The deep concern and passion felt in the many communities affected by the Chicago Public School closing list over the last week is powerful evidence that a school is often considered a physical anchor in the community. The closings are in response to very real demographic and budgetary realities, but have also sparked a conversation about what role schools play in a neighborhood, beyond just teachers and students in a classroom.
Chicago is often described as a city of neighborhoods, each with its own character and rhythm. Neighborhoods shape who we are, what we believe, and the opportunities we have before us. This is where we get our sense of belonging, our support, our structure, our inspiration.
Neighborhoods and communities are also where the multitude of social challenges intersect and bleed together. Issues of crime, education, healthcare, income, unemployment are interconnected inside of a community. Helping a child succeed in school, or a family achieve financial stability, or an individual access health services, are not disconnected ambitions. They are part of a broader community agenda that is best addressed through a unified vision and coordinated action.
This is why some landmark work is being done to look at the social service mission through a "community-based" lens, as well as the traditional "issue-based" lens. Anyone following the work of Geoffery Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone knows about the power in applying a comprehensive set of services to a single, targeted community, and then closely tracking results.
Here in Chicago, a number of groups have been leading an effort to apply a new "community impact" focus on old problems. The New Communities program is a long-term initiative of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC/Chicago) to support comprehensive community development in 16 Chicago neighborhoods. United Way of Metropolitan Chicago is also putting this community-based innovation into practice through our Live United 2020 initiative. Over the last few years, we have identified 44 communities in our region most in need of social service support and have set about marshaling significant resources (financial, volunteers, partnerships) in targeted interventions in the areas of education, income and health -- the building blocks to self-sufficiency. We are closely tracking results and will carry forward best practices to new areas as time marches on.
This hyper focus on community impact does not take the place of vertically-focused solutions. A women's shelter is still focused on keeping victims safe. A head start program is still focused on giving kids a platform for success. But it is important that these programs work together in a community-based ecosystem that is coordinated, strategic and brings together all stakeholders. While the traditional model looks at individual problems across a wide breadth of communities, this new model works in reverse: applying a wide breadth of solutions to an individual community.
How the "neighborhood-by-neighborhood" idea actually gets implemented is through networks. The objective is to create a social services infrastructure within a community to maximize the impact for the people who need it most. It's about making sure all the social service stakeholders are aligned and using the same playbook. It's also about creating hubs in neighborhood that bring a range of services within the immediate vicinity of the people who need such services.
Our own Live United Neighborhood Network is founded on the principle that enormous progress can be made when information is shared, resources coordinated, interests aligned and more partners involved. Our Neighborhood Networks are a social service infrastructure that unites children, parents, schools, social service agencies around a physical hub, often at a school. With all the talk of under-utilization of school buildings, this program is actually expanding the use of such facilities.
Brighton Park has been chosen as the first Live United Neighborhood Network. It is home to a large proportion of Chicago's Latino families and children. Between 1990 and 2005, the Brighton Park community saw a 235 percent increase in the number of children living in poverty.
United Way is investing in Brighton Park to increase the availability and access to education, income and health services to help residents and the community reach its goals. We are working in close collaboration with our lead partner, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, which will operate social service hubs at three middle schools providing after-school academic programs, tax assistance, health services and more. United Way will provide close management oversight as well as capacity-enhancing resources, including financial support, strategic guidance, issue advocacy, a volunteer network and access to corporate partners. Plans for additional networks throughout our six-county footprint are in development.
Innovation and know-how has made Chicago a world class city and this same sense of ingenuity is being put to work strengthening our communities, one neighborhood at a time.
Wendy DuBoe is the President and Chief Executive Officer for United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, the largest private funder of health and human services in the Chicago region.