Alicia Plomin
Jai Jones
Marketing & Development Manager
Community Engagement Coordinator
Andrew Born
Dollie Sherman
Research & Evaluation
Youth Engagement Coordinator
*Ex Officio Member of the ACT Board of Directors
Aaliyah Phillips
Planning & Investment Team
Operations Team
Jose Abonce
Office Administrator
Tanner Beck
Lead Organizer
Ethan Ramsay Project Coordinator
Esther Ramsay Micro Market Recovery Program Coordinator
Hub Engagement Associate
ACT MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS A House in Austin
Chicago Community Loan Fund
KRA Westside American Job Center
St. Joseph Services
Accion
City of Refuge
St. Leonard’s Ministries
Austin Childcare Providers’ Network
Cluster Tutoring Program
Legal Aid Chicago (formerly known as LAF)
Erikson Institute
Manufacturing Renaissance
The Loretto Hospital
Friends of the Children
Mary Shyrese Daycare
The North Avenue District, Inc.
Because I Care
Friendship Community Development Corp. of Austin
Mercy Housing Lakefront New Moms
UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work
Beyond Hunger (formerly known as Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry)
Greater West Town Community Development Project
OAI, Inc.
VOCEL
Oak Park Regional Housing Center
Westside Health Authority
BUILD Inc.
Housing Forward
Open Books
By the Hand Club for Kids
I.C. Stars
PCC Community Wellness Center
West Side Forward (evolving from Bethel New Life)
Cara
IFF
Project Exploration
Worldvision
Catholic Charities
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
Sarah’s Inn
Youth Guidance
Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures
Jane Addams Resource Corporation
South Austin Neighborhood Association
Austin Weekly News Be Strong Families Beat the Streets Chicago
Kids First Chicago
The Catalyst Schools
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
Austin Weekly News • May 27, 2020
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Austin is building upon its vision to empower residents By Darnell Shields Executive Director, Austin Coming Together
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community that enables its residents to live healthy and prosperous lives—that is the vision that the Austin community has been aspiring towards. However, in Chicago, our ability to realize our aspirations is often limited by our zip code. As a life-long Austin resident, I see every day the long-term impact that racial injustice and a lack of critical infrastructure and resources can have on a community. Austin has remained economically stagnant, while others are experiencing exponential growth.
have the opportunity to thrive. We were formed in 2010 because a group of leaders saw the potential in harnessing the power of partnership. When groups collaborate and stay committed to the greater good of the neighborhood, we can improve fundamentals like education and economic development. Due to our proven success in this role, ACT was chosen to help the community create and implement its first quality-oflife plan. Almost two years of planning and input from over 500 stakeholders produced Austin Forward. Together (AFT) that was published in December 2018. AFT outlines a comprehensive way for Austin to improve the quality of life for every resident from the years 2019 through 2023. There are 84 actions across seven issue areas: Community Narrative, Education, Economic Development, Housing, Public Safety, Youth Empowerment, and Civic Engagement.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to further uncover the breadth of systemic inequalities that have weighed heavily on Now, in the second year of implementation, black and brown neighborhoods in our Austin is already seeing benefits from city. From access to quality education, the AFT. We accomplished the plan’s first healthcare options, and fresh food, to a action of having an lack of economic Austin high school investment and basic offer the International infrastructure, these Baccalaureate imbalances have and have caused challenges for ACT is a great convener Program, made progress toward years. In Chicago, our many of the other ability to realize our of organizations that steps. Additionally, aspirations is often AFT is garnering the have complementary limited by zip code. citywide and regional The current health recognition Austin services...that allowed us crisis has brought this deserves. reality to the surface. to build collectively on the But we will not allow A spotlight is now it to be covered up shining on Austin in a momentum of AFT. again. new way and a recent burst of opportunities Despite the economic MORRIS REED, have come from disparities, as well as PRESIDENT AND CEO OF it all. The Mayor’s the current pandemic, WESTSIDE HEALTH AUTHORITY INVEST South/West I know Chicago is Initiative has chosen to strong. Enabling include Austin in its neighborhood-focused neighborhoods like Austin to grow will development strategies which will lead to unlock a bright future for the entire city. new business opportunities in the community. Even in these uncertain times, a clear path to Also, several community groups have come economic and racial equity remains open. together to submit a collaborative proposal in At Austin Coming Together (ACT), our role Austin for the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s is to facilitate collaborative action so that $10 million Chicago Prize, and it was selected Austin becomes a place where residents as one of only six finalists. Austin is now
