Future of Health Care

The future of health care is all about "networks" and "outcomes".  Although Commons is not a traditional "medical" organization, we can help improve health outcomes.

Together4Health is a new network of groups that are going to be part of an experiment to work with 1,000 patients to improve health outcomes while also reducing health care expenditures.  See article in Crains.

Chicago Commons Home Care and Adult Day Care will play a role in this creative effort.  It is going to be journey and we are going to learn a lot..  join us and follow along!

Exercise Your Rights!

Voting is such a fundamental right, one that we must not take for granted!

No matter your political persuasion, please take the time to vote.

At the end of September, during National Voter Registration Day, Chicago Commons registered 25 new voters at the Nia Family Center and Adult Education and Training Center (ETC).

It is not too late to register to vote, registration locations can be found here.

And early voting is underway also, location look up here.

Never too early

La Casa is a new student dormitory for first generation college students located in the Pilsen neighborhood.  It is right across from the Commons' Guadalupano Center and was built by our partner, the Resurrection Project.  It is a new model for college housing that is drawing national attention.

And today, children from Guadalupano presented college flags to Governor Quinn at the opening, showing that it is never too early to start thinking about college!

Post Strike

Great story on WBEZ today on how the teacher strike is resulting in more collaboration among teachers.  Though sad to think this hasn't been the norm at schools.  There is something fundamental missing in the way our public education systems are structured.

An active dialogue among teachers is absolutely crucial to creating a dynamic, effective educational environment.  At Commons, we are very clear about the need for teachers to meet, dialogue and plan together.  It is a job requirement!  And it also makes this work a joy.

Hopefully more of this collaborative spirit will continue to spread in the public schools near our pre-schools.  Our dream, yet unrealized, is that we engage in ongoing dialogue between our pre-schools and the teachers at the nearby schools.  We have had some interesting moves in this direction during the year .. including the early educator summit we did in West Humboldt Park.

Hope this trend in teacher collaboration continues to grow!

Striking Out

The teacher strike was years in the making.. and sadly looks like it could be weeks, until there is a truce.

This is a very challenging time for students and parents.  Students need to continue learning.  Parents need to go to work.  Community organizations are scrambling to provide help, but it is hard with shoe string budgets and limited facility space.  For example, YMCA is doing a great job opening up their sizable facilities to provide activities for students.  Chicago Commons is allowing recent pre-school graduates (now in kindergarten) to return to our pre-schools during the strike.  It is a testament to Chicago Commons’ staff, and other organizations, who are stepping up to help working parents.

As for the two warring parties – the Mayor’s team and the Teachers – who is to blame? 

Both. 

Mayor Emanuel and his team sowed the seeds for this fight.  It is a problem they created.  See Carol Marin’s insightful summary of this.  

On the other hand, the teachers risk losing public support if they don’t stay focused and work to get this resolved quickly.  Teachers have right to fight for a better evaluation system and for compensation for the extended school day.  However, they are dead wrong to criticize efforts to provide temporary care during the strike.  They should count themselves lucky that there are organizations filling the gap while they fight the battles that need to be fought.  And the union must be clear to the administration about what it will take to reach a truce.

Let’s all hope and encourage the cooler heads on the Mayor’s team and the CTU team will find a truce to this battle in the next few days.

Taking to the Streets

The whole city is on edge with this summer’s violence around Chicago.  It is good that we are at least confronting this anti-social behavior – and calling for actions to be taken.  Of course, the police are the front line for responding to violent incidents.  But it is up to all of us to look for ways to change the environments in or neighborhoods for the better.  Slowly but sure, our daily actions will help root out the behaviors that lead to violence.

In West Humboldt Park, we have been having daily problems with larger groups of people loitering in front of our Adult Education Training Center (ETC) on Chicago Avenue.   Why are they there?  Some are up to no good and others are just hanging out with friends.  Without saying a word to us, these groups of people on the sidewalk discourage others from attending Chicago Commons, increasing the worries about violence breaking out.  This creates a negative cycle where the more motivated neighbors stay inside and cede the streets to the idle.

After much dialogue with the Police Department, nearby businesses and organizations, Chicago Commons decided to launch a campaign to engage the groups loitering near us.

Rather than simply pushing our neighbors down to the next block, we want to introduce them to the services and programs that could help them identify the talents they could contribute to our community.  To that end, we will join with Neighborhood Housing Services, West Humboldt Park Development Council, Salvation Army and Fresh Moves to conduct weekly activities in front of the ETC. Activities will include:  outreach tables on the sidewalk, daily clean-up in front of our business, Friday sale of fresh vegetables by Fresh Moves, voter registration, Salvation Army mobile nutrition unit, mobile Library, and other activities through August and September.

