On the Scene: The McCormick Foundation Blog

Will You Help? Every person who lives here deserves a chance to reach for their dreams, but many people in our region experience more than their fair share of challenges. Every day, the local news is full of stories of gun violence, struggling schools, and a lack of good jobs. These challenges are real, and they disproportionately affect some communities more than others. But together, we can write a different story. When you donate to the McCormick Foundation Communities Program, you help expand opportunities for every Chicagoan, regardless of ZIP code, race, or income. 100% of your donation goes directly to local nonprofits that are working to make a difference in their own communities — from Little Village to Englewood, and beyond. Over the last year, thanks to your contributions, the Communities Program has continued to expand its support in communities where there is both great need, and great potential. We’re working together with local organizations, community leaders, an...

Will You Help? Chicagoland will be a great place for us to live when it is a great place for all of us. Unfortunately, many people in our region face barriers that hold them back from a bright future. Your support can help kids like Xavier overcome these challenges. Not long ago, Xavier struggled with reading. At his Little Village elementary school, 95% of students come from low-income households and test scores fall far below national averages. Xavier got the extra support he needed when he started attending a literacy program at Erie House, a nonprofit community center in his neighborhood. There, Xavier works one-on-one with volunteer reading tutors. Now, he's reading at his appropriate grade level and exploring new opportunities for his future. He dreams of becoming an animator and creating stories about heroes like those in his favorite books. Xavier’s story is just one example of the many opportunities you can help unlock with a donation to the McCormick Foundation. W...

by Andres Torres, Program Officer, Democracy In Chicago, we have the benefit of dozens of outlets at our fingertips. According to a recent analysis by News Revenue Hub and Impact Architects, there are almost 100 digital news outlets in the Chicago region. This estimate doesn’t include the many broadcast and print-first publications that continue to serve the region. In an era of precipitous decline in the number of newsrooms across the country, confirming the continued presence of so many outlets in this 2019 “news census” is significant. Continuing Challenges Though well-populated, our news landscape is not a healthy one. A survey of several of the digital outlets reveals how endangered this ecosystem is. Helpfully, the survey pin-points some primary obstacles that, if addressed, could improve sustainability and help fill some of the growing information gaps in our region. Below are two of the challenges and related opportunities to support reader revenue and infrastructure moder...

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation and Cantigny Park recently named Krewasky A. Salter, Ph.D., executive director of the First Division Museum in Wheaton. Salter, a U.S. Army Colonel (retired), brings more than 34 years of experience to the museum, with 25 years gained in active military duty. He served as a senior staff officer at the Pentagon before retiring from the military in 2010. Most recently, Salter was a guest curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). He curated the museum’s inaugural exhibition, Double Victory: The African American Military Experience . The exhibit opened in late 2016. He is also serving as curator of an upcoming exhibition, We Return Fighting: The African American Experience in World War I , scheduled to open in December 2019 at the NMAAHC. “Krewasky’s experience as an Army officer, teacher and scholar of military history and museum curator, made him an ideal choice for this leadersh...

Opened in August 2017 in the North Lawndale community, the first ever Restorative Justice Community Court (RJCC) is an innovative collaboration between community-based service providers and the Circuit Court of Cook County. It aims to address the vicious cycle of mutually reinforcing problems: mass incarceration, crime and community violence, mistrust between the community and the criminal justice system, and the mismatch between the adult justice system and the developmental capacities and needs of emerging adults. Research has shown that this population is less future oriented, more susceptible to peer influence and risk-taking and more volatile in emotionally charged settings especially if they suffered childhood trauma. The Court takes this distinct stage of life into account by applying restorative practices to address root causes of behavior while also focusing on accountability for wrong doing through open dialogue between the victim, perpetrator and the community through peac...

Here is an update from the last Insights Newsletter highlighting the recent premiere of the documentary “No Small Matter”. Years in the making, the documentary No Small Matter premiered in Chicago June 20 to a sold out crowd of statewide early childhood leaders and educators at the Gene Siskel Film Center. No Small Matter aims to engage broader audiences in the effort to strengthen both access to and quality within our early childhood system in order to better prepare young children for school success. The McCormick Foundation, along with other foundations locally and nationally, have supported the development, completion, dissemination and engagement strategy in the wake of the film’s release. The feature-length documentary features humorous cameos by Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster, agonizing scenes of parents struggling to find quality care for their infant that they could afford, and the heart-wrenching decision of a beloved preschool teacher to leave the classroom for a mo...

Guest blog by Justin Miller, Pathfinder's Program Manager Transitioning from military to civilian life is a distinct challenge faced by our nation’s service members and their families. While there are many impressive organizations that provide services for transitioning military, two-thirds of service members are not effectively connecting with these resources. In 2017, USO launched the USO Pathfinder Program nationally to help service members and their families navigate the challenges of transitioning over a 24-month period. The hallmark of the USO Pathfinder Program is a comprehensive support network that includes access to a Pathfinder Scout, a trained case manager who works directly with the transitioning families and connects them to the services and support they need. The USO Pathfinder Program focuses on connecting them to eight key areas of service, including employment, education, financial readiness, housing and family strength and wellness. In addition, participant...

Guest blog by Becky Raymond, Career Pathways' Executive Director The Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition (CCLC) has had strong roots on the South Side of Chicago. Many founding coalition members were South Side providers. In 2010, when CCLC did a landscape scan of literacy providers in Chicago, there were 12 providers on the South Side. Since the 2010 scan, there has been a steady decline of adult education programming available on Chicago’s South Side. Particularly during the State Budget Impasse of 2016 and 2017, there was a steep decrease in programming and services among our base members south and west of the city. Although the need is still high — roughly 250,000 individuals that would benefit from adult education — the lack of services continues to decrease. To address this decline in services and serve the persistent need, CCLC has launched the South Side Career Pathways Collaborative. They have identified assets, engaged community voices (both program participants a...

In 2013, an amendment to the Access to Justice Act created the Illinois Access to Civil Justice Council, with the mandate to create a pilot statewide legal assistance hotline and coordinated network of legal support services for military personnel, veterans, and their families. This effort is funded by a $2 filing fee on all civil filings until 2020. The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (IEJF) was charged with the implementation of this network now called the Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network (IL-AFLAN). Why is this important for the veteran community? Civil legal problems destabilize families and can be barriers to benefits, housing, and employment. The top civil legal needs fall into the broad categories of housing, family, and consumer law issues. In addition, veterans often need assistance with VA benefits and appeals and discharge upgrades. IL-AFLAN provides free legal aid services across Illinois utilizing a network of 10 legal aid organizations and law school clinic...

Guest Blog by Chris Brown, Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) When 500 people gathered at St. Adrian Church in 2017 to announce the next phase of the Reclaiming Southwest Chicago Campaign it was both the culmination of years of work and the declaration that there was so much more to do. In a community that had been devastated by the foreclosure crisis, people would have been forgiven if they thought the neighborhood was dead and moved on. Instead, most of them stayed and fought for a better place to live, work, and play. They came together that day in May to say they were there for the long-haul. This begs the question: Why? Mostly, it was because they had built a network of people in the community, people like themselves that shared a common interest in the schools and safety and immigration and employment options. They knew this because they had participated in a Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) community organizing campaign. They had met one to one with neighbors an...