positioned to move past merely surviving to become the thriving community we’ve always known we could be. Austin’s Chicago Prize proposal is called the ASPIRE Initiative and is designed to reflect the community’s needs for the development or enhancement of existing assets near Madison, Chicago, Central, and Laramie Avenues. This will create conditions for resident empowerment, health, prosperity, and happiness. ASPIRE is led by ACT, Westside Health Authority (WHA), and By the Hand Club for Kids (BTH). The plans include a new state-of-the-art early learning, health and recreation center called The Aspire Education & Wellness Campus; new programs and support to increase enrollment at Austin’s only neighborhoodserving public high school, the Aspire Austin College and Career Academy (ACCA); renovation of the vacant Emmet School into the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation; and Aspire Housing, a multitiered approach to provide homeownership assistance, plus new or renovated units for sale. To read more about each of these projects, see pages 4 and 5.
“We know that our kindergarten kids are already 1½ years behind academically,” said Donnita Travis, Executive Director of BTH, discussing the need for these new developments. “So for ASPIRE to create a cradle-to-career pipeline starting at birth is a way for us to have an even greater impact on their trajectory for school and life.” With such large-scale construction projects, we estimate ASPIRE will create more than two hundred jobs here in Austin. Not only will this change the physical landscape, but it will also shift the mindset of people who will now look at Austin and see potential and focus on long-term solutions to generational problems. “We hope ASPIRE will change the hearts, minds and perceptions of people,” said Reed. “When people see investment, they get encouraged, they get hopeful, and they start to aspire for themselves on how they can contribute, how they can be a part of the movement to be a good neighbor, to be an engaged citizen, and to make their neighborhoods better for their families and children. That will be the greatest story: when people see what is happening and they want to be a part of the change.” n
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Austin Weekly News • May 27, 2020
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
The ASPIRE Initiative: A Cradle-to-Career Pipeline
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ur neighborhood is at a critical moment in its history. Decades of public and private disinvestment have caused a decline in Austin’s population and as a result, our neighborhood is in crisis. In response, hundreds of civic leaders have mobilized around a powerful vision for a healthy and prosperous future for Austin called the ASPIRE Initiative (ASPIRE).
ASPIRE is born out of Austin’s first qualityof-life plan called Austin Forward. Together (AFT). Reflecting input from 500 community stakeholders, AFT outlines 84 actions to improve the quality of life in Austin from the years 2019 through and 2023. A 20-member steering committee of local leaders, stewarded by ACT staff and supported by LISC Chicago, coordinated this plan’s development over 20 months. Task forces for seven issue areas now oversee the implementation of AFT and have already secured nearly $14 million in public and private investments. This civic infrastructure will anchor ASPIRE in the community. In turn, ASPIRE will accelerate AFT and extend its impact into the future. Although ASPIRE is one of six finalists competing for the $10 million Chicago Prize grant, the total investment necessary to actualize all of the ASPIRE projects is $122 million. ASPIRE will revitalize physical assets in Central Austin, a densely populated area bounded by Madison, Central, Chicago, and Laramie Avenues, through the projects projects listed on these two pages:
ASPIRE EDUCATION & WELLNESS CAMPUS
How the new Community Workspace could look inside the Education and Wellness Campus
This Campus will comprehensively serve 150 families, boost access to quality early learning opportunities and prepare children for kindergarten. By The Hand Club (BTH) will build upon the $60 million already invested in Austin to further investments in both education and wellness.