We hope others will join us in this direct outreach.  Together, we can “Make it Happen.”

Next Generation Engineers

STEM education -- stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education.  There is going to be a huge demand for people trained in STEM disciplines in the coming years.  


Yesterday, Ron Kaminsky and Don Kleyweg from HBK Engineering  met with a school age classroom (7 to 12 year-olds) at the Guadlupano Center in Pilsen, showing our students how STEM subjects are applied in the real world.


Students learned about "Sub-surface Utility Engineering" - or SUE for short.  There were great questions about what is underground in Chicago and how it gets there.  Students got to touch and feel special materials like high voltage cable, fiber optic cable and samples of different pipes.  







The class has decided to continue to explore underground and the math needed to do this type of engineering.  As a next step, students decided to measure the length of their strides so that they can calculate distances from Guadalupano to their homes by counting their steps.  They learned that utilities engineers actually use this same method!


We are grateful for HBK's support of Chicago Commons, partnering with us to inspire the next generation of engineers! 

Tidal Waves

Things are different this year in Springfield.  There is a slow motion earthquake underway, unlike any time in 20 years or more.

And with earthquakes, come tsunamis .

The first wave hit us last week with news that the state ran out of child subsidy money two months early (before end of fiscal year).  No more payments for centers like Commons until July at earliest.   Many smaller centers are talking about closing.  Now there is news that State might have found funding to fix the next 2 months... but it must pass legislature.  So maybe first wave isn't as big as feared?

However,  a much bigger second wave is coming.  Proposals are to drastically reduce eligibility for child care , making many working poor families ineligible... if this happens, you will see many child cares swamped by it, shutting their doors.  We will know more by end of May.  Watch for thousands of parents to show up in Springfield on May 16th.

At Commons, we are preparing for the waves, we will survive, but the threat to the families that we serve is enormous.

More on child care crisis

More on the emerging child care funding crisis here.

The only positive is that the State of Illinois is truly starting to hit bottom.  Maybe leaders will finally start to take some bold actions??

This situation is a total disgrace.  The state is forcing many small child care centers to decide -- either mortgage everything and gamble that the state will eventually catch up on payments,  or close down now and stop serving their good customers -- hard working low-income families who are paying a portion of the child care, but cannot afford the full freight without a subsidy.  

Chicago Commons currently has enough cash on hand to last for a couple of months, but this is very worrisome to us also.

Over 100 parents from Chicago Commons will be going to Springfield on May 16th to say something about all of this.

Child Care is at the heart of our economy

Child Care is at the heart of our economy... especially right now among low-wage workers.  Low-wage households cannot continue to work full-time without child care subsidies.  The cost of full time child care easily eats up most of these families' paychecks.  Without subsidy, they are better off working odd jobs or irregular hours.

This is proven... see the National Bureau of Economic Research.  Families with child care are between 13 and 32% more likely to be employed.  This from one of the nation’s most influential economics organizations, the one that officially declares when recessions begin and end.

It is time for us to wake up and understand child care's critical role in our economy.  

In the meantime, funding for State of Illinois child care subsidy just ran out this month , so organizations like Chicago Commons might not get paid for May or June.  Unless the State takes action on this, we will soon be forced to decide whether to cut off families who come to us for full day care.  A suburban center was on the news tonight because they just broke the news to parents that they might cut off full day care immediately.

Taking the Medicine

Finally, we have a bold prescription for Illinois’ fiscal crisis, thanks to Governor Pat Quinn. Maybe we should call him “Dr. Quinn Medicine Man”. This week was a momentous week.

The Governor announced massive proposed changes to the State’s pension and Medicaid systems. These are cuts worth many $billions over the next several years.

This is very bitter medicine. It will be painful for many people with modest or low incomes. But if these steps are not taken, it will mean even worse devastation later.

And, vital social services like child care subsidies have already been cut and are at risk of being completely squeezed out of the state budget if these steps are not taken.

Now it is up to the Legislators to follow Dr. Quinn’s lead and adopt these tough measures.

Chicago Commons, had its own days of financial reckoning several years ago. It required some bitter medicine too. But because we made sacrifices, we are able to continue our positive impact on communities today. By taking these tough steps today, the State of Illinois will have brighter days ahead.

Funny Thing Happened

In 2007 a federal law was passed to increase the focus on school readiness among Head Start funded programs. Chicago Commons totally supports the growing focus on school readiness.

But a funny thing happened on the way the forum.

Part of the 2007 law focused on the idea that under-performing programs should be made to re-compete for their funding. Who can argue with that? Sounds great.

But what many people don’t know is that the federal government’s process for reviewing and judging program performance can be erratic and arcane. Today, some strong programs are being found as “deficient” because they temporarily fell out of compliance with a single regulation among a 3 inch binder full of them.

