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CWFs Connect Residents to Local Jobs

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

When neighborhood resident Kay H. first came into the Quad Communities Center for Working Families (CWF) last spring, she’d been out of work for a couple of years.

Although Kay had previously held jobs as a receptionist, the combination of a bad economy and a two-year gap spent caring for a disabled granddaughter meant she was having trouble landing a job.

Ayom Siengo, program manager at the Quad Communities CWF, managed by The Cara Program, saw that Kay had good skills, excellent follow-through and a warm personality. So when a local Allstate agency owner was referred to him by the Quad Communities Development Corp. because he was looking for someone to train to run his office, Siengo was happy to recommend Kay. She landed the job.

“In nine months she has the potential to go from unpaid intern to taking over the office,” Siengo says. “She’s thrilled, and we’re proud to have been able to help place her in that position.” 

It’s this kind of partnership between the New Communities Program lead agencies and the 12 Centers for Working Families in the LISC/Chicago network that certifies when businesses expand in a community, jobs for community residents come too.

In Auburn Gresham, Alderman Latasha Thomas sends any developer who wants to open a new business to Carlos Nelson, executive director of NCP lead agency Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp. Nelson works with the developer to create a business plan, which is presented to the 17th Ward Redevelopment Advisory Council. St. Sabina Employment Resource Center, the local Center for Working Families site, is part of that council, along with a variety of community stakeholders.

When giving a developer the green light, the council stipulates working with St. Sabina to hire from within the community, for everything from construction jobs to staff positions once the business is open. “We encourage developers to make at least 50 percent of their hires from the community,” says Phil Hunter, director of St. Sabina Employment Resource Center.

The approach has been successful. Since 2005, the St. Sabina CWF has placed 494 residents in jobs at new local businesses, including Bank of America, Walgreens and Miles Davis Magnet Academy. Hiring residents to construct a project such as the Academy pays big dividends, Hunter says. 

“They not only take more ownership of the project, but so do their children, their nieces and nephews. They’re encouraged to go to school, they discourage vandalism. They really take pride in the school.”

This article first appeared in the Spring 2010 issue of Working Capital, LISC/Chicago's quarterly newsletter. To see the full issue, please click here.