A new early learning, health and recreation facility, as well as a community workspace, will be created at Kinzie and Laramie. The Early Learning Center will provide Austin children with access to the high-quality educational experience needed to positively influence their future life trajectory. Plus, increasing the kindergartner readiness levels of the children entering the Austin neighborhood elementary schools is critical to creating an effective K–12 pipeline. The Early Learning Center will serve as the first step toward building that pipeline by offering 120 new seats to the children of Austin. Within the same facility as the Early Learning Center will be a new Fitness/Wellness Center, offering children and adults an opportunity to improve their physical and psychological well being. The Campus will also include a community workspace large enough to host community meetings and events. It will house the local African-American-owned business, Lighthouse Café, becoming a key resource for Austin households without personal access to computers or WiFi. The second floor of the workspace will serve as BTH’s citywide headquarters for its 70 employees. Project Lead
Partners
Potential Tenants
Supporting the ongoing reinvention of the Austin College and Career Academy (ACCA) will aid the school in reaching a Level1+ status where all local students can attain a quality secondary education.Engaging our community in the reactivation of ACCA will be instrumental to the long-term success of the cradle-to-career pipeline that ASPIRE will create. ACCA is a historic asset that has benefited from the City’s investment of over $36 million in renovations. However, it is underutilized with fewer than 10% of high-school-aged Austin children currently attending. As Austin’s only neighborhood-serving public high school, our initiative will leverage previous investments by making new ones in curricular options that will boost student enrollment.
ASPIRE ACCA
Project Lead
Partners
Austin Weekly News • May 27, 2020
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
For middle, moderate, and low-income households, this multi-tiered approach will ensure that vacant and under-utilized residential properties are revitalized and made available at affordable rents and prices. We will provide affordable housing for purchase and wealth building for Austin families by creating pathways to homeownership; rehabbing homes of existing residents; building 30 new housing units on vacant lots on Pine and Washington; and developing 30 additional scattered city-owned lots.
ASPIRE HOUSING Project Lead
Aspire Housing will trigger a housing reinvestment cycle in Austin—reclaiming much of the lost land and housing stock along residential blocks near other ASPIRE investments and returning it to active use. Home equity is the largest contributor to household wealth in the U.S. and therefore it is critical that our residents capture a large portion of the housing wealth we expect to be generated as a consequence of Austin’s return to health.
Partners Potential Habitat Chicago housing design rendering
ASPIRE CENTER FOR WORKFORCE INNOVATION We will revive the once-bustling intersection of Madison Street and Central Avenue by repurposing the former Emmet Elementary School, one of Chicago’s many public schools closed in 2014, into an anchor for commercial revitalization and a destination for top-notch workforce training. Plans include renovating the existing school building currently owned by Westside Health Authority, adding an atrium space and plaza, and constructing a new building to house community-focused retail space. This will transform the abandoned land into a state-of-the-art, multi-use facility featuring an advanced manufacturing training center, small business incubator, community hub, and event space. Including both career development programs as well as supportive services will not only improve the pathway to further postsecondary education for Austin’s young adults, but it will give Central Austin’s workers and entrepreneurs opportunities for careers that provide a living wage. Project Lead
Partners
Potential Tenants
LEARN MORE ONLINE AT AUSTINCOMINGTOGETHER.ORG/ASPIRE
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Austin Weekly News • May 27, 2020
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
Plan Leaders Community Narrative
Economic Development
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Briana Shields
Jerrod Williams
Briana Janeé Arts
Kenneth Varner
Community Resident & SANA Member
Healthy Schools Campaign
Thomas Gary
STRATEGY LEADS
STRATEGY LEADS
Community Resident
Lasondra Kern
Erica Staley
Community Resident
Manufacturing Renaissance
Suzanne McBride
Heather Sattler
Austin Talks
Alicia Plomin
Austin Coming Together
Michael Romain
Austin Weekly News
Cindy Schneider Spaces-n-Places
Community Development Consultant
Emily Peters
Education TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Natasha Smith-Walker Project Exploration
Crystal Bell
Ella Flagg Young Elementary School
Housing
Public Safety
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Athena Williams
Bradly Johnson
West Cook Homeownership Center
Allison McGowan
Community Resident STRATEGY LEADS
Shirley Fields Hunters Realty
Rosie Dawson
Charles Anderson
Westside Health Authority
STRATEGY LEADS
West Cook Homeownership Center
Ruth Kimble
Chris Banks
Michele Clark High School
Austin Childcare Providers’ Network
Pam Price
Chicago Public Schools
Jane Addams Resource Corporation
Natasha Dunn
Melody Lewis
Cata Truss
Roxanne Charles
Sean Schindl
Athena Williams
Community Resident
Mindy Taylor
Mercy Housing Lakefront
VOCEL
Austin Chamber of Commerce Community Resident West Side Forward
Kids First Chicago
INTERESTED IN JOINING THE IMPLEMENTATION TASK FORCE?