As a result, 10 Head Start programs are suing the federal government because the process seems unfair and inconsistent. Head Start programs suing the government? This was unheard of until now.

Fortunately, Chicago Commons passed its recent federal review, but we were nervous. Why? Because we were hiding something? Not at all. We were nervous because we know that even the strongest programs run the risk of an expected event or problem that could derail a review. We were also lucky to be assigned a very experienced review team.

We are all for high stakes pressure on programs to drive performance. But if you are going to put programs under the microscope, you need a precision lens that can truly distinguish between systemic problems and isolated trip-ups.

Piccolo Protest

Piccolo Elementary -- in the news today for the parents who occupied the school overnight.

Since last summer, Chicago Commons has been involved at Piccolo when a good new principal was hired by CPS. We started parent classes and after-school activities at Piccolo this Fall.

In December, CPS announced a proposal for Piccolo to be “turned around”, which means replacing all staff with new staff including the principal. The Board of Education votes on this proposal next week.

Here is our perspective on the protest: Piccolo has been struggling for years, but when CPS fired the previous principal and hired a new principal last summer, they created positive energy among parents. That is why we are even at the school. If it weren’t for CPS hiring the new principal, it is unlikely the parents would have even organized this type of protest. So, in a way, the protest itself is a product of CPS’ own successful effort to improve the school last year.

Chicago Commons supports a community council counter proposal to delay turnaround at Piccolo for one or two years… monitor the outcomes (i.e. test score data) and then do a turnaround (with parent/community support) if no real progress is showing at that point. So far the Mayor and CPS leadership have not responded to this idea. We shall see what happens next week.

Regardless of outcome, Chicago Commons is committed to supporting improvement at Piccolo however we can.

Beyond This Blog

You need to check out the Chicago Commons RISE Tumblr Site!

Ok, I've been posting on this blog for a couple years.

It's a nice archive of thoughts along the way.

But this blog is such a narrow window onto Chicago Commons.

I am really excited about the potential for using tools like Tumblr. Instead of having to read a lot of text, you can just scan the "stream" of posts. You can literally see how the year is progressing just through the chain of images and short posts. Ok -- End of advertisement for Tumblr.

Just go check out RISE site at Richards, this is what the future looks like.

Another lens on Hull House Closing

What would Jane Addams think of Hull House closing?

One of our Associate Board Members, Ivan Medina, answered this question publicly in The Chronicle of Philanthropy last week. Link is for subsription only, so here's quick version:

Ivan thinks Jane Addams would not have recognized Hull House today. Her Hull House was not supported much by government. Today's Hull House had become a patchwork collection of government funded programs to a large degree.

“Jane Addams was about social change. She challenged government. She organized strikes,” Ivan says. “If you become an arm of government, you can’t protest government, its bad policies and unequal services. You can’t take the stands you need to take.”

Ivan thinks she might be most upset by how employees were treated at the end -- one week’s notice, no extended health insurance or severance pay. “She would be organizing them for protests.”

Hull House

A sad day for Chicago with the rapid closure of Hull House last week.

Chicago Commons enjoyed a long history of cooperation with Hull House.

Graham Taylor, Commons’ founder, was a friend of Hull House’s Jane Addams and served on their Board over a century ago.

Hull House and Chicago Commons both have been leading social service organizations over the past 25 years -- expanding pre-school opportunities in neighborhoods with highest poverty, creating highly successful adult education programs for the unemployed, and establishing a presence in troubled public housing developments.

The two organizations even discussed a merger in 2005, ultimately deciding the time was not right.

The closure of Hull House does not mean that the day of neighborhood based charities is over. To the contrary, it is as vital as ever.

Hull House’s financial struggles were the result of heavy reliance on State of Illinois funding and lack of focus.

Chicago Commons had its own financial struggles a few years back. Our key to success was FOCUS. We were able to right the ship by focusing on specific neighborhoods with highest needs and deepening our work in those neighborhoods. This sense of focus on neighborhoods and services has helped strengthen our finances by clarifying what is most important and allowing us to simplify our organization.

The legacy of neighborhood based social programs is alive and well in Chicago!

Thanks HSA!!

HSA Commercial Real Estate has supported Commons for many years. This year, they joined us in our efforts to support the public schools in our neighborhoods.

HSA employees generously provided essential winter clothing and supplies for 19 families in need at Piccolo Elementary in West Humboldt Park.

Piccolo is one of the schools proposed for turnaround next year by Chicago Public Schools. While the debate goes on about the best way to improve Piccolo, the students and staff continue to work hard to improve this year. HSA's support went a long way to boost morale among students. Many of the students said it was the first time they had received holiday gifts through the school.

Thanks HSA!!