BUILD Inc.
Marilyn Pitchford Heartland Alliance
Chris Patterson
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
Youth Empowerment
Civic Engagement
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
TASK FORCE COMMITTEE CHAIR
Carmen Scott-Boria
Deborah Williams
BUILD Inc.
D’elegance Lane Westside Health Authority
STRATEGY LEADS STRATEGY LEADS
Adam Alonso BUILD Inc.
Bradly Johnson BUILD Inc.
Edwina Hamilton
Deonna Hart BUILD Inc.
Jeramie McGill
Habilitative Systems Inc. STRATEGY LEADS
Arnold Bearden
South Austin Neighborhood Association (SANA)
Sharif Walker Austin Resident
St. Joseph Services
Frederica Malone Catholic Charities
BUILD Inc.
Juan Villalobos BUILD Inc.
Gina Young
Catholic Charities
Bertha Purnell
Institute for N onviolence Chicago
Jordan Bester Westside Health Authority
Contact ACT’s Lead Organizer, Jose Abonce at 773.417.8615 or jabonce@austincomingtogether.org for more information.
AUSTIN FORWARD. TOGETHER. 2020 QUARTER 2
Austin Weekly News • May 27, 2020
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From aspirations to actions: The ASPIRE Initiative proposal process By Alicia Plomin Marketing & Development Manager, Austin Coming Together
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ustin is restoring the vibrancy and sense of ownership it once had. The community is taking its destiny in its hands and revitalizing assets back to their former glory. Years of diligence and dedication from numerous organizations, including Austin Coming Together (ACT), have helped bring Austin into this position. Through changing times, ACT has proven its ability to adapt in order to take advantage of new opportunities like the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s $10 million Chicago Prize. ACT collaborated with Westside Health Authority (WHA) and By the Hand Club for Kids (BTH) to create a proposal for the Chicago Prize that clearly outlines the plans for Austin’s ASPIRE Initiative. ASPIRE is a continuation of the community’s first quality-of-life plan Austin Forward. Together (AFT) and describes four projects that build on existing efforts, specifically addressing
the needs Austin has identified for itself. The ASPIRE projects are multifaceted and will help progress almost all of AFT’s 7 Issue Areas (Community Narrative, Education, Economic Development, Housing, Public Safety, Youth Empowerment, and Civic Engagement).
most accurate data to drive forecasts and strategies. In addition, teams were provided with technical assistance resources through the Pritzker Traubert Foundation per the Chicago Prize opportunity.
“It was inspiring to be around such talent and diversity. Everyone really listened and Experts from a diverse set of industries learned from each other and to the input that and organizations lent their time to the had been received from demanding process of hundreds of residents drafting the proposal through Austin Forward. because they saw Together,” said Scott potential in the projects There is something that’s Goldstein of Teksa and were passionate Associates. about the issues being incredibly unique about addressed. In addition Purpose Built to representation Communities the amount of actionfrom the three lead considered the organizations, the oriented thoughtfulness proposal process to individuals on the be “a very fulfilling ASPIRE team included that makes this feel like experience,” and they folks from LISC Chicago; were particularly United Way of Metro a once-in-a-generation “impressed with the Chicago; IFF; Teska talent represented in the opportunity. Associates; Lamar partners.” Johnson Collaborative; In order to meet the Purpose Built DAVID FEINBERG, IFF proposal requirements Communities; k r i s t a, and tight timeline, a think & do tank; Kids ACT’s ability to effectively mobilize, lead, and First Chicago; City Open Workshop; and learn was put to the test. Fortunately, ACT’s Applegate Thorne-Thomsen. The partners experience is cemented on relationship-based created working groups and leveraged community organizing, which served the resources from both within and outside of committee well throughout this endeavor. their own networks in order to gather the
“We had to make the proposal compelling and ambitious, but also feasible and comprehensible. This was a huge challenge so we needed to make sure everyone’s ideas were taken into account, questioned, critiqued, and confirmed,” said Andrew Born, head of Research and Evaluation for ACT and ASPIRE team lead. A willingness to remain cooperative despite the intensive process built solid relationships, many of which will continue. Mount Auburn Consultants, Teska Associates, and other partners have committed to sustaining their support of the ASPIRE projects even now that the Chicago Prize proposal has been submitted. Although it may have been a strenuous process, the end result is that the ASPIRE Initiative has now become an incredibly well-researched blueprint to execute largescale plans in Austin. Conversations are underway with essential key players, a proven infrastructure to lead implementation has been established, and projections of what this will mean for Austin over the next ten years are backed up by data. ASPIRE will create the conditions needed to empower Austin residents to lead healthy, happy and prosperous lives. “The breadth and scope geographically, by sector, with capital investment, and in terms of stakeholders all coming together in such an organized manner is pretty monumental. This is Austin’s chance to enact story, and to participate in story-making through the process of building the environment,” said David Feinberg with IFF. “There is something that’s incredibly unique about the amount of action-oriented thoughtfulness that makes this feel like a once-in-a-generation opportunity.” Austin is on its way to gaining the broader city and regional recognition that our community deserves. But if ASPIRE or any other efforts are able to truly reverse Austin’s vast inequities, it will take the support from the Chicago Prize, as well as significant additional investments. This ambition can only be realized by embracing this recent shift in prioritizing support for quality education and healthcare options; economic development; and housing that directly benefit Austin’s residents and businesses. n
ASPIRE and AFT leaders joined forces at a Summit in March to discover how to support each other’s efforts.
IS RESPONDING! ACT has established a COVID-19 Response Strategy to gather information on community needs and support them through: ADVOCACY • COMMUNICATION • RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT
20K Masks Distributed
1,000+
500+
$20K+
Households Fed
Laptops Distributed
in Direct Financial Assistance to Families
Austin Coming Together (ACT) has been identified as the community lead to help develop and implement strategies to meet the need in Austin per the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team (RERRT). As a collective effort to address the racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality outcomes, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the collaborative West Side United recently formed the RERRT. Three communities have been identified for initial engagement, based on local COVID-19 data that indicated a need for urgent action: Austin, Auburn Gresham, and South Shore. The RERRT has chosen a local anchor community organization in each of those neighborhoods to develop hyperlocal, data-informed strategies to slow the spread of COVID-19 and improve health outcomes in communities that have been most heavily impacted. ACT is the partner organization for Austin.
In order to continue supporting the safety net that is essential to Austin families right now, we need your help.
DONATE at AustinComingTogether.org/Donate VOLUNTEER at a neighborhood resource distribution event GIVE supplies like PPE, cleaning products, sanitizer, etc. CONTRIBUTE other resources or connections
AustinComingTogether.org